THE GIFTED | STRAY KIDS ✔

40

Changbin felt a shiver run down his spine. It didn't help that he was also frozen in place. His eyes drifted back and forth and found that the other six were the same as well. Too shocked to move. Too shocked to say anything. All of their eyes were fixed on the woman in front of them.

One thing was for sure. This wasn't Captain Lee. The voice didn't belong to her. From what they could make out from the silhouette, it wasn't Captain Lee's physique as well.

He felt Chan's heavy breathing beside him as the older shakily stood up and walked closer to the windshield to get a better look. Minho immediately leaned back to give Chan some space to look.

"Jeongin!" Chan whisper-yelled. "Put up your shield, fast! Cover the whole van!"

The shield was up almost in a split second, and everyone waited in silence. A few moments later, the sound of laughter was heard. The woman was laughing at them.

"This won't do you any good," She said, slowly approaching the van.

"W-Who are you?" Chan questioned through the built-in speaker. Changbin could tell that Chan was upset about his stutter. It basically gave away how afraid he was. "What do you want from us?"

"I'm not the enemy," the woman spoke. "I've come to help you."

"And why would we trust you?" Chan asked, extremely suspicious of the woman's intentions.

"Because you have no other choice," the woman answered as she made her way past Jeongin's shield with ease. Everyone gasped. "The least you can do is hear me out."

The woman was now close enough to be seen clearly. She wore a white bodysuit with white combat boots to match. She had brown hair and pale skin. She looked as if she was not more than twenty-five.

"Hyunjin," the woman called out. Hyunjin froze in his seat, wide-eyed. "Won't you hear me out?"

The rest turned to look at the man in question, who was just as confused and surprised as them.

"Do you know her?" Jisung whispered.

"No!" Hyunjin responded. He took one more look at her and noticed the little splatter of freckles that decorated her face. She looked so awfully familiar.

"What?" Chan inquired, seeming to read Hyunjin's expressions. "Do you know something about her?"

"She..." Hyunjin began, staring at the woman in front of their van. "She looks... like Felix."

"What do you mean?" Jisung asked, turning around to get a good look at the woman again. "Because of the freckles? Come on, Hyunjin, people can have freckles, you know."

"I'm serious!" Hyunjin exclaimed. "Don't you guys see it? She looks exactly like Felix!"

"So you're saying someone turned Felix into a girl?" Seungmin asked.

"No, you idiot," Hyunjin replied. "She's probably Felix's-"

"I'm Felix's sister," The woman completed the sentence, smiling at them from below. "Will you let me in now?"