"Another medium?! Are you trying to replace me?!"

Eunhee's father calmly set down the phone at the sudden interruption while she tried her hardest not to scream at him in frustration. Although he was already well over 50, his clean-shaven face was wrinkle-free, almost age-less. Only the greying hair at his temples revealed that he wasn't young anymore.

"Close the door, Jiho." His voice was as cold as always and they stared each other down for a moment before she followed the order with a glare. "Next time you barge in, there will be consequences. Understood?"

Eunhee remained silent, a defiant twinkle in her eyes. He was using that tone again and it made her want to spit in his face. "Did you understand what I just said, Han Jiho?"

She shrunk back slightly when his eyes narrowed. Her stomach clenched, a natural response after twenty-two years together. He had never hurt her, not physically, but his presence alone had always instilled something akin to fear. It was infuriating how much power he held over her; Kai was right. She forced herself to keep eye contact, to not seem weaker than she was. "...yes, father. But-"

"No 'buts'." The edge in his voice made her flinch. "I don't need to justify my decisions in front of my employees."

Something cracked inside her at his words. She knew that he wasn't an overly caring person but this was harsh even for his standards. "I'm your daughter!" Her voice reverberated in the quiet room, louder than she had expected.

The expression on her father's face did not change. It remained distant and cold, neither her words nor the pain in her voice touching him in the slightest. "And you're getting paid by me, just like everyone else here. You have no right to question my decisions. Leave; I need to make a call and you've wasted enough of my time."

Eunhee's expression was still grim when Kai found her not much later in the break room where she was sipping on coke, the can crinkling slightly in her tight grip.

"Hey, you alright? You're early."

She glanced at him before her gaze returned to the can's label. The fact that he had greeted her without any sort of sarcastic remark proved that he still felt guilty about what he had said the day before and for a moment she wished it would stay that way. She had no patience to deal with his quips today. "No."

She only looked up when he sat down next to her on the sofa and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What's the matter, sweetpea?"

"You're creepy when you're being all friendly like this." Shrugging, she tried to get rid of his embrace but to no avail. Instead, he sent her a cheesy wink and she grimaced before his expression turned serious once more.

"No, really. What's the matter? You look even worse than yesterday."

With a weary sigh, she gave in and leaned a bit closer into his side. It didn't happen often that she let her guard down around him but she needed someone to talk to right now – and Kai could be a surprisingly good listener if he wanted to.

His warmth was familiar and comforting and his menacing aura made her feel safe. It was dark and overwhelming but it also held deep melancholia that stood in odd contrast to the playful and carefree personality he liked to display. It had drawn her in since the first time they had met, twelve years ago, but he had never bothered to answer any of her questions and after a while, she had given up.

"I set up three new contracts. It was exhausting." Guilt gnawed on her for only telling him the half-truth but she really didn't want to talk about Suho again. She'd tell him eventually, definitely - but not right now.

The grip on her shoulder had tightened at her words but it wasn't painful. "That old fart is not giving you a break, huh?"

It had been a while since Kai had used that insult for her father. He only used it when he was trying to cheer her up and, weirdly enough, it always worked. A small smile tugged at the corner of while she poked his side, causing him to recoil. "You're older than him."

"I look better, though."

He pulled her closer once again and Eunhee felt laughter bubbling in her stomach at his cheeky grin. Kai was infuriating most of the time, thickheaded, inappropriate and often plain mean, but he always managed to make her laugh. He was charming and had an excellent sense for the mood around him - he just usually chose to ignore it. Maybe it was because of his ability or maybe it was linked to his species in general that he always knew what others wanted to hear. When it came to Kai, Eunhee forgave almost too easily.

She sighed at that thought and he gently pinched her ear to get her to talk. Now it was her turn to recoil but his arm didn't allow much movement and she gave in with a half-glare. "One of them is a natural mutant, nothing out of the ordinary, but the other two are giving me a headache."

"And why's that, honey bee?"

She grimaced at the sappy pet name but chose to ignore it. "That spectre from yesterday... he's stronger than regular human spirits since he can control air. I don't want him to get forced to join Aegis. I feel like it's my fault indirectly." Just by speaking those words, Eunhee's heavy heart already felt a little bit lighter.

Rolling his eyes, Kai tousled her hair. "Stop blaming yourself, idiot; moping won't change a thing. Also, you shouldn't worry about the freak who possessed you. What about the other one?"

Why did he always have to be so blunt? She elbowed him in retaliation and he grinned. "You're not helpful," she hissed but continued anyway. "The second Human is an artificial mutant but he's also a medium, just like me."

Kai immediately sobered at her words. It was almost cute how quickly his dark brows furrowed and Eunhee had to bite back a smile at the reaction - although his words quickly brought her back to reality. "Another medium?"

Heaving a sigh, she pulled her feet up on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. "Yeah. I went to see father just now but he didn't answer any questions..." Not even Kai's warmth could melt the coldness in her chest when she remembered how her father had looked at her.

"He'll be in our unit?" Kai's intense gaze was fixed on her face, only centimetres between them, while she stared at the can in her hand. It didn't make her uncomfortable anymore; she was used to him getting too close.

"Probably. Luhan is examining him today." Usually the unit who provided the examiner also received the recruits as new members but lately, Luhan had gotten chosen a few times without anyone getting added to Unit E. But somehow this time Eunhee had a distinct feeling that it would be different.

It was obvious that Kai was pondering different possibilities and scenarios, just like she had - but just like Eunhee, he also didn't seem to come to a useful conclusion. Finally, he shrugged, his side brushing against hers at the motion. "Weird. Maybe he got assigned to us because of his mutant abilities?"

She nodded slowly, unconvinced, and something stung in her chest when she voiced the thought that had kept her up last night and had caused her to confront her father. "I'm worried that he's planning to remove me from the team..."

She didn't want to leave. This was her unit, her friends, the people she had seen almost daily since the unit had been formed. She could feel her nose itching and she swallowed a few times to get rid of the lump in . The arm around her shoulders tightened once again while the menacing aura next to her flared up.

"Bull! You're the former leader!" Kai looked genuinely upset at the assumption. "The unit got founded because of you; how could they possibly replace you?" She didn't resist when he pulled her against his chest, almost making her spill her coke, his aura wrapping around her like a blanket. Although Kai had many talents, sharing was not one of them - it had been that way ever since she had first gotten to know him. "You're my partner. And I sure as hell don't want a random Human instead. What the hell, I'm only here because of you anyway." With a huff that sounded more irritable than angry, he let go of her and she leaned back, putting some distance between them. "I'd be out of the door immediately if you were gone and Lay and Xiumin would do the same."

A smile flashed over Eunhee's face at his indignation. "Kai, did you actually read the contract before you signed? You can't leave."

"Watch me."

They both knew that it was an empty threat but neither of them spoke it out loud.

The laboratory looked just as pristine as always when Eunhee stepped through the door. If she hadn't been there herself, she wouldn't believe that everything had been in ruins not even 24 hours prior.

At the sound of her footsteps, Tao turned around - a rather big book still in his hands - and grinned at her astounded expression. "Surprised?"

"Do you really have to ask?" With furrowed brows, she took in the glass vials around her, the delicate silver instruments, the papers and books. Everything looked, well, not new but completely intact and well taken care of, not a nick or scratch visible. She eyed the lab coat Tao was wearing, recalling the torn, sullied piece of fabric she had pushed away to draw the characters for her trap. Maybe the one he was wearing was a replacement.

Tao put the book down before he nodded towards the chairs in the corner and Eunhee followed the invitation. "I'm a bit disappointed that you forgot the reason your dad hired me." He sent her a mock-glare and she pretended to be embarrassed while she took a seat across from him.

Right. It had been a few years since she had read his file and she had gotten so used to seeing her wounds vanish under his hands that it had completely slipped her mind that his ability wasn't healing. "I didn't expect you to be powerful enough to return the whole lab to its former state," she admitted sheepishly and his smile turned somewhat strained while he reached for her injured arm.

Tao always managed to surprise her. He used his abilities in ways that seemed so natural that most people didn't even notice that he was using them, but Eunhee was sure that neither she nor the guys had told him that her arm was injured and yet he hadn't hesitated one bit. Even though she was able to see and talk to most spectres, Tao's ability to be completely in sync with something Eunhee couldn't sense at all had always creeped her out a little.

"Well, my level is the lowest in our unit; by now I should be used to getting underestimated, I guess," he said while he unwrapped the bandage. He cut her protest off with a single, withering look. "You know it's true."

Yes, she knew. Levels were something most people in Aegis cared about entirely too much and many low-level Humans got looked down upon by higher-ranking members – Humans and Beings alike. Eunhee frowned, eyes fixed on the fingers running over her skin. Tao was great in many ways, not only with regard to his abilities. He was a scientist through and through, incredibly skilled at finding information, and one of the best researchers Aegis had. The thought that people looked down on him just because his level was lower than average bothered her more than she liked to admit.

"Stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles. It doesn't matter. The ability to turn back time might not be a good ability for fighting