Shinju seemed unsure, but she left either way.

  K took his spot by the middle of the empty dance hall, as the rest of the troupe slowly filtered in. The first to approach him was Mamoru, as always.

  “Xian, you alright, man?” Mamoru scratched at the back of his head, awkwardly. “You were bleeding like all the eight hells combined when we got to you.”

  “We were all,” Ryo began, as Yuki finished, “quite worried.”

  K was surprised by their genuine concern.

  They didn’t even know him… and yet, they were conscious of his well being.

  He pushed the thought out of his mind, however. He was sure that they just cared because he was their superior.

  Zhao whispered, “And that creature…”

  He must have been referring to Hun. Of course, none of his troupe members had ever seen the Beast in action. K didn’t put it past them to be so surprised.

  “That creature was just my Beast,” K cleared his throat. “As part of my Blessing.”

  “It turned into a bird and instantly huddled over to Pachi,” Shinju recounted. She clearly hadn’t meant anything by it, but it still made K frown petulantly.

  “Regardless,” K began. “I would like to train with all of you today.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Wen spat, appearing out of nowhere. “Did almost dying give you a change of heart?”

  “Wen,” Shinju admonished.

  “No, no,” K raised a placating hand. “He’s right. I had… tossed all of you away. I would like to make it right.”

  There was a heavy silence that descended upon the room.

  “I’m sorry, but…” Shinju looked to be deep in thought. “I don’t think we really understand what you mean.”

  K didn’t even blink. “I mean that I would like to train all of you. To turn you into an intelligence agency that the Triads will be proud to call its own.”

  Upon hearing those words, it was like his troupe instantly closed itself off. Shinju turned down to stare at the floor, a sharp frown slicing into her features. Wen was by her side in a single second, pressing a comforting hand to her shoulder.

  The twins huddled closer together, Mamoru slammed his mouth shut into a tight line, and Zhao stared ahead.

  Of course.

  K had nearly forgotten that his troupe never chose to work for the Triads. They didn’t care if Master Banzai favoured them.

  And if K wanted to appeal to them— he needed to play into what truly lay within their hearts.

  “Listen,” K sighed. “I… was drafted into the Triads against my will as well.”

  This seemed to catch everyone’s attention.

  The Golden Phantom was elusive— hardly human. And yet, here he was: sharing one of the deepest facets of his past with a group that he hardly knew.

  Wen suddenly cut him off, his voice softer than K expected. “I saw what you did, you know.”

  The troupe froze under his words. They all knew what Wen was talking about. They'd probably spoken of it; back and forth among themselves.

  When K gestured for Wen to continue, he said, “Right before you crashed into me in Chin Hae’s estate… I saw it. You tried to save that kid. But he stabbed you in the back.”

  The troupe watched him unsteadily, waiting for an outward response. K didn’t give them any.

  Wen tried to push through. “Why did you do that?”

  “Ah, well…” K’s voice turned empty. “I guess… I saw the vigor in his eyes.”

  When he looked back up, he saw the way his troupe gazed at him. That same brisk liveliness in their gazes. K wondered how his eyes paled in comparison.

  The others shared a long stare, looking back and forth among one another. Before at last, it seemed they came to a conclusion:

  “Fine,” Shinju was the one who spoke. “We’ll train with you.”

  Before K could reply, Wen cut in. “For one thing in exchange: we want you to prove that you’re human.”

  K looked at him for a long time, before he chittered out a loud laugh. “So that’s what this is… you refuse to work for a monster, then?”

  “I’m not swearing my loyalty to the damn Golden Phantom,” Mamoru spat, folding his arms. “But… for the guy who saved a kid that obviously wanted to kill him… I guess that’s a different story.”

  “For a moment,” Yuki said softly.

  “You didn’t seem like Master Banzai’s dog,” Ryo added.

  Zhao stepped forward, depositing a hand on K’s shoulder.

  K looked at them all, before he broke into an incredulous laugh. The strange lilt of his voice made the troupe members uneasy.

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  “Alright, then.” K bowed his head in ascent. “Let me show you how human I can be.”

  “I was only a child when I joined.” The memory came to K easily. After all, he thought back to it a lot. Wondered what his life would be like, if he and his brother were only a little less unlucky.

  While he'd ordinarily be wary about the amount of personal information divulged… He knew that none of this could be traced back to Kaiso Lahn.

  His story wasn’t special enough. In fact, it was a common occurrence within the Triads.

  To his troupe, who were also forced to work against their wills; he was sure it would come as no surprise to them.

  In front of him, the rest of the troupe stood in pairs. He had separated them himself— Yuki and Wen. Ryo and Zhao. Mamoru and Shinju.

  The twin’s Path worked best as a way to send information quickly.

  Wen and Zhao had combative abilities that could keep both Yuki and Ryo safe, respectively.

  Meanwhile, Mamoru’s untempered ability was evenly matched with Shinju’s. Especially because she could keep pace with him.

  Before them, K stood on one of the dining tables. Their training regime for today was simple:

  They shall try to snatch away the fine champagne glass that K held in his hand without breaking it.

  “I came from a country torn apart by war. My brother… he happened to find a job that promised him a way out of the country.” K recalled the profound joy that graced his brother’s face.

  The both of them clutched the acceptance letter; torn and wet in their dented mailbox.

  “They gave him some money, and the name of a boat that he could board to send him straight to them.”

  Even when the troupe came rushing over to him, K’s mind was still elsewhere. He easily dodged the opening attack that Zhao attempted; the man’s shots aimed toward K.

  He deflected them by hopping behind the table, using it as a shield. K’s chest grew heavy. “But on the day he was supposed to leave… he sent me instead. He didn’t want to leave me there to fend for myself.”

  K wasn’t surprised to see a spear of glass emerge from the ground, rolling out of the way as Shinju descended upon him.

  K tsked, rolling the champagne glass away from his side, “Shinju, stop performing attacks alongside Wen. Your partner is Mamoru.”

  As he had expected, Mamoru quickly slid over toward the glass, a wide grin on his face, “Yes! I got it, guys—”

  But Mamoru slipped, crashing into one of the other tables. Wheel of Wind and Fire made the poor piece of furniture slide around, as well.

  Shinju sighed, already moving to get him. She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Carry on with your story and I might listen next time.”

  K smirked, gathering himself on his feet. “So, my brother stayed to fight in my country’s war. Meanwhile, I reached Tianxia’s shores.”

  A loud gunshot echoed in front of him, teleporting him to the other side of the room.

  “And then what happened?” Wen instantly surrounded him with a cell of sharp glass, keeping K in place. One was pointed threateningly against his neck.

  Wen leered victoriously. Already believing themselves to have won, Ryo ran over to the champagne glass lying on the floor.

  “The moment I stepped off the boat, I was carried away to a compound. It was run by the Triads…” K breathed deeply at the memory. “And my brother…”

  This was the first time he ever stated it aloud. He was shocked to find that it made it difficult to breathe.

  “My brother was tricked. They planned to trap him and force him to work for the Triads forever. But because he sent me instead…” K sighed, his voice soft and horrified. “Well, I was the one trapped. And the rest is history.”

  Wen softened at his words. “Kizuna…”

  Suddenly, Ryo looked up from the lone champagne glass with wide eyes; shooting his brother a look.

  Yuki perked up at this, and exclaimed in front of Wen’s face, “It’s a fake! The real glass is still on him.”

  K grinned as the rest of the troupe turned to look at him.

  He produced the real champagne glass, stashed in his frock coat. It was a miracle it hadn’t broken in the middle of their tussle.

  Wen pulled down the shards that surrounded K, Mamoru slipping in place behind K’s back to force him still.

  With two loud bangs, Two Dragons Playing With a Pearl teleported Shinju to face K. She grinned victoriously as she snatched the glass away from him.

  The troupe’s faces were practically glowing with joy. They cradled the glass between all of their hands like it was a baby.

  “Congratulations.” K rolled his shoulders back— before he shot a leg straight into Shinju’s gut.

  She rolled over the ground, Wen chasing after her to help; as K shoved an elbow against Mamoru’s hold.

  He easily dislodged himself and shoved the other boy straight into Zhao. The latter dropped his pistol from the impact.

  The twins watched in a mix of horror and awe, still holding the champagne glass.

  K plucked the glass from them. “I was going easy on you all, though. You all have ways to improve.”

  He pointed to each of them, “Shinju, you are not adept at combat, despite your Path. Wen, you get distracted by your comrades far too easily. Zhao does not have a high guard, and Mamoru is the exact opposite. And the twins are too weak.”

  The troupe glanced down at the floor, ashamed.

  Until K added, “However, this was a good start. It might even be enough to complete your first mission.”

  “Complete our mission?” Shinju perked up. “You mean…”

  “Yes,” K nodded assuredly. He slipped the golden ticket from his pocket, showing it to them. “You’ll be sneaking into Dae-Jung’s barge party to save Isagani.”

  Again, the troupe positively glowed. They all shared excited looks; and K came to a sudden realization:

  This was the first time they've been acknowledged. The first time they were given a purpose beyond blindly following Banzai’s command. It amplified the joy they felt.

  K’s hollow heart seemed to beat faster, seeing their reaction.

  How strange.

  “Well, well!”

  K’s mood instantly soured.

  A hand slinked around his shoulders. “What’s the occasion? I’m a little sad you all planned this get-together without me… especially with our dear Kizuna finally out of bed!”

  “We were just training.” K turned to face Pachi.

  He glowered further when he saw Hun still lounging on the boy’s shoulder; this time in the shape of a ferret.

  “Hun,” he snapped in a low voice. “Come here.”

  The Beast looked back and forth between him and Pachi, before at last acceding. Hun skittered over to K’s own shoulder, Pachi smiling knowingly at the scene.

  With that, the boy steered K farther away from the rest of the troupe. They chattered excitedly amongst themselves, still feeling the adrenaline of a spar.

  Pachi whispered so only K could hear. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  “What?” K asked hollowly.

  “Not relying on fear,” was all Pachi said, as he stepped away.

  K wished to retort, but then he noticed another figure walking towards them.

  His mouth was moving before it could help itself. “Who is that?”

  “Oh!” Pachi excitedly drew his hands back to gesture at the man. “This is the first time you’re meeting— this is Sam Yoon, my cousin.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” a hand stretched out to take K’s.

  K tried to hide how the name made his heart stammer.

  Sam— the man his brother had been in contact with.

  When K looked up, he met curly strawberry-blond hair and a face framed by wide, bright-red lenses.

  K shook the palm offered to him. “And I, as well.”