The sweat trickled down from Baekhyun’s scalp down to his brows, the salty liquid seeping in between his eyelashes and stinging his eyes before he could wipe them away. He was too immersed in crushing what’s left of the bricked wall in one of the city hall’s meeting rooms with his own two strong fists that he did not notice himself already drenched in sweat. Nevertheless, he did not stop.

What once was the city hall was now a house full of rowdy men and aliens using it as a sparring gym, personally redecorated by Durus himself to suit everyone’s convenience. Individual rooms were destroyed, lights were removed, and the cemented and bricked walls were kicked and punched so much that cracks were already forming, some parts even crumbling down to the floor because of the damage. Furniture was destroyed and used for strength training. The fancy chandeliers were cut down and have exploded into millions of crystal splinters, one in particular now in the same room as Baekhyun.

The sweat trickling down to his eyes made him stop punching the bricked wall to wipe his face with the back of his hand. Dust and blood seeping through the cloth that wrapped around his knuckles decorated his cheeks as he took a couple of steps back from the damaged wall.

“I heard about the terrible news.”

Baekhyun jumped a little and whipped around to face the owner of the voice. Nothing. No one.

Yet as his shoulders relaxed and his eyes squinted to adjust to the dark, he could make out a slender form of a suited man, slowly emerging from the shadows. It was Jiyong, sporting his usual suit and a cigar at hand.

Baekhyun’s shoulders tensed once again, a sign of fear and agitation. He refused to acknowledge these feelings and resorted into taking off the dirty cloth tightly wrapped around his hands.

“What terrible news?” he asked, mumbling, as he pretended to be distracted by his bloody hands.

“I believe I do not have to be specific here seeing that there are more good things happening to us than bad,” Jiyong said, voice snaky and venomous as always. “I think by now you would know what I mean.”

“Yeah, but I don’t,” Baekhyun deadpanned, tossing the dirty cloth to the side and rubbing his bloody knuckles, “and if you mean what happened a couple of hours ago then I don’t consider that as a problem.”

“You don’t consider the fact that your brothers doubt you of your loyalty because they assume you purposely let the enemies escape a problem?”

Baekhyun’s gaze went up to look at Jiyong. The man was staring at him with amusement, one hand inside his pocket and the other shoving the cigar to his lips, inhaling smoke into his lungs. It was 3 AM and the moonlight was casting a mystical glow over Jiyong’s perfect frame, the swirl of smoke from his cigar stretching out across the room. The sight was serene, yet unbelievably evil.

The way Jiyong used ‘brother’ and ‘enemy’ did not feel right in any way to Baekhyun. He felt uncomfortable, because when did he ever start considering these men as his brothers?

And most importantly, when did he start considering his former teammates, his former friends, his former family, as enemies?

Baekhyun blinked a couple of times, suddenly struck by what Jiyong said that he completely forgot to answer.

“I like you, Baekhyun,” Jiyong said, a sinister kind of quirkiness present in his tone that brought Baekhyun back into reality. “You’re smart, dedicated and hardworking. The thing is, though, you are easily sidetracked. Tell me, boy; what’s bothering you?”

Baekhyun gulped, not knowing what to say. Nothing was bothering him. “N-Nothing,” he stuttered, folding his arms in front of his chest to hide his trembling hands. He didn’t know why he was trembling.

“Then you need to stay focused, child,” Jiyong cooed, cigar smoke and manipulative words crawling out of his mouth. “Be aware of where you stand, Baekhyun, because if you find yourself at the other side of the coin, your own people will be the ones to destroy you,” he said, stepping back into the darkness. “Do not underestimate the power of loyalty.”

---

Loud, crackling static twenty feet above the M-LX2 quarters distracted the EXO agents inside the meeting room, making them stand up from their seats and jog outside to hear more clearly what it was that was going on above them.

As the nine young agents along with Agent Zero stepped out into the steel-walled hallways, the static-driven voice became clearer and they finally made sense out of the words. It was Jiyong who was speaking. He was making an announcement spread throughout the whole city. This has become frequent.

“Good morning, people of Seoul. It is now seven in the morning and the sun is shining quite brightly today. Make sure to go out and bask in the beauty of the day,” he started. “I have an announcement to start your days off. As a celebration for my official proclamation of being ruler, I am throwing a formal party at the Park Hyatt Hotel. Everyone is welcome and of course, this goes out to Kim Hyerin and her friends as well.”

Hyerin clenched her jaw, arms folded in front of her as she listened carefully to what Jiyong was about to say.

“As you may know, you are only left with two days to turn yourself in,” he said. “If you do not show up today until tomorrow midnight, I will blow up your father’s head in the celebratory party. Center stage. In front of my guests.

“Please save the people from such an ungodly sight by turning yourself in within the two days left. Make decisions for the better, Kim Hyerin, and for once you might actually do this world some good,” he said, clearing his throat before continuing. “Anyway, my people, this event is formal so make sure to put on your nicest evening wear. Those who do not come will immediately be executed so please do not forget. Take care, everyone, and have a nice day.”

Once the announcement was done, Chanyeol kicked the steel walls out of frustration. “That sick ing bastard!” he hissed.

“You okay?” Kris asked Hyerin who was standing wordlessly beside him.

She nodded. “Mhm.”

“He’s ing crazy,” Xiumin said in disbelief. “A party? Really? Who the hell would go to that kind of event at a time like this?”

“Smart people, that’s who. They’d kill anyone who will disobey and from what I know about humans, we have an immediate instinct to protect our lives,” Chen said a-matter-of-factly. “I say we go to the party.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Suho nodded. “I agree. We should go to the party.”

“I also approve of this,” Zero added.

“Wait. You guys actually have a plan along with this decision, right?” Xiumin scratched the back of his head in confusion.

“Sure. Well right now we don’t, but we’ll have one soon enough. Our priorities right now consist of saving Agent M, protecting Hyerin, and then taking back the city. The party is an obvious opportunity to save Agent M and we’re going to take that opportunity,” Chen explained.

“But that place will be swarmed with Jiyong’s people,” Luhan said, rubbing his swollen, tired eyes.

“That’s where strategy comes in,” Lay said. “We’ll have to think of a plan that can get us inside that hotel unrecognized, all the while enabling us to save Agent M in the process.”

“What do you think, Kris?” Suho muttered, asking the opinion of the other leader.

His brows were furrowed, finger idly rubbing his bottom lip. “Right now, there’s nothing we can really do but that. By going to the party, we can figure out how many henchmen there are, how heavy security will be and how many people are attending. I think it’s an opportunity that we should take advantage of.”

“Then we should start brainstorming now,” Hyerin suggested.

“Indeed. And I believe it is also time for you agents to use real professional equipment,” Agent Zero said.

“You mean we haven’t been using legit equipment all this time?” Chanyeol questioned, raising a brow.

“You are, but compared to the other weapons and gadgets we have produced here in M-LX, the things you have been using are pretty much considered not the real deal yet. But no worries, the chance to let them be of use is now here,” he said, grinning slightly. “I’m sure you’ll have fun with them.”

---

Hyerin walked along the narrow corridors of the second headquarters, feeling uncomfortable being in an unfamiliar territory. Although M-LX2 was considered as an extension of the first M-LX, the feel and ambiance of it was not the same. M-LX consisted of gigantic buildings with marble floors, bulletproof glass walls and large, spacious lobbies and offices. Meanwhile, M-LX2 was an underground hideout, walls and floors made out of pure steel. There were no windows, only skinny hallways and cold, metallic lobbies. The rooms were color coordinated, some black and white while some pure metal gray.

The atmosphere of the new headquarters was cold, modern and unfamiliar, but it was not like Hyerin could complain. This was now their home, and although not permanent, they still had to get used to it. It was better than nothing.

Hyerin turned a corner, coming across a steel door that required an ID scan. She fished out her identification card and slid it through the scanner. It lit up green before the door automatically opened by itself to let her in.

Hyerin walked inside their new training gym and looked around the area. It was probably the biggest out of all the rooms in the headquarters as it housed many gym equipment and machines as well as training mats and weapons for sparring use. The place smelled new and unused, and this was probably the first time anyone has ever been inside. The same goes for the whole headquarters as well.

Hyerin closed the heavy doors behind her, producing a loud slamming sound that echoed throughout the empty gym. She tightened her ponytail before walking in.

She stopped in the middle of the gym to stretch when she caught sight of someone at the very corner of the room in front of the mirrored wall just beside the rack of dumbbells.

It was Kyungsoo.

He was in the middle of doing sit-ups on a matt, face decorated with sweat and dark eyes permanently focused in front of him. He was wearing track pants and a fitted A-shirt that had dark patches around the neck and back area from perspiring too much. He must have been inside the gym for hours already.

At any normal day Hyerin would have already stormed over to Kyungsoo and reprimanded him, but for the first time ever since they started getting along, Hyerin was reluctant to approach Kyungsoo. Ever since their last talk, she found it hard to communicate with him. He was quiet and too calm for it to be normal, and she knew it was the result of what TOP did to him.

Speaking of Kyungsoo’s hand, instead of bandages, his whole right arm–from his shoulder down to his wrist–was now wrapped in a metal contraption of some sort that was so incredibly thin that it enabled him to bend and flex his arm without the stiffness of metal getting in the way. Fine and narrow plastic tubes that lit up blue encircled the metalized contraption, oozing unknown chemicals into Kyungsoo’s arm. She couldn’t figure out what it was for.

With a barely audible sigh, she approached the boy. She didn’t know what to say to him and she wasn’t even sure if she should talk to him in the first place, but telling him he was not ready for strenuous activity should be a good enough reason to approach him.

“You’re working out pretty early,” she said, standing right behind him.

He stopped doing his sit-ups to briefly look up at Hyerin, hands behind his head and body halfway up. After a couple of seconds, he continued with his reps without a word.

“Are you serious? A simple ‘hello’ would have been nice,” she scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. “You’re not even supposed to be here. You only get discharged after one more week.”

“I do what I want.”

“Of course you do. You always do, which makes you a little . Here, let me help you,” she said, rounding the mat he was lying on.

“No thanks,” he huffed, not even stopping once with his sit-ups.

“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes, using her hands to press Kyungsoo's knees together while sitting on his feet to help him lift himself up properly. “Mind if I ask what that thing is on your arm?”

“Electrical stimulation device thing,” he said, words a little unclear due to his heavy breathing. “It’ll help my wounds heal faster.”

“Oh,” she mumbled quietly. It slightly made her feel awkward how close in proximity they were each time he lifted himself up to his knees, yet he never once looked her straight in the eyes.

Ignoring this sudden change in Kyungsoo’s personality, she decided to change the topic.

“Did you know we went on a mission yesterday?” she asked in a light tone. “We went on a field mission to save our families and bring them here to the headquarters.”

She looked over at him cautiously as if waiting for an answer. There was none.

She looked to the side, a little uncomfortable. “Aren’t you going to ask how it went?” she asked slowly. “Well if you aren’t, I’ll still tell you anyway,” she said, shrugging a little bit. “It went fine, I guess. I took Xiumin’s family as well as Hyeseul’s. The others took care of the other families and well, it was almost successful.”

She sighed before continuing, “Everyone got to the base safely. I was still pretty happy even though they couldn’t save my dad because everyone was with their families, but then Luhan came and-” she paused briefly to shake her head, “but then Luhan came and we found out that he couldn’t save Sehun’s mom. It was really, really sad. I couldn’t possibly imagine how Sehun must be feeling right now.”

Hyerin turned to look at Kyungsoo. He may seem unfazed but she knew he was listening. “I don’t know if anyone told you yet but your grandma’s here as well. She’s resting in her designated room right now. She was really tired yesterday,” she mumbled.

Hyerin’s jaw tightened as she watched Kyungsoo continue with his reps without giving her even just one glance. She hated this. She hated it so much, how he looked so calm and uncaring.

“It’s okay,” she muttered, nodding her head in understanding. “I know why you’re doing this and it’s fine. I’d probably do the same thing myself. You’re just trying to act like you don’t care to save yourself from the pain when bad news comes for you. I completely get it,” she said. “I just wish you weren’t so quiet about it.”

“What’s there to say anyway?” he suddenly said. “Words don’t matter anymore.”

“Yes it does. It makes people know that you care.”

“There’s no time for sentimental things like that right now,” he said, voice strained as he was now struggling to lift his upper body from the mat.

“That’s not true,” she said. “Sometimes people need to express themselves and sometimes that’s the only way. People need other people to vent out their frustrations.”

“Well that’s other people, not me.”

“You’re a human being, of course you-”

“I just don’t need it okay!?” he growled, sitting up from the mat and slamming his fist down on the ground that it made the vicinity shake. His voice came so sudden and so loud that Hyerin’s eyes widened from shock. “I don’t need anyone or anything to console me or pep talk me because I don’t care about all that stuff! What I do care about is getting in shape, getting this stupid ing hand to heal, and getting my weak body to go out there and fix things! That’s what matters to me!”

His stare was stone cold, an incredible contrast to her soft, terrified gaze. It was the first time she had ever seen Kyungsoo like that. It was the first time she felt scared of him.

Hyerin exhaled deeply, looking around the room but Kyungsoo. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled in a wobbly voice. “I’m just really…I just-” she shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek, “I just have no idea what to do with you, Kyungsoo. Lately you’ve been so hard to talk to and you haven’t been acting like yourself and I don’t know what’s wrong. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Everything. Everything, right now, is wrong,” he said heatedly. “You know, things could have been different if I managed to kill TOP. If I just attacked him right away in the first place. Instead, I curled up into a ball on the ground with a ing hand missing.” He angrily threw a water bottle across the room. “!”

“It was unavoidable-”

 “I could have helped with the mission yesterday!”

“Kyungsoo, please calm down. It’s only been two days and a couple of hours-”

“Yeah, and in those two days and those couple of hours I could have killed TOP! I could have stopped things from going to ! I could have saved my grandmother on my own! Sehun’s mom wouldn’t be dead right now, and I could have saved Agent M!”

Hyerin wearily rubbed her temple. “Kyungsoo, please.”

“I know I could have done it. I could have gone inside M-LX, killed everyone, and I could have taken Agent M with me.”

 “What are you even-”

“I just know it. I could have saved your dad and you would be with him right now and you won’t be disappointed as you are,” he rambled, running a frustrated hand through his sweaty locks. “You won’t be so disappointed like this, because I will never allow myself to disappoint you.”

“You couldn’t have done anything about it,” she said sadly.

“Yes I could have! I know I could have and even if I couldn’t, I’d try! I’d do anything, alright!?” he snapped.

Hyerin shook her head in confusion. “What is wrong with you, Kyungsoo!? Why are you getting so worked up about this-”

“Because I know I can! Because I’m strong enough to be able to! Because I was there when the outbreak happened and I saw how scared the people were! Because I don’t like doing nothing when there’s a war happening and because if that was you who was kidnapped, I would have done everything to save you!” he exclaimed in a slow and extremely stern manner, the veins in his temples bulging out. “Because if that was you, Hyerin, I swear to God I wouldn’t have been sitting on my all day on that goddamn hospital bed.”

Hyerin stared at him with wide, bewildered eyes, completely dumbfounded by his words.

“Kyungsoo, I-” she stuttered, eyes gradually softening. “I-”

“Don’t bother saying anything,” he said, looking away as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Don’t even start with that ‘I can take care of myself’ bull because that’s not what this is about. This is different, this is…” he trailed off, shaking his head as he looked down. “This is something much more complicated.”

“Then what is it, Kyungsoo?” she asked, sporting that confused look she always had whenever Kyungsoo was being cryptic. “What is this really about?”

 “You have no idea how-” he bit his lip, furiously running his hand through his hair, “you have no idea how terrifying the possibilities are. Possibilities that while you’re out there, you might die.”

“But I’m here,” she reassured, searching his eyes. “I’m right here.”

“That’s the thing. We take advantage of moments like these because we think it’s going to last forever but it’s not. Everything has a limit; I won’t last forever, EXO won’t last forever, M-LX won’t last forever, you won’t last forever…” he said, taking her hand in his. “I have no control over that because that’s how it is. That’s just how life works, but if there’s a way to make it last longer, even for just a little bit, I’m going to do it. Because I don’t want your forever to end just yet,” he whispered, hand travelling up her arm and squeezing gently, “and I can’t do that if I’m weak, Hyerin.”

Again, they were trapped in a deafening silence, with him just staring at her and her staring at him back. She couldn’t miss that feeling, though; that feeling that something about this moment was different from the rest, different enough to make time pass a little slower, make her breath struggle a little harder, make her heart beat a little faster.

She never really understood why Kyungsoo cared about her so much, but then again, she never understood why she cared for him so much either. It was mutual, this thing between them. They look after each other like how good teammates should, but something told her that in a way, his feelings for her were starting to be more than that.

Hyerin didn’t have time to question it as Kyungsoo started inching closer to her until their foreheads were gently pressed against each other, until his hand was cupping the side of her face comfortably. The whole time his eyes were shut, and when he finally opened them, it made Hyerin’s heart beat even faster than it already was.

If it was even possible at this point, he came even closer, and this made Hyerin finally realize what he was about to do and what he was trying to express all along. This was the thing the people around her were telling her about.

His dark eyes were sparked with concern, hopefulness, affection. The perplexing thing about this whole deal was that it’s been there this whole time, and she was the only one who didn’t notice until now. He was closing in and Hyerin practically forgot how to breathe as she watched his lips part and his eyes close, luring her to do the same thing. At this point, she wasn’t even thinking anymore. She doesn’t even remember how the situation turned out like this. She forgot all about it as soon as this particular boy opened his mouth.

But just when the space between them almost became nonexistent, the loud opening of the metal doors from across the room made both of them jump and pull away.

“Holy ,” she said in a barely audible whisper as she stood up from the mat. Kyungsoo did no action to move from his spot.

“Hyerin? Are you here?” Luhan peeked inside the room, no intentions of walking inside.

“Right here,” Hyerin answered, awkwardly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Can you come out here for a sec? I need to talk to you.”

“Sure. I’ll be right there.”

With that, Hyerin tightened her ponytail and made a beeline towards the door. She did not say goodbye to Kyungsoo – she forgot due to shock and embarrassment – but she figured that he wouldn’t really want to be stuck in an uncomfortable situation like that anyway.

“That was so weird,” she mumbled to herself, shaking her head as she tried to recall how at one moment they were angrily screaming at each other and then the next they were about to kiss. She couldn’t even remember the in between. Regardless, she tried to shake it off to not appear strange to Luhan when he talked to her.

Though she doubted he would miss the extreme redness of her cheeks and how shaky her hands were.

---

Hyerin quietly stared down at the lilies placed on the table.

“What’s this for?” she asked, the smooth white petals.

“I was wondering if you can give them to Sehun for me,” Luhan said in a soft voice, staring down at her fingers playing with the flowers. “To offer my condolences.”

Hyerin looked up at him through her eyelashes. “Why not give them to him yourself?”

Luhan scoffed, a hint of a bitter smile on his face. “I would have if he wasn’t ignoring me. I’d much rather you give it to him than me. Besides,” he sighed, looking down on his shoes, “I’d probably ruin his day if he sees me standing on his doorstep.”

“Luhan.” Hyerin made her way to the other side of the table to sit next to the older boy, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and rocking him gently. “I think it’s best if you do it yourself. By actually showing that you care, it might actually make Sehun feel better.”

“No, Hyerin. You don’t understand.” He shook his head. “You have no idea how hard it is to look him in the eye, knowing that I was the one responsible for his mother’s death. I knew I could have done something, but it was just…”

“Just what?”

“I couldn’t move. When I turned around and I saw Suzy up there on the roof with Mrs. Oh I just froze. My body just stopped functioning and all I did was just stare when it happened. You have no idea how regretful I’m feeling right now, Hyerin. This is not just some other mission where I wasn’t able to catch up with the bad guys. This is different.

“She was a human being, Hyerin. She had two arms, two legs and a mind of her own. Just like us. She had people who she cared about, she had a family…she had Sehun. And just from a stupid mistake I made, all that is just…gone,” he said, eyes watering. “It’s my fault.”

Hyerin could do nothing but nod her head at his words, also in the brink of tears.

“I think no one will understand how bad I feel. When I saw the pain in Sehun’s eyes I wanted to kill myself. Hell, I didn’t even feel like I deserved to hug my parents when I saw them safe here.”

“Shh. Don’t say that, Luhan.”

“It’s just that Sehun is such a good kid and I let something so horrible happen to him like that,” he said, holding in his sobs. “I feel so, so bad and it because I can’t do anything about it. It made me realize that I’m not as strong as I think I am and I’m just sorry. I’m just really, really sorry but even such a simple thing as apologizing I can’t do because I’m weak and a coward. I just can’t do it. I just can’t,” he sobbed, burying his head into his palms.

“Luhan,” she mumbled, hugging him from behind. “I know it’s hard for you and Sehun, but only time can tell what will happen to your relationship. If everything turns out okay in the end, then that’s great. If not, then we just have to accept the fact that things don’t always end up the way we want them to. Because life isn’t perfect and it never will be. All we really have to do is to live it and survive,” she said, rubbing his back soothingly.

“You’re not weak, Luhan. Only the strongest, most courageous people can admit to their mistakes,” she said. “It takes everything for a person to do that.”

---

The acrid smell of disinfectant, disease, and a hint of death stung Tao’s nose from all directions, forcing him to open his eyes only to be met with a blurry sight. He had to blink several times rapidly before his vision finally cleared, the blindingly white ceiling the first thing he found himself staring at.

With wobbly arms and a pulsating headache, he slowly sat up on the bed, lifting his right arm in front of him to see an IV taped to his wrist along with other several tubes and wires he deemed necessary.

His eyes passed the cold, sterile room. He was now sure of the fact that he was in a hospital room sitting on a hospital bed, but one thing he didn’t know was when and how he got there.

At the very corner of the room, Kris jolted up from his seat as soon as he saw Tao getting up from the bed. He abandoned the book he was reading and walked over to Tao, a relieved expression on his face.

“ZiTao. Thank God you’re awake,” he sighed. “How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts like hell,” he said, voice cracking here and there.

“Okay. I’ll get you a nurse right away,” Kris said in a hurried manner before making a beeline towards the door.

“Wait,” Tao called out. “What happened? How did I end up here?”

Kris stopped midway before turning around to face the younger boy. “What?”

“What happened? How long have I been out?” he repeated.

“Um,” Kris muttered, blinking rapidly as if not knowing what to say. “Well-”

“What’s the matter?” Tao cut in, frowning at boy.

“I don’t know if I should tell you at this time but…you were kidnapped,” Kris explained slowly, standing stiffly before Tao. “I don’t know if you remember.”

Tao’s eyes darkened. “I do.”

“They brought you to Hong Kong and a couple of us came to save you. But then we were also held captive in our hotel room one day because…because Baekhyun was in on it too,” he explained. “Then the others back at Seoul managed to figure out that the mayor is behind all this and everything just started to go crazy after that. Kai’s dad and Suzy were also allies, Kai is nowhere to be found, D.O.’s hand got cut off, Sehun’s mom died, Agent M is kidnapped…everything is just a disaster.”

“W-What?” Tao stuttered, eyes widening in bewilderment. “How can so much happen? How long have I been out?”

“Probably been more than two weeks since we rescued you,” Kris mumbled. “You never woke up ‘till now.”

“,” he hissed. “Then I better get out of here and train. I need to get back to shape and I need to train my powers again. With my time control we can definitely beat them-”

“Tao,” Kris sternly interrupted.

“…What?” he asked in confusion.

“Tao, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“The thing is…” Kris trailed off, looking at the younger boy in a sad manner before placing a hand on Tao’s arm. Tao looked down on Kris’ hand, suddenly noticing how incredibly skinny his arm was compared to the latter’s.

“Tao, your powers are gone.”

A/N: (EDIT: I GOT MY KARMA BACK!) So I lost almost all of my karma for an unknown reason. It was 4700+ and then one day it just became 130.

Before anything, I just want to say I'm sorry to those who donated karma. I really feel bad because I know you guys gave it to advertise this but then I lost everything. I never gave my password to anyone nor did I win any kind of advertisement so this was just out of nowhere. I'm so sorry, really.

If someone did steal it, I have no idea how or who but right now I pretty much can't do anything.

I guess the positive thing that came out of this is that I realized that it doesn't matter if Guts gets advertised. I realized that what's important is the people reading this fanfic and that people actually bothered reading the 50+ chapters of this fic. And honestly, that's enough for me. If this gets featured, I'll have to get it there the old-fashioned way. If this doesn't get featured, it's okay. Because what matters is that people actually bothered to read this in the first place. And that's what's really, really important to me. I just really love you guys and I'm going to try my hardest to make this a worthwhile read for everyone.

This incident just gives me all the more reason to say thank you. I'm just really happy you guys are still around and I appreciate all of you so much. I don't need to get this to 2000 or 3000 subscribers to be satisfied. When this had 30 chapters I was still at 50 something subscribers and even then, I really thought that was a lot. Even until now, I think 50 is a lot and imagine how crazy it is to me that this reached 1000+ subscribers. So really, thank you so much!

On a different note, I hope you liked this chapter! I'm flying to Oregon tomorrow for an army youth leadership training thing and I didn't want to leave without updating so here you go! I hope you guys like it and comment below! 

EDIT: FRAN CAME UP WITH THE 'FINE AND NARROW' PART SOMEWHERE UP THERE AND WANTED ME TO TELL YOU GUYS THAT BYE