When Hyerin opened her eyes, events of the previous night remained stuck in the back of her head as she focused more on the ceiling, thoroughly perplexed as to why it was mint green, not beige. She was sure her ceiling was beige.

Suddenly alerted by the unfamiliar surroundings she woke up to, she bolted up from the bed as she passed her eyes around the room; it was big, tidy, and most definitely not hers.

She ran a hand through her hair, staring down at the black duvets that covered her body as she tried to recall what went about the previous day. It felt like something big happened – so big that her mind needed a while to process everything to completely snap her out of the confusion taking up most of the space in her brain.

The door to the room opened slowly, revealing Kris entering the bedroom. Behind him, Sehun, Lay, and Kyungsoo filed inside as well, fairly surprised to see her already up.

“You’re awake,” Lay remarked, eyes slightly widening.

“Why?” she croaked, voice slightly gruff.

“It’s only eight in the morning,” Sehun said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “We figured you’d still be asleep after what happened last night.”

“Last night?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot?” Kyungsoo walked over to her, a grim line set on his mouth as he handed her a glass of water. She met his eyes, and after staring at him for a couple of seconds, the events of last night struck her so fast that she had to stop for a moment and revel on it.

Yesterday, the biggest revelation about her life was exposed. Yesterday, the many questions she had been asking were finally answered, yet from what she recalled she wasn’t too happy about it.

But really, who would be? With the feeling of dread weighting her down because of Tao getting kidnapped and people getting killed, anyone would be upset. Plus, it was entirely because of her since apparently, her whole existence was what the enemy wanted after all.

The one thing that angered her the most, though, is the fact that her parents waited seventeen years to tell her the truth. If they told her sooner that she had an engineered heart and an unexplainable power that came along with it, maybe they would have thought of a solution to this problem. With this information coming out just now, it may just be a little too late.

“How are you feeling?” Lay questioned as Hyerin took the glass from Kyungsoo's hands.

“Okay, I guess,” she mumbled, taking one long gulp of water. She looked around her surroundings some more, finally remembering how she ended up in this bedroom. She was so upset and disoriented that she stormed out of M-LX last night, aimlessly roaming around the city to clear her head of anything that had to do with what was currently going on. It was maybe around 3 AM when she appeared in the boys’ penthouse, refusing to go home to face her father. She ended up staying in Suho and Kyungsoo’s shared bedroom while the two slept outside in the living room.

Hyerin set down the glass on the bedside table after finishing off its contents. “Thanks for letting me stay over,” she mumbled, slightly bashful of how irrational she must have acted last night.

“It’s okay,” Sehun said, giving her a sympathetic smile. “You’re always welcome here. You know that.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Lay asked.

“Yeah. I mean, at least we’re not clueless about what they want anymore, right?” She shrugged. “It’s better to be disoriented by the truth than be happy yet oblivious.”

“Don’t worry,” Kris started. “You’ll forget about how bad you’re feeling sooner or later because we’ll definitely use this newfound power of yours one of these days. Not now, but later we will. We have to take advantage of this and make it our weapon.”

Hyerin nodded in understanding. “You’re right. I should just ignore all these stupid feelings and just-” she took a deep breath, “just focus on the task at hand.”

Kris nodded once at her, respecting the way she was handling the situation.

“So,” she started, cutting to the chase, “what are our plans?”

“There are no plans formed just yet, but Chen and Luhan are at the secret room, trying to figure stuff out. All we know for sure right now is that the only way we’re going to get Tao back is if we give back the money to them and-” his eyes landed on her, “and if we hand you over to them.”

“Which is clearly never going to happen,” Kyungsoo hastily added.

Hyerin looked at him uncertainly. “Well actually, if we find a way to trick them by turning me in-”

“Are you crazy?”

“It may just be the-”

“Don’t even start on that,” Kyungsoo cut off, looking impatient. “Just don’t.”

“He’s right, Hyerin. We’re not going to turn you in,” Lay said. “That’s the last thing we would want do. Heck, we’re not even going to let you near any of the enemies in fear of them abducting you.”

“What I meant by taking advantage of your power is when they’re finally vulnerable and easy to attack,” Kris explained. “Although I have no clue as to how we’re going to do that.”

“Ideas will come up naturally. For now, we just need to get all the information we need,” Lay said, crossing his arms in front of him.

“Alright.” She nodded. “For now, we’ll stay on the down low.”

---

After settling things, the gang spent the rest of the day tending to their personal matters. It was a gloomy morning, perfectly matching everyone’s mood as if it were entirely made for their grieving.

Nothing was the same without Tao. Everyone was down and trying to keep busy just so they won’t have to think about the disaster that was going on at the moment. It didn’t help that there was that issue with Hyerin, too. Everything bad was happening all at the same time and it was taking a toll on them.

Kai was polishing a set of daggers in the living room when Hyerin plopped herself on the couch opposite of where he was sitting, looking extremely troubled as she stared down at her phone.

Kai’s gaze lingered on her as he absentmindedly wiped the weapon in his hand with a cloth, watching as her mobile vibrated in her hands, practically begging her to answer it.

“Aren’t you taking that?” he casually asked, nodding at her phone.

Hyerin looked up, eyes wide from snapping out of her trance so suddenly. “Oh,” she mumbled, looking down once again on the mobile before turning it off, jaw tightening. “No. It’s not important.”

“Of course it is,” he said. “That’s why you’re running away from it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What makes you think so?”

“Oh, I would know,” he muttered, setting down the knife and taking another unpolished one. “I’ve been through that a lot of times.”

Hyerin stared at him for a while before sighing and leaning back on the couch wordlessly. Of course he would know.

“Hyerin,” he started, putting away the dagger and rounding the table in between them to sit beside her. “The situation you’re in right now, I’ve been through it and I still am. I run away from things that I should handle myself but I’m such a big coward that I end up pushing it away. And I’m telling you this right now – don’t run away,” he said, giving her a look that held too much meaning behind it.

“Face it and overcome it because it will never go away. It’ll haunt you until it consumes the rest of you until there’s nothing left. Like what it did to me. I’m miserable and the only thing that really makes me happy right now is-” he paused, gazing at her fondly, “I-Is you. And the others, as well. But that’s no good, Hyerin. Someday you guys will be gone, and what will happen to me then? I can’t have something or someone to sustain my happiness. I should be happy just because I want to be, and you should be, too.

“So,” he sighed.  “If you don’t want to end up like me, you should answer that phone. Confront your dad and tell him how you really feel. Don’t let this bring you down.”

“It’s not too late, you know,” Hyerin breathed, squeezing his hand. “Patching up things with your dad.”

His face hardened, looking from his lap to Hyerin simultaneously as if not knowing what to say. “I hope so,” he whispered. “I’ll talk to him one of these days.”

“Good.”

“And you should too,” he reminded. “Trust me. Life isn’t easy without a dad.”

Hyerin nodded. “Right,” she said. “You, of all people, should know how that feels like.”

Kai grinned, pulling her in for a hug. He cared for her too much to let her suffer the same hardships he had to go through.

Behind them, someone cleared his throat.

Kai’s gaze lifted, only to see Baekhyun standing on the side, staring down at his shoes.

“Sorry if I’m interrupting but can I speak with you, Hyerin?” he asked, hands firmly placed behind his back.

Hyerin broke the hug and turned around, looking uncomfortable as she shifted her eyes anywhere but him. “Yeah, sure.”

Kai laughed a little. “What the heck, Baekhyun? Can’t you see we're talking?” he joked, only to frown after when Baekhyun gave him a tired look.

“Kai, please,” he sighed, folding his arms.

What the hell? Kai arched a brow. What is up with these two? Didn’t they go out the night before? So why was the air so tense between them?

He threw his arms in defeat before standing up. “Alright, man. She’s all yours.” He shrugged, walking away anyway just to not get caught up with whatever was happening.

But if he found out Baekhyun did something to Hyerin, he’d make sure to give him a piece of his mind.

With cautious eyes, Baekhyun slowly made his way towards Hyerin, occupying the spot where Kai was situated earlier. The whole time, Hyerin had her head down, arms crossed and refusing to look at him.

Baekhyun bit his lip, not sure where to start. “Hey,” he whispered.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she said. “I probably already know it so just save it, Baekhyun. I’m alright.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I need you to hear me out. Right now.”

“It’s okay-”

“No, it’s not. We both know it’s not and just, just look at me. Look at me, please,” he said, craning his neck to meet her eyes. Reluctantly, she obliged.

“At this point, I really can’t take back anything I said anymore. One, because it’s already out and two because,” he stammered, “Because when I said I can’t be with you, I meant it.”

Her lips pressed together, feeling the back of her eyes heating up.

“Please understand that if I had a choice, I would never hurt you, Hyerin. Rejecting you is all I could do right now to keep you from getting hurt and I-” he swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing, “It’s just complicated and I hope that someday you'll understand why I did it. I had no choice.”

“You can’t just walk up to me and tell me all this without saying why you did it, Baekhyun.”

“I just can’t.”

“Then might as well not say anything at all because you’re just making it worse,” she mumbled, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. “I opened up to you and shared my feelings with you, Baekhyun. Don’t you think I at least deserve an explanation? You can’t just leave me hanging and wondering like this.”

He bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry, too, Baekhyun. You expect me to understand all this but I don’t think I can do that right now.” She sniffed, wiping away the tears and storming out of the living room.

She was probably being unreasonable. Unfair, dramatic, and selfish, even, but when did she ever become selfless, anyway? She wasn’t perfect. She wanted to think about herself and her feelings, even if it were just a little while, because she knew all too well that when she goes back to caring for others, she’ll end up getting hurt again.

Hyerin found herself entering the kitchen, wiping her eyes and blinking a few times before walking inside.

She was greeted by the sight of Kyungsoo sporting his pink floral apron, busying himself in the kitchen like how he usually did in his spare time. He was too occupied that he didn’t notice the girl enter his kitchen.

Kyungsoo was the only one she could really talk to without thinking about what she was going to say and how he was going to take it. Despite their usual disputes, it was easier to open up about her problems to Kyungsoo. He listened attentively and gave advice even if it was in unconventional ways.

He was like her guardian angel, excluding the angelic part.

Finally, he looked up, eyes lingering on the girl before going back to wiping the counter.

“What’s with the long face?” he asked.

Hyerin sat herself in front of him, crossing her arms on top of the counter. “Is there any reason for me to have a smile on my face right now?” She propped her chin on top of her knuckles. “Things just get worse by the minute.”

“You know, you never told me about what happened to your date with Baekhyun. It's about him isn't it?” he asked. “You hungry?”

“Yes,” she immediately answered, to which Kyungsoo nodded. He took an apple from the basket and cut it into portions.

“About the date…well, it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would,” she chuckled, fumbling with her fingers. “He doesn’t feel the same way,” he whispered.

Kyungsoo wasn’t surprised. Just from the look they both had last night on their faces, he kind of knew that things didn’t go well. “Why is that?” he asked, busy cutting the fruit.

“I don’t know. He just said he couldn’t return my feelings. That’s all he said. No explanation, no nothing. I talked to him just now and he won’t tell me. Honestly, I’m really confused right now.” She shook her head from dismay. “I’m okay with the fact that he doesn’t like me back but I just don’t understand why he won’t tell me why.”

“Maybe he’s gay,” Kyungsoo joked, wanting to make the conversation lighter, only to regret it after when Hyerin’s frown worsened.

“Oh my god,” she groaned. “Maybe he is.”

“No, Hyerin, wait-” he said, setting down the knife. “That was just a joke. I mean, I don’t want to put any ideas in your head or anything I just-”

“He’s gay. I know it. It’s the only reason I could think of right now.”

“No! Okay, I just said that ‘cause I just wanted you to cheer up!” he exclaimed. “Although that went wrong, obviously.”

Hyerin glared at him. “Cheer me up?” She sighed. “If that's the case then you’re doing it the wrong way, Kyungsoo.”

He sighed. “I know. I .”

“Just give me those apples,” she said. “I think they’ll do a better job at making me happy.”

“No,” he refused. “You said it yourself earlier, Hyerin. You said you don’t want your feelings to get in the way. Isn’t this a little hypocritical?”

"I know." She frowned. “I guess I said those words too soon. It’s not as easy as it seems.”

“Exactly and I want to help you.” He reached out to her face to lift her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m an idiot, okay? But this idiot wants to help you get over all the that’s happening in your life right now. At least, make you temporarily happy until the time you need to face it. Will you let me do that?”

Hyerin had no choice but to nod. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “That’s fine.”

“Good,” he said as he rounded the counter, eyes blazing with a different kind of determination. “Let’s go.”

“But what about the apples?”

“ the apples, we’re leaving this hellhole.”

---

Kris smiled to himself as he watched the younger ones run towards the pier, yelling and screaming excitedly as their clothes swayed with the chilly wind. The sun was just setting, morphing their running bodies into small dark figures as they got further and further away into the edge of the pier, the oscillation of the waves under them reaching dangerously close to the wooden pathway where they stood. They had the pier all to themselves, giving them the luxury to bask in the beauty of the place.

Kris sighed in content, almost failing to notice the boy beside him, doing the same as him and watching over the others, arms folded against his chest with layers of thick clothing to fight off the harsh cold.

“Isn’t this a funny sight to see,” he remarked, earning the attention of the other. “You’re the one who asked to go to the pier, yet you’re the one who looks like he’s going to die from the cold.”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo hissed, wrapping himself further with his jacket. “Stop being a smart and go join the others.”

Kris scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Really now, Kyungsoo. Why did you decide to bring us here?”

“I missed the beach. I missed the pier. It’s only twenty minutes away, so why not? We needed a break, anyway.”

“It’s not even summer. It’s cold as . What’s really the reason?”

Kyungsoo met the older’s piercing stare before sighing. “I just had to, okay?”

“Oh, please. We all know it’s about Hyerin.”

“It’s not always about her.”

“Yeah, but to you? I think so,” he chuckled. “Just face it, Kyungsoo. She’s everything to you.”

“How would you know that? Don’t assume anything,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

Kris shook his head. “There’s really no use denying it, Kyungsoo. It may seem like it’s nothing right now but later, you’ll realize just how much she means to you.”

“I know what she means to me, Kris, and it’s not in the way you’re thinking.”

“That’s what you think,” he said. “But what’s your heart really telling you?”

Kyungsoo paused. By instinct, he searched the girl amongst the others, eyes lighting up on it’s own accord as he caught sight of her smiling widely for the first time that day.

He turned to look at the taller boy, only to find him gone. When he saw him, he was already making his way towards Chanyeol and Kai who were roughhousing with Hyerin.

Kris whispered something into Hyerin’s ear, sparking her interest. Before Kyungsoo could peel his eyes away from her, her gaze was already on him.

Kyungsoo froze on the spot as he watched Hyerin make her way towards him, hands placed behind her back as her unruly hair swept to the side because of the strong wind. He consciously tugged on his jacket when she stopped in front of him.

“What’s with you?” she asked over the loud whooshing of the wind. “Why are you just standing there?”

“…What?” he intelligently asked, looking around to see that he was standing there alone. Everyone was having fun at the edge of the pier.

“Aren’t you going to join us?” Hyerin asked, nodding over to the others who were loudly bantering.

“Y-Yeah,” he answered.

“You look really cold,” she commented.

“What?” he repeated, not hearing properly because of the strong wind.

She laughed, standing on her tiptoes to talk beside the boy’s ear. “I haven’t said thank you for bringing us here. It’s really nice of you to do that.”

“No problem.” The wind was getting distracting. Can’t Sehun do anything about this?

“Just when I thought this day was bad, it surprisingly got better.” She grinned. “It’s all thanks to you.”

“Listen,” he said, leaning down to her level so she could hear better. “I know things are really hard for you right now but try not to think about it. I’m not really good at dealing with emotions and you’re not good dealing with it either, but I know we’ll work this out and I’ll succeed in helping you and you’ll be okay again.”

Hyerin gave him a blank look before laughing heartily, looking up at him with a mixture of confusion and gratification.

“Why are you doing all this for me?” she asked, ignoring the breeze that was messing up her hair.

Kyungsoo opened his mouth, only to close it again. He shook his head, on his tooth before chuckling sheepishly and looking away.

She laughed. “What?”

“I just want you to be happy,” he said, turning to give her a heart-stopping smile as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear despite the wind.

She looked up at him softly, her dark eyes smoldering with his own in a way that made his heart twitch. They were bright and filled with so much emotion, yet he didn’t know what kind. He couldn’t miss the sudden glint in her eyes, though; that look where she seemed to realize something that’s been in her for so long, yet never really exposed itself for fear of something he didn’t know what.

All too soon, she broke the staring contest, but the feeling stayed with him. With a small smile on her face she gestured towards the others again.

“How about that offer of joining the others?” she asked.

“I don’t mind.” He shrugged, the hint of a smile still on his face.

“Great,” she said, taking his hand and leading him towards the boys. “Let’s go, then.”

Kyungsoo was never like this, and he probably won’t stay like this for long – acting so calm and collected. In fact, tomorrow, he was probably going back to being an again. But right now, standing in a beautiful place with an equally beautiful girl holding his hand, he didn’t mind this. He didn’t care about anything else except for her and her hold that seemed to warm him up.

Suddenly, it wasn’t so cold anymore.

---

“I finally got something out of Yukihara.”

After a couple of hours enjoying themselves at the pier, they were forced to come back home after receiving a call from Chen who stayed back to research more on their current mission. He said that he had news, making everyone anticipate what the boy discovered.

Well,” Suho said, waiting for Chen to continue. “What did you get?”

Chen rounded the table while flipping through the pages of his binder. “After another day of interrogating Yukihara, he finally gave in. He said that the money taken from the casino was to pay for Durus’ deeds, as well as the money they attempted to steal from the banks which we all know they failed in accomplishing,” he explained.

“In order to get Tao back, we need to give back the money, and we’re able to do that using the chip Hyerin found in Yukihara’s hotel,” he continued, fishing out the said object from his pocket to show the others. “It’s a poker chip from another casino. Except this time, it’s in Hong Kong. We’ll redeem the chip and from there, it’ll lead us to where they are.”

Everyone took in deep distressed breaths.

“So are we really going to give the money back to them? How are we going to do that? It’s in freakin’ Hong Kong,” Xiumin scoffed.

“We have no choice,” Luhan said. “And no, we’re not giving back the money.”

Baekhyun raised a brow. “Then what are you planning to do, exactly?”

“We’re going to fight,” Chen said, looking at each and every one of them with a stern expression. “We’re going to attack them, take advantage of the situation, and then bring Tao back home.”

“Are you sure this will work?” Kai asked.

“It will, if we bring the right people.”

Kyungsoo frowned. “What do you mean?”

“We’re going to split in half,” Chen started, folding his arms against his chest. “Six will go to Hong Kong, six will stay here.”

“What?” Hyerin protested. “Why is that? Six people aren’t enough to fight off whatever’s there waiting for us!”

“What? And then leave everything behind back here? Once they find out none of us stayed behind, they will take advantage of the situation and win without even breaking a sweat. And most importantly, you have to be protected,” Chen explained, pointing at the girl. “You are one of their targets right now, Hyerin, and we can’t afford to take any chances. You’re staying here in Seoul.”

“What!?” she exclaimed. “Wha-”

“You’re not going to Hong Kong, Hyerin, and that’s final,” Chen said with finality, dismissing everyone right away before heading back towards the secret room.

“It’s alright, Hyerin,” Sehun reassured. “You know it’s for your own good.”

She sighed, having no choice but to oblige. She knew they were right and that they couldn’t afford to take risks. It was too dangerous to do field work especially when you’re the target, and if it was already risky here in her own country, what more in a place she wasn’t even familiar with?

Hyerin nodded, giving Sehun a small smile before walking away. She will leave it up to her comrades to fight off the unknown danger that awaits them there. For now, all she had to do was watch out for herself.

After all, you can never be too careful.

---

Baekhyun shut his eyes closed as his back painfully met with the balcony’s railing.

“What is your problem, Kai?” he questioned in a wobbly voice, fighting to keep quiet for fear of the others hearing them.

“What’s your problem?” Kai hissed, hands aching to do something more extreme than shoving the older boy. “What the is this thing I’m hearing about you and Hyerin? Mind explaining that?”

Baekhyun sighed, looking down on his feet. “Who told you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Why’d you do it? How can you hurt her like that?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Don’t give me that !” Kai growled, holding Baekhyun up by the collar. “How could you!? How could you just lead her on thinking everything’s okay and then feel all bad about it after as if you didn’t know exactly what you were doing? Huh? Tell me!”

“Keep your voice down,” Baekhyun pleaded.

“No!”

“Please, Kai.”

“Shut. Up.”

“Just leave me alone!” Baekhyun yelled, prying the younger boy’s hands away from him. “I already feel real guilty about it but I had no choice! It was the only thing I could do to not hurt her.”

“ing bull!” Kai growled. “You think that saved her? Look at her now, dumb, you think she's happy? You didn’t save her the heartbreak, you just made it worse.”

Baekhyun lowered his head.

“You act so ing righteous all the time but are you really? Not everything you decide on doing is right, so if you’re unsure as to what course of action you should take then just back the hell off,” Kai hissed through gritted teeth. “If you didn’t ask her out in the first place this wouldn’t have happened. Just back off, man.”

Kai angrily whipped around to return inside, when Baekhyun spoke.

“I’m sorry about what I did, Kai, but I’m not going to let you talk down on me when I know what’s really inside your head,” he said in a low voice. “You’re just jealous of what Hyerin and I have that you don’t – a mutual connection. You’re venting out your bitterness on me because Hyerin doesn’t look at you the way you do with her. Am I right? You’re sad and angry because Hyerin doesn’t return the feelings you have for her and face it, Kai,” Baekhyun spat heatedly. “It's never going to happen.”

Kai swallowed the lump in his throat, fists clenched as he struggled to hold his cool. “That’s not true.” There was a chance. Even if it was a small one, he knew there was a chance. There’s got to be a chance.

“Don’t fool yourself, Kai. You know it. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Kai bit his lip, closing his eyes briefly before storming inside the house, afraid to hear more of what Baekhyun had to say and afraid to find himself actually believing it.

---

A/N: FILIPINOKOREAN made fanart agaaaain. Well it's actually kind of like typography but , they're so ing awesome! Look at 'em! Just look at 'em!