Chanyeol and Kyung-mi were silently eating their breakfast while looking around the living room awkwardly. They both stared at each other before the latter took in a deep breath before shouting, “Eun-mi!”

Eun-mi quickly turned her head away from quietly talking to Lay, Chen, and Soomin to look at her cousin quizzically, “What do you need, Mi?” Yuna turned her head to her right side since she was on the couch to look at her cousin as well.

“It’s too quiet in here!” the other shouted back, earning stares from half of their group members since the other half were still in bed or in the kitchen talking.

The elder laughed as she put her plate down on the floor in front of her, “It’s only been three minutes since you sat down and started eating. You can’t possibly be that freaked out already.”

Chanyeol looked at Kyung-mi confused, “What is she talking about, Mi?”

The other sighed before looking to Chanyeol, “It’s too quiet and awkward and tense in here. I can’t handle it.”

Star laughed, as she looked over from her place sitting next to Sooyun, leaning against the wall at the other side of the room opposite from Eun-mi’s small group, “It’s not that awkward, right?”

She looked to Sooyun who just shrugged, “It kind of is.”

Star sighed as she looked around to see Baekhyun and Hyourin coming out of the kitchen with food and sitting next to Chanyeol and Kyung-mi who both instantly beamed smiles in their direction. “Finally! It won’t be as awkward any more!” Kyung-mi screamed out, causing the other two to look at her in confusion before Baekhyun ignored her and started talking to Chanyeol, earning a pout from Kyung-mi and laughs from Chanyeol and Hyourin.

Kris and Yuna were both sitting on a couch with the latter’s back against one of the armrests with her legs casually draped over Kris’ legs as he sat in the middle of the couch. They were both eating peacefully and calmly talking to each other quite unlike the big argument they had earlier that morning. Luhan and Sabina were in the kitchen with Tao, Yoon Ni, Sehun, and Kai as D.O., Soraya, the parents, Xiumin, and Haerin were presumably still in their respective rooms sleeping.

“…Kai?” Yoon Ni questioned, completely confused as to why the other was bent over crouching and pushing the swing door of the kitchen a little bit to peek out into the living room, “What are you doing there?”

Luhan chuckled softly as he left Sabina’s side since they were both leaning against a counter eating and went over to Kai and slammed his hand on the younger’s back, not even bothering to look out the little crack in the door to see who he was looking at, “Are you peeking at Star~?”

Kai instantly stood straight back up and turned to look down at his older friend, “I’m not!”

Sehun laughed, as he walked over to his friend with Tao following closely behind, “I’m pretty sure you were.”

“Hey! Don’t tease me too!” Kai instantly protested, pointing a finger at his younger friend, “What about you? Where did you sleep last night?!”

“Me?” Sehun questioned, pointing to himself out of habit, “I was sleeping in a bed.”

“Ah-ha!” Kai exclaimed out, “With Sooyun, right? Right?”

“Whoa~ there, Kai,” Tao chuckled out, going over to pat the other’s shoulder, “Calm down. We’ll stop teasing you.” He turned to give a look to Luhan and Sehun, “Right?”

The other two rolled their eyes before nodding, “Yeah, yeah.”

“Plus,” Sehun added in, “You know there was a completely empty room upstairs, right?” Even though I did sleep with Sooyun last night…

“What?!” Kai yelled out again, causing Sabina to cover her ears at the scream.

“Kai… You’re loud,” Sabina said softly, causing Luhan to immediately look to her and walk over to stand next to her. He put his hands on top of her own hands on her head before turning around to glare at Kai.

“Go sit with Star already and stop screaming.”

Kai rolled his eyes and sighed, “I can’t take any more rejections, guys.”

Yoon Ni and Sabina both furrowed their eyebrows at the statement. Yoon Ni confused as Sabina barely heard it, “What?”

Luhan turned to Kai again with a concerned look on his face, “You know she’s warming up to you.”

Kai had a look of sadness in his eyes as he stared back at his older friend, “But… there’s only so much I can take, Hannie… You know that.”

The elder stared at him with sad eyes before he left Sabina’s side again to go over to hug Kai. Sehun looked away from the sight as Tao patted Kai’s shoulder, “You know we’re here for you, Kai… We love you.”

Yoon Ni and Sabina widened their eyes at Tao’s words. “What’s going on…?” the latter asked softly, not understanding the situation.

“…Kai?” Yoon Ni questioned just as softly. She looked to the side of Tao’s head, “Tao?”

Tao turned to her and gave her a soft, sad smile before turning back to Kai and giving him a hug after Luhan let go of him, “We love you.”

Sehun sighed and closed his eyes at those words. He opened them again and turned to look at Kai out of the corners of his eyes who was just looking at the ground sadly, loosely wrapping his arms around Tao’s waist in return, “Kai. You know she’s warming up to you. Everybody can see that.”

Kai just stared at one of his best friends in the eyes, “You know how much I can take, Sehun. I don’t want to try anymore if she’s not going to show any kind of good reaction towards me.”

Sabina frowned before trying to make her way to Kai. Yoon Ni saw her movements and followed behind her as she softly guided her over to him. Luhan was about to help her when Tao noticed and moved out of the way before Yoon Ni guided Sabina to Kai. Kai looked down at her confused as she put her hand on his chest once again. His eyes widened as she slowly opened her arms after a minute and enveloped Kai into a tight hug, “…Sabina?”

Luhan watched his girlfriend with a half-curious, half-close look as she hugged Kai. “Don’t change who you are, Kai,” was all she said before he closed his eyes and hugged her back just as tight, if not tighter. “I don’t know what happened in your past… but you’re here for a reason. You’re special to all of us.”

Luhan, Tao, Yoon Ni, and even Sehun watched sadly as Kai started to silently cry, deeply appreciating Sabina’s words. Luhan softly smiled as he walked over to Kai and enveloped his girlfriend and the other in another bigger hug, “You lighten up the room, Kai. Along with a few select others…” He let go of the hug to rub his hand on Kai’s back since he was shaking, “Stay here with Sabina later? Or go walk around?”

Sabina turned her head to the side, hearing Luhan’s suggestion. She felt Kai nod against her as she tried to move and locate his face to wipe away the tears falling onto her shoulder. “Kai…” she said softly, finding his cheeks and wiping away some of his tears. She turned her head to the side, “Luhan? Can you pull Kai down a bit to my level?”

Luhan looked at her questioningly as Kai tried to rub the falling tears off of his face. The elder nodded before gently putting his hand on the back of Kai’s nape and pushed him down to Sabina’s level, slightly bowing in front of her. His girlfriend softly put her hands on the younger’s face before standing on her toes and kissing the younger’s forehead. Kai instantly opened his eyes at the contact, surprise written all over his face as Sabina pulled away.

Luhan smiled gently at the sight, “Sabina can be your mother, Kai.”

Yoon Ni was still looking at them a little confused before she felt Tao come up next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders, “I’m sorry… but we’ll tell all of you when the time is right…”

Yoon Ni looked up at him confused before noticing his concerned face towards Kai. She looked over to see Sehun with a pained, mixed expression on his face and his arms crossed. She looked back up to Tao as he sighed, “Let’s go out into the living room to see what everybody else is doing.” He looked to Sehun, “Are you staying here or going out there with us?”

Sehun looked to Tao who had his arm still wrapped around Yoon Ni. He stared at him before looking back to see Kai with tears still running down his face and hugging Sabina again. He sighed, “I’ll stay in here.” He knew he was awkward with stating his feelings to his friends, but everybody else knew he showed he cared through his actions.

Tao nodded before directing him and Yoon Ni around Kai, Luhan, and Sabina and out of the swing door to come face-to-face with Eun-mi and Star about to go back into the kitchen. “If you don’t mind, please don’t go in there for a while,” Tao said politely, giving both of the surprised girls a soft smile.

Yoon Ni nodded her head in agreement before looking to Eun-mi, “Something came up, and Luhan’s talking it out with the other three in there.”

Eun-mi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before looking behind her, “Lay!”

Lay looked up from talking to Chen to see Eun-mi looking in his direction with a concerned look on her face and Yoon Ni and Tao standing in front of the kitchen door. His eyebrows furrowed together too before standing up and walking over to them, “What’s up?”

Eun-mi looked to Tao and Yoon Ni who both nodded at her. She turned back to her boyfriend, “Can you go check and make sure everything is okay in there?”

“What’s going on?” Star questioned, not liking the idea that the only people in the kitchen right now were Luhan, Sabina, Sehun, and Kai.

“I don’t know,” Eun-mi instantly answered before Lay smiled at her and she turned around to go back to Chen and Soomin.

Lay looked to Tao, Yoon Ni, and Star one last time before going into the kitchen to see Sehun standing in front of the other three people and facing the door. Lay stopped after setting one foot into the kitchen and moved to the side so the door could swing back shut. Sehun sighed before uncrossing his arms and moving off to the side as well, letting the older see Luhan and Sabina trying to stop Kai’s tears, “What happened?”

Kai and Luhan looked to Lay surprised before they both out a deep breath. Luhan softly smiled, “I think Kai found a true mother.”

Lay’s eyes widened as Kai broke out into a new set of tears and fell to his knees on the ground, having Sabina follow his actions. Lay softly smiled before going over to Kai and lightly knocking the side of his head, “You’re so silly, Kai. You know we’re all your family members.”

Kai chuckled a watery laugh, “Oh… shut up… dad…”

“You know… Suho is a more capable dad than I am,” Lay said in a matter-of-fact type of voice.

Kai, Luhan, and Sehun laughed softly at that. “But… we’ve lived together… for a long time… You’re like my dad…”

Lay smiled down at Kai before enveloping him into a back-hug, letting Sabina lean against Luhan who sat down on the floor in front of them, “Come on. Pull yourself together. We can train later or something to help take your mind off of it. Did you finish your breakfast?”

Kai laughed as Sehun, Luhan, and Sabina smiled at the sound, “I finished most of it.” He moved his hand to wipe off his remaining tears as Lay tightened his awkward hug around him on the ground, “…Thank you, Lay.”

Lay smiled as he let go of the hug, “Always.” He looked to Luhan who moved to lean back on his hands as Sabina moved with him and leaned against him. They were smiling softly as Kai started to get himself back together.

Sehun sighed relieved as he walked over and softly ruffled Kai’s hair, “…Let’s go train after you’ve finished eating.”

Kai looked up at the younger who still had his hand on his head. He smiled, “Okay.”

Lay smiled before standing back up and heading back out the door, “Make sure you’ve all finished your food.”

“Of course, dad,” Kai said while lightly scratching his nose with a smile on his face, embarrassed.

The other turned back around a bit surprised before softly laughing and walking out of the kitchen. He looked to the hallway to see Suho wide-awake guiding a sleepy Chaerin and a yawning Xiumin and Haerin following behind them. “Hey, you guys. Awake enough yet?”

Suho laughed as he nodded, “I feel so much better. Chaeri on the other hand…” He looked to the other who looked up at him with sleepy eyes.

“Chaeri?”

“Isn’t that a nickname of yours? If not, it is now,” Suho said happily before guiding her into the kitchen where Kai was facing away from the door, “Good morning, you guys!”

“Whoa~ Somebody’s awake and energetic,” Luhan teased as he and Sabina stayed near Kai.

Suho stuck his tongue out at them playfully as Xiumin and Haerin still followed them into the kitchen. Outside, Lay sat back down next to Eun-mi as he softly said in her ear, “Everything’s fine.” Eun-mi looked to him and nodded before looking back to Chen and Soomin who were looking at them confused. She shrugged before leaning back against the second couch that Kris and Yuna weren’t occupying. “Where are D.O. and Soraya?” Lay suddenly questioned, remembering that he hasn’t seen them since earlier that morning.

“Probably still sleeping in our room,” Eun-mi softly laughed out, causing Lay to roll his eyes and smile with Chen and Soomin still looking at them confused.

“Sora~ wake up~,” D.O. coaxed, trying to gently wake up his girlfriend.

“D.O~,” she replied back with a small smile, opening up one eye and staring at her boyfriend.

D.O. laughed as he laid back down on the bed so she could cuddle against him, “How have you been since we were gone?”

Soraya sighed, not wanting to tell her boyfriend she was a worried mess, “Terrible.”

The other held an amused smile on his face, “Terrible? That’s all you have to say?”

Soraya glared up at her boyfriend, “Lay was an angry mess.”

“That seems correct,” he nodded.

“Chanyeol was depressed.”

“Of course.”

“Kris was even more depressed from the looks of it.”

D.O. looked to the other a bit surprised, “Well… it is the first time he’s truly fallen for a girl.”

Soraya laughed, “Chen was like a worried mother… always pacing back and forth.”

“…Interesting… but seems right.”

“Sooyun was more intimidating and irritable…”

D.O. smiled down at his girlfriend with a teasing look, taking note of her blushing face. “That seems likely…” he continued to stare down at her, waiting, “And?”

Soraya pouted before taking a quick glance up at D.O. then looking over to the other side of the room, “…And I was completely worried and depressed all at once.”

The other smiled happily before tightening his hug on her and turning so that he was on top of her, “See? I’m not the one completely worried all the time.” He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Soraya smiled back up at him, “Only most of the time.”

“Hey, you two. Are you awake in there?” Eun-mi questioned while softly knocking on the door outside of their room.

D.O. was smiling happily before kissing Soraya again and then turning to look at the door, “We’re awake!”

They could both hear Eun-mi laugh outside the room. “Well, breakfast is on the table in the kitchen! We’re all going out to bond and whatnot since we just came back. I think you two have done enough bonding… but whatever floats your boat!”

Soraya and D.O. blushed as the latter chuckled, “Yeah, yeah! We’ll get breakfast when we’re ready! Have a good time out there!”

“You better be gentle with Sora!” Eun-mi shouted back teasingly before they both heard her walk away.

Soraya looked away from the door and back up to D.O.’s smiling face. She blushed an even darker shade of red seeing his extremely toned and muscular arms since he was wearing a wifebeater, “…We’re not… again? No… right?”

The other just laughed before kissing her again, and then climbing off of her and standing up by the side of the bed. He just smiled at her charmingly, “I’ll just wear you out.”

Soraya’s eyes widened considerably before she yelled out shocked, “What?!”

“Yuna?” a deep voice questioned timidly as he followed her out of the house with his weapon since she was one of the last ones out besides Kris, Kyung-mi, Eun-mi, Lay, Chaerin, Suho, D.O., and Soraya. Soomin was with Haerin as Xiumin and Chen were following after them. Baekhyun and Hyourin were out at the market looking at what all they could buy as snacks and everything. Sooyun and Star were out training again as Kai and Sehun were training elsewhere while Tao and Yoon Ni were doing who-knows-what.

The other turned around confused, “Yeah? Chanyeol? Where’s Kyung-mi?”

“She’s still in the house doing something, but um…” Chanyeol muttered, taking a quick look behind him to make sure nobody else was coming out of the house. He turned back to Yuna, “Can you teach me how to fight using physical attacks? I’m scared to ask Lay…”

Yuna looked at him with a slightly surprised look before smiling at him, “Sure. I’ll help you later?”

Chanyeol breathed out a sigh of relief before beaming a smile in her direction. He ran up to her and enveloped her in a tight hug, “Thank you so much!”

Yuna smiled and laughed while patting the taller male’s back, “Of course, Chanyeol. Anytime.”

“Ahem!” they heard two voices fake cleared their throats behind them. They both separated from the hug and turned to see Kris with his arms crossed and tapping his foot on the ground while Kyung-mi had a slightly forced smile on her face.

Yuna rolled her eyes before Chanyeol let go of her completely and ran over to Kyung-mi to give her an even tighter hug. “Ready to go, Mi?!” he asked excitedly, not noticing the glare he was receiving from Kris.

Kyung-mi laughed, hugging the other back, “Yeah!” Chanyeol smiled down at her before grabbing her hand and pulling her off into the direction of the inner part of the town. He purposefully gave a look to Yuna when they passed by her.

Yuna smiled at him before looking back to Kris, who still had a glare transfixed on the back of Chanyeol’s head. “Anything you need, dear?” she asked with sarcasm in her voice.

Kris looked to Yuna before his posture loosened and he walked over to her. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her on the lips before looking down at her, “What were you and Chanyeol talking about?”

Yuna opened her eyes and stared up at him before shrugging, “Ask him. I don’t know if he wants people to know or not.”

Kris frowned at the answer before asking a different question, “Does Lay know Siwon was the man who captured you?”

“I can’t believe you know him,” Yuna stated instead, moving out of his grasp, “I don’t think he knows.” She turned around to start walking into the town, “What happened to you in your past? You still never told me that.”

Kris watched her back as he followed after her. He sighed, “Something bad.”

Yuna turned back to look at him confused before she noticed Lay and Eun-mi walking out of the house with their weapons, “What are you two doing?”

Kris turned around towards the other two and sighed again. He looked to Eun-mi, “Does Lay know who captured you?”

Eun-mi looked back at Kris confused before looking to Lay to her left and shaking her head, “No? We haven’t had time to exactly talk about it yet.”

Kris nodded before Lay questioned curiously, “Who was it? I didn’t get a good look at him before he knocked me out.”

The other three looked to each other with Eun-mi looking more confused than normal. Kris answered for them, looking back at one of his best friends, “Siwon.”

Lay’s eyes widened at the name before turning to look down at Eun-mi, “Was he really Siwon?” He watched as his girlfriend nodded silently before he glared down at her, “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Lay!” Kris shouted out, immediately going over to the other and holding him back, “Calm down! None of them know!”

“You know she was almost killed, Kris! He knows who we are!” Lay shouted back, fighting in Kris’ grasp as he looked up at the elder.

Eun-mi stared at her boyfriend with a surprised look on her face, never seeing this side of him directed at her before, “What are you talking about? He sounded like he didn’t know you at all.”

Lay turned to look at her before fighting more in Kris’ grasp, “That bastard! He very well knows who I am!”

“Lay!” Kris yelled out again just as Suho and Chaerin came back out of the house, "We've all grown since then!"

Their eyes widened seeing Kris standing in front of Eun-mi and holding back a fighting Lay. “What’s going on?” Chaerin questioned, looking to see a confused and hurt look in Eun-mi’s eyes and just plain confusion in Yuna’s eyes standing away from them.

Lay turned his glare to them before settling on Suho, “Siwon was the one who captured them!”

Suho’s eyes widened before a hard look settled into his eyes, “Lay. Calm down.”

“You know what he and the others made us do!” Lay shouted back.

Eun-mi didn’t know what to do except walk over and put her hand gently on his face to make him look at her. Kris mumbled down to Lay, as Suho walked over to them with Chaerin following him, “Don’t make me call you by your real name.”

Eun-mi looked up at Kris surprised before looking back to Lay, “Calm down, sweetie…”

Lay still held the glare in his eyes as he looked at her, “I’m not calming down when I know he was the one who took you.” He looked up to Kris, “And don’t you dare call me by my real name.”

Chaerin and Yuna looked completely confused as the former questioned Suho, “Real name?” She watched as Suho intentionally avoided her eyes and question. She frowned, “Don’t you dare lie to me, Suho. I dislike lying, you know.”

Suho looked to her with slightly widened eyes before he sighed, “All I’ll tell you is that most of us have different names.”

Chaerin looked surprised before they both looked to Kris, Eun-mi, and Lay when the latter punched Kris in the face away from him. Suho and Chaerin watched the scene with wide eyes before Yuna immediately ran to Kris as Eun-mi took a step back, “Lay…”

“You don’t know what he and the others made me do, Eun-mi,” Lay muttered dangerously low in his throat before turning around and planning to go train by himself to cool down.

Eun-mi watched with a mixture of emotions as she watched Lay walk away from her. She looked down to her side where she saw Kris wiping blood away from his mouth as Yuna gently wrapped her arms around the upper part of his body. “Don’t worry about him. Most of us had rough pasts…” Kris mentioned as he moved to stand back up again.

Suho was about to go over and heal Kris’ jaw when they all saw it starting to glow white on its own. His, Chaerin’s, and Kris’ eyes widened seeing the glow before Kris looked to Suho to see if he was healing it from afar. He wasn’t. Yuna sighed as she saw the bruise healing back up before looking over to Eun-mi who was still looking in the direction Lay stormed off to, “Thanks.”

Eun-mi turned back around just as the white glow disappeared to see Kris’ face as perfect as before. She smiled softly, “No problem. I’m responsible for what he does, right?”

“But…” Suho questioned, looking to the other, “You can heal?”

Eun-mi shrugged before walking off to go after her boyfriend, “Well… Kris can’t heal.”

“Hey!” the other yelled back immediately, annoyed that she was right.

Yuna softly smiled as Chaerin just looked to all of them with a frown on her face. Suho looked to her before slightly frowning as well, “I’m sorry, Chaeri… When the time is right… I promise…”

Chaerin glared at him before stomping off towards the inner part of the city a little ways different from where Lay and Eun-mi walked off in. Suho’s eyes widened as he quickly followed after her, apologizing profusely that he couldn’t say anything yet.

Yuna had a sad look in her eyes before looking up to Kris, “What happened to you guys…?”

Kris looked down to her before giving her a soft, sad smile, “I don’t know if Lay wants to tell you what happened… I don’t know if I’m ready to say mine either…”

Yuna just stared up at him before sighing and looking away. She grabbed his hand and linked their fingers before starting to walk off in the direction to see the small shops around the town. Kris looked at her, surprised by her actions before a soft smile graced his lips. “I’ll respect your privacy,” his girlfriend said softly before looking up at him with a glare in her eyes, “It better not have to do with a girl though.”

Kris widened his eyes at her before softening them, laughing and pulling her in for a quick kiss, “Wonderful.”

Yuna smiled up at him showing all her teeth, “History.”

“You beat me, and I hate you,” the taller replied back happily.

“I hate you too, giant.”

“Don’t you think Kai is acting a bit weird today?” Star grunted out as her and Sooyun kept fighting against each other.

Sooyun frowned as she jumped back away from her, “No. Why would I think about that brat?”

Star smirked, “Because you’re thinking of Sehun.” Sooyun frowned before her daggers started glowing a soft black. Star’s eyes widened as she put her weapon in front of herself for protection, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! He’s just kind of… worrying me!”

Sooyun’s frown lightened as she sighed, blades going back to their normal color and hooking them back on her belt before crossing her arms in front of her chest, “I don’t know. He hasn’t been going after you in the past day or so, right? Maybe he finally just stopped.”

The other frowned as she plunged her weapon into the grass next to her, “But…”

“But what?” the younger questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“He…” Star didn’t know what to say. She threw her arms up in the air as she groaned in frustration, “I don’t know what he’s doing to me, and he’s not even doing anything!”

Sooyun laughed, “Do you want to go find him and talk to him about it?”

“No!” the elder immediately screamed out.

“You’re not going to be concentrating on anything else until you’ve settled whatever is not right with you,” the other said calmly while she started to walk away from where they were training.

“Where are you going?!” Star shouted out, pulling her weapon from the ground and following after her best friend.

“To find your playboy so you can concentrate on our training,” the younger simply said as she continued to walk into the main part of town and looking for the other training spots, “Isn’t he training?”

Star hung her head in defeat that she was actually falling for a playboy as she mumbled out a soft, “Yes… What did Sehun do to you…?” She looked up immediately after she said that and was glad that the other didn’t hear her mumble at all.

Sooyun kept looking through the town until she heard clashes coming out from another area next to them. She walked closer to it before she smirked, “Ah… found them.”

Star instantly looked up before running over to her and looking into the area she was staring at. She was watching as both Kai and Sehun were fighting against each other and Sehun’s sword was pushing down in between the gap of Kai’s claw gloves. Both of the girls continued to watch the guys train and secretly admired their muscles until Star looked over to see Sooyun with a slightly concentrated stare at the battle. Is she concentrating on Sehun?

“They’re done,” Sooyun suddenly said softly as Star turned to look back to see Kai and Sehun smiling at each other and high-fiving the other.

“Thanks, Sehun… That really made me feel better,” Kai said as Sehun just smiled at him and wiped some of the sweat off of his forehead.

“I knew it would.”

They both turned to go back into the town when they saw Sooyun with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a hard look on her face and Star standing a little behind her with one hand on top of one of Sooyun’s shoulders. Sehun smiled, “You came to see me~? You’re amazing, Sooyun!”

Sooyun rolled her eyes and turned to look off to the side at his question and statement, “You wish.”

Sehun’s smile softened. It’s getting back to normal. He looked beside him to see Kai with a slightly sad look in his eyes and sighed, “Come on, Kai. Let’s go find something to drink.”

Sooyun’s eyes were trained on Kai out of the corners of her eyes as Star stayed quiet next to her, feeling awkward in this situation. “Do you still hate me~?” Sehun questioned as they passed by the two girls, turning to give Sooyun a big smile. She glared at him about to say something when her friend beat her to it.

“Ah!” Star suddenly exclaimed, causing both Sehun and Kai to stop and give her weird looks. “I, uh…” she looked to Kai who had a slightly confused look on his face, “Are you… okay?”

Kai stared at her before softly smiling, “I’m fine, Star. Why?”

Sooyun stared at him before looking to Sehun who just gave her a pointed look. Star fidgeted, not knowing what to do, “…You just seem a bit off?”

The other kept staring at her before he gave her another warmer, charming smile, “I just don’t want to keep bothering you if it’ll make you hate me in the future.”

Star’s mouth opened a bit at the answer as Sooyun’s eyes widened. Sehun sighed before turning a bit and looking away from all of them as Star softly said, “…I wouldn’t hate you, Kai…”

All three of them turned to look at Star as Kai said nonchalantly with a sad look in his eyes, “It would’ve gotten there. You dislike playboys, right? Your attitude towards me says you would’ve.” He turned around, causing Sehun to follow after him as they both continued to walk off, “I’m okay, Star.”

Star watched confusedly as he walked off away from her before her instincts took over and she moved her feet. She ran towards him and quickly hugged him from the back as Sehun looked down at her completely surprised before looking back to see the same look on Sooyun’s face, standing in the same spot as before. Kai froze in his spot, feeling her hug and tightness and warmth before he started shaking the tiniest bit. “I wouldn’t hate you, Kai…” she mumbled softly against his back as she looked off in the direction away from Sehun.

Kai smiled a true, soft smile as he stayed still for another minute. Sehun smiled gently at his friend’s relaxed, content face before he saw Kai gently grab Star’s hands from around his waist. Sooyun walked up to them at the same time, internally happy that Star came to terms with her feelings… if only a bit of them.

Kai pulled her hands away from his body as he walked a step forward before turning around, switching hands to still hold onto the other’s smaller hands. Star looked up at him, clearly confused with everything that’s going on with her and them. He stared into her eyes before walking forward and enveloping her tightly in another hug. Sehun and Sooyun watched as Star widened her eyes before closing them slowly and wrapping her own arms around the younger’s waist. “Thank you,” was all she heard before she felt his warmth disappear once again.

Star instantly opened her eyes to see Kai’s back facing her, “…Kai?”

Sehun quickly understood his friend before looking to her and smiling gently at her, “We’ll see you girls later, okay?” He looked to Sooyun who slightly nodded at him before he turned around to go after Kai.

Star watched with a sad look as Sehun casually draped his arm around Kai’s shoulders and walked off into a store. She quickly looked to her side when she felt a hand land down on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay… Do you think you can focus more on your training now? We’ll see them later, and I’m sure it’ll seem like the old days.”

Star stared into Sooyun’s eyes as the latter gave her a small smile before sighing, “Fine… I’m good enough to train now~.”

Sooyun laughed as she directed them both in a direction away from where Sehun and Kai walked off in.

“Chaeri! Chaerin! Please, stop!” Suho shouted out as he tried to get the girl he likes to stop walking away from him.

“Get away from me!” she yelled back, throwing off and hitting his hands and arms whenever they came near enough towards her.

“Chaerin! I’m sorry! I can’t tell you!”

Chaerin quickly stopped and turned around to glare at him, “And why not?! We’re the ‘parents.’ Shouldn’t we trust each other?!”

Suho’s mouth hung open as his eyes widened at her outburst. He stayed quiet, staring into her angry eyes, until he saw her harden her glare then turn around to walk away from him. He continued to watch her stomp away until he ran up to her again, “Chaerin!”

She turned to him again with a finger pointed at his chest, making him stop his movements immediately. She punched him in the chest, “What do you want?! I don’t like lying and that’s what you’re basically doing with me! With all of us!”

Suho instantly put his hand on top of the spot where she punched him as he glared back at her, “I want you to understand!”

“Understand what?! You won’t tell me anything!” She moved to punch him again, but he easily caught her fist.

Suho stared at her with a hard look in his eyes. His grip on her fist tightened before he slowly brought it down to their sides. His eyes slowly softened seeing her hurt and angry eyes before he mumbled out, defeated that quickly, “…My real name is Joonmyun…”

Chaerin’s anger slowly dissipated as she heard him say that soft sentence, “…What?”

Suho sighed in annoyance as he let go of her hand and turned to look away from her, “Joonmyun.”

“…Joonmyun?” she questioned, a bit confused, “Is that your real name?”

The other frowned before nodding once, “Yes. My real name is Joonmyun.”

Chaerin stared at the side of his face and the back of his head when he turned away from her before she questioned, “And what does this have to do with the guy who kidnapped Eun-mi and the others?”

Suho sighed before he turned to face her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He waited a few minutes before he said, “…I was in the army with the man who kidnapped our friends.”

Chaerin’s eyes widened and dropped at his words, “You were in what?”

The other glared at her, “You heard me, Chaerin.” She just stared at him, trying to process what she just heard when Suho sighed, breaking eye contact and looking towards the ground, “Do you trust me now?”

The other’s eyes softened at his seemingly downcast state. She sighed before nodding and moving towards him. She put her hand under his chin to lift it up to face her completely. She looked into his eyes with a softer look rather than the harsh glare from earlier, “I trust you, Suho. Please just don’t lie to me anymore…” She looked into his eyes, feeling a familiar pull she never wanted to feel again, “I know you’re hiding more… but I’ll stop…” She dropped her hand from his face, not wanting to have a repeat of her past.

Suho just stared at her as she slowly moved away from him. He instantly reached out and quickly pulled her in for a hug. He sighed into her hair, suddenly tired from chasing her and yelling at her, “Why didn’t you kiss me?”

Chaerin froze before nervously laughing out, “Why is it every time you’re tired, you say the weirdest things?”

The other smiled as he started to run his fingers through her hair, “Sorry.”

She laughed more freely before wrapping her arms around his waist. She sighed after a few minutes, “I can’t do it again.”

“Do what again?” he questioned, noticing that people were just staring at them as they continued walking by them since they were in the middle of the street.

Chaerin sighed as she softly said, “Fall in love.”

“Lay! Come back here!” Eun-mi yelled out as her boyfriend kept storming off away from her towards the exit of the town. She growled when the other kept walking away from her, “Lay!”

The other instantly turned around with a harsh glare in his eyes, “Don’t come near me!”

Eun-mi immediately stopped in her tracks at the anger radiating off of her boyfriend. Her eyes softened as she tried to step closer to him, “Lay… Why are you like this…? What did he do to you…?” Lay continued to glare at her before he turned around, stomping off and nearing the exit. Eun-mi frowned before she ran after him. They reached the outer part of the town where they were in the pathway towards the outside of the mountain again.

“Lay,” she tried again, running and grabbing onto his shoulder, intending to turn him around.

Lay instantly unsheathed his sword, turned around, and brought down his sword on top of her. Eun-mi watched with wide eyes as she instinctively unhooked her spear and brought it on top of her to defend herself as she crouched down. Lay looked into her calm slightly empty eyes as he realized what he just did. His eyes widened as he lightened up on his attack and jumped back away from her.

Eun-mi watched him closely as she moved her spear beside her and straightened up. Lay looked scared and apologetic at what he just did before turning around and trying to make it out of the mountain pathway. She sighed, following after him, “…Lay.” The other stopped walking but didn’t dare turn around. “It’s okay.”

The other froze before softly saying, “I just tried to hurt you… Please… Stay away from me.”

She frowned as she quietly walked up to him. She re-hooked her spear onto her back before she reached him, “Lay…”

The other turned around again with a pained look in his eyes before he tried to attack her again. Eun-mi grabbed her spear as she jumped and evaded any of his attacks. “I told you to stay away from me! I’m just going to hurt you!”

Eun-mi grunted as she blocked one of his attacks, “You’re not going to hurt me!” She decided it was time to practice her old commando moves again. She frowned as she ran towards him and swung her spear down on him. He saw the attack and jumped away from her before she could land a hit on him.

“I was trained to kill, Eun-mi!” he shouted back, annoyed with how he was raised.

Eun-mi stopped moving as she took on a defensive stance. She glared at him, “And what does Siwon have to do with all this?”

“Don’t ing say his name,” Lay growled out, clear anger radiating off of him in immense waves.

The other glared at him harder, “Tell me, Lay. What happened to you?”

Lay gritted his teeth as memories flooded back into his head. He closed his eyes in anger as he slammed his sword straight into the earth, “That… monster…  him and my parents…”

“What about them?” Eun-mi coaxed out even though she was still angry with everything happening so far.

The other opened his eyes to glare at her before taking in a deep breath, “My parents gave me away to the army. That monster was one of the soldiers who frequently visited me. I was in the army, Eun-mi.” He paused as he knelt on his right knee and punched the ground below him, “They trained me to kill. Out of the twelve of us… he chose me.”

Eun-mi’s eyes widened slightly before softening, “You won’t kill me, Lay.”

The other looked up and glared at her, “You don’t know that, Mi. It’s instinct to me.”

His girlfriend smirked as she moved into a fighting stance, “Try me. I’m more powerful than you think.”

Lay’s eyes widened, finally understanding what was going on, “…I’m not fighting my own girlfriend.”

Eun-mi frowned before sprinting towards him, “Then I’m making the first move.”

Lay moved quick and grabbed his sword from the ground and yanked it out. He immediately moved his sword above his head to block his girlfriend’s attack down on his head. He looked into Eun-mi’s hard eyes with confusion and conflict clearly showing in his own, “Why?”

The other had no emotion on her face before she let up on her attack, only to turn and spin kick her right leg into Lay’s side, causing him to fall and skid across the ground. She stood up straight as she pointed her spear towards his head, “What’s your real name? Why did he target you of all people to train to kill? Why not Kris since he seems to know him as well? Suho?”

Lay’s confusion was replaced by a glare once again as he breathed in slowly then stood up, “Don’t delve into something you’re not ready for.”

“I’m pretty sure I could’ve told you the same thing with me,” Eun-mi argued back, moving her spear in front of her as a guard.

They both stood there glaring at each other before Eun-mi made the next attack, again. She ran before she jumped and kicked Lay in the chest. He saw the move and put his sword flat against him to block her kick as he jumped back some to reduce the impact. Lay ran forward, intending to slash at her as she brought up a full white barrier around her, causing a clashing noise to sound from the impact of the sword and the barrier. Lay growled before sheathing his sword and just aiming to punch through her barrier.

Eun-mi’s eyes widened as she moved out of the way, not wanting him to break his hand. Lay took advantage of this and ran after her before sliding on the ground and knocking her off of her feet. She grunted when she landed on her back and protected herself with her spear when Lay quickly unsheathed his sword and aimed it down towards her face. They were both shaking as Eun-mi softly questioned, looking up into his eyes with a mixture of emotions, “What’s your real name?” Lay’s eyes hardened as she continued on, “Let me in…”

The other was conflicted, not knowing what to do as he continued to force his sword down on her. Eun-mi growled, knowing she was physically weaker than a male, before she used all of her strength and pushed him off of her. As Lay was falling backwards, she used her leg to kick him further away from her. He was knocked to the ground and was about to get up when she beat him to it. She quickly got on top of him, putting her right knee on his chest as she slammed her spear into the ground next to his head. She frowned, “Do you want to keep fighting like this?”

Lay looked into her hard eyes before he tried to calm himself down, “Please take your knee off of my chest.”

Eun-mi glared at him as she put more force into her knee, “Not until you tell me something else other than the fact that Siwon chose you to train to kill others.”

Lay started breathing hard from the weight on his chest. He closed his eyes in exasperation, “Please get off of me.”

“Don’t you dare test me now,” the other growled out, taking her spear out of the ground and holding the tip of it close to his head.

“Yixing,” Lay stated a minute after her threat. He opened his eyes to glare at her, “My name is Yixing.”

Eun-mi looked into his eyes, seeing any sincerity, before she slowly got off of his chest and took her spear with her. She continued to watch him as he sat up, “Yixing?”

Lay frowned before glaring at his girlfriend, “Yes.”

The other slowly formed a soft smile on her face, “…I really like that name…”

His eyes widened as he stood up and turned around away from her, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, “Well, I gave up that name a long time ago when I left the army.”

Eun-mi stared at his back as she thought of her next question, “Why were you the one forced to do that job?”

“They saw potential in me. Simple as that. I proved them right.”

She sighed, as her boyfriend didn’t turn around to look at her or make a move at all. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, “Do you know a man named Kyuhyun?”

Lay sheathed his sword as he closed his eyes and rubbed his nose with his left pointer finger and thumb, “I can’t remember.”

Eun-mi gave his back a soft smile before slowly walking over to him, “What about a man named Donghae?”

“Don’t remember,” the other deadpanned, waiting for his girlfriend to stop questioning him.

“How did you get into the army again?” she questioned once more, almost reaching Lay.

Lay sighed, looking down towards the ground and closing his eyes, remembering his past – one of the things he was never able to forget despite his natural short-term memory, “My parents needed money. For some reason, the only stupid solution they could think of was to sell their seven-year-old son to the army since they needed more soldiers at the time. Throughout living the rest of my life, I’ve never disliked anybody more than my parents and those who trained me personally in the army.”

Eun-mi reached his back before she paused in reaching out to him, hearing his short history. She frowned and stared at his back before continuing to reach out and move her arms to wrap around his back through his arms and gently hugged him, “I love your real name.” Lay immediately froze in her arms, and she could feel it. “But I won’t call you that since I can tell you don’t want me to.”

Lay slowly relaxed at hearing that, not saying anything back. They stayed like that for a few minutes with her just hugging him from behind until he finally spoke, “You’re amazing… you know that?”

Eun-mi laughed as she tightened her hug around his waist, “So… are you going to fight me again?”

The other sighed while closing his eyes, “…I’m sorry. My past got the better of me…”

“…We should do that again anyways,” she mentioned as she let go of him so he could turn around and face her, “I need to become better at physical attacks again.”

Lay frowned at her, “I really don’t like fighting you, Mi.”

Eun-mi laughed again, “That’s supposed to be Kyung-mi’s nickname, not mine.”

He finally gave her a small smile since earlier that morning, “It’s cute though.”

The other rolled her eyes playfully before taking off her spear once again, “Ready?”

Lay sighed before taking off the top part of his shirt and then unsheathing his sword, “No. But you’re going to make the first move again.”

Eun-mi stared dumbfounded at her boyfriend wearing a wifebeater, “…My God, you’re…”

Her boyfriend looked at her questioningly before looking down at what he was wearing, “It’s a kind of tank. What’s wrong with it?”

She forced herself out of her trance before she laughed, “You’re hot… for lack of a better term.” Lay blushed as he watched her take a stance then sprinted towards him with a determined look in her eyes. She swung her spear to hit Lay’s left side when he easily blocked it with his sword, “However, how would you know I would attack you first?”

Lay chuckled as he kept playing the defensive role as Eun-mi kept trying to hit him, “I just know you.”

“Donghae! Kyuhyun!” Siwon angrily yelled out, walking around the airship trying to find the two lieutenant generals who were in charge of the prisoners the night before. He walked around a corner to see the both of them yelling at lower soldiers.

“What did we tell you?! You’ve messed up again!” Kyuhyun yelled out to the younger soldier.

“I’m sorry, sir-!” the other tried to get out, but the other wouldn’t have any of it.

“No! Go back and do it properly this time!” Kyuhyun shouted at him before turning around and seeing Siwon standing there down the hallway looking at them.

“Go and do as he says,” Donghae said more calmly, having the soldier salute to him then turn and briskly walk away from them. He slightly sighed until he saw Kyuhyun salute behind him. He turned around to see who he was saluting to only to follow his actions, “Siwon, sir.”

“You two…” Siwon growled out, walking over to them and grabbing onto Donghae’s collar since he seemed the more weaker one, “What happened to the prisoners last night?!”

Donghae held no emotions in his eyes as he said, “A stupid soldier who was passing by their room fell for their trick.”

Kyuhyun growled the rest of the answer, “Apparently, that idiot went into their room where they attacked him and got out.”

Siwon looked to both of them to see if he could tell they were telling the truth. He glared at them, “Are you two lying to me? Where is that soldier who let them out?”

“Why would we lie, sir? We serve you and the ruler,” Donghae simply replied, taking his collar back from Siwon’s hand, “The soldier died when we made him go after them in another aircraft.”

Siwon looked to him then to Kyuhyun’s annoyed face. He growled in frustration before turning around and going another way. “Sir! Where are you going?” Kyuhyun questioned before Siwon was out of their sight.

“To make sure something is the same as when I went to sleep last night,” Siwon said angrily before turning the corner away from them.

Once he did, Kyuhyun and Donghae sighed. “At least he believed us,” the latter muttered out before turning around and going the other way down the hallway. Kyuhyun followed after Donghae silently, which caused the elder to turn and look at his friend confused, “What’s up, Kyu?”

Kyuhyun turned to look at him with a serious look on his face, “Whom is he going to talk to? Wasn’t Mi’s brother supposed to come up here today?”

Donghae stared at him before he stopped in his tracks, “…Crap.”

“Hey! Have you seen the special soldier who is supposed to come up here today?” Siwon questioned as he entered one of the common rooms of the ship. He saw a bunch of the younger soldiers salute to him and then shake their head.

“I saw him, sir. He’s out on the balcony,” one of the soldiers replied, pointing in said direction of a door connecting to the balcony.

Siwon nodded at him before going towards the door and opening it, bracing himself against the harsh winds as they were still flying high in the air. The other, younger male turned around at the noise as their hairs whipped all over the place. “What are you doing here, sir?!” he yelled out over the wind. He noticed the bruises on the other’s face, “What happened to you, sir?!” He quickly saluted to him before relaxing again.

“Nothing that’s of importance to you! I have one question for you!” Siwon yelled back, annoyed that he knew there were still a bunch of bruises on his face. He doesn’t exactly have a Fault to help heal him.

“What is it, sir?!” the younger yelled back, holding onto the railing as he felt the ship turn slightly to the side.

Siwon looked him in the eyes, “Do you remember a woman named Cho Eun-mi?! Did you have any contact with her within the past few days?!”

The other looked at him confused before shaking his head, “Who is she? Is she important to you?”

Siwon stared at him, looking for any signs of lying, “You haven’t heard of her at all?!” Maybe his memory is still lost…

“No! What happened?!” the other shouted back, confusion written all over his face.

Siwon smirked, “Good! It’s nothing then! Continue with what you were doing!” He turned around before he exited the balcony.

The other saluted to him, watching him leave, before he sighed and turned around, “Of course I remember her… She’s my sister…” He looked out and up towards the sky, wanting to take out his guide and just talk to him but decided against it as he just looked to the clouds floating and passing them underneath their ship. He sighed, “I’m sorry I can’t be much help to you, Mi…”

A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! I'm so sorry this is late >.<, school has been terrible to me. Anyways, I intended this chapter to have a rollercoaster ride of emotions... so I hope that's what happened! :3 I also don't know if wifebeaters (the type of tank top) exists in this world... but I made it just because I have a thing for EXO guys wearing wifebeaters ^///^ Here are some pictures to help prove my point!

asdfiaphgipehgeapoeigh - I can't help what I feel~

Anyways, I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter! It mainly focused on Kai/Star, Suho/Chaerin, and Lay/Eun-mi... So... yeah... I'll try and have another chapter done within the next week!

:3 Mar

P.S. I somewhat didn't proofread this... so if there's any questions... don't hesitate to ask! :)

*credit to those pictures goes to whoever took them; taken from tumblr and EXO facebook fanpage.