It was dark outside when Joonmyeon burst through the door, scaring Sowon off half her wits. She leaped off the couch, her eyes round. “Joonmyeon!”

“Get me a Healing Balm!” he cried out. Sowon furrowed her brows, uncomprehending. She felt herself being pushed aside and saw Chanyeol running past her with a small pot of the salve he had rubbed into her hands when she met him.

“What’s wrong?” the younger boy burst out. He tossed the pot to Joonmyeon. The older boy cleanly caught it in one hand.

“It’s Sehun.” Joonmyeon looked irritated. “Those morons used a Fire Ball in front of the normal humans. The bank is half destroyed and the news is saying that it was a grenade. Sehun got in the mess when he was ambushed by Yin in hiding while looking out for Kris and me.” Sehun came limping in right at that time, with a grim Kris supporting him. Sowon ushered them to the couch. Sehun lifted his leg onto the cushions. Sowon let out a gasp.

Red, angry welts decorated the boy’s right leg. His ripped jeans had a huge gap at mid-thigh, where the burns started. With a yank, Sehun removed his Converse and sock from his foot. The burns continued to his ankle. Sowon felt sick inside looking at all the redness. She could barely see Sehun’s flawless, white skin.

Joonmyeon opened the pot. Sehun snatched it from his hands, his face strangely stone-like as if to mask his pain. “I’ll do it,” he said briskly. He dipped two fingers into the tiny pot and began to spread a thin coat of the cream-colored balm onto his leg.

“Are you… okay?” Sowon didn’t know what else to say.

“Do I look okay to you?” the burned boy bristled.

“Sh-should I get ice?” Sowon stammered.

Sehun ignored her and began to spread the balm with his whole palm, for the area was too big. The others silently took a step back as though giving an annoyed cat room to prevent it from lashing out its claws. He nursed his wound equally as silently.

“What happened?” Chanyeol spoke out.

“It really wasn’t a trick, yet we fell for the trap.” Kris’s face was dark. “The four Yin did try to break in, but Joonmyeon and I were inside. Thankfully, there were only a couple of accountants at hand and one client. We used some of the Knock-out Gas Joonmyeon made a few weeks ago, like always. The Yin attacked, and we were managing to defeat them. However…” As Kris took a breath, Joonmyeon continued for him.

“There had been another couple of Yin outside, on the lookout for the four Yin just as Sehun was doing for us right outside the building. They caught him by surprise and threw a Fire Ball at him. He barely managed to avoid it, and the building caught on fire. Kris and I couldn’t leave the three humans inside, so we had to drag them out. By then, Sehun was surrounded by the other Yin and was battling them on his own. Thankfully, there were plenty of metal inside the bank to try to knock the Yin out – for the Yin had especially chosen a bank with a lot of gold – but with a severe wound, Sehun was lucky enough not to get any more hurt that he already was. The bad part was that one of the four Yin who we thought dead managed to escape.”

Kris filled in. “I would’ve gone to follow that creep, for he was probably heading for a portal, but Sehun seemed to need help and Joonmyeon was busy trying to save the humans using CPR. So he was free to run off to alert Xiumin about our presence.” Kris cracked his knuckles.

“They attacked at lunch time, as expected, when the security guards stepped out for a moment on break. What a sight it must’ve been for them when they returned.” Sehun put the pot down on the ground beside the couch. He studied his burns with a sigh. “I’ll heal,” he said, nonchalantly.

“Is this... something that happens often?” Sowon asked. She could not tear her eyes off the sight, however horrible.

“Not really. It’s been a while since I’ve had such a wound. It isn’t a first-degree burn – I’m sure that if that Fire Yin had turned up, I might not be here now. I’ve faced worse; I once broke my thigh bone. The cracking sound made Joonmyeon think a tree was falling. It took me months to get out of crutches.” Sowon was shocked at Sehun’s matter-of-fact tone.

“Xiumin won’t be happy. The Yin will be at it again pretty soon,” Joonmyeon muttered, going to close the door behind them. Sowon was still unaccustomed to the rapidity of things in this place; the Team was already moving on to talk about the consequences of the mission.

“No, he won’t. I bet that he’ll be really pissed off, considering that one of the Yin managed to escape to tell on us. This is the worst thing that had even happened to us; now Xiumin will know who exactly is fighting him in the Real World.” Kris’s eyes darkened. “He might forget about the gold temporarily and start tracking us down. He probably knows we’re hiding you here, too. To tell you the truth, after Joonmyeon’s encounter with the Fire Yin, Xiumin was probably tracking him down, believing that Joonmyeon came only to save his childhood friend. He was tracking both of you down, but now he knows that all he has to do is track down the whole Elemental Yang. He may improve his tracker to outwit the Aurora Camouflage Charm.”

“Then who did he think was the cause of his failed missions in the Real World until now?” Sowon asked.

“Maybe a bunch of Yang rebels. Although they annoyed him, I doubt he was furious at his little loss. The tasks up until now weren’t too big – rarely any of them concerned metal, his Element, until today. We need to think up something quick. We may not be able to stay here any longer.” Kris’s eyes flashed.

Chanyeol, Sowon, and Sehun were sitting on the couch, squished together in that order. In front of them, Kris and Joonmyeon were pacing, frowns on their faces. The three younger teens silently stared at the two others.

“But if we leave, the Yin will expect it and it’ll be easier to trace us. Also, we have nowhere else to go,” Joonmyeon said, his voice tight.

“We can’t just stay here and wait like caged birds,” Kris argued. “I say we go join the rebels.”

“You mean near the Wall of Stone? I just heard once that it was the new hideout after Xia Watchtower for the rebels. If we run into an army of Yin on the way there, we’ll be worse off!” The sitting three flinched at Joonmyeon’s angry voice, which was getting louder and louder by the minute.

“Our goal was to join them, anyways! The Yin won’t predict for us to go immediately into the Other World yet. They’ll be searching for us here, in the Real World!”

“It’s too early! After the huge disaster at the watchtower, the rebels will be reluctant to gather again!”

“Then we’ll hide out somewhere nearby! I think it’s time we started fighting the battle at the real battlegrounds. Also, it’ll be easier to save her sister.” Kris whirled towards Sowon, making her jump. “With that girl hostage, Sowon’s movements are limited. Who knows – they might decide to play the hostage card now.”

At that, Joonmyeon began to rumple his hair in a frustrated manner. “Fine then. We’ll go into uncharted territory, unprepared, in order to escape the Yin here.” His voice seemed to be mocking.

“I think that’s the best decision. I’m going tomorrow by using the portal at Sandre Mall. You can stay behind if you wish. I’ll leave the charm here because it doesn’t work in the Other World.” With those words, Kris turned and stormed into the boys' bedroom.

“Argh!” Joonmyeon exploded. He glanced at the three, who were unusually meek. “I’m going to my warehouse. And I’m staying there until Kris comes to his senses.” Joonmyeon stalked out the door. It closed with a bang.

Sowon looked at the two people sitting beside her, looking like statues. “Umm, you guys are going to follow Kris to the Other World, right?”

Sehun nodded. “I agree that it’s about time we moved to the next world. There are fewer and less significant missions by the month, and I believe that our powers will be of much use there.” His eyes had a determined glint.

“I guess I’ll follow the leader,” Chanyeol sighed. “Although we might end up as escapees running from the Yin all the time there. How can we be sure that there is a group of rebels preparing as of now?”

“Do you think that we’ll be able to save Chaewon?”

Chanyeol and Sehun looked uncomfortable at Sowon’s hopeful voice. They exchanged glances. “We’ll have to see,” Sehun finally replied.

Sowon remembered how furious Joonmyeon had been. A different side of his quiet, serious character had reared its head. It worried her. “Do you think Joonmyeon will come, too?” She knew she sounded like a little child, and hated it. But Joonmyeon was someone she trusted a hundred percent.

“I doubt it. I guess you don’t know how stubborn he’s become. He rarely argues with Kris, but it’s even rarer for him to change his decision. However, he is loyal to his friends – that is, if he considers us his friends, other than Teammates. He’ll come the second he thinks we’re in trouble. Maybe since you’re going with us, he might reconsider for the first time and follow a few days later,” Chanyeol said.

“So we’re just leaving him here?”

“He’s smart enough to fend for himself. You should see all his wacky inventions in his warehouse. They may be strange, but a lot of them are quite useful. He’s been surviving all those years by himself before he met Kris. Don’t worry about your old childhood friend. I say he’s better off than us four.” Chanyeol gave Sowon a reassuring grin – however, Sowon felt disappointment flood her chest.

Sehun got off the couch. He was leaning heavily on the leg that didn't have burns. Sowon was surprised that they were healing quite quickly despite only a day having passed. The red was now a subdue pink.

“First off, we have to pack and get ready for anything that might happen on our way to the portal tomorrow. There are supposed to be four portals around that connect the two worlds, but we’ve only found one in our past years. It’s in the middle of Sandre Mall. Let’s make sure we take everything important; we may never return,” Sehun said.

What will happen next? Comment!!!!