“That’s it, Chanyeol!” Yuna yelled out encouragingly as she pushed the other back with her sword. They both jumped away from the other.

Chanyeol grunted as he moved his weapon to be held by his right hand only, flexing his left hand in the process, “Geez. Kyung-mi wasn’t kidding when she said you were the strongest out of the three of them.”

“She mentioned that?” Yuna questioned curiously, standing up straight and just letting her sword swing lazily back and forth in her right hand.

Chanyeol nodded happily, beaming a smile at her, “Of course!”

The shorter smiled genuinely at the other, “You’re really happy, huh?”

The taller nodded again happily before going back into a fighting stance, “She’s officially mine! Of course I’m happy.”

Yuna laughed as she mimicked the other’s moves, “Well, I’m happy for you, you weird elf.” Chanyeol pouted before she sprinted ahead, aiming to slice him across the chest. “So…” she started off while panting, “Where… is she… now?”

Chanyeol grunted as he started breathing hard too, evading her attacks and trying to land some on her in the process. He frowned, “You’re so much shorter and quicker than me. That’s unfair!” His eyes widened as he slipped on a rock on the ground and fell backwards, having Yuna widen her own eyes since she was in the move of attacking him before she did a front flip and landed a foot away from him. He sighed as he just lied there, looking up at the afternoon sky, “I have no idea where she is right now. Maybe she’s still back at the house or with Eun-mi or something.”

Yuna sighed as she sheathed her sword and sat down next to him on the ground. She stared at him, “I’m pretty sure Eun-mi is still fighting Lay. They have been all morning.”

Chanyeol smiled, showing all his teeth, “But you know what happens between lovers after a really huge argument~ ...Although you and Kris did nothing at all…” He pouted afterwards.

The other stared down at him confused before it finally hit her after three full minutes. She screamed as she closed her eyes and covered her ears, “Oh my God, why?! Now?! Why did you say that?!”

Chanyeol just clutched his stomach and his right side away from Yuna as he started laughing his head off, “Hahaha! I’m… sorry! It’s just… funny!” Yuna opened her eyes and glared at the annoying being she called an elf before she stood up and kicked his back. “Ow! What was that for?!”

“For being an idiot!” she screamed out as the other continued to laugh at her misfortune while trying to roll away from her kicking him.

“Come back here, you idiot!”

“Hey! You can only call Kris that!” Chanyeol exclaimed back out as he focused his powers into throwing a ball of water into Yuna’s face to save himself.

Yuna squeaked as she was suddenly hit in the face with said water before she tried to wipe it off. She frowned as she opened her eyes and glared at him, a fireball forming right above his head where he was facing away from her five feet away.

Chanyeol looked up to his left and towards the sky confused at the sudden heat before his eyes widened and he instantly created a wall of water when the continually growing fireball fell on him. He closed his eyes quickly, instantly feeling the steam grow around him. After a minute or two, he opened his eyes and pouted up at Yuna who was still glaring at him, “That could’ve hurt me! …And neither of us knows how to heal! How would you explain that to Mi?!”

Yuna exhaled harshly before rolling her eyes and turning around away from him, “How would I know? I wouldn’t care.”

Chanyeol gasped as he stood back up, “You would care! Don’t lie about that!”

The other groaned before crossing her arms in front of her chest, “Seriously? Are we done training, or what? I’m leaving before I feel like killing you.”

The taller male gasped again, instantly putting his hands up in front of himself to act as a defense mechanism, “Kyung-mi would be depressed if you killed me!”

Yuna shrugged as she started walking away from him, “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“Yuna~! Why are you so mean to me~?! Help me~!” Chanyeol whined out, running over and in front of her to prevent her from going anywhere, “Please?!”

Yuna glared at him as he grabbed her shoulders and shook her back and forth, “Would you please let go of me already?”

“Not until you keep helping me!” the other instantly said, stopping his movements but still holding onto her arms, “I want to protect her!”

The shorter continued to just glare at the other’s pleading eyes until she quickly gave in, “I hate how you and Kyung-mi can easily use that look on me.”

Chanyeol gave her a big smile before picking her up and spinning her around in a hug, “Thank you so much, Yuna!”

Yuna softly laughed as she awkwardly patted his side since his arms were wrapped around her own arms, “Yeah, yeah. Just… put me down already. We’ll do another training session.”

The taller continued to smile at her as he put her down. He squeezed her in his hug one last time before unhooking his weapon off his back and stepping away from her, “I’m not making the first move this time!”

Yuna just rolled her eyes at his attitude before unsheathing her sword and sprinting towards him, once again.

“You. Come with me,” Kris ordered the younger girl as he grabbed her arm and proceeded to drag her out of the house.

Kyung-mi was looking at Star and Soraya completely confused as she saw them staring back at her with the same expression, saw the swing door shutting close in front of her, the living room passing her by, and the front door closing in front of her as she was being dragged out of the house by her right arm by the giant. She accidentally hit his back as she kept walking backwards when he suddenly stopped walking in front of her. “Uh…” she started out, still completely confused as she turned around to face him, “…Sorry! Why do you need me?”

Kris sighed as he turned around and looked down at her, “We need to talk.”

Kyung-mi stared at him confused again, “Shouldn’t you be saying that to Yuna?” She paused for a few seconds, looking down in thought, “Although those four words are usually never a good thing to say in a relationship…”

Kris rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “I’m not randomly breaking up with a friend I’m not even close to dating… or my girlfriend for that matter.”

“Hey!” Kyung-mi shouted up at him, “That hurt! What’s wrong with me?!”

The elder sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “First of all, you’re too hyper for me. Second of all, Chanyeol would kill me. Third of all, I love Yuna way more.”

Kyung-mi continued to glare up at him before the words registered in her brain. She smiled brightly at him, “That’s right!” Kris sighed again as she continued on, “So… what do you need from me again?”

Kris just stared down at the younger, knowing it was a last resort since he didn’t want to bother D.O… since he finally let Soraya out of their room or Chen who was with Xiumin, out looking for a new weapon for the younger. He also couldn’t find Eun-mi to save his life. “I just need your help with something.”

The younger held a mischievous glint in her eyes, “Like what~?”

The elder groaned, “You better keep your mouth shut, you mini-happy virus addict freak.” Kyung-mi just smiled back up at him, waiting for him to speak. He sighed – frustration clearly heard in that one sound – before turning around to keep his blushing face away from the younger, “It’s been at least a week since we left Efiia, right?”

Kyung-mi looked up at him questioningly, trying to walk around him to see his facial expressions, but pouted when he kept turning away from her. She stomped her foot on the ground as she exhaled harshly before calming herself down slowly and thinking about his question. She sighed, “I think so. Why?”

Kris pouted, still not looking in the younger’s direction, before he mumbled out, “…Can you help me get something for Yuna?”

“What~?” Kyung-mi slightly exclaimed out, cupping her right hand behind her ear and leaning towards his back to hear what he said.

Kris frowned, turning a bit so she still couldn’t see him, “…Get something for Yuna…”

The younger pouted, standing straight back up before grabbing his arm and forcing him to turn around. Being caught off-guard, he easily turned in her direction surprised. He looked down at her as she asked again, “What did you say?” She looked up at him shocked to see his face turning a noticeable color of pink. She beamed a smile up at him, “Are you blushing~?!”

“I am not!” Kris exclaimed immediately, glaring at her and pulling his arm out of her grasp easily. He scowled at her as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Just help me get a present for Yuna already.”

Kyung-mi gasped, covering before exclaiming out, “And why would I do that?!” She watched as his face turned even redder before her facial expression change into a sly look, “Is this what I think it is~?”

Kris glared down at her before he lowly threatened, “I swear… if you say anything to anybody, I will personally murder you in your sleep. I don’t care if Chanyeol’s going to need psychiatric treatment after.”

The younger just laughed happily before patting him lightly on the shoulder, “You’re really testy about this!” She grabbed his left arm as she started dragging him into the town, “I know the perfect gift.” The elder stared down at her confused, completely baffled at what this girl’s attitude and personality is like and wondering how Chanyeol could handle something like her. Yes. Something.

“Oof,” he lightly let out as the younger suddenly stopped in her tracks, having Kris quickly hit her back from how hard she was pulling earlier. “Why’d you stop?”

Kyung-mi ignored his question as she said, “But for this present to work, you’re going to have to work for it.”

“I’ll definitely work for it,” Kris immediately said, not knowing that the words came out of his mouth in the first place. He looked just as surprised as the girl standing in front of him.

“…Well then…” Kyung-mi mumbled out before she let go of Kris’ arm and clapped her hands together once, smiling happily up at him, “Let’s get going!”

Kris could only sigh at what he possibly just got himself into as he was being dragged off back into the town again.

“My…” Tao started out as he collapsed on his stomach right next to the girl he so happened to fall in love with.

“Goodness…” Yoon Ni finished after falling flat on her back onto the ground.

Tao turned his head to the right and glared at the girl panting next to him on the ground, “I can’t believe you actually won against me in a fight.”

The other turned her head to look at him and smiled happily at him, “It was bound to happen one day.”

Tao rolled his eyes as he turned himself around to lie on his back next to her and just look up at the sky, completely exhausted after having pretty much trained all morning. They were both quiet as they were trying to get the air back into their lungs, but they definitely enjoyed it since it was a comfortable silence… until Tao suddenly remembered something. He turned to his left to look at Yoon Ni who had her eyes closed with a content expression on her face. He smiled before gently and quietly moving ever so slowly to get closer to her.

Yoon Ni’s face contorted in confusion when she heard slight rustling next to her but didn’t pay any attention to it until she could feel somebody blocking the sun out of her face. She opened her eyes to suddenly see Tao hovering on all fours on top of her before she freaked out and punched him in the face.

“Jesus!” Tao exclaimed, sitting up on his knees that were placed on either side of her legs, and proceeding to grab the left side of his face in pain. “Why do you always do that?!”

Yoon Ni had a look of shock on her face as she instantly sat up and put her hand on top of his that was on his face, “I’m sorry! You just freaked me out! You should stop doing that!”

The other glared at her as he pouted, “I just wanted to ask you for your response.”

Yoon Ni’s mouth dropped open as she spluttered, “T-That’s how you ask for my response?!” She furrowed her eyebrows together as she took a second to think it over, “…What response? To what?”

Tao pouted even more as he removed both of their hands from his face and took her hand in his before softly asking, “You don’t remember?”

Yoon Ni blushed at the contact and look on the other’s face before she brought up her other hand and moved it to heal the bruise forming and quickly showing itself on his skin, “…I don’t think-.” Her eyes widened as the white glow suddenly disappeared when Tao moved forward and planted his lips on hers. She squeaked when she suddenly fell backwards, too confused and flustered to do anything that she somehow just fell back.

Tao opened his eyes at the sudden movement as Yoon Ni instantly grabbed for him when she fell backwards and they were now lying on top of the ground with him on top of her. He broke the kiss instantly after he felt his right arm hit the hard ground underneath the other’s back, “Are you okay?”

She could only stare up at him because goddamn she didn’t know what to do. She nodded dumbly as he just chuckled at her expression before leaning down and kissing her again, softly and gently. She couldn’t help but close her eyes and slowly respond back into the kiss.

“…Are you guys together yet?” they suddenly heard somebody say a few feet away from them.

Tao and Yoon Ni broke apart from the kiss and turned to see who was standing next to them. Apparently, Baekhyun was standing there about twenty feet away with Hyourin burying her face into his chest, assuming she was blushing at what she was seeing, with his arm around her upper back, “Oh, Chen told me he saw you two like this the other day when he just walked by us with Xiumin.”

Tao groaned as he got off of Yoon Ni and just opted to sit down next to her with his legs crossed Indian-style, “Why can’t I kiss her in peace?”

Yoon Ni just blushed and looked at him wide-eyed before looking back to the other male who chuckled, “So, together or not?”

Tao stared at the elder before looking to Yoon Ni, “Well. I told her to be my girlfriend earlier… but she hasn’t said anything about it yet.”

For all it’s worth, Yoon Ni slightly glared at Tao, “How do you know I’d say yes?”

“Because I usually always win,” Tao immediately responded back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh… You can look now, Hyo,” Baekhyun softly said, loosening up on his grip around her shoulders so she could turn back around.

“We really shouldn’t see or bother them if they’re doing something… personal,” Hyourin softly said as she turned to see Yoon Ni and Tao just staring at each other. “You two are obviously in love,” she gently said, causing the other two plus Baekhyun to look at her in shock.

“Come again?” Yoon Ni questioned, not believing what she heard.

Baekhyun laughed after the initial shock before saying again, “She says you two are obviously in love.”

“See!” Tao exclaimed while throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. He turned to Yoon Ni, “Be my girlfriend~.”

“U-uh…” Yoon Ni stuttered out, blushing furiously as Baekhyun watched with interest and Hyourin hit him on the chest, trying to tell him to leave them alone. She failed in trying to drag her boyfriend off and away from the others as he stayed put to watch the show. “Um…” Yoon Ni mumbled again as she looked at anything on the ground besides Tao, Hyourin, or Baekhyun’s figures.

Tao sighed, clearly aggravated, before he reached over, lifted up her chin, and gave her another kiss on the lips. “My God, you two might be worse than Eun-mi and Lay and D.O. and Soraya…” Baekhyun muttered out, feeling Hyourin bury her face into her boyfriend’s chest once again as Chen and Xiumin walked past the entrance again.

“What the hell? Still going at it? Or again?” Chen exclaimed, taking a side-glance into the area to see Tao kissing Yoon Ni once again on the lips. Xiumin rolled his eyes before dragging the younger with him again.

“Can you please just make up your mind about your new stupid weapon so we can stop walking back and forth?”

Tao growled, hearing that before breaking the kiss and looking to the intruders, having Chen now quickly walking away and dragging the eldest with him and Baekhyun instantly turning him and Hyourin around to walk away from them. “That’s it,” he said as he stood up and brought Yoon Ni up with him, “We’re going back home and finishing this… where nobody can see me making out with you.”

“Wh-what?” Yoon Ni spluttered out, mindlessly following the other as she was being dragged back home.

“You’re my girlfriend, Yoon Ni. Whether you like it or not,” Tao muttered as they stormed past Baekhyun and Hyourin, leaving them staring wide-eyed at the other as he held onto Yoon Ni’s hand tightly.

“Oh! Wait! We came here for a reason!” Baekhyun suddenly shouted at their retreating backs. He watched as Tao glared at him when he looked back to face the elder. “Lunch is ready! …If you guys want to eat…”

Tao sighed as he looked to Yoon Ni who was still just a bit too numb to do anything coherent, “We’ll eat as soon as we’re done talking.”

“Right. ‘Talking,’” Baekhyun muttered, resulting in Hyourin hitting him softly on the chest once again. “What? I’m just saying! We have to follow them back anyways to the house, right?”

Hyourin could only give a small smile at her boyfriend, wondering how she got somebody like him in the first place. Such an odd guy.

“Soomin, don’t you think it’s time for lunch already?” Haerin questioned as they were walking around the town, only happening to see Chen and Xiumin a few times since the younger kept dragging the older back and forth between stores.

“We can just eat at a restaurant here though, right? I heard there was this place um, Chanyeol and Baekhyun… ate at the other day,” Soomin responded back, looking around the town.

Haerin giggled, “If you want to, we can. Oh look, there they go again.”

Soomin looked to her right where her friend was pointing at Chen holding Xiumin’s right arm and dragging him inside another store while the elder looked completely annoyed and lazily walking behind him. She softly laughed, “Why is he looking for a new weapon again?”

The other sighed, “Because Kris got annoyed that Chen can only do long-distance attacks and then has to search for his daggers. Kris had to search over a cliff’s edge to get one back.”

“Oh,” Soomin said softly while nodding. They walked around some more, making light conversation, seeing the other two walk around again into a different store before Haerin stopped walking and turned to the other.

“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry now.”

Soomin stopped walking and turned to her surprised before laughing, “Okay. I don’t know where the place is though.”

Haerin nodded happily before grabbing her hand and leading her through a small crowd that somehow formed in the central area of the town. They were heading towards the restaurant when this family of a man, woman, and a little boy accidentally bumped into them. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Haerin immediately apologized, turning around to say it to their faces and waited for Soomin to say the same thing.

“Oh, it’s no problem, dear,” the mother said gently as the little boy happily said, “Is s’okay!”

“It’s okay. It sometimes gets like this randomly,” the father replied back with a friendly smile as Haerin smiled back at all of them. She looked over to see Soomin staring wide-eyed at the man.

“Min?” Haerin softly questioned as the other family looked at Soomin the same way.

“Is something wrong?” both the father and mother asked at the same time, concern etched into their faces.

“I… I…” Soomin stuttered out before quickly turning around and running away from the scene.

Haerin stared after her dumbfounded before turning back to the family and bowing repeatedly, “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what got into her. She must’ve forgotten something.”

“Are you sure?” the little boy said cutely, looking up at Haerin with curious eyes.

“I hope she’s okay,” the father said, genuinely concerned.

“She seemed a bit scared?” the mother questioned Haerin.

She frowned a bit before giving them a reassuring smile, “I’m sure she’s fine. Excuse me while I go try and find her. I’m sorry again!”

“Oh, no. It’s quite all right, dear. I hope she’s okay,” the mother said gently before smiling at her and turning away with her family. The little boy waved at Haerin as she smiled back at the cute kid.

Haerin immediately turned around and ran after Soomin after the little boy turned to look where he was going. She ran past the closet stores near them, looking in quickly to see if she could find her friend.

“Chen~ can we stop looking now? Just buy a normal sword and let’s go and eat lunch already. You’re hungry too! I can hear your stomach growling!” Xiumin whined out as he waited by the entrance of a store, as the younger looked at all the weapons presented to him. He groaned, “There’s only two stores in this town with weapons, and we’ve been to each one at least ten times already.”

“Oh shut up, Xiumin. Help me here,” Chen said, frustration evident in his tone as he picked up a sword and tightened and loosened his grip on its hilt before slightly swinging it around him to test it out.

“I’ve been trying to help you, but you never listen to me,” the other deadpanned as he watched Chen put down the sword then walk over a few steps to look at another sword on display.

“What did you say, Xiu?” Chen asked absentmindedly, focusing on the swords in front of him.

Xiumin rolled his eyes as he moved to lean against the wall instead of just standing there. “Hurry up,” he roughly stated before looking around the store and taking little random notes about the place.

“I’m – try – ing,” Chen said slowly as the owner of the shop just softly chuckled at their expense. He sighed as he picked up another sword to look at its blade before setting it back on its stand.

“You can just try for another type of weapon like a boomerang or something?” Xiumin muttered as he watched Chen look at him in complete surprise.

“A boomerang? Really now, Xiu?”

The elder shrugged, “It could happen and work just as efficiently.”

The younger laughed, attention back to the weapons in front of him when all of a sudden, he heard rushed footsteps enter the small store and a pair of arms suddenly circling themselves around his abdomen. He looked back completely surprised as Xiumin pushed himself off the wall to walk over to the two in curiosity. The shop owner looked at them questioningly before shrugging and going back to whatever he was doing.

Chen frowned as he tried to turn around in the other’s tight grasp before he gently took her hands and removed them before turning around and letting her hug him from the front instead, “Soomin?” His eyes widened feeling something wet on his chest, “What happened? Weren’t you with Haerin?” He gently hugged her before tightening his embrace when he felt her shake against him.

“Soomin!” they heard Haerin yelling outside the store before Xiumin called out to her, “In here!”

Haerin rushed into the store panting before going over to Soomin and softly putting a hand on her back, “What happened out there? They were a kind family.”

“Where did you guys go?” Xiumin asked next to all of them.

Haerin turned around to him with a confused look on her face, “We were about to go eat at a restaurant Chanyeol said was pretty good before we bumped into this family of a father, mother, and little son.”

Both of the guys nodded before they all looked back to Soomin whose face was buried into Chen’s chest. “Why are you crying, Min? I’m sure they were nice people,” Chen said softly, nuzzling his nose into her hair in the process. He lifted his head when she shook her head violently.

“He-he… th-that man…” Soomin softly voiced out between her tears.

“What about him?” Chen asked softly again, rubbing her back in a soothing motion.

“…L-looked like… m-my f-father…” she mumbled out the rest so that only Chen somewhat understood what she said.

“What?” Haerin asked softly to Chen, not quite hearing what her friend said.

Chen just shook his head at her before trying to calm down Soomin, “Soomin… I’m sure he wasn’t going to hurt you. You’re far away from your father, remember? Nobody’s going to hurt you if I’m here.”

The other nodded against him slowly as Xiumin and Haerin let out a sigh of relief before going outside of the store so the other two could have their moment, “B-but…”

“Why did you run to me, Min? Haerin was right next to you,” the other questioned gently, pressing a light kiss into her hair, feeling like it was instinct to do something like that.

Soomin blushed at the contact before tightening her arms around his waist, “…You said you’d take care of me…”

Chen widened his eyes before chuckling, “I did say that, huh?” He turned to the shop owner, “I’ll be back later.”

“Whatever suits you, sir,” the shop owner replied back lazily before throwing a hand up in the air as a goodbye.

Chen softly laughed as he maneuvered Soomin to wrap one arm around his back with his arm protectively around her shoulders as they walked out of the store. He turned to Haerin and Xiumin who were waiting for them outside, “We’re going back to the house. I’ll buy that sword later.”

The eldest rolled his eyes before crossing his arms in front of his chest, “You better freaking buy a sword later.”

Haerin laughed before gently patting the elder on the shoulder as a form of comfort, “Aw, poor Xiu~.”

Xiumin blushed before glaring at her, “You don’t know what it’s like going sword shopping with him.”

The other just stared at him with a straight face, “I haven’t even been sword shopping in the first place.”

The elder was taken aback by her facial expressions before she suddenly started giggling. He sighed before going over to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders and looking in the direction Soomin and Chen already walked off in. He scrunched his nose in thought before re-directing him and Soomin towards the said restaurant the other mentioned earlier.

“What? Where are we going?” Haerin suddenly questioned, too lost in her thoughts when he put his arm around her to not notice anything until he started pushing her in a random direction.

Xiumin chuckled as he randomly said, “Taking you on a date.”

Haerin’s curious face turned into one of complete shock when she stopped walking and turned to just stare at the elder, “Excuse me? That’s so random!”

The elder laughed as he used a little bit more force into the arm still around Haerin’s shoulders and continued pushing them in the direction of the restaurant. He shrugged, “So, I’ve been wanting to take you out on a date. Now’s the perfect chance, huh? Chen and Soomin aren’t with us this time.”

Haerin blushed as she just followed his lead and eventually made their way into the restaurant. They sat at a table as the waiter came by and got their drink orders, “Name’s Jinyoung~ what would you two like to drink?”

“Water, please,” both Xiumin and Haerin said at the same time, causing Jinyoung to chuckle.

“I’ll be back.”

Xiumin kept glancing back and forth between the menu and up at Haerin’s concentrated face at deciding what to order. He sighed before he got up and moved over to sit in the chair next to her, completely surprising her, “Yes, Xiu?” She blushed when he suddenly kissed her on her forehead when the waiter came by and dropped off the drink before softly chuckling and walking away from them, intending to get their orders later.

The elder smiled softly at her before looking back down at the menu. Haerin puffed out her cheeks in annoyance after a few silent minutes, “Xiu-.” “I like you, you know?”

Haerin’s eyes widened as Jinyoung came back to their table, “Are you two ready to order?”

Xiumin looked up at him and nodded before turning around to look at Haerin, “Are you ready?”

The younger looked at him then down at the menu before nodding slowly. Jinyoung chuckled as he waited for what they wanted. After Haerin mumbled out what she wanted and Xiumin happily said his order, the waiter went back to the kitchen to get it started.

Xiumin was calmly looking around the restaurant, as Haerin was lost deep in thought once again. He sighed after a few minutes before lightly knocking her in the side of the head, “You’re over-thinking things again. I just said I like you. It shouldn’t require much thought.”

Haerin instantly looked up at him and pouted before lightly rubbing the area where he lightly pushed her head, “How can I not?”

“It’s just a simple statement with a lot of meaning behind it. I’d appreciate it if you returned the sentence,” Xiumin calmly stated before smiling a cute smile to her when he finished his sentence.

The younger widened her eyes before calming down and laughing, “You’re a bit… straightforward.”

The elder shrugged, still smiling, while looking past Haerin and out the glass window to see people walking around outside talking to each other happily, “So, nothing? Or should I wait?”

Haerin blushed again before looking down at the table and playing with her glass of water, “…I… like you too…”

Xiumin looked at her out of the corners of his eyes before smiling and pecking her on the side of her forehead again, “Good. I knew I was right.”

“Wh-what?” she stuttered out just as the food came.

“Enjoy your meal!” Jinyoung happily said before returning to the other customers.

Xiumin just smiled at her before taking a bite out of his food. He suddenly opened his mouth a bit and started fanning his mouth, “Ith hoth!”

Haerin immediately started laughing as she grabbed his glass of water and handed it to him while trying to calm down his movements, “Drink some water then and be careful!” She continued to laugh as he started eating more anyways and kept trying to blow some of the heat away from the food.

“…You sure she’d like this?” Kris questioned slowly, being skeptic of what Kyung-mi made him buy.

“Of course!” the younger said happily, pushing the item back towards his chest since he was staring at it in his hands. She turned him around and pushed him in a different direction, “Now you remember what I told you, right? Get started on it!”

“But! What?!” Kris exclaimed out as the younger managed to make him move and trip over his own two feet before catching himself before he fell. He turned around and glared at the younger who just stuck her tongue out at him.

“Get going, already~ I have to find my Channie!” Kyung-mi exclaimed before waving at him then turning around to go off in a random direction.

“But wait! You’re going to get lost if you’re like Chanyeol with directions!” Kris shouted back, going after her to ensure her safety… and his own if Yuna and Chanyeol found out he let her walk around by herself then get lost without him to watch over her.

“No, I’m not!” she yelled back, not turning around.

“I’m not risking it!” Kris shouted back annoyed.

“I was in the army before,” Tao softly said as he and Yoon Ni were lying on their bed with his right arm under her neck as a pillow. She had her right arm lazily spread out across his chest with her head on his shoulder and eyes closed. He was staring straight up at the ceiling, thinking about his past.

Yoon Ni opened her eyes at the news, “What?”

“I was in the army before… with the rest of the guys,” Tao explained a little bit more.

“…Then why are you running away too?”

“…Because I didn’t like how the army acted. I don’t want to go back there if they recognized me.” Yoon Ni looked up at the side of Tao’s face, just waiting for him to continue. “My name is Huang Zitao. I changed it to Tao when I left the army.”

Yoon Ni took in the information before questioning, “Zitao? It’s a nice name… what did the army do?”

Tao sighed as he looked down at her, “Kill innocent people and plan to take over the royalty line.” She looked shocked as he continued, looking back up to the ceiling, “My father was the army general, and I was in training to take over his spot since he was the best one they’ve had in years… but then I found out about all the hidden, bad motives and wanted to leave. They didn’t let me, but I managed to. I was the one who helped the other eleven escape the army too.”

“…But… wasn’t it lonely? Were you close with the others before you left?” Yoon Ni questioned softly, thinking about her own past.

“It was at first since I was one of the younger ones and always stayed by my dad’s side… but the other eleven were the only ones who actually looked out for me even if we weren’t really close. They all have their own sad pasts, and I wanted to get them out and away from that place,” Tao answered back truthfully before they both lapsed into silence once again.

Yoon Ni sighed, closing her eyes and going back into her comfortable position before she quietly said, “I was an orphan. An orphan who didn’t know her parents at all and was called the ‘mystery child’ at the orphanage.”

Tao frowned as he moved his left hand to grab her right hand that was across his chest, “You have a brother though?”

“He found me when I was fifteen after our parents passed away.” After a few minutes, she sighed, “I was considered a freak at the orphanage. I was abnormally stronger than other girls my age and there were rumors going around that my parents were rich and heartless… That they just dropped me off there because they didn’t want a daughter since they already had their son…”

“You’re not a freak,” Tao mumbled as he moved to kiss the top of her head.

“Yeah, well, I was to them. I was never adopted because I developed a harsh attitude around all the other kids and staff members because of how I was treated… I was called the rebel of the orphanage since I would sneak out after curfew and practice whatever fighting skills I already knew,” she scowled at the thought before sighing again. “Even though I hated the thought of him at first… Minho is like my savior. I owe him everything for finding me and protecting me after all that even if I didn’t ask for it.”

Tao sighed as he rolled over so that he was on top of her once again and staring down at her in the eyes, “You are so loved, Yoon Ni. I’m pretty sure your brother showed you he cared for you every day and regrets not finding you any sooner.”

The other pouted, feeling suddenly really emotional, as she looked away from him, only to see his left forearm next to her head on the bed, “…I know he does.” Her eyes widened a little in surprise as she felt Tao kiss her left cheek. She turned her head to see him softly smiling at her.

“…I love you. You’re loved… whether it’s by our friends, your brother, or me. You’re loved...” he trailed off, suddenly seeing tears form in her eyes. “Whoa, wait… I didn’t mean to make you cry, Ni!”

Yoon Ni softly laughed as tears fell from her eyes and onto the pillow underneath her. She closed her eyes in appreciation as Tao tried to wipe the tears from her eyes even though she can clearly tell he’s panicking on the inside. She opened her eyes again to see him looking down at her with the most concern she’s ever seen besides the time Minho finally found out what all teasing and jokes were made about her in the orphanage. She smiled softly before bringing up her hand and gently cupping his cheek. She gently brought his face down into a soft kiss, finally realizing that he’s putting himself way out into the open for her… just like she just did with him.

Tao brought his hand to gently wrap itself around the back of her neck, smiling into the kiss. He broke it after a minute, “Somehow… with us always fighting against the other and bickering… I fell in love with you.”

Yoon Ni laughed as she blushed, turning to get out of the increasingly awkward position of Tao being on top of her, “Yeah, yeah… You’re very lovable too, pandog.”

The other smiled brightly at her before lying on his side behind her and just cuddling up against her back, “You’re not freaky or anything, Ni… I could add something more along the rated lines, but I won’t.”

Yoon Ni’s eyes widened before stuttering, “W-what the hell?”

“Just trying to lighten the mood, dear,” Tao said innocently while closing his eyes and nuzzling his nose into her hair. Yoon Ni could only stiffen and blush at all the implications his other statement could have meant.

“Can we please go back now?” Chanyeol gasped out as he fell to the ground exhausted.

Yuna looked at him then at up towards the sky to realize it was late afternoon already and steadily getting darker, “Oh… Yeah… Yeah we can.” She looked back at Chanyeol who was slowly crawling on the ground towards her, “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

Chanyeol glared at her as he looked up, “I told you at least ten times already! But when you’re fighting and in the mood, you don’t listen to me!”

Yuna scoffed as she rolled her eyes and re-sheathed her sword before turning around to go back to their house, “Come on and get up, you elf. Kyung-mi might be waiting for you back at home.”

“What?! Really?!” Chanyeol exclaimed, instantly getting back up on his feet and rushing back to their house while grabbing onto Yuna’s hand in the process.

“You’re her boyfriend, right? Chanyeol! Slow down!” Yuna questioned then exclaimed at the sudden rush she was being put through just to get back home.

Yuna started using her legs to run next to him as they reached the front of the house. She glared at the taller as she felt a sudden drop of water hit her on the head, “You idiot. We could’ve walked home.” She looked up and saw the sky darkening even more, “Great. Now it’s raining.”

Chanyeol smiled down at her before looking back up at the sky before a look of realization crossed his face, “Wait! Kyung-mi!” Yuna watched him completely confused as she followed him into the house and saw him pulling her away from her position sitting on the couch next to Kris and back out the front door.

“Why is everyone pulling me around today~?” Kyung-mi whined out as she waved to Yuna in the process. “What are we doing out here? It’s raining!” she questioned Chanyeol as she pouted up at him for getting her wet.

“Kiss and dance in the rain!” he exclaimed out happily as he picked her up in a hug and spun her around once before kissing her on the lips.

Kyung-mi laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She didn’t care that they were getting drenched now since the rain was pouring heavily.

“You two! You’re going to get sick if you stay out there!” Yuna exclaimed out through the opened door as Chanyeol stuck his tongue out at her.

“I don’t care! I’ll take care of her if she does get sick!”

Kyung-mi blushed as she dropped herself slowly from his embrace before hugging him around the waist, “But we’re going to get bad colds~.”

Chanyeol smiled down at her before taking her right hand, lacing their fingers together, and putting his right arm around her waist, “It’s one of the only chances to do this though!” He moved down to kiss her again before dancing to some imaginary tune going on inside his head.

Kyung-mi blushed and just smiled up at him as she followed his movements, completely drenched but incredibly happy at this romantic moment they have.

“Geez…” Yuna muttered out even though she was smiling before closing the door on them and going over to her boyfriend who was scribbling something in what looked like a new book. She looked at him questioningly as she sat down next to him and tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was concentrating on.

“No! Don’t look at it!” Kris suddenly yelled out, pulling the book and pen to his chest protectively.

Yuna looked at him weirdly before standing up, “Well, fine then, you pansy.”

“I’m not a pansy!” Kris yelled out, standing up as well.

“Why are you so… moody all of a sudden?” she questioned as she stepped closer to him and looking him in the eyes.

Kris stared down back at her before going to the room he and Yuna were arguing in earlier, “I’m not being moody.” His girlfriend just stared at him weirdly before walking into the kitchen. “But come upstairs in fifteen minutes!”

Yuna rolled her eyes before entering the kitchen, “Whatever, giant!”

The taller frowned at her retreating back before sighing and going up the stairs. On the way up, he passed by Baekhyun on the way up and a thought randomly came into his mind, “Hey, Baek. Where’s Luhan?”

Baekhyun looked at him questioningly, “Hmm? Out with Sabina, I think… although he should be getting back here since it’s really raining hard outside… On second thought… Is everybody here?”

Kris sighed as he ruffled the younger’s hair before mumbling, “I have no idea anymore.”

“Sabina~ we should really get back home! We’re drenched!” Luhan exclaimed out, not liking the idea they could both get very sick the next day if they didn’t go home and get into very warm clothes soon.

“But I see better in the rain!” Sabina argued back, pulling on Luhan’s arm to make him stay put.

“But you can get sick!” the elder protested even though he really didn’t want to force his girlfriend to go back home.

Sabina frowned as she turned herself to stand in front of him before putting her hand on his chest. Luhan sighed as he let her do that before looking up at the sky and the endless pouring of rain on them. His eyes widened when he felt her hand moving its way up his chest. He looked down at her surprised to feel her hand go up from his chest to rest on the left side of his face. He blushed remembering the first time he made her touch his face before voicing out his thoughts, “…Um, Bina?”

“I told you… I see better in the rain,” she mumbled out as she closed her eyes and put both of her hands gently on both sides of his face. “…You’re beautiful, Luhan.”

Luhan blushed a darker shade of red at her words before softly laughing, “I should be saying that to you, Sabina.”

Sabina blushed lightly as she smiled, “I don’t know how you’re like this.”

“I’m pretty sure… it’s thanks to my…” he trailed off, not liking the memory at all.

Sabina had a curious look on her face but didn’t push him as she softly said, “You really are, Luhan. Thank you for accepting me…” She slowly removed her hands from his face.

Luhan snapped out of his thoughts before smiling down at her. He used his own hands to grab her face and softly kissed her on the lips. After a few seconds, he pulled away to softly mumble against her lips, “You’re the most beautiful person I know.”

“God damn…” Sooyun muttered as she was standing under a piece of rock sticking out from the mountain path to prevent herself from getting wet.

“You know, we could do one of those cliché, romantic scenes,” Sehun voiced out standing next to her with his arms crossed in front of his chest and smiling down at her. He followed her out towards the cliffs when she just wanted to think about her past some more before it started raining.

“In your dreams,” Sooyun muttered out dangerously, looking away from him.

“Oh, definitely,” the other happily said, moving to stand closer to her.

“Stay away from me or I’m making sure you’re not having kids,” Sooyun threatened as she turned around and glared at him.

Sehun mocked hurt and surprise all in one, “But you’re going to be the mother, right?”

“…What the hell?” she muttered out, surprise evident in her facial expressions.

The other just shrugged, going back to normal, “I think I’m just spending way too much time with Kai.”

Sooyun really didn’t know what else to do except mutter, “You’re an idiot,” before sighing and calmly walking out from under the rocks and into the rain.

Sehun’s eyes widened as he quickly followed after her, using his hands as a type of weak shield to cover her from getting wet to the max, “You could get sick!”

“Yeah, oh well. I’ll know how my sister felt,” she bitterly said as Sehun stopped walking completely.

He frowned at her retreating back before walking a few more steps to catch up to her and turned her around, “Stop thinking everything was your fault.” Sooyun just glared up at him as he looked into her eyes, “I don’t want you feeling bad anymore…”

“What do you care?” Sooyun growled out, trying to get out of his grips when he just tightened his hold on her arms, “You know, that’s starting to hurt a bit.”

Sehun glared down at her, “I care about you, Sooyun. You’re different. You captured my attention from the start. I care.” Her eyes widened as his holds on her loosened and his glare softened into a caring gaze. She said nothing as he moved to tightly hug her to show her that he really did.

Sooyun stayed still as she relished in his warmth before muttering, “…You’re going to get me sick if we stay out here…” She softly smiled as Sehun laughed, liking how it reverberated throughout his chest.

“I’ll watch over you if you do. Nothing will happen to you, I promise,” he softly said into her hair, smiling as he covered her face from getting as wet as the other parts of their bodies. Sooyun could only keep smiling as she slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around his waist in return.

“Why are you bringing me upstairs with you?” Star questioned confusedly as she was being pulled up the stairs by her left arm.

“Because if that stupid giant has something stupid planned…” Yuna muttered as she accidentally opened up the wrong door leading to Star and Sooyun’s room. They both looked into the room surprised, “Kai?”

The other was in the bed closest to the door when he turned around from facing the opposite wall at the call of his name, “Yuna? Star?”

“What are you doing here?” Yuna asked, confused, before realization dawned on her, “Oh, I’m in the wrong room, huh?”

Kai smiled at her showing his teeth, “Kris was busy doing something with that book in the other room, so he kicked me out before I could ask him about it.”

Yuna rolled her eyes before turning around to go to the right room where her boyfriend was in, “I swear…”

Kai just laughed as he and Star watched Yuna walk away from the room. He looked back to Star, “I’m sorry I’m on your bed. Assuming some of Sooyun’s stuff was on the other bed… I was scared to lie down there. And… Baekhyun was in the other room being all cute and greasy with Hyourin… I couldn’t handle it.” He scrunched up his nose in disapproval, causing Star to accidentally laugh softly at how randomly adorable he looked. Both of them looked completely surprised as she instantly covered with her hands.

Star glared at him after coming out of her shock, “You heard and saw nothing.”

Kai had a look of amusement in his eyes as he got up and walked over to her before he gently grabbed her hand. “What are you-?” “You won’t hate me, right?” he cut her off softly as he gently pulled her with him.

Star had a soft look of sadness in her eyes as she stared at the back of his head, “I won’t.”

He made her sit on the bed before walking around to lie down on the other side. He smiled, “Good… then please… Don’t hate me for this.” The next thing Star knew, she was pulled to lie down on her back next to him. He moved her a bit to wrap her arm around his chest and her head in the crook of his neck, “You better not hit my manly parts this time.”

Star could only blush at the extreme contact she was put in before bluntly saying, “I can hit your manly parts if I want to hit them.”

Kai pouted down at her, “Come on~ I just want to hug you!”

“Well I can see you’re feeling much better,” Star muttered out as she tried to get out of his grasp when he wouldn’t let go.

“Just… please stay here…” he softly said, causing her to blush more at the gentleness in his voice. She really didn’t know what to do in this situation, so she just stayed put, actually still really liking the feeling of his arms around her. He sighed, content, at feeling her stay, “Thank you.”

“That idiot…” Yuna muttered out as she opened the right door just to see Kris lying back on a bed reading that same book he was scribbling something in earlier.

The other looked up when he heard the door open and smiled at her, “Yuna! You came!”

“Well, duh,” she deadpanned before going over to him and standing next to where he was lying down on the farthest bed from the door. She put her hands on her hips, “Why did you want me to come up here at the end of fifteen minutes?”

“Actually, you came here five minutes late,” Kris said confidently before he was smacked on the head by his girlfriend, “Ow! That hurts!”

“It’s supposed to,” she muttered as she sat on the edge of the bed. She sighed, “What am I doing here?” Kris smiled at her again before closing the book he was holding and handing it to her. Yuna looked at it confused before taking it and examining the cover. She smiled softly at the pretty design it had before opening it up to see what he was doing with it earlier.

“Wait!” Kris suddenly exclaimed, sitting up and wrapping his arms around Yuna’s waist. He pulled her to him before leaning back against the wall behind the bed and this time, having his girlfriend leaning back on his left arm comfortably as she pulled her knees up to her chest, suddenly feeling very tired from training with Chanyeol all day. Kris crossed his ankles since his legs were previously stretched out, making himself more comfortable before happily exclaiming, “Okay, read!”

Yuna looked up at him weirdly before softly laughing, “Okay, you weird giant.”

Kris just continued to smile down at her as she opened up to the first page.

“A really large amount of reasons why I fell in love with Yuna Lee.”

“What…?” Yuna asked, suddenly breathless as she looked back up to Kris’ happy face.

“Keep reading,” was the only response she got before flipping to the next page.

“Number 1: The way you are strong for yourself and your friends.

Number 2: The way you can be both aggressive and soft to people you know.

Number 3: Just like the way you can be scary one minute and surprisingly cute the next minute.

Number 4: Your height.”

At reading number four, Yuna looked up to Kris and asked sarcastically, “Really now? My height?”

The other could only shrug with a smile on his face, “So what? I love it.”

She just rolled her eyes before smiling and looking back down to read the rest. When she hit the last one, which by the way, stopped at number seventeen, “Number 17: The way you won against me in killing that deer and made me repeat that you beat me,” she looked back up to him, showing him a beautiful smile, “Why did you do this?”

Kris could only smile back before he moved forward to gently kiss her on the lips, “It’s been at least a week since we got together back in Efiia… I wanted to make it special. I heard you liked books but since we really don’t have much time to read, and I didn’t know what kind of book you liked… I just got a journal and started writing down reasons why I fell in love with you.” Yuna had tears in her eyes at his reasoning, causing him to panic. “If you don’t like it, I’m sorry! I’ll just get you another present!”

Yuna hit him on the chest with the book he got her before letting her tears fall and started laughing, “I’m crying because you’re an actual cheesy romantic. Who’d have known you’d be one of them, you player? It’s the sweetest thing anybody’s ever done for me…”

Kris sighed relieved before he pulled her back towards his chest again, “Oh God… I was going to start blaming Kyung-mi if you hated it…”

“What?” Yuna questioned as she moved away to look at him after wiping off most of her tears.

The elder froze as he stiffly looked down to her, “Uh… Well… I asked her for help… and she suggested that… all of that…” His eyes widened at his girlfriend’s unreadable expression before suddenly blurting out everything that happened, “I was going to ask D.O! But I didn’t want to bother him since he and Soraya were finally separated long enough to stay with other people. Then I was going to ask Chen or Xiumin… but they were both out looking for a new weapon for Chen because that idiot, I call as a friend, has stupid weapons, and I had to search for one of his daggers over the edge of a cliff… So I was just going to ask Eun-mi to help but for the life of me, I couldn’t find her or Lay anywhere at all… Where have they been anyways…? Oh, and so the only logical person to go to who was left was Kyung-mi, but I really didn’t want to ask her, but I really wanted to get you a present you really loved so-.” His eyes widened as Yuna suddenly put her lips on top of his to get him to shut up. He closed his eyes, relishing the warm feeling it gave him before she pulled away a few minutes later.

She smiled at him, “It was either a punch to the face or a kiss to the lips. I figured you’d like the latter option more.”

Kris laughed as he moved both of them to lie on the bed with her cuddled up to his larger figure, still holding the book on top of his chest, “I do like that option more. You should do it more often.” He laughed again as she hit him beside his chin, “Okay, okay. I’ll take what you give me, love.”

“Damn right,” Yuna mumbled as she blushed and smiled while settling herself back onto his body. Kris just chuckled as he rubbed his hand soothingly on her back. She closed her eyes as they laid there in silence.

A few seconds before Yuna was able to drift off into peaceful and blissful sleep, Kris voiced out a question that was nagging him in the back of his mind, “Seriously though. I haven’t seen Eun-mi or Lay… and Suho and Chaerin for that matter. Where the hell have they been all day? It’s already nighttime, and it’s still raining out there… but I’m glad that Soraya and D.O. weren’t glued together this entire day- Ow!”

“I felt like giving you a punch in the face this time. Get used to it,” Yuna deadpanned before realizing, “Crap. Neither of us knows how to heal.”

Kris just sighed as he rubbed the side of his face, “I’ll just get it healed tomorrow. I’ll shut up now, okay? You sound grouchy.”

“Shut up. You better, or you’re getting another punch on the right side of your face to match the other bruise on your left cheek.”

A/N: Oh my goodness. It's finally here... the next chapter. I really don't know what to say except I tried to focus on the other couples who haven't really been featured much recently. And I figured it was time for a new couple or two. I'm awkward with confessions if they're not the straightforward "I like you," "You're mine," or "We're official, and that's it." So I'm sorry about that ;~;. I'm also sorry about bad grammar if there's any in there... I tried to proofread it quickly but yeah~ Anyways. Short A/N since Keychained is staying up waiting for this >.<. I hope everybody enjoyed this kinda romantic chapter? *-* Haha, see you next time!

:3 Mar

Oh! And if you're applying to Musically Beautiful, the deadline is tomorrow October 1! :) (unless you ask for an extension of course)