The piercing coldness woke Hyerin, but she made no move to get up or open her eyes. Her body felt heavy with soreness and was almost impossible to move, and she was scared of what might greet her once she opens her eyes. Maybe she was already dead, and she was just not ready for that.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder. “Wake up.”

She groaned and stirred in whatever she was lying on. “Is that you, Jesus?”

“No,” the voice replied softly, “just plain old Yixing, unfortunately.”

Hyerin’s eyes shot open, and there sitting beside her was Lay, staring at her with worry. At once, she sat up, wrapped her arms around him, and started tearing up.

Lay hugged her back. “It’s okay,” he reassured. “You’re alright now, you’re home.”

It took a lot of explaining to do for Hyerin to understand that they were now staying in the woods, that Jiyong destroyed M-LX, and that they have been suffering from the lack of supplies for the past month. Back in Gwangju, they didn’t worry about such things.

“Come on, Lay,” she said, attempting to stand up from the sleeping bag she was tucked comfortably under, “help me get up. I want to see the others.”

Lay grabbed her arm and carefully pulled her up to her feet. “They’re eating supper right now. Everyone’s been waiting for you to get up. Oh, and don’t move too much, I just healed your crawler bite.”

They exited the tent and stepped outside where the other agents were eating around a fire. Once Hyerin was out in the open, the first one to notice was Myungjae.

“Hyerin…” he trailed off dazedly before jumping up from the ground and running towards his daughter. “Hyerin!”

“Dad,” she whispered, letting herself be enveloped in her father’s embrace. The others followed shortly and hugged her, glad that she was okay.

“How have you guys been?” she asked. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“We’ve been…okay, I guess,” Xiumin said, shrugging. “We’re making do with what we have. How have you been?”

The corner of tugged upwards. “Not so great. We went back here and Minho and I-” her eyes widened suddenly, “M-Minho, w-where-”

“He’s inside one of the tents,” Agent Zero said, giving her a plate of food. “He’s still unconscious, but he’s fine.”

Hyerin sighed. “I didn’t know M-LX was destroyed and swarming with night crawlers. I shouldn’t have brought him with me. But anyway, that’s not the point,” she said. “The reason why we came back is-”

“We already know.”

Hyerin turned around, shocked to see Kai walking towards her with a big smile on his face.

“It’s okay, Hyerin. You don’t have to explain anything. We already know,” he said, chuckling as Hyerin got up on her feet and tackled him into a hug.

“You’re back!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “I can’t believe it, we thought you were dead.”

Kai gave her a soft smile. “C’mon, Hyerin. You know I’m stronger than that.”

“I do know. You wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t,” she mumbled, closing her eyes. “God, I missed you so much.”

He laughed. “I missed you too, you brat,” he whispered, messing up her hair.

“I really don’t want to disturb the moment,” Suho said, scratching the back of his ear, “but I just have to ask – have you used your powers, Hyerin?”

She turned around and nodded. “I did. I managed to activate my powers right before they got in,” she explained. “I stole Blue and Durus’ powers. That’s how I killed them. It was a mess back there, I don’t know how you guys managed to find me.”

The other guys told us that you were planning to go back to M-LX’s second headquarters,” Chanyeol said. “We wasted no time to go get you. We’re just glad you’re okay.”

“And I’m glad you guys are, too.”

“Well on another note, pretty rad haircut you got there, Rin,” Kai chuckled, ruffling her short hair.

“You all look different, too,” she snorted. “In fact, really, really different. Tanner, older, more muscular…and I see some new faces, too,” she said, glancing at Hyeji who was sitting next to Chen. The Xinth gave a courteous nod and Hyerin returned it.

“We didn’t change all that much,” Xiumin said, waving a hand.

“You should see D.O, though,” Kai added. “Boy, did that guy transform.”

With the sound of the boy’s name, Hyerin’s heart beat a little faster. He was like a dream, like a part of a distant memory she could barely remember. It had only been a couple of weeks, but it felt like ages ago since the last time she’d seen him.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Kris said, turning in his seat to look at Kyungsoo walking into their camp with Key and Myungsoo trailing behind him.

The others acted normally as soon as he came in, but that wasn’t the case for Hyerin. He looked different and she could barely take her eyes off him – he was taller, a little darker, and more handsome than she remembered. But that wasn’t what caught her attention at all. It was his right arm. His right bionic arm.

“How did it go?” Baekhyun asked the three.

Key sighed. “Seems like Jiyong already knows she’s here,” he said. “That’s not good.”

“We need to find a better hiding place if that’s the case. It won’t be long ‘till they find this one,” Chen said.

“Maybe find a backup, if that’s what you mean. What do you think, Hyerin?” Sehun asked, turning to the girl who was paying no heed to them at all. She was staring at Kyungsoo who was sitting with his back to her, cleaning his rifle.

Sensing the tension in the air, they tried to ignore the two and went back to eating.

Hyerin set down her plate. “Kyungsoo.”

“Bad idea,” he said quietly, and again: “Bad idea.”

Her eyebrows knitted together. “What?”

“You being here is the biggest mistake,” Kyungsoo said in a louder voice, furiously wiping his rifle with a cloth. “Big, big mistake.”

“Have you read the letter?” she asked cautiously.

“Yes, I’ve read the letter,” he said impatiently, “and it makes no difference. You shouldn’t be here.”

Tao casted a worried glance at the boy. “D.O-”

“Well I’m sorry,” she said in a harsh tone. “I’m sorry that I want to offer some kind of help. If you haven’t noticed, you’re lacking offensive and defensive support in here and that’s what we’re here for. That’s what I’m here for, just to let you know if you didn’t read the letter properly.”

Kyungsoo whipped around to face her. “Oh, who gives a damn?” he retorted. “We all have powers here. You think that helped? Did we win over Jiyong? No we didn’t! Because our powers are irrelevant now, and you being here is not much help. It’s just a burden!”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Hyerin scowled. “Is that supposed to be an insult? I know I’m a burden, that’s why I’m doing my best to fix everything! Why don’t you just give me a chance?”

“A chance? You want a chance?” Kyungsoo chuckled bitterly. “Sorry to say, Hyerin, but we don’t have any of that in here. Giving you a chance is a risk and if there’s something I learned from the past few months it’s that we can’t afford to risk anything.”

“What is wrong with you!?” she exclaimed. “Why are you so ing pessimistic all the time!?”

“Because it’s all I’ve ever known!” he snapped, finally looking her dead in the eye. “We’ve done everything to keep you safe and now we’re back to square ing one! Just back off, Hyerin, you’re worthless in this war!”

That made her shut up for good. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe that they were arguing right now, that the first thing they do after not seeing each other for so long was to argue.

Hyerin started crying out of anger. At least, she liked to believe it was anger. Her hands turned into fists as she looked away from him, but not before catching sight of his glare wavering a little.

She wiped her tears with her wrist. “I hate you,” she said in a shaky voice before running away into the woods.

Once Hyerin was gone, Kyungsoo angrily kicked the box of supplies beside him, making it topple to the ground. “Goddammit!” he hissed, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t mean to pry but,” Tao sighed, shaking his head, “you done did it, man.”

Kyungsoo ignored the boy and clucked his tongue irritably before disappearing into the woods as well.

Meanwhile, Hyerin wanted to just slap herself. She couldn’t believe she let herself look weak like that in front of the others all because of a boy, but he wasn’t just any other boy; he was important to her and she was incredibly upset to hear him call her worthless.

Worthless, she thought. What a terrible word. Never did she expect Kyungsoo of all people to call her worthless.

Hyerin clamped a hand over and started crying again, silently treading through the woods. If it were anyone, she wouldn’t be this affected. But this was Kyungsoo and he would never say that, but he did and he had changed. Hopefully not for the worse, but she was starting to think otherwise.

She was in the middle of crying her eyeballs out when a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind, stopping her in her tracks. Her first instinct was to run away, but one arm was human and the other was metal, and Hyerin realized there was nothing to be afraid of.

They stood like that for a while, none of them moving an inch. She already knew he was regretting a lot of what he said just by the way he was holding her so gently, as if she were a little fragile thing that he could break just like that. He probably could with that new arm, but she knew he wouldn’t.

He buried his head into her neck from behind. “I’m sorry,” he whispered apologetically. “I’m the biggest alive. Please don’t believe anything I said earlier. I’m just a stupid jerk, I’m sorry.”

Hyerin blinked rapidly, trying to hold in her tears.

 “I’m sorry. I care a lot about you and I’m sorry and you mean everything to me,” he said softly. “Hyerin, please. I’m sorry.”

“Do you really think I’m worthless?”

He squeezed her tighter. “No.”

Hyerin bit her lower lip and exhaled, turning around to face the boy. She looked him in the eye and couldn’t help but soften at his guilt-ridden expression.

“Okay,” she whispered, nodding. “Okay.”

Kyungsoo said nothing and instead, took her hand and started on the trail ahead of them.

After a short walk, they arrived in a forest bald spot, smack in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by tall trees, but not too tall that it allowed them to get a glimpse of the moon. It was quiet, except for the gentle sound of crickets chirping.

Kyungsoo released her hand, his back facing her. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon,” he said quietly, “I didn’t expect you to be back at all.”

“Well,” she mumbled, “we weren’t supposed to be in the first place.”

“But here you are."

“Here I am.”

“Well do you have your powers now?” he asked, turning around to face her. “The one your mom was talking about in the letter?”

Hyerin nodded meekly. “I do,” she said. “I managed to steal Durus and Blue's powers and killed them with it. I don’t think I have them anymore, though.”

“So it’s only temporary?”

“Probably. But they lose it once I take it so that’s good news, right?”

Kyungsoo nodded and looked away. He went over to a tree and leaned against it, steering away from the moonlight and hiding in the shadows. Hyerin watched him disappear before following him there, knowing it wasn’t the end of their conversation.

“I should apologize for arriving unannounced like that,” Hyerin started, squinting at the darkness but failing to catch a glimpse of the boy. “I’m mostly responsible for why you lost your temper earlier.”

“No, it’s fine,” he dismissed, sounding constricted. “I was overreacting.”

She rolled her eyes and snorted. “You weren’t. You know me and my impulsive tendencies. I mean, technically I snapped at you first so...”

“It’s fine, I’m just,” he sighed, “I’m just a little vexed. That’s all.”

“Did you just say ‘vexed’? People actually use that word in modern day conversations?”

“Hyerin.”

“Sorry,” she blurted. “I know I’m acting annoying right now but I’m just really nervous.”

“…Nervous?”

“Mhm.”

“Why?” he asked a little hesitantly. “Are you…scared?”

Hyerin’s head snapped to the front, eyes wide from surprise. “Scared?”

Kyungsoo finally stepped out of the dark. Half of his body emerged from the shadows, the rest of him still hidden in the darkness. Even with just half of his face, Hyerin couldn’t miss the hesitancy so evident in his expression.

Hyerin stepped forward, making Kyungsoo back away.

Her eyebrows knitted together. “Why would I be scared? Of what?”

Kyungsoo bit the inside of his cheek and looked down on his shoes. “I expected you to be horrified. Disgusted. Or surprised, at least.”

“What are you even talking about?”

Kyungsoo met her gaze with a torn expression. Carefully, he stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself completely as if it were the first time Hyerin was going to see him whole.

When Kyungsoo didn’t explain himself, Hyerin shrugged helplessly. “What is it, Kyungsoo? What are you trying to say?”

“Look at me,” his gaze wavered hearing his own voice crack, “Can’t you see?”

Hyerin was going to ask what he was talking about when, all at once, she finally understood what he meant.

Her gaze shifted from his eyes down to his bionic arm glistening under the moon’s light, looking extraordinarily artificial seeing it attached to Kyungsoo’s very human body. But it fit him perfectly and made him look chivalrous just as he already was.

“That?” She gestured at his metal arm. “You think I’m afraid of that?”

“Initially, yes.”

Hyerin scoffed. “Do I look scared to you right now?”

“Well-” he hesitated, “no.”

“There’s nothing for me to be afraid of,” she said. “Why should I be? What concerns me more is how you lost your arm. Was it an accident? Did TOP completely chop it off this time or what? How did it happen?”

Kyungsoo looked away. “It wasn’t an accident,” he mumbled. “It was intentional.”

“Huh?” Hyerin frowned. “What do you mean intentional?”

“It’s the reason I stayed behind,” he explained. “Your dad, he made this arm for me. He said I could have it attached but it was going to be a long process so I stayed behind.”

“…What?” she whispered in disbelief. “But I thought-”

“Yeah, I lied to you,” he cut off. “It wasn’t just because I was the strongest that they made me stay. It was mainly because of this.”

Hyerin shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was…complicated.”

“Complicated?” she scowled. “Okay, so you resorted to lying to me?”

“It didn’t matter anyway,” he said scornfully, “and it still doesn’t.”

“What are you talking about? Of course it does, I care about you!” She stepped closer to him and craned her neck to meet his eyes. “It does matter, Kyungsoo, you know things would have been different if you told me.”

“And that’s exactly what I was afraid of.” He met her gaze with his intense glare. “Things wouldn’t go according to plan and everything would be ruined. I didn’t want that to happen.”

“That’s completely unfair, Kyungsoo, I have the right to know.”

“No, you don’t,” he said defensively, “you don’t.”

Hyerin blinked rapidly, taken aback by his words. “What?”

“What is this supposed to be, anyway?” He turned around and walked away from her. “We don’t have any right to each other’s business. We don’t have anything special, we’re just – I don’t know, what are we?”

“You mean us?”

“Yes, us. What are we?”

Silence hung in the air as Hyerin pondered over his words. What were they?

“We’re…” she trailed off, “we’re nothing.”

She caught a glimpse of the side of his face and saw unmistakable dejection, raw and stark. She felt a twinge of pain stir up in her chest knowing that was the answer he predicted, yet not necessarily hoping for.

It was quiet again before Kyungsoo spoke. “I thought I would never see you again,” he admitted. “I thought the war would be over by the time you come back and I supposed I would be dead at that point.”

“You were just gonna let that happen to yourself?”

“It was meant to be that way and besides,” he walked further away from her, “you were better off in Gwangju. You’re much safer there with the others taking care of you. Baekhyun, especially. He cares so much about you and he does a great job looking after you-”

“Please just stop it, Kyungsoo, just shut up,” she said heatedly. “Stop it, stop talking about how I would be safer away from here – just stop it. Why are you so – god! You keep worrying about me when you don’t even think about yourself. You never think about yourself!”

“Because you have a purpose in this world, Hyerin, and you need to be protected at all times!”

“And you don’t have a purpose!?”

“My purpose is something I put on myself and that is to protect you. I’m fulfilling my purpose right now.”

“But that’s not fair!” she exclaimed, starting to cry out of frustration. She wanted to say so much, but she didn’t know exactly what it was that she needed to tell him. “I don’t like your purpose, I hate it!”

Kyungsoo sighed exasperatedly and turned around to face her. “Kim Hyerin, you will never be satisfied with anything, will you?”

She wiped her cheeks with her sleeves. “You act like you know everything, like you’re so undoubtedly in control of yourself. You always tell me not to be a hero but here you are, you hypocritical ,” she said. “How come you have the right to protect me, but I can’t protect you?”

“Because like I said-”

“To hell with all the purpose bull you keep babbling about,” she cut off. “To hell with all the heroic sacrifices you’re ready to make, they’re stupid. You may not care much about your existence but I do. If that stupid robot arm gets you killed at one point in the future I would die of guilt, Kyungsoo, I know why you took the risk of staying behind here in Seoul and it's not just because you want to save the world.”

When Kyungsoo remained silent, Hyerin continued. “Now I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me how childish and inconsiderate I am, how safer I am in Gwangju with Baekhyun. But screw safety, Kyungsoo. Screw Gwangju, Screw Baekhyun.”

 Kyungsoo lifted his gaze to meet hers as she walked towards him, stopping when she was right in front of him.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.

“You know exactly what I’m trying to say,” she said just as softly.

Kyungsoo looked as if he had nothing else to retort. “B-But it’s not safe.”

“I don’t care about safe.” She lifted a hand to touch his bionic arm, making him quiver. “I’m not afraid of Seoul, I’m not afraid of Jiyong, and I’m not afraid of you, Kyungsoo. That robot arm won’t change you unless you let it.”

She chuckled lightly. “And hey, I have a mechanical robot heart too, remember? We can be semi-robots together,” she said, smiling at him affectionately. “I was looking for someone with baggage that went with mine, anyway.”

His eyes never left hers as he took the hand that was on his metal arm. He gently tugged her closer to him until she was looking up just to stare him directly in the eye.

“Is this what I think it is?” he asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know. I guess,” she mumbled absentmindedly, preoccupied with his too handsome face and his too pretty eyes.

He looked as distracted as she was. “That’s not a very definite answer,” he whispered, placing a hand on her hip.

“Why are we whispering?”

“Hyerin.”

“We were never the type to use definite words.”

“Hyerin.”

She grinned bashfully. “What?”

His metal hand cupped her cheek, making her shiver from the cold steel. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, slowly getting used to the cool sensation. His other hand, the real one, made its way to the back of her neck and it made her shiver in a whole new different way.

He pressed his forehead against hers. “I like you,” he whispered, “I like you a lot.”

She reached out to touch his cheek. “I like you a lot too,” her voice was quiet as she traced his jawline with the tip of her fingers. He kissed her eyelids in response, then the bridge of her nose, then her cheek, then the corner of .

“And I’m kind of falling in love with you too,” he murmured.

Her brows furrowed but she didn’t open her eyes. “Why?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“I just am.”

“Why?”

“Because,” he whispered to the side of her lips.

“Because?”

“Because.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she was met at once with Kyungsoo’s smile, probably the brightest smile she had ever gotten from him.

She stared at him in a daze. “What have you done to me?”

“No. What have you done to me?” he corrected. “I can’t even breathe.”

That was the last word he whispered before capturing her lips with his.

---

a/n: 

it was a really short chapter, we all know that, but adding another part to it would mess up the mood of the whole chapter so i just left it like that. don't worry, the next one is long as so you guys are in for a treat! and i definitely have mentioned that this is one of my favorite chapters, just because i managed to capture the tone and atmosphere that i was going for during the kyungrin scenes. i had to revise a lot lot lot to get that certain undercurrent i wanted and i don't know, i'm just happy. :)

in other news, aff user mamai0525 made a beautiful poster for guts! thank you so much and if any of you would like to make something based off the story (posters, fanart, stories, etc.) you are free to do so! just let me know so i can post it on the foreword of this story. :) thanks all!