"I see. So that's what happens.", Kartein nodded with his arms crossed.
"Yeah. It was not really a good one but I'm glad I regained my memories.", Amyeong replied.
"Well... You're right. I know Aiza is also glad you regained it.", Kartein said and stared at him. Amyeong nodded in reply and smiled in relief.
"I'll excuse myself. I'll go to the room and check on her.", Amyeong said and walked away. Kartein watched him open the door and go inside the room before he uncrossed his arms and walked towards the sofa to sit beside Kayden.
"Looks like I'm the only one who doesn't have an apprentice here.", Kartein sighed and turned his head to look at Kayden, who leaned his arm on hand rest of the sofa with a sulky face. Kartein slowly moved closer to him and nudged him.
"Hey! Are you still not over it?", Kartein asked with a low voice. Kayden shot him a glare before he looked in the other direction and clicked his tongue.
'Ah! He's still not over it.', Kartein frowned.
"Mr. Kartein..."
Kartein turned his head to face Jiwoo, who just sat on the sofa beside him. Jiwoo leaned closer to Kartein's ear and whispered to him.
"What's wrong with Mr. Kayden?", Jiwoo asked.
"He's embarrassed.", Kartein whispered back.
"Embarrassed? Why?"
"He rejected Amyeong earlier cause he thought he was the one Amyeong called Master."
Kayden's eyes twitched upon overhearing their conversation. Feeling annoyed, he grabbed the small pillow from the sofa and threw it to Kartein. Just when Kartein was about to face him again to talk, the pillow landed straight on his face.
"Kayden, you bastard!", Kartein gritted his teeth as he tightly gripped the pillow.
"Do you want to die, you punk!?", Kartein said angrily.
"I should be the one to tell you that, you bastard! I'm not embarrassed! I'm just not in the mood to talk!", Kayden talked back.
Kartein launched at him and grabbed his hair while Kayden grabbed his hair back. They started shouting as they kept on pulling each other's hair.
"S-Stop... P-Please C-calm down, Mr. Kartein...", Jiwoo said as he raised his hands, trying to calm the two but they didn't bother to listen.
"The fuck?! Do you guys think you were still kids?!"
Kayden and Kartein paused when they both heard Aiza's voice. They then turn their heads to face her, who is standing at the door of the room with her arms crossed and a displeased look on her face.
"Aiza? You just woke up?", Kartein asked cluelessly, making Aiza click her tongue.
"I woke up because the two of you are so noisy, you bastards!", she hissed, making the two guys scratch their heads and avoid her glare.
Amyeong stood beside her and patted her back to calm her down. Aiza then took a sigh before she leaned on the wall to face Amyeong.
"By the way, are you planning to go back to the frame?"
"Nah. I'm planning to quit.", he replied nonchalantly.
The four awakeners looked at him in surprise. Amyeong took a step backward and looked at them awkwardly.
"W-what?", he said, feeling uneasy about their gazes.
"Aren't you going to be punished if you're going to do that?", Aiza blinked.
"Well... Of course I'll be punished...", Amyeong replied and slowly avoided her gaze.
Aiza frowned. She then raised her hand and flicked Amyeong's forehead.
"Ow! Hey! That hurts!", Amyeong pouted while rubbing his forehead.
"Dummy! Why did you even join that organization if you're going to quit? Do you want to die?!", Aiza nagged and raised her hand to hit him but Amyeong took a step back and dodged her hand.
'They're like siblings', the other three boys thought as they watch Aiza and Amyeong hitting and dodging each other.
"W-Wait no... I mean...", Amyeong dodged again. Aiza raised her other hand and hit him.
"Argh! Stop hitting me, master!", Amyeong complained.
"So what are you planning to do now that you're quitting?", Kayden asked. Aiza and Amyeong stopped and looked at Kayden.
"Oh! I'm going to follow my master.", Amyeong replied and pointed Aiza.
"Hmm... Oh well, following me is not a bad idea right now. After all, I already have an idea of how to perfectly hide my identity.", Aiza smiled proudly. Amyeong's face smiled brightly and looked at Aiza with excitement.
"Really? How?", he asked.
"Haha! About that-"
Just before Aiza could finish her word, Aiza could feel her body shrink.
"M-master? A-are you okay?", Amyeong asked worriedly as he looked at Aiza crouching but Aiza raised her thumb to ease his worry.
"Dang! Looks like her state is worse than mine.", Kayden said. Kartein then sighed and shook his head.
"What are you guys talking about?", Amyeong asked confusedly.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed in the room. Amyeong turned his head to face Aiza. His eyes were then widened in surprise upon seeing a Grey mouse standing on Aiza's spot.
Amyeong blinked for a while and turned his head to look for Aiza on the other side of the room but he couldn't find her. He stared back at the mouse with a surprised expression.
"M-master?", Amyeong asked with disbelief.
The mouse smiled proudly, which made Amyeong's jaw drop.
"What do you think? It looks good right?", Aiza asked.
Amyeong slowly nodded and clapped his hands.
"Wow! You transformed!"
"Yeah! And the funny thing is... I'm not the only one who can do this.", Aiza said and smirked.
"What? Who else?", Amyeong asked.
Aiza turned her head and looked at Kayden and Kartein. The two boys sighed and exchanged glances with each other before transforming themselves back into their animal forms.
Amyeong blinked while looking at the orange cat and the white cat on the sofa. He slowly turned his head to Aiza while pointing to Kayden and Kartein.
"So... You guys can transform?", Amyeong asked, feeling surprised.
"Yeah!", Aiza said proudly.
"H-How? I never thought this was possible.", Amyeong said in disbelief.
"Oh, come on! Nothing is impossible for us.", Aiza said and the other two cats nodded with a proud look on their faces.
"Huhuhu! We totally agree to that!", Kayden said with a smug face.
The three animals then burst into laughter. Amyeong and Jiwoo exchanged glances, feeling awkward about how the three of them laughed proudly at themselves.
"But you know, rui... Even though these two guys could transform like I did, there's something I can do that they couldn't.", Aiza smirked, which made the two cats frown at her.
"Really? Then, what is it?", Amyeong asked excitedly.
Aiza closed her eyes. With the light of her power surrounding her body, her size started to grow bigger. She started to grow white fur, long tail, and big paws until her body completely turned into a Bengal tiger.
"Woah!", Amyeong was struck in awe as he clapped his hands while staring at Aiza. Both cats clicked their tongues and looked away from her. Aiza then turned as she flexed her tiger form to Amyeong.
"You know what, Hyung? Ms. Aiza could not only transform into animal. She could also copy other people's physiques too!", Jiwoo said excitedly.
"Really?", Amyeong asked, feeling interested.
"Yeah! He can copy Mr. Kartein's physiques.", Jiwoo said excitedly.
"Ugh! S-stop...", Kartein's face started to turn red out of embarrassment.
"Wow! Then... Can you do that right now, master?", Amyeong asked, feeling excited.
"Ah! Um...", Aiza scratched her head, feeling hesitant to do it.
"She can't show you right now. Transforming herself to look like other people drains her energy a lot.", Kartein explained.
"Is that so?", Amyeong turned his head to face Kartein.
"Yeah. You see, she uncontrollably transformed herself earlier into her mouse form. It was because she had been injured and just used her power recently so she is not in good shape right now.", Kartein added.
Amyeong stared at Aiza for a while, feeling down after hearing what Kartein said.
"You want to see it that bad? It's okay. Maintaining my copied appearance for a minute won't hurt that bad.", Aiza said and stood up. Amyeong shook his head and ran towards her to stop her.
"No. No. Just stay like that, master.", he said.
"But you look like you really want to see it.", Aiza said and was about to activate her power to transform but Amyeong quickly embraced her.
'Eh?', Aiza blinked and looked at Amyeong hugging her tightly.
"Fluffy!", Amyeong said and smiled like a child.
"Are you teasing me?", Aiza said and frowned.
"Hmm... I've never seen him act like that before.", Kayden said with a low voice. Kartein turned his head and looked at him. He stared at Kayden for a while before he turned his head again to watch Aiza and Amyeong.
"Do you think that kid will show you that side with that rude personality of yours?", Kartein said nonchalantly, which made Kayden glare at him.
'But now that I think about it. That Amyeong kid's personality is almost the same as Jiwoo.', Kartein thought and moved his eyes to look at Jiwoo.
'Though Jiwoo is way more naive than him.', Kartein sighed and looked back at Amyeong.
'But I can't blame him. After all, he went through a lot. Aiza, too.', Kartein looked at them sadly.
"Hyung! You said you're going to follow where Ms. Aiza is going, right?", Jiwoo asked, making Aiza and Amyeong pause and look at him.
"Y-Yeah...", Amyeong replied hesitantly.
"Then... Since Ms. Aiza is staying with us, are you going to stay with us too?", Jiwoo asked joyfully.
"Um... I'm not sure about that...", Amyeong replied while scratching his head.
"You can stay with us, rui..."
Everyone flinched when they heard another person's voice. They all looked towards the other room and were surprised to see Jiwoo's mother standing at the door, giving them a warm smile.
"Mom!", Jiwoo stood up and ran towards his mother. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine now that I already took a rest.", Dr. Kang replied.
"By the way, where's Aiza, your teacher, and the person who healed me?", she asked while looking around the room. She then paused upon seeing the two cats sitting on the sofa and the Bengal tiger sitting on the floor beside Amyeong.
"Oh! The cats...", Dr. Kang pointed at the animals and stared at them. Kayden and Kartein exchanged glances at each other and started sweating.
Aiza stood up. She then transformed herself back into her mouse form as she walked towards her, making everyone in the room look at her in shock.
"It's me. Aiza.", Aiza said, which made Kayden and Kartein's jaw drop.
"Oh!", Jiwoo's mother crouched and extended her hand. Aiza then jumped towards her hand and sat on her palm. Yujeong stood back up with Aiza in her hand and looked at Amyeong.
"You can stay with Jiwoo, Rui. After all, it would be nice if Jiwoo had a big brother like you.", she said and smiled.
"Yeah! Stay with us, Hyung!"
Amyeong lowered his head and looked down, still feeling guilty for what he had done to Jiwoo in the past.
"But... I don't deserve it.", Amyeong replied.
Jiwoo walked towards him. He then held Amyeong's hand and looked at him in the eyes.
"It's alright, Hyung! It's all in the past now. I already forgive you.", Jiwoo said and smiled.
Amyeong took a glance at Aiza. Aiza then winked at him, signaling him to agree with them.
"Well... If you say so... Then I'll be staying.", he replied.
Jiwoo then jumped out with joy. Aiza and Dr. Kang looked at each other and smiled while the two cats also smiled in relief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside the office, a certain guy leaned on his office chair, indulging himself with his expensive cigarette. Suddenly, a call notification flashed on his tablet. His brow raised as he read the name of the person calling him. He then raised his hand and swiped his tablet to answer the call.
"What is it?", he asked and blew the cigarette again.
"Sir, the research facility EZ-9 has been wiped off the map by an awakened one.", the caller replied, which made him pause.
"What?! By whom?", he said in shock.
"Based on the leftover power trace, we speculate it was Aiza Trey."
"Again?!", the guy gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Yes, sir. One of the researchers had betrayed us before the attack. We think she's associated with Aiza Trey."
He sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair, massaging his temple to calm himself.
"Who's that researcher?", he asked.
"It was Yujeong Kang, sir."
The guy paused and opened his eyes. He slowly moved his head and faced the tablet.
"Yujeong Kang... Hmm... Why does her name sound familiar...", the guy mumbled.
"Send me her personal information and inform the others about this incident.", he said and the guy nodded in reply.
"Understood, sir.", the caller replied and ended the call.
The guy waited for a while. When the notification popped up, he quickly clicked it and opened the file. A mischievous smile slowly formed on his lips as he stared at Yujeong's face.
"What the hell? I thought it was only her last name that was similar to hers. Even her eye color and hair look the same.", he chuckled and shook his head.
"Dang! I don't think this is some sort of coincidence.", he then leaned his arms on the table and rested his chin above his intertwined fingers.
"Yujeong Kang. Yeojin Kang. Hmm... I wonder... Could they be some sort of a relative?", he mumbled and started to think deeply while staring at Yuejong's picture.
"Things started to get more interesting.", he said and smirked evilly.