Chapter Twenty Nine

 

The day continued on with Chen mostly spending his time on trying to distract Ileana in his living room. When Ileana wasn’t trying to pry answers out of Chen, she found him to be quite an acceptable conversation mate. His easy going and humorous way of conversing made her go along with his flow. She also tried his cookies; they were to die for but she would never admit that to Chen.

They whipped up dinner together later in the evening. Chen helped her recognize certain produce, sauces and spices and showed her what tasted good together.  When they finished cooking and sampling the dish, she was surprised and ecstatic with the taste. She couldn’t believe she made something so good. She started to wonder if she could whip it up again for Seh- She immediately froze her thoughts. She willed herself to calm down and take a few breaths before trying to move her mind to a different topic. She had to relax, she needed to rest and then use her full brain power in order find her lost friends and stop the ever impending war. 

After a few hours passed, Chen decided to excuse himself to bed. He teasingly asked if she wanted to join him. She immediately declined his kind offer and told him she was completely content with sleeping on the couch. Chen shrugged his shoulders and told her his offer would still stand throughout the night before he walked away. She soon made her way over to the couch and laid herself down on it while pulling a blanket over her. She snuggled into a ball and tried to keep her body warm. She felt her eyes grow heavy in a short amount of time and then they fluttered shut.

It didn’t take long for her body to recognize the familiar hard and flat surface it was all of a sudden on. She slowly leaned up and stared at the screen before her.

Something was more or less off with Kris. He seemed antsy and more fatigued than how she was used to seeing him.

“A-Are you all right?” She asked cautiously and leaned closer toward the screen. Kris quickly moved his blood shot eyes up and met them with hers.

“Better, now that you’re here.” His voice came out hoarse and his lips cracked a tired smile toward her. She searched his eyes, concern washing over her.

“What happened?”

Kris sighed and stared off to the side, “Nothing really. Just...The time is drawing near and everything is starting to get to me.”

She froze and looked up wide-eyed at Kris when something clicked in her mind. “Kris…” She asked slowly, “What exactly do you mean by that?” Kris met her eyes again.

“Are you still in Sector K?” He asked, completely ignoring her previous question.

“No, I’m in Sector M but-“

“Good, promise me you’ll stay there for the next two days.”

“Kris, would you please tell me what’s hap-“

“Promise me, Ileana.” Kris cut her off with a sharp tone, “I need you to promise me this.”

“I would if you would just tell me-”

“After this is all done, I promise I will find you and we can discuss the details to your heart’s content. But right now, I need you to stay in Sector M.”

Her hands clenched into tight fists. She knew why he wanted her to stay out of Sector K now, but she just wanted him to admit it to her. Admit that he was fronting a war that would take down Sector K, and goodness he was planning to do it in two days. Only two short days.

“Are you sure about what you're doing?” She asked, almost pleading with him to reconsider. She felt a sliver of hope when Kris didn’t reply immediately. His troubled expression made her hope that he would actually back out, but that wasn’t the case.

“I’m sure. I have to do it, I’ve come this far.” Although his words sounded determined, his face was conflicted.

“Is it worth it?” Is killing and hurting so many people worth it? “You know you don’t have to do anything if you don’t feel it’s right.”  

“It’s too late now.” Kris sighed and ruffled his hair, his face telling of defeat.

“It’s not!” She cried, “Kris, listen to me. J-just seeing you like this…I don’t think this is the right choice. This thing has been taking such a toll on you and it worries me.”

Kris’ face unexpectedly lite up through his tired features, “You’re worried?”

“O-Of course I am! I mean, have you seen yourself? You look like some sort of insomniac mad man!” She stuttered out in disbelief. Was that all he got from her last statement?

“I guess I have been an insomniac mad man these past few days. But thank you, I’m glad you’re concerned for me.”  

“Well, I’m not glad. I don’t think you get that being concerned is not a nice feeling.”

“I’m sorry to have troubled you, but I can’t help but be a little happy that I hold of some importance to you.”

“Kris…stop this.”

“I can’t.”

That’s when she started noticing the screen started to fade. She slowly shook her head, her eyes never leaving Kris’. He gave her a weak smile before it fell completely and her vision went black.

She woke up on the couch in the same curled up position she had slept in. She pulled her hands up and rubbed her eyes as a mixture of emotions flooded her senses.  

“That bad of a night? That’s why I offered to share my bed, you know.”

She pulled her hands down immediately and shot her head to the direction the voice came from. There sat Chen in a fancy looking white chair, drinking what she could safely presume to be tea. She looked around the room and tried to estimate the time of day.

“How long have you been there?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Chen took a slow sip of his tea and stared at her as he his lips.

“Not that long.” He shrugged and shot her a playful look. She in returned groaned and rolled her eyes. She grabbed a pillow and tossed it in his vague direction.

“You should learn to aim better.” He sang as he took another sip of his tea.

“I wasn’t aiming to hit.” She mumbled, “But I would certainly not mind practicing.” And she gave him a smirk. She sat up, while tossing the blanket that was on top of her to the side. She stretched herself out before resting against the couch.

“I’ve got two days.” She muttered out.

“For what?”

“Until the war breaks out.”

Chen promptly chocked on his tea. He coughed a little before straightening his posture and giving her a glare, “And how would you know that?”

“I just know.” She sighed, not wanting to start the long explanation about Kris’ and her interactions. Chen gave her a look of disbelief before rolling his own eyes.

“And let’s say this is true, what are you going to do about it now?”

“As if I know.” She groaned. “I just…I think they know where the crystal is and how to get it. They wouldn’t have a set date if they didn’t.”

“Sounds like you’re a few steps behind.” Chen murmured out sarcastically.

“Shut up Chen.” She chirped back. “I have to figure out the location of this goddamn mysterious crystal and get to it before them. And then…after that, I’ll work on finding the others.”

“Well, good luck.” Chen stood up from his chair, “You’re going to need it.”

This time, she grabbed a pillow, aimed and hit her target dead on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She spent the majority of her day brainstorming on how to find the crystal, though she took breaks for the meals Chen cooked her. She would ask Chen what she could about anything related to the crystal, but it turned out that Chen was never included in the meetings that talked about half of the City’s destruction when he was in the crime group. Who would have figured… And even though she spent a lot of time thinking, she really was going nowhere with it.  She thought back and traced back any memory that would be useful to her.

…you talking about Sector M's Celebratory 18th Annual Banquet
 …invited to perform
…How did you even manage
…Calm down, Lay pulled some strings fo-

Lay! She thought. What were Lay’s connections to Sector M?

“Hey Chen.” She called out to Chen, who was cleaning the dishes from dinner, “How do you know Lay?”

“Lay? Through people and shared entertainment events, why?” He raised an eyebrow from the kitchen counter.

“Just curious. Was he friendly with your old group at all?”

Chen shot her a look, “Ileana, where are you going with this?”

“Was he?” She challenged him. Chen sighed and turned off the tap. She watched as he dried his hands and made his way to sit on the couch next to her.

“To say Lay is friendly is a bit much. Lay has connections and stays on good terms with everyone. No one knows how he does it, but he just does.”

“Do you know anything about his past?” She pressed him, her curiosity becoming red hot.

“No, I don’t know anything about his past.” Chen threw his arms up in the air in an exasperated fashion. “Will you please tell me where you’re going with this?”

“I just think Lay is a little weird is all. I’m trying to see if he’s connected with this mess somehow.”  

“Lay? Messing with the war? That would sever a lot of his connections he did have any hand in it.”

“Yeah, but what if it saved another one if he secretly did help out?”

“You mean, he helped out the crime group in order to stay on good terms with them?”

“It makes sense, right?”

“Except it’s Lay we’re talking about here.”

“So what? You sure you can’t tell me anything about Lay’s past?” She pressed on.

“I can’t tell you because there isn’t anything to tell. He showed up one day with his big building and his fire controlling dance routines, and that’s it.”

“Just out of the blue?”

“From thin air.”  Chen finished, “Are you done talking about Lay now? ‘Cause I’m starting to get jealous.”

“No, I’m not done. Don’t you find that even a little bit suspicious?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“He could be holding the crystal in his very hands and I wouldn’t find him any more suspicious. You know why? Because I don’t care.”  He shot her a brilliant smile as if he didn’t just mock her.

“Well, I care very much because that’s the whole reason why I was brought here. “ She returned his smile with an overly forced smile of her own.

“If it bothers you that much, how about we go visit Lay tomorrow and have everything sorted out? Sound good?”

“Sounds great.” She hissed through her smile. Chen nodded and slumped back onto the couch. He inched closer to her and resting his arm on the top of the couch behind her head.

“Great, glad we got that sorted out. Now, shall we talk about tonight’s sleeping arrangements?” He gave her a smirk as he leaned in close to her.

“No, I rather talk about rearranging your face.” She snorted and pressed her pointer finger against the middle of his forehead and pushed him back.

“Aggressive…I like.”  

“Trust me, I can get real aggressive.” She replied with a glare and shook her fist jokingly.

“All right, all right. I’m going! I rather not receive a black eye before going to bed.” Chen put his arms up in defense and jumped off the couch. “But do know that my offer stays standing.”  And he casually walked away with a flying pillow following after him.

She snickered a little as she laid down on the couch, pulling the blanket she used the night before along with her. She snuggled with it and curled into a ball. Sleep soon greeted her.

Something was strange. She was waking up. That itself was not the strange bit, more like she felt as if she was waking up on something soft and plushy…and not rock hard and flat. After opening her eyes, she saw that she was in Chen’s living room which was filled with light due to the windows. It certainly was not the usual darkness that greeted her when she slept. She leapt off of the couch confused. Why didn’t she meet Kris this time?  

She shook her head and told herself she had bigger worries to worry about. So, she looked around for any traces of Chen and found none. She stood up and ventured around the apartment. She searched in each clean and simple room and still found no trace of Chen. She looked in the kitchen for some sort of clue and stumbled upon a note.

Gone to get breakfast.
Will be back in 20 minutes.
Much love,
Chen/Your Honey Bear
xoxo

She snorted at the note and nodded her head at his thoughtfulness. So, she made her way back to the couch she had grown fond of the past two days and waited. And waited. And waited. 

After two hours, she knew sensed something had gone wrong. She stood up from the couch and let out an anxious sigh. Chen wasn’t coming. A sad realization struck her.

Chen was taken.

She rushed over to the door, grabbing her satchel along the way and shoved her boots on. She exited the apartment without much thought and found herself on the streets. She looked left and right and tried to remember the way to the tea shop. She managed to eventually findher way to the tea shop and headed inside of it. She looked around, hoping to find Chen sitting somewhere, but he wasn’t. She cut in front of the line of people and smacked her hands down on the counter.

“A man, this tall, dark hair, dark eyes, really angular facial features with high cheekbones, probably ordered for two people. Was he here?” She asked the cashier with sharp eyes, ignoring the angry grumbles coming from behind her.

“I-I’m not sure, there’s a-“

Glare.

“Y-Yes mam. Left 3 hours ago.”

“Thank you.”

And she bolted out of the shop. She started to slowly make her way back to Chen’s apartment, looking for any sort of suspicious sign. It didn’t take her long to find it. An alley way caught her eye… actually something inside the alley way caught her eye.

She cautiously entered the alley way and made her way over to two paper cups and a tray lying on the ground. The cups lids had fallen off and liquid were still slowly streaming out of them. The tea bags were still in the cups themselves. She looked toward the wall nearest to the fallen objects and gasped. It was unnoticeable at first, but there was the slightly traces of blood speckled across it. She stood up and examined it more closely. It looked still fresh considering the color of the blood.

She clenched her fists tightly and bit her lip as rage filled her. She whipped around and stomped out of the hallway. This girl had enough. She was going to see some answers and a certain someone by the name of Lay better have them. For his safety at least. 

She navigated her way through the streets of Sector M and found her way to a familiar tall building. She stormed inside and headed straight to the elevator. Once inside, she took a few deep breathes before pressing on the biggest number on the button display. It took a or two minute and a couple heart relaxing exercises before the elevator doors finally opened.

She exited it quickly and rushed past a panicking secretary.

“You need an appoint-!” Ileana harshly pulled a set of twin doors open and slammed them behind her. The room was a large plain room with large windows covering the entire left wall. At the end of the large room was a fancy looking desk. Lay was sitting at it and seemed completely unfazed by her entry. She would change that.

She raced herself across the room and leaned over the desk. She gripped onto the front of Lay’s shirt and pulled him up to meet her face.

“Hi.” She hissed through the teeth of her fake smile, “We need to talk.” Lay didn’t reply and just stared at her with his cold eyes.

“As you wish, but if you would please unhand me first.”

She eyed him suspiciously, but let go of his shirt nonetheless. He stood up from his chair and straighten out his shirt. He walk around desk in order to meet her.  He put his arm behind her and pressed his hand on the middle of her back. She let him slowly guide her across the room toward a couch and love seat set.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” He said, “Why don’t you have a seat?” He asked, motioning to the couch next to them.

“I much rather stand.” She sharpened her gaze and challenged him to go against her. In return, he nodded and sighed.

“I see. I would like to apologize in advance then. Please understand this is nothing personal.” Lay suddenly wrapped his arm further around her and tighten his grip on her.

“What do you mean-“

A sharp stabbing pain came from her upper arm. Her eyes immediately look to the source of the pain and saw that Lay had stabbed her with a needle like device. She looked between Lay and the needle in confusion. Her senses started to fade and her body weaken. She gripped onto Lay’s shirt and tried to form words.

“Shh, just sleep for a while.” He told her in a surprisingly gentle voice. Her legs soon gave way and she found herself further in Lay’s embrace. The last thing she saw was Lay pushing back her hair and kissing her eyelids close.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Damnnnn just got real.

 

Who saw that coming? I know someone was suspicious of Lay. Congrats to you <3 Also, I've got maybe 1/4 of the story left? If not less. The end is coming :O

Anyways, sorry for not updating in a while. I wanted to write the ty chapter for my oneshot now twoshot for Sehun. You read right, I wrote a ty twoshot with Sehun. The OC is mainly based off Ileana, so you should go check out my first written scenario. Go and tell me how it was <3
And after I wrote that, my friend was all: Yo, I got a cottage and it's hot out this week. Wanna hang? And I, could not deny her pleads. So yeah, cottage=no chance of service. 

As an apology, I wrote this chapter alittle longer than I usually write. Yeah. ...Yeah. 

Anyways, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO SUHO <3 The guardian of EXO-K and the sweetie pie of my heart. MMmm, you so tasty.

I love him when he's smiling:

I love him when he tries to tone down his smileness:

And finally, I love him when he actually gets all seriously smexy:

Kay cool. Fangirling done. 

Giveaway of the day : *throws passports* Let's go to South Korea everyone. I hear the men there are AWESOME. 

ps: An commenter wrote that Ileana's name reminds them of Ilama. I saw this and thought of you <3

I also realized that Ileana is a lot like Ileona, which means wake up in Korean. Well then... fun fact of the day. Kay going now. Buhbyeee

pssss: THANK YOU TO ALL THE COMMENTERS AND SUBBIES, you are my sun, stars and moon <33333