A/N: Hello guys~! I've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately and I can't believe school is stressing me out more than work is..I hate school!!! Gaaah!!!

-Shinhye’s POV-

Pyria. The city of the Flame Nobles, highly active volcanoes, water geysers and ill-tempered citizens. Don’t forget your free exploding volcano bauble-head before you leave. Not really.

Ugh! I can’t believe such a beautiful place would suddenly become a place of irony and annoyance for me. The past days I’ve spent in the capital, Sugarra, had been nothing but tension-filled. It was nice with rolling hills and grasslands, but the borders were unusually fiery with volcanoes and rocky mountains. Suho oppa warned me about wandering around on my own. As it turns out, the place was teeming with strange creatures I didn’t want to encounter like monstrous dragons and creatures that live by the mountains, including a fire jaguar which was a jaguar in form and choice of prey, but with a body that is like the surface of potential volcano. Odd, but cool.

I didn’t go to any kind of exploration escapade, not even with Kai around. I had been feeling a wee bit upset since getting there. Chan Yeol’s been keeping a close watch on me since, apparently, Pyria was a liberal place and purists could be running about. I’ve been to the town once, but it wasn’t as exciting as it was in Lumina where I got to eat strange seafood hotpot. They were far from the shores and they didn’t have lightning fish. I was only excited by the fact that I could actually see the Elyxian River from the palace. It was a wall of water with dark clouds hovering over it. It was what made up the eastern horizon beyond the volcanoes. I fancied going there, but I can’t.

I’ve met Chan Yeol’s family, too. First, there were his parents. Chan Yeol took after his father, tall and angelic, but his eyes were his mother’s. As to his powers, he inherited it from his mother, Lady Miju. His father was a mere Elyxian, but he was utterly wise. This pair was the gentlest and kindest people I’ve ever met with youthful appearances and rather calm dispositions, at odds to the power that they hold over the second largest piece of land in all of Korinthia. It was fun seeing his mother run the place like an overlord. I liked her since she looked really young and she was just as energetic as Baekhyun’s mother was with a lot of achievement and excellent leadership skills. She was good.

Then there’s Chan Yeol’s older sister who was never mentioned ever, his excuse being the fact that she never came up. I rolled my eyes at that when I made him explain about matters, much to Sehun’s irritation since Chan Yeol got to be alone with me. I saw through things especially after Suho oppa began blushing madly at the sight of Park Min Chan, another heir to the power of the flame. She was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. Not even Lady Miyu could compare to her and Lady Miyu was exceptional already. It was nuts looking at her and I guess I could understand why the always calm and composed Water Noble was smitten.

Since their parents were very busy, I didn’t really get a lot of chances talking to them aside from dinner and that one time when their mother took me with her to check on the people. That was the best part of my stay in Pyria so far. I got to spend a lot of time with Min Chan unnie though. She was kind and she had a lot of bright smiles to offer. She had heart-breaking grace that made her appear as if she was floating and not walking every single time she enters the room. I don’t know. She just glowed with life and she was as warm as the power she possessed. I liked her, but the thing was that she was so curious about me.

I spent my days with her much to the noble’s disappointment. I spent days answering her endless questions. She’d ask one and the more I explained, the more questions she had. She’s been rather inclined to my views about matters and how the human world was. She had silly notions about love and reality and I thought I would offend her with my rather pessimistic view about things, but she just accepted them anyway. We got along fine despite that and she was also convinced that I will be her sister-in-law. She kept praising me, too, commenting on how beautiful I was, another point about her that I found rather odd. I don’t find myself exceptional or anything. She just had too many nice things to say and she was starting to make me miss my sister who just brings out the honest side in me.

The rest of the day, she would follow me around and later that afternoon, she called me to her private salon and made me wear dresses and curled my hair. When she learned that I could alter certain things, she made me do it over and over again with her hair, curling then straightening, you name it. At dinner, they were all gawking at me since my hair was curled and I was wearing robes again. I hated it, but since Min Chan unnie was kind, I let her have her way with me. I read her thoughts. She was scared of me at a certain point since she had learned what I can do. It’s the least thing I could do to make her more comfortable with me. She’s a possible future family anyway whom I was going to leave as well.

Anyway, I was relieved that she was around or I’ll just die out of frustration. I was stressed. I can’t believe Chan Yeol and Sehun would continue being antagonistic towards each other despite of the drastic measure I’ve taken towards them. I wished I scared them both, but as it turned out, I wasn’t successful. I wasn’t the only one being stressed about it. Oppa was, too. He’d try to keep them apart when they start being mean to each other. Aish! Sehun began to retaliate after the encounter they had. They don’t talk and they always had snide remarks for each other. For Chan Yeol, who had apologized, it wasn’t an easy thing to do again especially after Sehun rejected him. Ugh!

However, that day was the time Min Chan unnie would tend to the hospice she was running and of course, Suho oppa was more than glad to accept her invitation that morning. They liked each other. Fire and water. It was funny how they move around each other with the attraction they harbored. Why don’t they just marry each other already?  Now, it’s my turn to look after the two idiots. Baekhyun was out as well and I didn’t know what Kai and D.O. were doing, but I wished they were there to help me. I was afraid of the prospect that one of them would come to me and try to spend time together while the other one sulks. I was so caught in the middle.

“Shinhye,” said the deep voice that I feared.

I swallowed hard, turning around to face Chan Yeol. I forced a smile, but it turned into a genuine one when I saw the flowers he was holding – oversized carnations in a color I have never seen before. “Those are pretty,” I said without returning his greeting.

He smiled then as he stood in front of me. “You’re more beautiful than they are.” He ran the back of his hand on my cheek, lightly brushing.

That’s another problem. He had been even more fervent and so was Sehun. They viewed courting like a battlefield. I blush at everything they say to me and that was so unusual. I bit my lower lip, preventing myself from wincing. “No comment,” I murmured.

He chuckled then, the lively sound making me melt. What the hell was wrong with me? “They’re for you.”

I grinned at him as I took the flowers. “What’s next, Chan Yeol?” I asked. “You’re not going to get me a box of chocolates, are you?”

He frowned, not getting the joke. “Chocolates?”

I waved him aside. “Never mind. Thanks for these anyway. Would you want to help me put them in a vase?”

A smile etched its way across his face and he bobbed his head like a child. That was just one of the things I liked about him. He had this innocent, boyish quality in him that I was fond of and he’d only show that side of his when he’s either happy or a bit down. “Noona has a lot in the backroom.”

I couldn’t help but smile up at him. “Let’s get one then.” I tried to walk ahead of him, but he took my hand and led me instead, pulling me to his side.

“Walk with me,” he said softly then we started walking back into the house, leading me to the east wing of the first floor. “How were your chats with Min Chan noona?” he asked while we were making our way to the backroom.

I chuckled slightly at that. “It was fun.”

His brows furrowed a bit. “Really? She didn’t bore you with her senseless chatter about flowers and tea?”

I frowned. “Yah, Park Chan Yeol. You’re talking about your noona. Why are you like that?” I chastised him.

He touched the tip of my nose before turning around to reach for a spare vase. “It’s not like that, love. It’s just that…” His voice trailed off as he faced me again.

“Yes?”

He simply smiled. “You’re not like my sister.”

I took the vase from him and rolled my eyes. “I know that. We aren’t similar at all, but that doesn’t mean we can’t understand each other’s views on matters.”

“That’s right.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Did she tell you things about me?”

His panic was senseless, but I felt like teasing him anyway. I stared blankly at him. “What do you think?” I asked him.

He pouted. “You were talking about me?!”

I slightly flinched when he raised his tone.

He immediately apologized for that, but continued to sulk. “Now, I’m convinced that she told you about things you shouldn’t know.”

I arched a brow at him. “Like what?”

“Like how a branch fell on my head with a branch when we were children while we were swimming down the river or how she accused me of wetting my bed when I was –” He stopped talking and looked at me. M