"What do you mean she's joining?" 

I glared briefly at the male who just bumped into me while making his way to worn out couch in front of me, joining his friends. The atmosphere in the room was getting tense, and I could six pairs of eyes staring straight at me. 

"She's joining The Clan." My older brother said sheepishly beside me, but I could sense the firm authority in his voice as well. It was an announcement, not a question. 

"Dude, we're an all guy group! And-" the guy with bleached white hair inspected my outfit. I was in a plain gray hoodie and a pair of jeans, complete with my favourite pair of black converse. I was still carrying my backpack filled with my belongings, standing in front of the couch only to be introduced to six males who obviously didn't welcome me. The male scoffed, "what is she? A student? Shownu-hyung, are you in your right mind?" 

Standing beside me, the tallest and biggest boy in the room spoke, "Yes, Minhyuk, she's a college kid, and she is my sister." My brother sighed and rubbed his hands against his temple. I knew he found it hard to do this too, because we had the longest talk about this already. I looked at him in pity; it wasn't his fault that this interrogation was happening. "I can't help it alright? She tracked me here all on her own and she found our hideout. It's either I induct her or...ah! You guys know what I mean! And I can guarantee you she is definitely qualified." He was begging them with his eyes. 

"How can she be qualified, she's a girl!" A boy, whom I assumed might be friendlier due to his chubby cheeks, piped up. I raised my brows at his comment, "why not?" 

"Because..." the boy realised how rude his comment was, and from the way he was peeking at my brother's expression, I could tell my older sibling wasn't too happy at it either. "...because, what we're doing is dangerous and we've never accepted a girl..." His voice faded at the end as he averted his gaze from Shownu. I guess he's younger than my brother too then. Beside him, a quiet boy didn't even bother to look in my direction as he continued playing a game on his phone, but I was sure he was listening in on this whole feud. He maintained a stoic expression, contrary to the disapproving and confused looks of his friends. 

"Jooheon, we've never said we don't accept girls." My brother told the boy curtly. 

"Hyung, The Clan deals with dangerous things. You are sure about this?" Another male seated at the other end of the couch asked. His tone was warmer and softer, and it calmed me down a bit. At least there was at least one respectful one among the group. His brows were scrunched and when I looked up, and looked into my eyes briefly. His gaze was gentler than the piercing gaze of others, and I was grateful for that. My expression remained serious though. I could tell he wasn't approving my induction either, he was merely going about this in a better way. 

Minhyuk decided to interrupt, "Shownu-hyung, Wonho-hyung is right. And please don't take this personally - but you know Jooheon is right. It's almost an invisible rule that The Clan only takes in males because we're mostly fighters. There will be situations when you have to." 

It was clear that my brother and I were outnumbered on this. The deafening silence in place was lengthening, and everyone was getting uncomfortable. They were all stuck in a limbo of not knowing what to do, because obviously letting someone walking out of the hideout after identifying everyone in The Clan was the only option left, but not a desirable one. It didn't help that their hideout is basically a redesigned warehouse with two stories and mere four walls. The space was entirely visible from our position in the "living room" (can you even call it a room if there are no walls?), and the large space made me feel even smaller than I already did. I knew the moment I tracked my brother to this secluded warehouse, that I had no way back. 

My brother was the one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Jisoo-ah, why don't you tell them."

Everyone looked up again when my brother spoke, puzzled. Even the smallest boy who didn't bother initially did. 

"What?" I asked him, confused. It's terrible talking to my brother when we're standing side by side. He's a whopping 1.81m while I was a tiny human at 1.55m. I could never figure out why the genes were distributed that way. 

"Tell them how you track me here, and whatever you know about The Clan that you didn't tell me just now." My brother put his hand on my shoulder as a form of encouragement. He knew I was a quiet and awkward person, and definitely not much of a public speaker. Unless you pay me or my life depended on it. 

I suppose it's the second scenario right now. 

I took out a file from my backpack and laid out some papers on the tea table between us and the boys. Everyone leaned in and gave everything a quick scan, including my brother. Then they all looked up and stared at me in shock abruptly. The seven of them were in such unison it almost startled me. 

"You didn't tell me you did this much research," my brother said. They looked at me expectantly for an explanation. I sighed loudly and sat on the sofa across them. Nobody objected. From my v