Areum looked blue, so Kai felt pity for her and decided to take her out to the park for a breath of fresh air. Baekhyun had gaped at them from after Kai had revealed his intention to until they were gone, for the cold-looking boy had never so openly showed that he cared for anyone. Sehun had been in the bathroom washing, so there was no one to stop or join them.

The sky was a bright blue and fluffy clouds decorated it. The wind wasn’t chilly and the park was dotted with trees whose leaves were a beautiful red, orange, or yellow. The air was peaceful; a bird chirped from a nearby tree. Few people were strolling around. Kai and Areum walked side-by-side on the dirt path.

“Do you find me frightening?” Kai suddenly asked.

Areum looked up at him with an astonished look. “What? No! Why would I?”

Kai turned his face away. “It’s because you’ve experienced scarier things in your past, right?” he murmured.

Areum pulled on his hand, surprising him. He turned back to her with rounded eyes. “You’re not scary one bit! You may look kind of cold, but you have a warm heart inside of you! Also, looking cold doesn’t mean you look scary. You’ve never frightened me at all since I’ve met you!” she declared strongly.

Kai gaped at her. Her determined eyes stared back at him, unwavering. Despite himself, he found the corners of his mouth lifting.

Areum laughed. “You should smile more often. It suits you better.” She skipped away, leaving him standing dumbfounded on the sidewalk. It had been awhile since he’d actually smiled. The involuntary twitch of his facial muscles felt strange, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

He jogged to catch up with the girl. When he saw her a few feet in front of him, he froze. Then he rushed towards her as fast as he could. When he reached her, he shoved her behind him, away from the three boys cornering her.

“Exo-M,” he spat out. He tensed himself. He was prepared to fight.

“My, isn’t it Kai of Exo-K.” Luhan’s voice was as smooth as ever. “Don’t worry; I was just showing the rest of our members the sister of the leader of the ever-annoying gang Exo-K.” His gaze turned dark. “The sister of one of the fu**ing Exo-K that tries to antagonize us by foiling our plans over and over again for no reason at all.”

“For. No. Reason. At. All?” Kai hissed. He recognized the two boys behind Luhan; they were Chen and Tao. He was guessing that the rest of the Exo-M members were preparing to receive the delivery that they would never receive.

“You freakin’ burned up her home. And it’s not like you haven’t foiled our plans either,” he continued. “I haven’t forgotten the time when you ambushed Seventeen and us when we were collaborating to defeat a team of mafia. I nearly lost a leg that night.” Kai narrowed his eyes. Areum involuntarily gasped.

Tao stepped forward. “We never-”

“Quiet!” Luhan snarled, shoving the Exo-M’s maknae back. He glared hatefully at Kai. “No need to explain anything to one of those Exo-K pests.” Kai clenched his fists.

Suddenly, a police whistle rang out in the near distance. “Sh**,” Luhan swore. He turned his head from side to side, but he could see nothing. However, the sound had been unmistakable. Also, he was pretty sure his face was on the police’s Wanted List, along with the Exo-M leader Kris’s. The two had been unfortunate enough to run into them at the wrong time.

Giving his fellow members a curt nod, Luhan craned his neck to be able to look straight at Areum. “We’ll deal with you another time,” he hissed. The three Exo-M members turned and disappeared in a flash.

Kai was breathing heavily. Anger swarmed inside of his head. Behind him, Areum stood silently, looking afraid. In a few minutes, Baekhyun was seen running towards them.

“Man,” he said in between pants, “You’re lucky I had a police whistle in handy. From that far away, I knew I couldn’t reach you guys in time and although I know you’re capable Kai, I knew that you couldn’t fight three of them and protect Areum at the same time.”

He glanced at Areum, who was as pale as milk. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?” He turned to Kai. “What did they want?”

“I’m not sure. Luhan said that he was showing the rest of the Exo-M members Areum’s face, but who knows. If you and I hadn’t been with her…” Kai’s voice trailed off.

“Let’s stay indoors for now,” decided Baekhyun. “It’s safer that way.”

“What did you mean when you said that Exo-M ambushed you guys? They’re a gang, too, right?” Areum asked.

Kai sighed. “Yes, they’re a gang. Our archrival gang. For no reason at all, they’ve always tried to ambush us or ruin our missions. The most recent one was when we were collaborating with our friends Seventeen, as I’ve mentioned earlier. Those arrogant-” He quickly stopped himself from swearing in front of her. “-morons would always gloat about what they did through texts to Chanyeol Hyung, our main communication bridge.” He frowned. “That’s why we did some research and noticed that they were delivering illegal drugs to other gangs. It was a couple of years ago when we started foiling their plans. They deserved it.”

“They were the ones who burned my house?” Areum’s eyes were glassy.

Kai stared at her. “How did you know?”

“Sehun said that when I first saw Exo-M in the mall,” she explained. Kai face-palmed himself. This girl might be naïve, but she was quite observant, too.

“If you have the bad luck to run into them again, run the opposite direction. I have a feeling that they have something up their sleeve. We’ll protect you, so don’t stray far from us.” Kai reached over and held one of Areum’s hands. “Okay?”

Areum nodded.