Yongguk suggested that we go back to his place to talk instead of being out in the open where they could easily catch us. So we all just went back on our own. Himchan made himself comfortable in the living room, and soon enough, a drink came floating in and sat down in front of him on the coffee table. Kris, Rome, and I stood off to the side, still a bit awkward.

                Yongguk sighed as he went and sat down beside Himchan. “You guys can sit down too. We’re not going to hurt you.”

                “We don’t bite.” Himchan said with a chuckle, leaning forward and sending me a wink. I shrunk back behind Rome and glanced at him nervously. What was with these guys and their easy ability to make me feel so uneasy as soon as I met them? Was that one ability that I hadn’t gotten? Did it just go to the Y chromosome?

                “Yeah, alright.” Kris pressed his hand against the small of my back and urged me forward until I was forced to sit down beside him on the couch opposite to the two guys. Yongguk noticed and sent me a reassuring smile.

                “Relax, Anya, you’re safe here.”

                “He’s not going to start hitting on me or anything right?” I asked, gesturing to Himchan. They both only chuckled.

                “He’s harmless.” Yongguk said, elbowing Himchan to stop him from saying anything. “But that’s not important. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you guys.”

                “Well,” Kris muttered, leaning back. “Spit it out.”

                Yongguk glanced at Himchan and they seemed to share a look, almost like a silent conversation. Himchan’s eyes grew wide.

                “Ah, that.” He mumbled. “You’re starting that?” Yongguk nodded. “Alright, go ahead then.”

                “Yes, go ahead then.” Kris said impatiently, looking from Yongguk to Himchan and back.

                Yongguk turned back to look at us. “There’s a cure and Research is keeping it from us.”

                A heavy silence filled the room as the three of us allowed that one sentence to sink through.

                “A cure?” Rome repeated. “As in, something to cure us or…?”

                Yongguk nodded slowly, lowering his eyes to the coffee table. “I found out just recently. It cures us. We can go back to normal if we want to; it’s just that Research is keeping it well hidden from everyone.”

                “Where?”

                “I’m guessing their headquarters here in Korea.” Yongguk leaned forward. “Of course, it’s heavily guarded, there’s cameras everywhere, and lots of other files to go through. It’d be a challenge getting just one file on something like a cure. We’d need more than just us to go in there and get it.”

                “You want us to go and find other people like us.” I said slowly, tilting my head to the side. Yongguk smiled and nodded. “That’s not easy.”

                His smile turned into a smirk. “Way ahead of you on that.” He tossed a couple files onto the table. “These are a couple to get you started. Himchan and I will be searching on more about the cure while you guys go out and find some of the others. Once you’re done, come back and I’ll give you the other files.”

                Kris frowned and narrowed his eyes at Yongguk. “Why can’t we see all of the files?”

                Yongguk just shook his head. “What happens if you get caught? They’ll be able to find the others just as easily if you know where they are. They have methods of finding those things out. It’s too dangerous.”

                Yongguk stood up and started pacing around the living room. “The more we have on our side, the less they have on theirs. What we need to do is convince as many people to join us as we can.”

                “How many do you think got away from the Recruiting?” Himchan asked, taking a drink from his glass.

                Yongguk paused to think. “More than you know.”

                Himchan set his glass back down. “Speaking of which, Fat Cat really needs you back—“

                “I said not now.” Yongguk snapped, turning around to glare at Himchan.

                “But if you don’t—“

                “Himchan.” Yongguk said his name with the same exasperation Rome used with Kris’s name. Something told me those two had a lot in common.

                I took the files off the table and began flipping through them. “Song Jieun, Han Sunhwa, Jeong Hana. All three of these girls live together, should we just get them first?” I glanced up and noticed Yongguk and Himchan share a look together. “What?”

                Yongguk sighed. “You’re going to need my help with those three.” He muttered. “We can go now to save time.”

                “Whoa, hold on.” Rome stood up. “We haven’t agreed yet.”

                “Well then, hurry up. We don’t have all day.” Himchan muttered.

                Rome hesitated, looking at Kris and then at me. He turned back to meet Yongguk’s gaze. “Are you sure that there is a cure?”

                “What other reason would I be risking my life like this?”

                That seemed like a valid enough answer for Rome, because he nodded and gestured for me to hand him the files. “It says that they were Recruited.”

                I frowned. “That makes things more difficult.”

                “Unless you’re Bang Yongguk.” Himchan muttered, leaning back as if he was getting ready for a good show. “Come on, Bang, show us how it’s done.”

                With an exasperated sigh, Yongguk quickly scribbled an address down on the corner of a piece of paper and allowed us all to read it. “Meet here in two minutes.” He said before turning and leaving us alone with Himchan in the living room.

                None of us stayed there long however. We all found our way to the address and ended up standing outside of an apartment. Yongguk took the longest to get there.

                "So are these girls trained killers or something? Why do you have to come?" Kris asked, glancing at Yongguk with a frown.

                Yongguk just sighed and knocked on the door.

                A girl with straight, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail opened the door. At first, she seemed quite surprised at us standing in front of her, but then her eyes locked with Yongguk’s and her whole expression changed to pure shock.

                “Y-Yongguk? What are you—You can’t be here—Why are you even—What’s going on?” she leaned into the door frame, like she was blocking us from seeing what was behind her. Her eyes frantically moved from place to place but she avoided looking at Yongguk again.

                “Jieun, we need to talk.” Yongguk took a step forward and placed a hand on the door. “But not out here, it’s too dangerous.”

                Her eyes snapped back to his face and she swallowed nervously. “No, you can’t come in.”

                “Listen to me, Ji—“

                “I’m sorry.” She whispered, before closing the door in our faces.

                She turned away from the door and found us already in the hallway. She jumped out of surprise but exhaled sharply from frustration a second later.

                “I was only asking nicely.” Yongguk said, crossing his arms and frowning at her.

                “Oh, you’ve gone and found more, have you?” she muttered, walking passed us and further into the apartment. She shot Himchan an icy glare. “You brought him along too, I see.”

                Himchan chuckled, totally at ease despite the cold atmosphere. “Good to see you too, Song.”

                She hummed in response before her gaze shifted to behind us and she sighed heavily. “You two remember my roommates, right?” she asked, tilting her chin in the direction of where she was staring.

                We all turned and came face to face with two other girls that I recognized from the profiles: Han Sunhwa and Jeong Hana. They both narrowed their eyes as soon as they caught sight of Yongguk and I was beginning to get the vibe that he wasn’t welcome here.

                But what exactly had he done?

                “What are you doing here? Are you really that willing to die that you’re coming back here?” Sunhwa demanded, crossing her arms and frowning at him.

                “This is serious—“

                “Serious enough to risk our lives too, it seems.” Hana scoffed and shook her head. “You haven’t changed, have you, Bang?”

                “Look—“

                “Haven’t you done enough?” Jieun asked, suddenly sounding very small. Yongguk turned to look at her and she shook her head at him. “Leave me—us—alone, Yongguk.”

                I got it. Just by the way they looked at each other, I could tell. He’d hurt her in the past. Somehow, someway, he’d caused some sort of damage that she couldn’t forgive him for and now that he was suddenly back, she couldn’t take it. She wanted him gone for good.

                And the look in Yongguk’s eyes told me he was ready to be.

                I stepped forward, receiving odd looks from all three girls.

                “Who are you?” Hana asked, raising an eyebrow and eyeing me suspiciously.

                “Yongguk recruited me.” I paused and glanced over at Rome and Kris. “Well, us. And for a good reason. You have to listen to him. It’s really important. It could save all of our lives.”

                Sunhwa slowly shook her head as she gave me a sad smile. “You don’t know him like we do, sweetie. Sorry, but it’s always important with Yongguk.” She gestured to the door. “You should leave before they come and find you.” And with that, she and Hana turned to go back from down the hall where they had come from.

                “There’s a cure.”