**Warning : Long chapter ahead**

Her eyes were shaking in fear, yet her perseverance didn't let her turn back.

Song Qian, who delayed her mission in trying to find the others who were living at the now burned down house, pulled the scarf covering her head up to the top of her eyebrows as she noticed that the taxi she was in was getting closer to her clinic.

Song Qian has been extra careful about where she was going since the time she met Tao, who was most suspiciously trying to talk to her the last time she found herself watching Xiumin's house been investigated.

The taxi driver was asked to stop at a corner and she got down cautiously looking around to see if anyone was following her. It was three o'clock in the early morning and no soul was seen prowling about. As soon as the taxi left, she disappeared into the darkness and wound up at the back door to her clinic where she crouched down and started pulling out the bunch of keys that was in her pocket. 

"Aish!" she couldn't help but sound out listening to the keys jangling and trying to make them stop hitting against each other.

After a few tries, she found the right key and quickly opened it out most slowly, soundlessly and cautiously, and hurriedly whisked inside, letting the door close behind her. Seeing nothing but darkness inside her clinic, she paused for a moment leaning against the door.

"Please...please tell me you were here... and still are here, without getting caught to anyone...Please," she whispered to herself thinking of him. Although she told herself a countless times that he wouldn't have crashed into her clinic, tonight she just followed her instincts and ended up creeping in here at this time of the hour.

Song Qian grabbed the tiny flashlight she packed with her and turned it on. The faint white light pushed across the isle and into the clinic showing her where she was going. Her light feet that usually wore deep red heels, were having a pair of sneakers on making her more at ease. But her hands were trembling and she was hoping she wasn't falling into her own misfortune.

Song Qian passed by the rooms she usually kept the puppies that were normally up for adoption in, and creeped in more towards the rooms towards the back.

Funny enough, she noticed that one room had it's door closed, while all the others had theirs open wide like they were supposed to be. 

Feeling her heart pound onto her chest, she let her feet carry herself up to the targeted door. She remembered that she had a taser in her pockets and reached out for it. But seeing that she had to put away the taser to first open the door, she left it back in her pocket.

Her hand reached the door knob. And just as she was about to twist it, the door burst open and two limbs jut out and pushed her to the wall crashing her back hard onto it.

The flash light went flying out of her hand and the taser remained in her pocket unused.

Song Qian felt the tight grip on her hands that were pinned up to the wall and her eyes squinted shut with the pain.

"Stop! It's her!"

She heard a voice speak out immediately, and her eyes flashed open to see a face equally surprised as hers.

"Song Qian," she watched his lips whisper her name. Watching those lips move made her remember the days she laid on his chest and listened to him speak of the unbelievable; the days from when Song Qian used to go out with him; the days before she found out who he truly was, and the unbelievable things he spoke of was suddenly all turning true.

"Yixing...," Song Qian whispered back feeling the tight grip loosen immediately and her hands, that were pinned up, come down and lay on his palms. He gently, yet firmly, held onto them.

"...I knew you guys were here. I knew you were here."

Yixing's bruised and tired face looked up at her with a gentle smile forming across his lips. His heart was suddenly feeling elated and at the same time at peace. Her face made him calm. The days he spent with Luhan, hiding in the back room of Song Qian's clinic, were tough. The two were starving and most of all Luhan was beginning go into 'beast mode' more often making Lay to constantly be on watch. But seeing her now, he was suddenly feeling at home.

Maybe that was why, without a second to spare, he immediately pulled her to him and embraced her tightly, letting his face bury down her neck.

***

It was Monday morning. Seulgi, who spent the entire Sunday locked up in her room, came out most cautiously not wanting to bump into anyone who she was living with in her apartment.

She was already dressed up for school when she came out of her mother's room, and she tip toed her way to the kitchen to open the fridge, grab a milk packet and start gulping it down without a second thought.

She was happily enjoying the milk when she heard footsteps from behind. She immediately crouched down and hid under the kitchen table hoping no one saw her there.

The footsteps got closer and closer. Seulgi held onto her breadth as she saw the last person she wanted to see early in the morning to appear right across from her. 

It was Jongin. And he had come to get something from the refrigerator just like Seulgi.

Seulgi moved inch by inch hoping he wouldn't notice her and hid herself in the shadows. She listened to him open the fridge, get what he wanted and close it back. The footsteps started to go away from her slowly, and she breathed a breadth of relief.

Whatever that went down between Seulgi and Jongin on that Saturday night was still unsolved. Since that time the two ended up on the rooftop together, none of them had seen each other even once for the entire of Sunday, and today being Monday, it was probably going to continue being that way.

Unlike the previous week, Seulgi didn't want to see if there'll be a chance where she'd run into Jongin before she left for school. In fact, from the moment she saw that it was all clear and she could make a run for it, she mustered up all her courage to sprint all the way to school even if she were to be run over by a car on the road.

And so she did sprint all the way to school, making sure there wouldn't be any chance for Jongin to just stand around outside their apartment complex waiting to give Seulgi's breakfast or follow her around (Although Seulgi denied it, she was curious to know whether Jongin would be there to give her her breakfast, but sadly he wasn't, making Seulgi sulk while she let her feet take her away).

Reaching school was making her feel like she won a strange race where she was the only participant. She only paused for a moment to gulp down some water when a familiar yet annoying voice made her jump.

"Seulgi-ssi, I see you ran to school today. Why did you run though? It's pretty early, you could have just walked. Oh! Is it because you wanted to get a glimpse of me passing by?"

Seulgi found Yoongi come in front of her and smirk giving off a mischievous look.

It was odd to listen to someone assume the world revolved around him for Seulgi, yet she somehow managed not to roll her eyes rudely at him and just gave off a fake smile.

"No, I was here to meet someone--"

"Me?" he asked pointing to himself making Seulgi want to start throwing up the milk she gulped down before in a hurry.

"...Someone-else."

Yoongi straightened his back keeping up with his annoying smile while Seulgi took the initiative to take a step to the right and try to run away. But Yoongi too took a step in that direction and stopped her suddenly to ask,

"By the way, I haven't heard anything from your boyfriend. I wonder where he is..." 

"Oh! He's alive and well! You don't have to worry about him--"

"Oh no! I wasn't worrying about him. I was just wondering if he was even real to begin with..."

This made Seulgi grit her teeth. She was about to lash out at him when the corner of her eye caught onto something interesting. It immediately grabbed her attention and in a couple of seconds, she was totally engulfed in eyeing a boy who was walking in through the school gates and up the lane towards the building, that she totally forgot how mad she was just moments before.

The familiar figure and the way he trotted his way into the school, made her so fascinated that she even pushed Yoongi aside and without a second look ran all the way to the person who caught her eyes to suddenly halt immediately behind him.

She cleared and tapped on the shoulder of the boy walking in front of her.

"Taemin..."

"Omo! Seulgi-ah!"

Taemin, who was dressed up in the respective school uniform, gasped seeing something very unexpected in front of him. Seulgi was the last person he expected to meet on his first day at his new school in the city.

"Jongin told me you moved to the city, but he didn't tell me that you were going to go here--"

Seulgi got cut off as Taemin suddenly grabbed her and hugged her tight. She felt him slightly trembling almost as if he was terrified of the first day at his new school but was shockingly relieved to find that there was someone he knew of. Seulgi hugged him back as a reply.

The rest of the day Seulgi kept a close eye on Taemin, taking him around school, showing him where the classes were at (they weren't in the same class unfortunately) and her own quiet places she snuck away to if she ever needed time to herself (or just time to get away from the PE teacher who kept chasing her around). Because it was their final year and it was soon coming to a close, Seulgi advised him on where to get books, who to get help from and all that information she had gathered for the past couple of months she had spent here.

The two finally began to talk about anything other than school work only after they sat down to have lunch during the break. For the first time, Seulgi was feeling sort of delighted that she wasn't going to be eating alone. Taemin took a seat across from Seulgi while Seulgi had already started digging in.

"Who's that bugger? He keeps looking this way," Taemin asked.

Seulgi followed his gaze to see that it was Yoongi.

She only rolled her eyes to completely ignore Yoongi's stares and answered back saying, "Ignore him. He's just an idiot."

"Hmm? Looks like he's interested in you--"

Seulgi thrashed her chopsticks making Taemin startle.

"Stop. It."

"Okay...By the way, is Jongin still at your place?"

The name 'Jongin' made her suddenly feel her heartstrings be pulled yet go back to feeling bitter right after. She even completely forgot that she mentioned about Jongin staying at her place to Taemin.

"Yes, do you want to come with me and meet him after school? I can take you to my house but I'll be heading back to my tuition class right after. But Jongin will take you back home."

"No, actually I have to go back home right after school. But I think I can come by tomorrow morning before school to meet him. We can both go to school together then. But just in case, this is my address...if you could give it to Jongin once you get home that'll be great!"

Taemin handed a piece of paper with what seemed like scribbles on it to Seulgi, who suddenly pictured herself actually going up to Jongin and giving it to him which would have her to actually open and speak to him.

She sighed yet smiled right away as she held onto the paper.

For Taemin...You just have to do it for Taemin...

Seulgi smiled back at him as she folded the paper and pushed it in one of her pockets to go back onto eating her lunch in large chunks as if her appetite suddenly increased three folds.

***

Son Seungwan, who was doubting whether she should just hold onto it a bit longer, stopped in front of the last place she knew was where Johnny was living at. Yes, It was the same place she last came to find him the night the loans sharks came to visit Johnny as well, and she, together with Chanyeol, ran away like crazy people.

She wondered whether Johnny ever thought of coming back. It was sometime since the loan sharks raided his place, and everything looked pretty clear as of now.

Of course, Seungwan didn't even want to come near the place but she had Johnny's phone with her, and it kept getting numerous calls making her want to answer them to find out whether it was Johnny who was calling it. But the fact that Johnny was also someone like her that didn't get calls from any ordinary people, she decided not to pick them up; which led her to come here today.

She walked up the stairs and in front of the apartment door she visited that night, and paused to see that it was still in one piece.

"Well, if he isn't here, I'm just going to leave his phone at the doorstep and leave...Yes, Wendy, that's a good plan," she patted her shoulders and breathed in to hold up her knuckles at the door.

Knock knock!

Knock knock knock!

Knock knock knock--

Seungwan startled as a voice was heard from behind saying "Can someone get the door?!"

She thought for a moment. It wasn't the voice of Johnny she knew of. But before she could make a move, the door burst open at once, and a tall figure showed up in front of her face making her scan him from his feet all the way to his head. The fact that he was the exact height of the door was not what startled Wendy. It was his face that looked strikingly familiar was what had her jaw momentarily hang open.

And she could see she wasn't the only one who was shocked to see the other. The elf like ears of the person who was standing in front of her suddenly turned bright red making her want to hold in her laugh.

"Umm--" Wendy sounded out, but to her surprise the door suddenly banged shut onto her face.

She stayed confused and frozen. After a few seconds, the door flung open once more to have the same person still standing in front of her.

"Sorry...Let me get Johnny real quick."

Wendy startled once more as the door banged shut again and there was hustle being heard behind it. It took a few moments before the door opened once more and Johnny, together with Chanyeol, who seemed to have been terrified by Wendy before, lurking at the back, appear in front of her.

"Noona! What are you doing here?"

"I just...your phone. I have it with me, I just wanted to give it back," Wendy grabbed Johnny's phone and held it out at him to which he cheerfully caught it. Her eyes went to Chanyeol, who too