Jiyoo awoke on a soft bed with a hand on her forehead and a pair of dark eyes staring at her. The eyes belonged to a young man with equally dark hair who she figured was no older than she was. She wanted to be afraid of this man – and, in the back of her mind, she was – but looking at him now, she felt strangely calm. The man grinned at her. “You’re awake,” he said happily. She recognized that voice. This was the man from before who had told her to go with him.

Without taking time to think anything through, Jiyoo sat up, grabbed the pillow she was laying on and began to hit the strange man with it. “Who are you? Where am I? What do you want with me?” she said this with a strangely tranquil tone, hitting the man multiple times with each question.

“Ow!” the man cried, blocking her hits with his arms, “Luhan, I thought you said she was calm! Why is she hitting me?”

Jiyoo stopped throwing the pillow for a moment as she looked next to her. Another young man was standing there peacefully and Jiyoo figured he was the man whose hand was on her head a moment ago. “She is calm,” Luhan replied, “People can hit other people when they’re calm.”

The man with the dark eyes grabbed the pillow out of Jiyoo’s hands and hid it behind his back. “Okay, but why are you hitting me?” he asked, turning his attention back to her.

Luhan chuckled and answered for her. “Probably because you’re scary, Tao.”

Tao looked at Jiyoo completely heartbroken and his jaw dropped. “You think I’m scary?” he asked rather loudly, “I’m not scary! Why would you think I’m scary?”

“Have you seen yourself lately?” Luhan replied sarcastically, “I mean, look at you! You look like you’re about to murder her!”

“I do not! Quit saying that!” Tao yelled back to Luhan, “You’re just mad because she likes me more than she likes you!”

Luhan scoffed. “Yeah right. People don’t throw pillows at strangers because they like them! Clearly, you’re scaring her!”

Suddenly the door burst open and another young man with fiery orange hair stood at the other side of the door looking like he was about to burst in anger. “Hey!” he yelled, “Enough with the yelling! Do you want t –” He stopped midsentence as he spotted Jiyoo sitting upright on the bed. The man smiled gently and slowly walked up to her. “Good morning, princess,” he said once he was next to her on the side of her bed. He placed a warm hand on Jiyoo’s cheek and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

Jiyoo’s mind went blank. She didn’t have time to comprehend what had just happened because Tao forcefully separated the two of them. “Hey, no fair, Yixing!” he cried out, “I want to kiss her, too!”

He crawled over to her and was about to kiss her when Jiyoo pushed him away. “Stop kissing me! All of you!” she ordered. Tao stared at her with wide eyes, surprised at her statement, but immediately sat back down on the bed in front of her. Jiyoo sighed heavily then looked over at Yixing, curious about who this new man was. “Who are you? What do you want from me and why did you kiss me?” she asked him, fear evident on her face and in her voice.

“I kissed you because I love you,” Yixing replied simply, ignoring her first two questions. He then looked at the two other boys in the room and, when he did so, his demeanor changed drastically. “Tao, go get the others and meet me in the Main Room now. We have matters to discuss.” Yixing looked at Luhan and then at Jiyoo. “Luhan, bring the girl,” he added.

Everyone nodded and Tao left the room following Yixing. Luhan sighed and looked at Jiyoo. He smiled when he saw her face then gently placed his hand on her cheek and caressed it softly. Jiyoo jumped back in surprise. Luhan removed his hand. “Sorry,” he said with a shy smile, “Do you think you can walk? If not, I’ll help you.”

Jiyoo nodded. “I can walk,” she said, bringing her feet to the side of the bed. She looked down at her exposed legs and saw various bandages covering her legs. Confused, she looked back at Luhan and asked, “What happened to my legs?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not a very good healer,” he replied, “You fell when you were trying to get out of your house and scratched your legs on the road. Your palms are also a little bit scratched and you have small burn marks on your body but you’re not badly injured.”

In that instant, he saw anguish contort the lines of her face. “So that was real?” Jiyoo asked, “I didn’t dream it? My house is gone? My family is gone?”

Luhan nodded solemnly, “I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do.” He sat down on the bed next to Jiyoo and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug as tears streamed down her face. Jiyoo began to speak to Luhan but he couldn’t understand what she was saying through her tears. “It’s okay,” he said after a while. He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently her hair. “Calm down,” he added, “It’s okay. You’re safe here. Calm down.”

Immediately, Jiyoo stopped crying. Her head almost felt numb at Luhan’s touch. Her breathing was still shaky and leftover tears fell from her eyes but, other than that, she felt calm. Luhan let go of her and stood up. “We should go,” he said, “Yixing’s probably waiting for us.” Jiyoo nodded and slowly stood up, her scratched up legs aching with every step. They began to walk out of the room and Luhan held on to her shoulders and escorted her out and into the Main Room.

The main room was essentially a common area with three leather couches, a coffee table, and a TV against the wall on top of a small table. Yixing was standing by the TV and Tao, along with two unfamiliar faces, were sitting on the couches. They all smiled when they saw Jiyoo approaching. Luhan carefully sat her down on one of the couches and sat down next to her. Tao immediately moved from where he was sitting and sat on the other side of her and grinned.

Yixing coughed to get everyone’s attention. “Where’s Kris?” he asked, looking around the area. Jiyoo cocked her head at the mention of that name. Who was Kris? Jiyoo figured he must have been the man with the gun since the two strange boys on the other couch weren’t tall enough to be him.

One of the two men spoke first. “He didn’t make it,” the man said, “After the fight, I tried to bring him back but he was far too injured to revive. I’m sorry.”

Yixing sighed. “He was a brave soldier and he will be missed.” The other men nodded in agreement and Jiyoo’s eyes widened in shock. Yixing’s eyes then fell on Jiyoo and his expression softened. “Jiyoo,” he called out. She looked up at him, trying to stop the tears from falling down her face. “I know you have questions for us and we will answer them for you now.”

Jiyoo nodded but hesitated to say anything to these strange men. She was scared. Tao’s hand reached out for hers and he squeezed it supportively. Jiyoo smiled at the gesture. She took a deep breath. “Where am I?” she finally asked.

“I’m sorry,” Yixing answered, “I can’t answer that question.”

She understood a little why he couldn’t answer that particular question but it sort of annoyed her that he said he would answer her questions but then didn’t. “What do you want from me?” she asked him, hoping for an answer this time.

“I can’t answer that question either,” he said.

“Then what can you tell me?”

Tao rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb in an attempt to calm her down and Jiyoo sighed again and looked down at her lap, feeling defeated.

Yixing walked up to her and placed a hand on her cheek, causing her to look up at him. “I will tell you what I can,” he stated, removing his hand from her face, “First, I think we should introduce ourselves. Maybe that will help.” Jiyoo nodded. “My name is Yixing and I’m the leader of this group.”

To her right, Tao spoke. “I’m Zitao but everyone just calls me Tao.”

“I’m Minseok,” the guy from before said with a slight bow. Jiyoo felt the urge to bow back.

Next to him, the other man spoke for the first time. “Jongdae.”

Luhan leaned over so she could see his face. “I’m Luhan,” he said with a smile.

Jiyoo felt the urge to introduce herself next. “My name is Yoon Jiyoo,” she whispered.

Yixing smiled. “We know. We’ve been watching over you your whole life.” Jiyoo looked up at him with a mixture of confusion and fear. Yixing continued. “Jiyoo, you’re special to us. Your grandfather was the one who told us to watch over you.”

“My grandfather?” Jiyoo asked. She never knew her grandfather.

Yixing nodded. “He ordered us to watch over you and keep you safe since he is unable to do so himself. He knew from the day you were born that you would be in danger.”

“In danger?”

“Yes. Those things that tried to attack you yesterday have been trying to kill you your whole life. Your grandfather put a protective spell on your house but it eventually got too weak and those demons – those Inspirits – burned it down in an attempt to kill you.”

Jiyoo cocked her head in confusion. “Inspirits?” she asked, “What are those?”

“You’ll find out sooner or later,” Yixing said. He noted the disappointed look on Jiyoo’s face and he bent down and kissed her once more. “I know you’re sad but there are things we can’t tell you. At least, not yet. Not until you’re ready. You need to trust us.”

She could feel the tears threatening to fall for the second time since she woke up. All of this was just too much. Her house was gone. Her family was gone. Her life was gone. And now these five random guys are watching after her and kissing her? This was too crazy. She didn’t want to be a part of this any longer.

Suddenly, she stood up, ignoring the pain in her legs. Luhan stood up after her and grabbed her by the wrist. Jiyoo yanked her arm away from him. “Don’t touch me!” she spat then looked at the others, the tears freely falling now. “You want me to trust you? I don’t even know you! How do you expect me to trust five random strangers whom I’ve never met before? For all I know, you guys could be the ones trying to kill me!”

Tao then stood up and walked over to her. “Please,” he said as he swiftly stole a kiss, “We love you. We would never hurt you. You can trust us.”

“I said stop kissing me!” Jiyoo snapped, pushing Tao away from her. “How can you say that you love me when you don’t even know me?”

“But we do know you,” Yixing chimed in, “We’ve known you for twenty years. Twenty years is a long time to fall in love with someone.” Jiyoo glanced over at Minseok who shrugged his shoulders innocently and Jongdae who wasn’t even paying attention. Yixing continued. “Do you trust us?”

She stood there for a moment, unable to comprehend what was happening then she shook her head. “No. I don’t,” she cried and turned around to leave but something caught her wrist once again. She turned around and saw Luhan’s arm holding her, and when she looked in his eyes, she saw pain and disappointment. She ignored his look, thinking it could be a trap. “Leave me alone!” Jiyoo yelled, forcing her hand away from Luhan and storming back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Seven boys knelt quietly in the dimly lit room, their heads bowed in shame. None of them dared speak – not after what they had done.

“I see you have failed me yet again,” a deep, booming voice echoed throughout the room.

“We’re sorry,” one of the boys – the leader – said automatically. He was the only one brave enough to speak in this situation.

The voice was quiet for a few moments. “Although,” the voice suddenly said, causing the youngest one to jump, “you did manage to kill one of the annoying Outliers and, therefore, I will spare your lives. But only for today. If you fail me one more time, I will have to dispose of you. I do not need any failures. Understand?”

Immediately, the leader spoke again. “We understand. We won’t let you down.”

“Now go,” the voice spoke, “Do whatever you can. Find her! We cannot have the Guardian find his successor!”

The seven boys bowed deeply to the voice. “Yes Father.”

I hope this cleared up some questions you might have had while reading the Prologue. Also, EXO-K won't appear until the second half of the story so please anticipate their arrival! And one other thing, Lay calling Jiyoo 'princess' doesn't mean she's a princess, it's just a pet name he used.