- Kris is meant to be mysterious. He won’t appear much during the first 10-12 chapters, but I promise afterwards that he’ll become really important because he’s the antagonist. Omg. Whut. I love Kris and his face, so don’t hate me for making him cruel and crazy.

- Kris is not apart of EXO. EXO won’t appear until around chapter 8-12 because I first want to build a strong relationship between Luhan and Eunyoung. They’ll appear gradually (one or few at a time).

- Because I’ve moved, my amazing social life has been completely and utterly annihilated. But, on the bright side (for you guys that is), I’ll have more time to update since I don’t have friends to go out with. But, on the not-so-bright side, my grandparents cut the internet off at around 8:30-9:45PM. Ugh. I know. They say it’s not good for me to stay up late and be on my laptop so much. /sigh. But, at least, without the internet, I’ll have more time to write chapters without distraction. So, from now, my new updating time will be from 7-9PM instead of 9-10PM like usual (I’m still in Pacific Standard Time). I will still, however, update only once a week (at the fastest) on Fridays or Saturdays.

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❝Chapter Four

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✎Her Name

“C’mon, brat! Time for school!” Eunyoung screamed to her seven-year-old brother Jaehyun despite the fact he was literally sitting right next to her, and he groaned in response.

“Aw, Noona! You made me die!” His voice was high and whiny as he swayed his body left and right, throwing the tablet down on the carpet as he stomped his foot.

“Yah!” Eunyoung nudged his forehead, making him yelp in pain. “You brat! You know how expensive this is?” She slapped the back of his head, ruining his messy brown hair (apparently, messy hair meant y hair [according to the older middle school boys he knew]), and he cried out in protest. She rolled her eyes, bending down to pick up the glossy white iPad and then setting it on the coffee table in front of them.

“Umma!” Jaehyun shouted, his tiny hands fixing the hair on his big head. “Noona hit me! Noona hit me!”

“Yah!” His older sister smacked a hand over his mouth, hissing at him. “Shut up, you brat!”

“Lee Eunyoung,” a firm voice called out, and she stiffened a bit. “What are you doing to your brother?” Her head snapped up, only to find her dad standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, his arms crossed and his brows raised. She gulped discreetly, awkwardly putting her hands behind her back.

“Nothing, Sir.” She forced a lopsided grin, one that made her dad chuckle.

“Oh really?” he said, obviously not believing her. “Then why was your hand over your brother’s mouth?” Eunyoung chewed on her lips and glanced at her little brother, who inconspicuously stuck his tongue out at her. Her lips twitched into a frown when she saw that. She jokingly raised a hand and pretended that she was going to smack him, which made the seven-year-old flinch in fear.

With a small tsk and a smirk tingling on her lips, she replied, “He just had some crumbs on his mouth and I was wiping it off for him.” Jaehyun snorted at the lame excuse she used, crossing his arms like some diva.

“Nuh-uh! Noona called me—“

“—handsome!” she blurted before he could finish. “Because you’re just oh-so handsome!” she said through gritted teeth, emphasizing each syllable as she very harshly pinched and stretched his round cheeks (which seemed to run in the family, since her mother also had quite a lot of baby fat in her cheeks as a youngster). Jaehyun growled at her, glaring and wincing as she slapped his cheeks “affectionately.”

“Aish, you two.” Mr. Lee rolled his eyes, leaning against the white frame of the doorway. Jaehyun, her younger half-brother, wasn’t exactly well-mannered, which Mr. Lee considered normal since he was just a child. Eunyoung, however, was usually very well-behaved. Except for when around her brother whom she liked to call the little devil. Siblings, right? “Get your brother to school,” he said dismissively, chuckling at the two.

“Yes, Sir!” His daughter beamed, saluting him like he was a captain, and he shook his head amusedly. Throwing his backpack over his shoulders, the seven-year-old boy slipped his shoes on and bolted out the door. “Y-yah!” Eunyoung gawked at him, frowning as she hurriedly slipped her sneakers on and ran out after him. “Wait for me, you little brat!” she called out to him, yet he dared to pick up his speed, and she could hear his evil laughter.

“Think of this as a favor!” Jaehyun shouted back, stopping his running to turn around to face his sister. “Since you’re growing old, you should really start doing some running to stay in shape. You’re welcome, Noona~” he cooed, blowing her an insincere kiss, and then bursting out with laughter when her face fell. You know how there’s always that one person in your life that you just absolutely can’t stand? That one person who just loves to torture you, it seems? Well, for Eunyoung, that one person was Jaehyun. Only he had the ability to piss off such a nice person so easily. (And, perhaps, she would add Luhan to that list.)

“Why you little—“ She stopped herself before she could curse, and instead glowered at him. “You got three seconds, brat.” Seeing the determined look on her face, Jaehyun’s body temporarily froze before he turned and broke into a sprint. After a teasingly slow countdown, Eunyoung flashed after him. While running, Jaehyun twisted his upper body to look behind, squeaking when he saw how close she was. He was about to pick up his pace, when he suddenly collided with a wall and fell flat on his .

Her protective sister side kicking into gear, she immediately sprinted over to him. She got to him just as his face was scrunching up in pain when he finally managed to stand up. She crouched down, her hands cupping his face. Wordlessly, she twisted his body left and right, checking for injuries; but, really, the only thing that hurt was the that he landed on. Man . . . . How was he gonna ice that?

“Argh. Noona . . . ” Jaehyun grumbled as she squeezed his cheeks together, slapping her hands away. “I’m fine, okay?” She opened to ask if he was really okay, but his eyes drifted off to a sturdily built silhouette a few good inches away from him. For a moment he was really scared, having not noticed the guy before, but then he realized that it wasn’t a wall he had bumped into—it was another human being. Eunyoung’s head turned, and she also only then noticed the other victim. And hubba hubba was he good-looking. How the hell had she not noticed this hottie who was as tall as the damn Eiffel Tower?

“Sorry about that, kid,” the handsome-as- giant finally spoke up, seeing as how the siblings finally noticed him. Eunyoung looked strikingly startled because, first of all, that guy was handsome as . And, second of all, that guy’s voice was deep as . “I didn’t see you there,” he continued with that manly charm of his, and she nearly melted on the inside. Was it possible to fangirl over someone who wasn’t even an idol?

“Noona!” Jaehyun hissed in her ear, tugging roughly on her shirt. “Stop staring!” he told her, his face colored. He wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that he fell on his . Oh. No. Haha. He was more embarrassed by the fact that his sister was so openly drooling over this random guy—who kind of, sort of, creeped him out with that crazy tall stature.

“Oh.” She timidly recomposed herself as she slowly stood up, awkwardly dusting at her sweatpants. Man. If she knew hot guys like this walked on the streets, she would have worn something nicer. “Um,” she continued, nervously curling her hair behind her ears, “I’m sorry about my . . . brother . . . . ” Eunyoung’s voice trailed off uneasily as she ended her apology with an involuntary gulp. There was a spark of mischievous curiosity in his eyes—and she really honestly really couldn’t tell if it was the erted kind of curiosity that creepy forever-alone old guys had, or the natural kind of human curiosity that everybody had. Either way, she didn’t like it.

She didn’t like the way he held her eyes so boldly, challenging her to this intimidating staredown that she couldn’t back down from. She didn’t like the way his smirk—as incredibly y as it was—gave her the chills. She didn’t like the way his height made her feel so much smaller than she was (and she wasn’t even that small—just the average height of a young Korean woman, mind you).

In other words, she was just not getting a good vibe from this guy.

He practically had the word “dangerous” slapped right on his forehead in big bolded print. And Lee Eunyoung—well, she didn’t like danger, and tended to avoid it at all costs. She had never understood why so many girls preferred the supposed “bad boy” type. Nope, those were the kind of guys she would take a pass on, thank you very much.

But, still, she had to admit that, yeah, this guy was h-o-t hot. God bless his parents. After taking a moment to enjoy feasting her eyes on this delicious eye candy, she quickly regained herself with a smile as if she hadn’t just spent the past few seconds checkin’ him out. “I’m sorry about my sister,” she heard her brother say, and her brow raised in confusion as a crooked grin appeared on his face. “She could be a total creep that’s boy-crazy sometimes.”

“Jaehyun!” Eunyoung squeaked in embarrassment, smacking the side of his head, and he grimaced shortly before laughing mockingly at his flustered sister.

“It’s fine,” the stranger chuckled, and she discreetly made a face at her brother. “She’s cute,” he said, and the words froze in her head. Was it just her, or did the world’s probably iest Asian just call her cute?

“Cute?” Jaehyun repeated seemingly innocently, blinking as his eyes rolled up and down his sister. “Yeah! My noona’s the cutest one around!” He beamed proudly, and Eunyoung was about to melt into a puddle of goo. Aw, her brother was just so sweet sometimes!

. . .

Sometimes.

“When she has makeup on,” the seven-year-old finished, making Eunyoung’s face fall.

Well this little . She was just about to strangle the kid, when she remembered she was in the presence of Mr. y-and-He-Knows-It. Not wanting to look foolish, she decided to just kill the kid when they got home.

“I would beg to differ.” The stranger winked at her, and Eunyoung took a moment of silence to mentally spazz over it while he ruffled Jaehyun’s hair affectionately, grinning. “You’re witty. I like it. You remind me of myself in the past,” he stated smugly, almost looking like a proud father.

“And that’s a good thing?” Jaehyun retorted, grinning back playfully, and they both laughed as if they had known each other for their whole lives. His eyes flickering to the far side, the stranger’s laughter soon died down into a lighthearted smile that again managed to make Eunyoung fangirl uncontrollably.

“I’ve gotta run,” he said, backwards walking away from them, and a small smirk tingled on his face. “It was nice meeting you, Eunyoung-ssi.” He gave her a small wave with two fingers before completely turning, sliding his hands smoothly into his pockets, and walking off.

“O-okay,” she said dreamily, despite him being gone already, and Jaehyun rolled his eyes. Then, just a few very short moments later, what the stranger said finally registered in her mind. How did he know my name?

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“So what’d you think about her?” Minho asked, pushing himself off the tree when he saw his colleague approach him. Kris shrugged nonchalantly, his hands still in his pockets.

“She’s clean,” he said simply, and the older rolled his eyes.

“You make it sound like we’re inspecting her for drugs,” Minho retorted.

“Okay, okay.” Kris rolled his eyes right back. He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped as he noticed two girls jogging their way. Clearing their throats, the two men pretended to converse casually about normal things like the weather. Once the women were out of earshot, Kris continued, “She’s safe, I mean. She doesn’t know.”

“So we’re not killin’ her?” Minho asked, and the latter nodded curtly in response. “You sure, dude?” Minho frowned, taking a step toward the other. “What if Luhan told her about—“

“He didn’t.” Kris waved his hand airily. “He knows what would happen if outsiders found out. You know Luhan.” He grinned crookedly. “He wouldn’t put an innocent life on the line.”

“But what if he did?” Minho hissed, lightly pushing at the shorter’s chest. “You know what would happen. We would get shut down and—“

“Relax.” Kris backed up, his hands held in the air as he scoffed. “We’ll keep an eye on her. If she starts acting funny, we’ll get rid of her and take him back to the lab. For now,” he coolly adjusted the collar of his shirt, “let’s just leave him alone for a few weeks. He deserves a vacation, don’t you think?” He raised his brow amusedly as his colleague gave him an annoyed look.

“We can’t risk this, Kris,” snapped Minho as they both started off toward the car parked at the end of the road. “If Luhan keeps staying with her, she’ll start getting suspicious of him. And, when she does, he’ll eventually give in and tell her.” He put a hand over Kris’s chest, and both men stopped walking. “He’ll tell her, Kris. He will.” He gave the younger a stern look, and Kris’s lips twitched into a frown as he slapped the older’s hand away.

“Okay. Well when he does tell her, we’ll kill her. Simple as that. Happy now?” he barked, irritated with the taller’s paranoia, and the older laughed bitterly.

“So we’re buying napkins after the mess is made?” he scoffed, and the younger stared at him blankly.

“ . . . What?”

“That was an analogy.”

“A very bad one.”

“Okay,” Minho snapped, clearly annoyed. “What I meant was, why are we waiting until after she finds out to get rid of her? We should be doing things beforehand—before things get . . . messy. For us, that is.”

“So you want to just kill her now?” Kris rephrased, and the older nodded in a pleased manner. “Okay. Fine.” Kris held his hands up boredly in defense. “Go on and kill her. Make it look like a robbery or or whatever. Nobody will ever suspect that, right?” Minho stepped forward defensively, tightening his jaw as the sarcasm dripped obviously off of Kris’s tone. “Except for Luhan, I mean,” the Chinese-Canadian added quickly, shrugging nonchalantly, and the other’s angry expression lightened to a thoughtful one.

Wolves just naturally had stronger senses of protection than humans did. They had stronger senses of needing to be the tougher one, the brave one. Luhan, having had a wolf’s gene crossed with his own, developed some similar characteristics of a wolf. He just had that same natural instinct a wolf had—the same natural instinct of just needing to be the stronger one. Physically, that is. Obviously, he wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was the strongest without a doubt, the fastest, the most reliable.

Luhan, however, along with the other experiments, inherited not only the physical senses of a wolf, but the emotional ones as well. He was easily upset, easily , easily provoked, easily angered. Then, when furious, he would without any second thoughts resort to violence. He was too kindhearted to use his strength on anyone smaller than him—anyone innocent- or fragile-looking—but, in other situations where the opponent was stronger or infuriating, he wouldn’t hesitate to rip some heads off.

Just like wolves, Luhan also had that strong sense of loyalty. He would die for his loved ones, and would even kill for them. Of course, he also had his own qualities inherited from his parents, and not just the wolves whose DNA now resided in him. Ever since young, he had always been the type who grew attached easily and felt guilty easily, the guy who was too nice for his own good.

In other words, with his faithful commitment, short temper, and quick attachment, Luhan really wouldn’t take it so well if his newfound host just suddenly turned up dead—or murdered, to be specific.

“I mean, right? It’s just too great of a coincidence if—so shortly after his arrival—his host just suddenly got killed. He would know we found him. And he would run.” Kris paused. “Or maybe kill us,” he added shortly thereafter. Really, if he had a host that beautiful, he would definitely grow fond of her easily—and growing fond of her meant growing protective of her.

“I don’t know, Kris.” Minho ruffled his hair thoughtfully with a sigh. “I still think we should get rid of her,” he said hesitantly. “It’s just not safe. If she finds out, she’ll tell someone and . . . that won’t really end good for us.”

“I’ll keep my eye on her,” Kris reassured. “If I think she knows something about what we’re doing at the lab, I’ll get rid of her,” he promised even further when he saw the doubt in Minho’s expression. “Let’s just give Luhan a few weeks to rest. He needs it, after all,” he said, genuinely concerned for his former best friend. The Korean stared at him for a long time, and Kris stared back just as boldly. After a challenging staredown, the older finally sighed.

“If she finds out, and tells somebody, it’s on you, Kris. It’s on you.” He  gently, but warningly thumped the other’s chest, and gave him a serious look to which Kris returned with his signature smirk.