"Your dewy eyes that are hidden by the eye shadow seems a little sad sometimes. Just the way you are, show me yourself," 
-B.A.P, Shady Lady

Himchan looked up at the clock on the wall of the basement after wiping the sweat off his face. He furrowed his eyebrows when he realized how late it was and he wondered whether or not she had eaten yet. He threw the towel onto one of the benches pushed up against the wall and jogged up the two flights of stairs towards the second floor. He arrived at the door to her bedroom and he brought his hand up to knock against the wood. He waited for a reply from within before he pushed open the door and entered.

His eyes followed her hands to where she had just closed a metal case shut and placed it back onto the desk. He raised an eyebrow in question but did not ask for any details. She rolled down her sleeves and turned to him, waiting for him to speak first.

“Have you eaten yet? It's getting late,” He asked. She looked out the window to see whether or not the sun had set yet. “Yeah, I was just about to head out and get some food. I noticed how you guys only have frozen meals.” Himchan leaned against the door frame. “Do you not like frozen meals? I mean, we can order in some cooked meals.” She shook her head. “No, that's alright. I was planning on heading out to get some groceries anyway after I was done settling in.”

“Groceries? You know we could get some sent to us from the base with a simple call,” He noted. She nodded. “I'm aware but I'd much rather go get them myself. I had the idea in mind that I could just cook for you guys instead.”

Himchan furrowed his eyebrows. “Cook for us? Why?” He watched as she ran a brush through her hair. She stopped and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

“We aren't built like normal humans but we do need the same nutrients as them. That's something that those frozen meals won't provide very well. Plus, think of it as my rent for suddenly invading upon your guys' base and taking a room.”

He frowned even deeper. “Hang on, first of all, members of the team do not need to worry about things like rent. Secondly, you aren't intruding upon anything. We're a team now. Lastly, where do you plan on getting these groceries then?”

“The city,” She replied. His eyes rounded at her answer.

The city was something out of bounds to them. That was where the normal citizens lived and walked about their daily lives. Soldiers like them were not normally allowed into the city. Not once in their lives had they even set foot close to it. The bridge that connected the outskirts, where these bases were located, and the city was heavily guarded with both personnel and technology. A permit of extreme detail was required to get in. Otherwise, no one out of the ordinary was allowed in.

There were workers and soldiers that were granted access into the city but the boys had always assumed that the boss was able to pull some strings within. They were not allowed into the city, as far as they had been instructed. They never had a reason to travel into it.

“You're allowed into the city? On who's orders?” He asked. She put her brush down and blinked at him. “What? Are you guys not allowed or something?” He raised an eyebrow. “No soldier should be allowed to.”

“That's different from what the boss has told me.” She proceeded to then spray the contents of the can onto her hair. Her brightly coloured hair was now being coloured into a darker shade. Himchan stood there, trying to process all the new information while trying to grasp the situation of what she was doing at the moment.

“As far as I know, I'm allowed into the city as long as I don't disturb anyone or blow my cover.” She added. She ran her hands through her hair to make sure that every strand was now painted a dark brown. “Have you guys never gone in?”

“Never,” Himchan repeated. She hummed as a response. “That's interesting.” She went towards her bag that was placed onto the ground. “I'm going to need to change into something that doesn't make me stand out. Could you-”

Himchan let out a small cough before he stepped back. “Yeah, sorry. I'll leave you to it.” He closed the door behind him and headed back down the stairs. He still had his eyebrows creased together by the time he arrived back down in the basement. Yongguk spotted him first and walked over to him.

“So, did she eat yet?” The older male asked. Himchan shook his head. “No. She hasn't. She's going out to get groceries.” Yongguk raised an eyebrow in question. Himchan turned his body towards him fully. “By that, I mean she's going into the city.”

“Wait, what? The city?” Youngjae asked as he walked over to the two. Himchan nodded as he bit his lip in thought. “Apparently she's allowed in as long as she can disguise herself to look like a normal citizen. She just coloured her hair a darker shade and is changing into something more normal.”

“The boss lets her? That's really weird,” Youngjae commented. Yongguk nodded in agreement. “I've never once heard of anyone being allowed access across that bridge.” Himchan shrugged. “To me, it looks as if she's gone there plenty of times. She seemed like it was a normal thing for her to do.”

“I mean, if there's been no issues from the boss, then there's really nothing for us to worry about.” Yongguk turned his head and looked up the stairs when he heard the familiar sounds of the metal door open up in the garage. He looked back at the boys who had stopped what they were doing. He wrapped the white cloth back around his knuckles. “We'll go at it for another hour but I want all of you to rest soon.”
 

The sun streamed in through the window and Daehyun winced when he felt the heat. He to his side uncomfortably and tried to close his eyes in hopes of getting more sleep. After a few moments of irritation, he threw the blanket off himself and walked towards the window to close the blinds. He mentally cursed Himchan for opening it last night after claiming the two boys were becoming vampires. He had just bent down to crawl back under the covers when his senses picked up on a unfamiliar smell. He tilted his head as he followed the scent out of the room.

Looking down the stairs from above, he noticed that the kitchen light was . Lured in by curiousity, he stepped down the stairs and into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw who it was and his eyes rounded when the person turned around.

“You're up early,” She commented. He looked past her stare and his eyes automatically zeroed down onto the food that she was cooking. She followed his gaze. “I'm just making breakfast. Sorry if I woke you. Would you like some?”

He finally locked eyes with her and he flashed her a meek smile. “No worries, I'm usually the first one up anyway. And yes, I would. Do you need any help?”

She was not wearing any makeup and was in more comfortable clothes. She had her hair tied up and she looked a lot less intimidating than he had seen her yesterday. As someone who had not had much encounters with anybody of the opposite , he was amazed at how she looked like an entirely different person.

He walked up towards the counter and ruffled his hair. She handed him a plate and shook her head. “I'm just about finished. You can take a seat.” He shuffled towards the table awkwardly and pulled out a chair for himself. He wanted to just bolt out of there because he had no idea how to interact with her but the food was screaming out to him. He hadn't seen a cooked meal for years longer than he could even remember.

He held his breath when she brought the pan over and pushed what looked like a yellow blob onto his plate. He blinked in confusion at the food in front of him and he poked it with his fork. She sat down with her own plate and looked up at him. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him scrutinizing the food.

“Do you not like it?” She asked. He looked up at her and he waved his hands, “No, no! It's not that. I just don't know what this is. What is this?” dropped open at his question.

“It's a breakfast dish called an omelet made from eggs and vegetables. I promise you I didn't poison it.” She assured with a small grin. Daehyun tore off a piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth. His eyes widened at the taste. “Whoa, this tastes amazing. Where has this been all my life?”

“How deprived are the six of you?” She questioned when she saw his expression. He gulped down the warm food. She saw the light dim in his eyes as he spoke.

“It's just that it's been a long time since we lived as normal citizens and humans, you know? All we get for food is frozen meat and vegetables.”

She sent him a sympathetic smile. “I can see that. That's why I told Himchan I'll be the cook from now on. It'll do you guys good if you got some warm meals for once.” He put his fork onto the plate after he finished his last bite. “Really? You mean we're going to get food like this everyday?” She nodded and his grin stretched even wider.

“Man, I think we'll get along just fine then.” She couldn't help but laugh at his comment. She could tell he was being sincere as he started laughing along. He suddenly stopped and tilted his head to look at her. “I heard from Himchan last night about you going into the city. Is it true you're allowed in?”

She hummed. “I think I might as well wait for the rest of the guys to come down before I explain it all. Would that help answer the questions you guys have?” Daehyun nodded, almost a bit too enthusiastically. “I'll go wake them up.” She watched him run out of the kitchen and wanted to call him back to tell him that she could just wait until later in the day but that's when she heard his voice boom from the second floor.

“Hey, wake up! The Siren said she'll answer any questions we have about the city! And she made us food! I don't remember what the yellow egg blob was called but it was really good!”

She sat there in silence as she watched the boys golf down their plates of food. She was absolutely baffled as to why they were not given proper food. She was not given much information about the other soldiers within their facility. Now, she knew what kind of lifestyle they had been living. The boss claimed he had the tightest hold on her and yet, these boys seemed to be more chained up than she was in some aspects.

The boys occasionally glanced up to look at the other members or at her. Just like Daehyun, they were a bit stunned to see her exterior completely different. All except for Himchan who was able to catch her before she left yesterday but even he was a bit speechless.

She looked like she had been living here for longer than she really had because she looked comfortable in her lounge clothes. There was the occasional awkward glance when she accidentally locked eyes with one of them, however.

Himchan cleared his throat after he had finished and looked up. “Thank you for cooking us breakfast, by the way. We haven't eaten something like this in a long time.” She smiled back at his gratitude. “Of course. I'll do so everyday if I can.”

“Can we ask you questions about the city, now?” Youngjae blurted. Yongguk shot him a look but the boy was too preoccupied with both his food and the girl to notice after he spit out his question. Jongup looked down at his plate and shook his head in embarrassment as Daehyun almost choked on his second plate of food in amusement. She laughed at his intrigued eyes and nodded. “Yes, go ahead. I feel as though I should share all that I know with my new team members anyway. What is it that you would like to know?”

“What is it like?” Youngjae questioned, “Is it like what I've seen in books and the files? Is there a lot of people? Are there really things like different stores? Are there really public libraries? Do people actually enjoy paying money to watch motion picture films together in theatres?” Yongguk's eyes went wide at all the questions. “Whoa, boy. Hang on there. One question at a time.” She looked at the leader and shook her head with a smile. “It's alright. I understand his curiousity.” The boys waited expectantly for her answer.

“Yes, everything is as you guys heard. It is all that and more. There are people everywhere during both day and night. Everybody walks around with a purpose in their life. Some are rushing to arrive on time to their jobs and some are wandering the streets with all their friends. They don't look oppressed, as what we have been told. They are living their lives each and everyday happily. Yes, there are many different stores that companies advertise and sell for the consumers. Yes, there are public libraries. And yes, people do enjoy watching films together on the big screen. Although, most people tend to do it in the luxury of their own homes nowadays rather than in theatres.”

She smiled as she continued. “There's just so much more life there than out here. They don't seem like they're trapped as bad as we have been told. Life in there for them seems better than it is for us out here. The children actually have the privilege to decide their future for themselves, unlike any of us.”

“Why did you have to colour your hair last night?” Himchan questioned. Youngjae rolled his eyes, “As a disguise, genius.” The older boy shot him a look and the girl laughed.

“Yes, I do use it as a disguise. It washes out the next day but I don't think walking into the city looking like a government rebel would benefit me in any way.”

The boys sat there in silence as they tried to visualize what life was like inside the city. Youngjae let out a hum of thought.

“Do you think it's possible you bring us in one day?” The other six people in the kitchen looked at him. Yongguk raised an eyebrow at his question while she had her eyes rounded in surprise.

“You want me to bring you into the city? Why?” She asked. Youngjae shrugged. “So we can see what its really like. It may help us with our missions too.” Yongguk looked at him. “Did you not hear the boss' orders? If he's never told us to go in, there's a good reason for it.”

Youngjae frowned. “There's just so much for me to learn. I have so much I want to see for myself. It's not like I'm going to do anything.” Yongguk raised an eyebrow as if challenging the boy to continue. Youngjae unwillingly slumped back into his chair.

“I mean, I don't mind. Since we have a few days. I don't know what rules and orders you guys have been given so I don't want to go breaking any of them for this.” She replied, glancing between the two of them. Yongguk turned to her. “I think it's best none of us go in. Thank you for considering it.” After hearing the finality in his voice, she simply nodded as a response.

“Weren't we going to spar today?” Himchan questioned, trying to change to subject. He looked around at the faces. “You all wanted to see how strong she was, didn't you?” Jongup finally spoke up as he looked at her with bright eyes, “Yeah. If that's alright with you, do you think we could spar together first?” She nodded with a grin. “I haven't been able to practice with people physically back at the facility so this will be new to me.” Daehyun stood up first. “I'll show you the basement first since you haven't seen it before, right?” She shook her head and he grinned. “Perfect.”

Daehyun, Jongup and the girl pushed their chairs back and headed out of the kitchen. Himchan watched them leave before he turned back to Youngjae. “I know you're curious. We all are. What Yongguk meant is that, let us ask the boss first. We'll report back to you on the status.” Youngjae looked up and nodded. “Alright, I got it.” He got out of his seat and nodded at Zelo to come down with him.

“Way to make me look like the bad guy,” Yongguk commented once he was left alone with Himchan. His friend grinned back at him and leaned his elbows onto the table. “I'm protecting your scary demeanour. You should be thanking me.” Yongguk rolled his eyes. They sat there for a few seconds in silence before Yongguk spoke up.

“Do you think he would really let us in though? It's serves us no purpose except satisfying that boy's curiousity.” Himchan furrowed his eyebrows together in the middle. “He might. We'll say that it's a educational trip.”

“He's not going to buy into that bull but we'll give it a try.” Yongguk walked up towards the monitor on the screen and pressed his finger over a few different areas. Himchan walked up behind him to stand by his side. The red light beside the camera lens flickered on and they both straightened up.

“Good morning, sir. Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan reporting from B.A.P. We have a special request that we would like you to either confirm or decline.”

“Is it bad I'm actually starting to fear for my life?” Jongup whispered to Zelo who was standing on his side of the ring. The younger boy bobbed his shoulders up and down. “Not like you're going to die.” Jongup turned back around and watched as she bit off the excess cloth from her knuckles. She smiled at him. “I don't see why you would be worried. Aren't you guys the best fighters out there? There's no way you guys won't live up to your name.” Jongup shrugged and brought his fists up to guard his chin.

“I guess we'll find out today.”

He barely had time to register what had happened next because his body flew backwards into the ropes and the wind was knocked out of his chest. He looked up at the girl with wide eyes. Her smiling eyes had turned into a blank stare with the familiar smirk they all knew. It was when you could tell that a Mindless Soldier was in fight mode.

“I didn't get the memo that we had started,” He muttered. She raised an eyebrow. “Now, announcing my attack would be rather stupid of me don't you think?” Youngjae and Daehyun snorted from the sidelines and Jongup turned his head to shoot them a glare.

“Alright, I see how it is.” He cracked his neck back and forth before he lunged forward. He let out a gasp when she was able to block his elbow and land another hit on his back. He fell down and onto his knees. He rolled out of the way just as she was about to bring her foot down against his back. He staggered back up into a standing position.

“Should I tone it down or?” She questioned once she saw the surprise in his eyes. Jongup shook his head and poked the insides of his cheek with his tongue in slight frustration. “No. I just wasn't focusing because honestly, I didn't expect this much.” She laughed at his comment and crouched her body lower, preparing for either offence and defence. She held out one hand and sent him a taunting wave as if telling him to go first. Jongup bit his lip when he felt the competitive side of him come out.

After a few more minutes of attacks and blocking, Jongup had successfully made a few hits. He even managed to pin her down with her arms behind her back before she kicked him off. They locked eyes and it was like a mutual message passed through because they ended up backing up. She ducked her head in a respective bow and he mirrored her actions.

“Wow, that's the first time I've seen someone other than Yongguk be able to actually hit him,” Youngjae remarked. Jongup rotated his now sore shoulders and let out a groan. “Her agility is not normal.” She chuckled and hopped off the stage. “None of us are normal. Thank you for sparring with me though.” He gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

“Do you think you're up for one more round?”

She looked over to Daehyun who walked towards her. She opened to speak but someone else cut her off.

“Really? You're challenging someone who can pin down our best fighter?” Youngjae asked incredulously. Daehyun hesitated for a brief second before turning back to the girl. “I mean, Jongup and Yongguk have the strength but if it's agility and strategic fighting, I'd love to give it a try.” She thought about it for a second before she nodded at his words and walked back up onto the ring.

“Will you be okay? Since you just finished one round.” Daehyun asked. She nodded again. “Yeah, it's not like we hit each other hard enough to bruise. Or at least, I hope not.”

Just as they began, Yongguk and Himchan came down the stairs to watch the match as spectators. They exchanged a look of surprise when they saw Daehyun on stage because they rarely ever saw Daehyun look that serious while in physical combat outside of missions. Yongguk walked over to Zelo and Jongup. “Did she initiate the fight or did he?” Zelo turned his head slightly so he could respond.

“Daehyun did.”

Their mouths hung open when they heard her release a pained grunt from the unexpected blow. Daehyun had dodged her initial attack and jammed his knee into her stomach causing her to stumble backwards in astonishment. He gave her no time to recover as he shot forward to aim for her neck and slam her entire body onto the ground. The people watching winced at the impact. Daehyun blinked in surprise when he saw her let out a pained grunt. He knew he hadn't hit her hard enough to do that much damage.

She stared up at him and her lips curved into a smirk. “Ouch, pretty boy. No warning?” Daehyun shrugged off his earlier thought with amused eyes and gave her a hand to pull her up. She took it but instead, she jerked his arm back with force and he lurched forward, unexpected. She used that to her advantage and kicked him further away so she could distance herself from him.

“I think Daehyun has better combat ability than you,” Youngjae laughed. Himchan glowered at him. “Yeah, there's a reason I drive the vehicles you .”

Daehyun stood his body up straight and looked at her. He ran his eyes over both her stance and expression. By the looks of it, she wasn't going to attack first this time so he went forward again instead. He surprised himself when he was able to grab her arms and lock them behind her. He then slammed his foot down onto the back of her knees and she fell down at the loss of balance.

“I think it's safe to say I won.” Daehyun grinned as he removed his hold on her to stand up. She looked up at him. “I didn't expect that from you. It's been a long time since I was able to fight with someone who was strong in physical strength,” She looked at Jongup for a quick second before turning back to Daehyun. “And someone who was able to match my speed.”

Himchan began to clap as he looked between the two. “This is amazing. We now have someone who can actually take Jongup down aside from Yongguk.”

She chuckled got off the ring. She walked towards the edge of the room to take off the bandages as the boys returned to their own activities. She hunched over from the bench to tighten her shoelaces. A shadow blocked off the light and she looked up. Daehyun stared back down at her.

“You injured your stomach, didn't you?”

Her eyes rounded in surprise and she unconsciously put an arm over her rib cage. She was baffled as to why he even knew that. Daehyun raised an eyebrow, knowing his suspicion had just been confirmed. She removed her hand as she opened to speak, “How did you know that?”

Daehyun knelt down so that he was the same eye level as her and tilted his head. “When I hit you earlier, I didn't hit you hard enough to actually hurt that much. How bad is it?” She looked down at her stomach and ran her fingers over the cloth.

“I have no idea, actually. Usually I have the medics back at the facility clean it up but I've been so caught up with the transfer and everything that I brushed it aside.”

“Hang on a second.” He frowned and pushed himself up. He turned his head to scan the room for the person he was looking for and once his eyes landed on the guy, he called him over.

“Jongup, could you come here for a second?” The boy looked in the direction his name was called and jogged over. He stood beside Daehyun and blinked. “What's up?” Daehyun pointed towards the girl sitting on the bench with her eyes travelling back and forth between the two boys.

“She has an injured stomach that hasn't been patched yet. Do you think you could take a look at it?” Jongup nodded and turned to her. “Do you think you could come with me to the medical room? All my tools and medications are inside.” She nodded and got up to follow him.

“Sorry to bother you. I didn't think anybody would notice and that it would've healed by itself sooner or later.” She whispered as they walked up the stairs. Jongup shrugged. “It's really not a bother at all.”

He pushed open the door for her and she went in ahead of him. He gestured her to take a seat on one of the chairs as he walked over to wash his hands. He pulled out some medical gloves from one of the drawer components and walked over. He pointed towards her stomach and looked away with a slight cough. She blinked. “Oh, yeah, I'll bring it up.”

As she lifted her shirt up, Jongup turned his head around and his eyes went wide at what he saw. She had attempted to cover the wound with medical gauze but the blood had begun to leak through. She seemed to have surprised herself as well because she in a breath at the sight.

“What happened?” He fell silent when she began to unwrap the bandages.

It was a claw mark and judging by the metal bits still stuck on the flesh, it was the mark of a tech-hound. Their claws were designed sharper than that of any animal known and judging by the numerous scratches, both the hound and her must have put up a fight.

“I didn't realize there were that many tech-hounds and I was trying to send a message back to the boss when one of them went rabid. This was from a few days ago."

Jongup got to work at once to disinfect the wound. He carefully removed any metal still lodged inside and began to clean it up.

Daehyun walked in a few minutes later and his jaw dropped. She turned to him when she saw his bewildered expression.

“I feel like a jerk for even hitting you there in the first place,” He muttered as he came closer. She waved her hand in dismissal and shook her head. “I guess I should have told you guys beforehand but then that would've given me a handicap, don't you think?”

“Yeah, but as a team, we usually tell each other things like this.” Daehyun frowned as he sat down and watched as Jongup began to stitch her wound up. She bit her lip in pain and shut her eyes when she felt the needle go through.

She groaned in pain at the needle piercing through again and peeked one eye open. “I'm still learning the ropes on how being a team works. I'll keep that in mind for the future.”

“You guys are lucky to have a medic on hand every time you need one, huh?” She whispered once Jongup was done with cleaning the wound for the last time and bandaged it up for her again. Daehyun nodded. “Yeah, but now you do too so don't forget that.” She smiled in gratefulness. “Thank you for all that you guys have done so far. You guys welcomed an outsider like me so easily.”

“I mean, we're known to be wary of newcomers but I think having someone this strong on our team really piqued our interest, you know?” Daehyun grinned. She chuckled as she sent a small 'thank you' to Jongup before standing up.

“Wary? I mean, one of you came to check if I had eaten, and even noticed I was injured. I'd say you guys are pretty friendly.”

“That's because you've met the friendliest ones first. Not to say Youngjae isn't friendly but he's just a smartass sometimes. Yongguk and Zelo are just quiet so it takes time.” Jongup explained. Daehyun chortled when Jongup both complimented and insulted Youngjae at the same time.

She rolled down her shirt and straightened it out. She looked between Jongup and Daehyun. One was cleaning off his hands while Daehyun had gotten up to look around at the many different medical tools. She tilted her head in wonder.

“Would it be more convenient if you guys had a name to place above my head?”

The two of them looked at her in surprise. Jongup immediately shook his head. “We were instructed that you hadn't ever given your name out.” Daehyun nodded in agreement. “We're okay.” She shook her head.

“I think it would be okay to let my own team members know my name. It would be easier if you guys didn't have to refer to me as 'The Siren', right?”

Daehyun and Jongup shared glances between each other. “We really don't mind it either way.”

She held out a hand towards Daehyun, who was the closest to her at this point. Right now, they saw nothing but a genuine smile and sincerity. There was no Siren in sight and she certainly did not seem like the fighter she was back down there. The girl they saw right now was one that was willing to take the first step into building their team.

“My name is Sunri. Han Sunri. Pleased to meet you again, Daehyun.”