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You were all surprised at how quickly Luhan was able to figure out the coordinates for the location of the fire user and he made sure to write down the address for Kai, since he would be in charge of transportation to and from. There was no way you guys would be taking a plane or driving when you had a teleporter at hand.

As of right now, you’re sitting in the lab contemplating how you should say goodbye to your brother.

Now that you know the first location, you have to go back home and get ready. The sooner the better. There was no telling whether the Red Eye knew anything about what you were doing, but you didn’t want to give her the chance to find out.

Plus, staying any longer in Exo with your brother would increase the risk of her finding you. It was just as he said before; being with you made it more dangerous. By now, you knew that if Taemin was worried, you should be too.

You suddenly realize that your visits with your brother will have to be very limited. As much as you would like to spend hours with him, or even live with him on Exo, there was no way he’d allow it.

Taemin, Sungji, and Kai are submersed in conversation in a corner of the lab, but you notice Luhan sitting a few feet away from them, rubbing his temples in deep thought.

You decide to accompany him instead of interrupting the group, so you quietly approach the blonde boy.

You reach out and tap him on the shoulder, but he jumps just at your touch, even if it was a light tap.

“Are you okay?” you ask. You could see his body initially tense up, but he calms a bit and his shoulders return to their relaxed state.

He gives a small, almost sad smile as he replies, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

You search his face and can tell he’s lying. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” You grab another one of the rolling chairs and slide it next to Luhan’s, seating yourself closely so you can talk privately. “It wasn’t my intention.”

He rubs one of his cheeks and leans on the same hand, staring at the floor. “How are you so calm? How are you not freaking out about everything?” He gives a small sigh while continuing to stare at nothing. Luhan’s questions catch you completely off guard, and it takes a moment for you to answer.

“Well…” you glance over at the group, excitedly chatting. Still watching them, you decide on what you want to say. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. To some extent, yes. But when it comes to the whole idea of the world depending on me to save it… Not so much. It’s almost surreal.” You begin to smile as you watch and hear Sungji laughing loudly, accompanied by a grinning Taemin and Kai.

Luhan begins to speak, thinking you are finished, but you interrupt him quickly.

“Plus, I have them.”

You motion over to your three laughing friends and Luhan’s eyes follow your movement.

“There’s no way I could do this without them.” You turn your eyes to Luhan and wink. “And you, of course.” At this, Luhan blushes slightly and exhales a laugh. “You really know how to create a moment, huh.”

He playfully pushes you, but then suddenly looks over to Kai. “I need you to promise me something.”

The change in mood Luhan portrays gives you a nervous feeling, but nonetheless you answer. “Sure thing.”

Luhan blinks a few times before speaking, choosing his words carefully. “Kai… He’s delicate. He needs someone to look after him. I need you to promise me you’ll take care of him.” You glance one more time at Luhan before redirecting your gaze to Kai again.

Luhan’s voice softly continues as you look at Kai’s face as he talks with the group.

“There’s something that has to do with him, and it’s big. I can’t really talk about it, but I couldn’t live with myself if he got hurt. I have known him for many, many years and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him. You’re The Keeper; you’re meant to protect us. I believe you can do that and so much more.”

You can feel your heart begin to race, a combination of Luhan’s words and the image of Kai getting hurt going through your mind. How is it that someone who doesn’t seem to need anything, could need to be protected? And from what?

And as if he can feel your eyes on him, Kai turns his head to lock eyes with you.

You both sit for a few long moments in a mutual gaze, a mixture of curiosity and attraction.

As if answer to both Luhan and Kai, you say, “I promise.”

All goodbyes in life are bittersweet. This one, especially, just happens to be a little more bitter than usual. You and Taemin are standing in front of each other outside of the building doors while Luhan, Kai, and Sungji all give each other goodbye hugs and smiles.

You’re struggling to find the exact words to say to your brother and at this moment, you’re both really just enjoying the silence between the two of you. You bite your lip in hopes of saving any tears from falling, but it just makes them fall faster.

Taemin sees a tear escape from your eye but catches it quickly with his hand, making sure to lift his other hand in case another from the other eye falls. He eventually wipes the remaining tears away and moves his hands to your shoulders, gripping them softly and looking you in the eyes.

“Haeyeon, I’m so sorry.” He looks down at the ground and blinks a few times. “I know I should have told you before I left, but I really just wanted to take care of you, it’s just—”

Before he can continue, you rush into his arms and surround him with an embrace you’ve been waiting three years to give him.

Shocked at first, he lets you linger around his waist but then wraps his arms around you and rests his head on top of yours.

“I know, Tae, I know,” you whisper to him.

You both decide to stay like that for a few minutes, not wanting to believe you’d have to be separated again once the hug is released.

You suddenly feel someone else standing next to you and look up from Taemin’s chest to see a softly grinning Kai, waiting patiently for you. With a bit of regret, you take a step away from Taemin, forcing the hug to come to an end and the warmth from his body to leave you.

You give Taemin one more smile as you walk away from the two boys, leaving them to their own hugging session. You hear them laugh in the hug as you are walking away, and in your head, you’re thanking Kai for his friendship with Taemin.

“So, can we really not visit you?” Kai is still hugging Taemin, but Taemin releases the hug to look at him.

“Yes and no.” Taemin takes a step back and shakes his head. “I’ll say it like this: Coming to see me, with her,” he points at your figure as you’re walking away, “is a very dangerous thing.”

Kai lowers his head sadly, but Taemin continues.

“We need to be careful. But… if we happen to bump into each other once in a while, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” He grins widely as he says this, and this makes Kai’s heart soar, knowing that he’ll still be able to see his best friend.

Taemin holds his hand out and Kai quickly takes it in his own, both beginning a handshake they’ve had for three years now. If you ask them, they’ll tell you that they’ve perfected it, when in reality, the handshake changes as frequently as day turns to night. Completing the friendly bond, they pause a few moments, but both turn to look at you while you stand with the rest of the group.

“Remember, Jongin. You’re in charge of making sure she’s happy. Keep that smile on her face.”

Kai knows when Taemin uses his other name, it’s serious, and so he gives a firm nod and walks toward the group, looking over his shoulder only to give Taemin a thumbs up.

From where you are, Luhan has you in a death hug, pretending to cry on your shoulder.

“Wahhhhh we’ve only just met and now you have to gooooo~~~” He raises a hand to wipe an invisible tear from his cheek. You giggle and pat him on his head. “Lu, we’ll see each other again soon. I have to come back after we find the first guy, remember? And then I’ll come back again for the rest of the ten.”

Luhan quickly ceases his dramatic cries and stands tall in front of you. “Oh yeah, you’re right.”

He suddenly turns to the side and eyes Sungji, who is standing next to you and backing away slowly from Luhan’s piercing gaze. “Come here, you.” He flails his hands in her direction and she sprints off, mumbling, “Please no, I’m not really a hugger.” But Luhan is persistent and runs after her immediately, causing her to shriek and take off again. 

Kai finally reaches you, and you greet him with a soft smile. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t want to leave either. Exo is my home.”

“Exactly. My family is here,” you say, leaning back to look at Taemin, who is still standing at the building entrance. “But I know that we have important things to do.”

With the last saying as a conclusion, you both nod and decide that it is time to leave.

“Sungji, come on!” You look over to the grass on the side of the building and it seems that Luhan caught up to her. He is holding her in a loving embrace, but her face makes it look as if she is suffocating.  “Help,” she squeezes out.

You and Kai both laugh loudly and walk towards the duo.

Luhan releases her and pats her on the head, but Sungji counters with a punch to the arm. “Bad blondie,” she retorts.

As you approach them, Luhan looks at each of your faces, smiling sadly. “Until next time. I will be waiting patiently for your return.” He creates his own cue to leave and walks away from you to join Taemin, waving a somber hand.

No words are exchanged between the three of you, but you each share a look before Kai holds out his hands and braces himself. You and Sungji grasp a strong hand and breathe deeply as, once more, you fall.

Two days have passed since your visit to Exo, and believe it or not, you haven’t found the time to go to Seoul yet. Kai has been straining the importance of finding the first since you all left, and now he’s in your dining room, giving the same speech he’s given for the past few days.

“How can you just sit there and read?!”

You look up from your textbook and glare at the heated teleporter. “Kai, I told you, I have exams next week. If you expect me to graduate, therefore allowing me more free time, then you need to let me study. Otherwise, you can just go by yourself.”

He scoffs and puts his hand on his hip. “Go by myself? You know there’s no way I can go without you, this guy will think I’m a lunatic if I just walk up and be like ‘hey, let’s go save the world, brother.” Kai pretends to walk up to a tall man and salutes him lazily.

You muffle a laugh and look up once more. “Kai, please. Just a few more days and we can go. I promise.”

He rolls his eyes and saunters over to the couch, plopping himself down with huff. He goes for the remote and clicks on the television. He scrolls past cartoons, reality shows, but finds nothing of interest to him.

Just as he begins to push himself up from the couch, a wave of power surges through the entire house, knocking Kai back onto the cushions and you off of your chair and onto the floor.

The house grows dead silent as you and Kai both silently wonder. Kai gives a few confused blinks and eventually calls out to you. “Uh… Haeyeon?”

From the floor, you yell at him, “Yah! What did you do now?”

He looks turns to look over the edge of the couch and raises his eyebrows at your chair. “Me? What about you? I didn’t do anything!” He squints his eyes as he realizes that your seat is now vacant and you are not in your original spot and his eyes roam around the room, searching for you. When his eyes finally spot you and he sees that you are on your backside on the floor, he snorts out a laugh, watching you as your cheeks redden from embarrassment.

You clumsily stumble your way back onto your feet and glare at the boy as he continues to laugh.

He takes a few seconds in between laughs to wipe a few tears away so he can look at you, but doesn’t see that you’ve left your spot again until something comes rushing quickly at him.

With a loud *thump* the object hits Kai directly in the face and he flies back onto the couch with a loud yelp. He can feel his eyes watering and his nose is stinging and aching, so he grabs the object to look at what it was that hit him: a pillow.

Realizing that he’s just been knocked out by a girl, he sits up once more on the couch and turns to you. “Really? You’re going to start this now?”

You’re trying your best to stay cool and stand with your arms crossed in front of you. But you can feel the laughter bubbling up inside of you and slowly, you begin to let out small chuckles. You try to cover your mouth so he can’t hear you.

Kai presses his lips into a straight line and nods several times at your giggling figure. “Alright. Okay. You’re dead.”

With a gust of wind Kai disappears from the couch, along with the pillow, and you know you’re in big trouble. The only thing you can think of is to run which is exactly what you try to do, but Kai appears right in front of you and swings the pillow at your side. His aim is true and he gets you right in the ribs.

“That’s totally cheating!” you yell as you grab the other end of the pillow and attempt to pull it away from him. He counters and pulls the other side of the pillow and now you’re both caught in a game of tug-of-war.  You’re both growling at e