Two weeks later. Seoul.

"This is it?" Jisoo wasn't entirely sure what he had expected but surely not a regular, boring office building. Somehow he felt a little cheated by the sight of faded concrete and steel. "The headquarters of Aegis?"

"In all its glory." Kai nodded next to him before he squeezed the monk's arm and pulled him towards the entrance. "Come on, don't be shy."

"Can you let go now?" Jisoo grumbled while he stumbled after him. Kai's surprisingly hot fingers on the bare skin of his wrist somehow made him feel... tingly. In a weird but not entirely unpleasant way.

Well, Kai was very handsome. One of the most handsome men Jisoo had seen so far if he had to be completely honest. It was hard not to be mesmerized by his smile that revealed perfectly straight pearly whites, by the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed, how his hair reflected the light, his smooth, tan skin...

"You tried to run last time I let you walk by yourself. I'm not going to chase you around the city."

Jisoo got shaken out of his jumbled thoughts by Kai's reply and the smirk of the brunette male seemed to imply that he knew exactly what the monk had been thinking. Heat spread over Jisoo's face.

What had gotten into him? He couldn't care less about another man's looks.

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly normal for a stranger to burst into my room at half-past five in the morning," Jisoo huffed, all kinds of flustered, and Kai's lopsided grin widened even further while he pulled him through the double doors of the main entrance.

The hall they entered was lit by neon lamps and just as grey as the outside of the building. A few people were passing by, between them a familiar slim silhouette.

"I never said I was normal."

Jisoo's blush spread to his ears at Kai's cheeky wink. He usually wasn't as easily ruffled, but there was just something about this guy and the way he exuded charisma...

"Oh look, Chen's already waiting. Guess I can leave now," the other male stated abruptly, sounding relieved. To his surprise, Jisoo felt a small twinge of disappointment. "See you. Maybe." With one last squeeze of the monk's wrist, Kai vanished into thin air.

Dumbfounded, Jisoo stared at the empty space next to him until Chen's voice brought him back to reality.

"If it isn't the little monk. Glad you made it back to civilization." He eyed the grey novice robe Jisoo was wearing as well as the wooden prayer beads dangling from his neck. "Maybe you should change into something a little more... inconspicuous. But anyway. You gotta go see Tao first; he'll do a check-up and also tell you when your trial is and who's testing you."

"Huh? What do you mean 'trial'?!" Jisoo immediately stopped to interrogate the carefree blond Being.

"Whoops. Guess I forgot to mention that. My bad." Chen turned towards one of the many doorways and the monk hurriedly followed him. "Everyone who wants to work here has to go through it. Don't worry, it's nothing major. Just a quick little sparring match to check if you can defend yourself in an emergency."

Jisoo's stomach dropped. He at hand to hand combat. Biting his lip, he squeezed out, "And if I fail?"

The Being held the door open for him and they stepped into a grey staircase. "If you're of no use, you'll get sent back."

Well, that didn't sound too bad. The monk allowed himself to relax a little.

Chen side-eyed him while they descended the stairs, a knowing smile curling the corners of his lips. "We'll notice if you try to flunk out, you know? I don't recommend that - just some friendly advice."

Jisoo glowered. "Are you threatening me again?"

"Wow. I'm not threatening you; I'm just telling you how it is." Chen jumped down the last few steps before he turned back to the monk, an overly hurt expression on his face. "And what do you mean 'again'? I only said that it would be better for your family if you joined Aegis," he finished with a cheerful grin.

Jisoo had stopped as well, several steps separating them. He couldn't believe the audacity of the Being in front of him. "How's that not a threat?!" He tried to keep his composure but anger had gnawed on his patience ever since Kai had scared him awake way too early in the morning. "Urgh, and I'd come so far already." He rubbed his temples in agitation. "Do you have any idea how hard I've had to work to get through the past two-and-a-half years?!"

Chen didn't look the least bit interested in his life story. Instead, he opened the door he had been standing in front of. "Stop sulking. If you fail the test you can just go back to being a monk, right? And if you get into Aegis, you'll earn quite a bit of money for yourself and your family. It's a win-win." He glanced over his shoulder. "Come on, Tao's lab is just down the hall."

"What's the matter with Chen?" Jisoo asked, slightly more relaxed now that he knew that Tao was human too. The black-haired male was sorting through some of his equipment, his white lab coat billowing behind him whenever he moved between his many tables. On these tables, neatly arranged, lay and stood all kinds of tools and devices, beakers, flower pots, books, notes and a lot of other stuff, Jisoo didn't know the name of. Before Tao had arrived, the monk had killed time by trying to identify the different dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately, his knowledge of plants was rather limited.

"Don't mind him, he's a weirdo. Even the other Beings avoid him," Tao said and picked up a stethoscope before he turned towards him. "Take off your... uh... the upper part of your robe."

Jisoo complied and began to unwrap the outer layers. "Why do they avoid him?" He winced when the cold metal came in contact with his skin.

"Oh, you know, several reasons. But mainly because he doesn't like other Beings and he's not exactly quiet about it. Take a deep breath. Yes, like that. Again. Okay." Tao wrote something on his notepad. "He likes Humans though, which is probably the main reason he scouted you."

"Is that why he keeps calling me 'little monk'?" Jisoo asked, irked by the name, and Tao grinned while he reached for a thermometer.

"I guess. I've been 'panda eyes' for the longest time but I think by now he remembers my name - since we're in the same unit and all."

"Same unit?" Jisoo's interest was immediately piqued. He only had a very vague idea about Aegis and he was eager to gather as much information as possible. Tao waved the thermometer in front of his mouth and he willingly opened it.

"Yeah, people in Aegis are divided into units - it's just a fancy name for team. Most units consist of four to ten members and every unit has one leader, usually the strongest member of the team. Some units are specialized in certain fields but most units are just a mixture of all kinds of Humans and Beings with different abilities. Then they get sent out for assignments."

Jisoo tried to ask more questions but Tao shot him a look. He waited for the thermometer to beep before he dared to talk again. "What kind of assignments?"

The male took another note before he looked up and raised a judging eyebrow at him. "Do you know what Aegis is?"

Jisoo felt his ears grow hot. "Uh... a Human Protection Organisation?" Chen had mentioned something along those lines.

"Exactly. There are quite a lot of Beings who consider Humans their prey and even the ones who don't can cause some serious trouble. We protect Humans; that's the goal." He picked up a small lamp and forced Jisoo to turn his head so he could check his ears.

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