Baekhyun wrinkled his nose as he tried not to move from his half squat.

He had improved a lot since the first time he summoned Principal Kim into the Palace to teach him martial arts. He could now hold on for at least ten minutes without his thighs even trembling, and holding it at a splendid ninety degree.

He also went to runs every day around the Palace and lifted heavy rocks as an exercise. The physical exercise was showing on Baekhyun's body and he looked fitter and more muscular than he ever did.

"Hyung~"

Baekhyun's face fell. GREAT. Now the world's biggest "distractor" was here to distract him from his training. Great great great. He TOTALLY needed that.

"Hyung~~~ Why are you doing that hyung? It looks tiring and boring."

Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to turn deaf. *Don't listen to him, Baekhyun. You're not hearing anything. Continue on, you can hit fifteen minutes.* he told himself.

"Yoohoo hyung?" Baekhyun felt someone waving a hand in front of his face and he kept his eyes shut all the way.

"Kai hyung, you think Baekhyun hyung is having a fever or something?" a cute voice asked. "Is he ill? OMO! He's ill right? We have to call for the Imperial Physician quickly!"

Baekhyun nearly fainted when he heard Kai's laughing reply. "Oh sure Hun. I think Baekhyun hyung's sick too." came Kai's reply. "But I know just the way to cure him. Just a little ticket at his waist...." he trailed off.

Baekhyun jumped back ten feet and whipped his eyes opened. He saw the EXO-K princes looking at him teasingly, with the exception of Sehun who looked absolutely delighted that his hyung was awake again. "Oh hyung! You're not dead!" Sehun cheered.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and scowled. "I never was you retard." he muttered. He sighed and wiped his perspiration away with a handkerchief. "Shall we go to the shade then? Since you guys are here?"

The six of them went to the shade, away from the blaring sun. D.O. looked around for Byul and found her watching them from afar, from one of the pavilions. "What is Byul doing there? I thought she always sticks to you to prevent you from getting into trouble."

Baekhyun shrugged. "I don't know. She's been distancing herself, but I don't mind. I don't want to see her or talk to her anyway." he spat in distaste.

Chanyeol frowned and furrowed his brows. *That's because she still can't walk that properly yet and if she comes close, you'd find out.* he thought desperately. His eyes fixed on Byul worriedly, and the worry subsided a little when she waved at him cheerfully.

"We should get her here." Suho suggested, like the gentleman he was. "She must feel lonely for sitting there herself."

Chanyeol nodded enthusiastically. "I'll go get her!" he bounced up.

"No need Yeol." Baekhyun cut in. "I told you, I don't want to see her." he growled.

Chanyeol sighed and looked at his hyung. "Don't you think you're being a little too petty, hyung?" he asked. "I mean, Byul didn't mean all those things she said. She just blurted them out without thinking and she didn't know you liked Dahae this much."

"But it was still an evil thing to say." Baekhyun muttered, wrinkling his nose. Why oh why must Dahae like Chanyeol instead?

"Yes but don't you think she has got enough punishment for it?" Chanyeol asked seriously. The EXO-K princes watched in interest, not seeing Chanyeol this focused on a girl ever before. "You've been giving her the cold shoulder, and she even tried to apologize. Not to mention her leg-" Chanyeol faltered, remembering how he promised Byul not to say.

"What about her leg, Chanyeol hyung?" D.O. asked curiously. Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol too in the same curious manner. How did Chanyeol know so many things about Byul?

"Nothing. I meant don't drag it till it's too late. I meant late." Chanyeol murmured. He sighed and looked at Baekhyun. "If hyung isn't going to get Byul here, I will." he walked off to the next pavilion and smiled at Byul. She looked surprised to see him and wondered if it was alright to Baekhyun that he was here.

"Come and sit with us there." Chanyeol pulled her up. "Can you walk properly?"

Byul nodded. "I can if I bear with the pain for a bit. I can't let my limp show yet." she murmured. She smiled at Chanyeol. "Thanks again Chanyeol-gun. You seem to be my very own fairy god mother." she teased.

Chanyeol chuckled.

The seven of them then continued talking and chatting, with an odd phenomenon of only six talking at the same time at most. When Byul said anything or she was in the conversation, Baekhyun would withdraww himself from it and waited till Byul shut . That made Byul shut entirely so that Baekhyun could talk with ease, as she faded into the background.

*Ddong-ha, you're one petty kid.* she thought, wrinkling her nose.

They were just about to go for a walk around the gardens as suggested by Suho, when someone else visited. Baekhyun brightened visibly and stood up immediately. "Dahae ah!"

Dahae turned and smiled, giving them a graceful wave. "Hello! I'm back from all the visits so I thought I'd come and visit all of you." she beamed. Her eyes fell on Byul and she looked a little stunned, as if surprised that she was still here.

"We missed you, Dahae." Baekhyun grinned, happy to see her again. He made Sehun shift seats so that Dahae could sit beside him, making Sehun grumble. "We missed you. I missed you." Baekhyun murmured softly, full of emotions.

Byul gazed at Baekhyun curiously, wondering why Baekhyun seemed to be so hopelessly infatuated with Dahae. This Baekhyun was super different from the one she knew, and that could only mean how much more Dahae meant to him.

"Thank you Jeonha." Dahae sat down. She looked at Chanyeol across the table and offered a beam. "I missed all of you princes too." she told them kindly. But somehow everyone caught the message that the "all of you" she talked about actually meant Chanyeol only.

Chanyeol shifted uncomfortably. "Err.. Okay. Uhm, is there anything we can do? It's kind of boring to sit and talk." he changed the topic quickly.

Baekhyun brightened as an idea popped into his head. "Dahae ah. How about I show you my new martial arts skills!" he cheered. He looked over at Chanyeol, determined to be better than his dongsaeng. "Oppa is really strong and suave now you know!"

Dahae looked amused. "Really? But Jeonha hates exercising." she protested.

"Not now." Baekhyun assured. "Watch Dahae." he told her softly.

He went into the yard and got ready, stretching a bit. Then he got into his fighting stance and eyed the front of him, staring fiercely.

He started the whole routine with a high kick that was worthy of applause. Baekhyun twirled around and punched the air firmly, hooking the imaginary enemy's leg.

He aimed a thousand punches in front and did a magnificent split.

The princes knew he had put in a lot of effort for this tiny routine after Dahae had returned. He had hoped to impress Dahae with his new martial arts skills.

And they all knew that Baekhyun was trying to turn into Chanyeol. Baekhyun was good at calligraphy, he was good at fighting. And perhaps those were the things that drew Dahae to him, and Baekhyun wanted those traits for himself right now.

Suho sighed as he glanced at Dahae. She had lost her attention on Baekhyun rapidly and now was talking to Chanyeol animatedly, trying to urge a more enthusiastic response from him. Chanyeol looked really uncomfortable as he tried to make Dahae look at Baekhyun, but failed to do so.

Suho met eyes with Kai and they both shook their heads. They knew what each other were thinking. *Baekhyun trying so hard is not going to work. Dahae just likes Chanyeol.*

Sehun snapped his head to look at Dahae. "Dahae gongjunim will you shut up and look while Baekhyun hyung is performing for us?" he snapped cutely. "It's irritating." he huffed.

Dahae shut and pouted, finally turning to look at Baekhyun. Baekhyun ended his routine just at that moment and caught Dahae looking. His heart leaped with joy and he smiled back brilliantly.

*See that Dahae. I can be as good as Yeol. Just choose me and I'll give you happiness.* he thought.

He caught another someone looking and saw Byul staring at him. When their eyes met, Byul shifted hers away quickly, uncomfortable. "Uhm, I'll get you guys drinks." Byul quickly stood up.

Chanyeol looked at her worriedly, wondering if her leg was well enough to do walking. Byul gave him an assuring gaze and walked away, turning her face away from them so that she could flinch with every step. The hardest part was not to limp and to walk as normally as possible.

Sehun looked while Byul walked away. "Is it me or is Byul noona walking strangely today?" he tapped his chin.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "No duh. She walks like a guy that's what."