Wait, Kisa mouths, intent on listening more. If they rush them now…Korain is an incredibly strong haetae—one who possibly tore the heavenly emperor’s heart right out of his chest. Somi and Kisa are both immune to death, but there are other considerations that they cannot ignore. Korain might get away. So might Chaeyeon. And something about Chaeyeon is worrying her…Other than the fact she’s holding Hwanin’s underwear. An instinct low in her stomach tells her that now would be the wrong time to strike.

The haetae draws his phone out of his pocket. “I can call Boss right now—”

Chaeyeon stiffens, holds up a hand. Her eyes suddenly shrewd and unnervingly birdlike, she looks around the hallway. Her eyes land on the cart, and Kisa holds her breath, heart hammering rapidly against her ribs. Somi is silently snarling in anticipation, and summons her claws. The ravaged talons appear, and the gumiho’s face goes pale—as if she forgot.

The girl’s eyes finally move away from the cart. “Not now,” she says. “Go somewhere more private.” She rolls her shoulders, turning—and Kisa’s stomach drops as she sees the faint outline of feathers on the girl’s arms and neck, bare underneath her collared white shirt. As if they were sketched onto her skin with pencil, and are growing darker, more lifelike, by the second. Alarm blares through Kisa, and she frantically riffles through her memory to confirm that she is correct in her assumption that Chaeyeon is…

The creatures’ bodies, when in alarm or otherwise tense situations, will unconsciously begin the shift into their great and powerful animalistic form. Anatomically, it is impossible to say where the animalistic form is stored when the human form is in place, but it is generally assumed that the transformation process is a transformation of “inside-to-out” (Lee et al., 2004). When watching these individuals transform, it is fascinating to note how the feathers seem to push up from underneath the skin to commence the process—soon after, the human form will be entirely replaced by the body of a gigantic bird—or, in rare cases, yong—save for the face, which remains human…

Anxious sweat breaks out on the back of Kisa’s neck as Chaeyeon hesitates, scanning the hallway one last time before finally turning and following after Korain, the feathers fading back into flesh. As the two disappear, Kisa whirls to Somi, whose face is unusually grim.

“The feathers,” Somi says, and there’s even a hint of fear in the Unruly gumiho’s eyes. “That girl is an inmyunjo. And I’ve never, never, met an Unruly inmyunjo.”

“It can’t be her,” Kisa says, staring down at her flat white. “Inmyunjo are the biggest proponents of peace and harmony…” Her head swims.