"No," Myungsoo picked up his pace and walked away faster. I almost had to run to catch up with him. "I'm not gonna let you do it. You've had way too many near death experiences for me to be okay with this."
Ok. This kid was walking way too fast for me to talk and keep up at the same time.
I pushed off gently from the ground and floated into the air, dropping down right in front of him.
"But this time is different Myungsoo!"
"No it's not," he side-stepped me, leaving me in a whirl of leaves. He used his speed magic to get around me.

Alright.
Two can play at this game.

I raised my hand and extended it at his direction, lifting it just enough so that vines popped out of the ground and wrapped around his ankles.
He almost faceplanted at the sudden restrictions.
"If I use....whatever this blue glowy magic is, all you guys can get out of here!" I ran up to him and looked him right in the eyes, trying to muster every bit of confidence I had in my body, "Like you said before, you guys are celebrities in real life and so is EXO. All of you guys mean something to thousands of people around the world and I'm pretty sure all of them would be launched into some life long depression if anything happened to any more of you. Get out of here in one piece Myungsoo. I'm pretty much a nobody compared to all of you so it's fine."
He shook his head, tears swimming in his eyes. "No ____________________, it's not fine! You're the furthest thing from a nobody to me and to the rest of Infinite. The rest of us would never forgive ourselves if we let you do this. And don't you think for a second that no one would care if you did this to yourself. Do you have any idea how I would feel? How this would affect me?"

I watched as the tears slipped from his eyes, falling down his flawless face. It was the first time I saw Myungsoo break down like this and even though our only source of light right now was the moon, I could see every part of his face perfectly.
"I did think about that," I raised my hands to his face and cradled it in between my palms. His face felt so real, so warm under my touch. But everything right now was still virtual. And the longer we were stuck in here, the more I forgot about reality. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing, knowing that all these memories were slipping away from every single person still stuck in this game when I could do something about it.

It just didn't feel right.
And even though Myungsoo would be sad afterwards, a part of me really hopes he'll eventually get over it.
After all, it's all just virtual.

I sighed, letting one of my hands fall back to my side, "I thought about how you would take this. The entire time you and the rest of Infinite were talking about that plan, I thought about how everything would play out if I were to give myself up. But I'm sorry Myungsoo...I just can't stand by and not do anything when I can end all of this. You and everyone else stuck in this game can have their lives back. Even if it means giving up mine."
"You think my life would be any better if I'm back in the real world, knowing that I probably will never see you again? That everyone would have their lives back but you?"
"Myungsoo," I leaned in and pecked him on the lips, only to be pulled into a deeper kiss by his arms locking themselves around me. I found myself unconsciously tightening one of my arms around his neck and tangling the other in his dark hair. Thank God I didn't tie his arms along with his ankles.

No.
Focus.
I need to get my point across otherwise none of this is going to end.

I pulled away far enough so that he couldn't reach me anymore without having to move his legs.
"Myungsoo. This is something I want to do. Let me do this...please."
"I know it's something you want to do," he sighed, finally pulling out his sword to cut the vines around his ankles, "but it's something that I can't let you go through. I'm sorry. I just....can't bring myself to say yes."
I found myself half nodding and half hanging my head in defeat. "Fine. If you're so set on me not doing it, then I won't. We'll just go with the original plan."

Myungsoo closed the distance between in two long strides, wrapping his arms protectively around me.
"Thank you," he whispered in my ear as his hand my hair.
I nodded into his shoulder before he released me and placed a quick kiss on my forehead. He walked silently back to the tent's entrance and disappeared into it, joining the rest of Infinite who were all passed out on the tent floor.

I looked up at the moon, feeling the slight breeze move a few stray strands of hair onto my face.
I knew he was going to say that. There was no way I was gonna change his mind, and I knew that from the beginning.
He was just way too stubborn.
It didn't matter though.
Cause when the time comes, ultimately it's my decision.

Author's Note
update marathon! whooo!
lol this is what happens when i don't want to study and i have BTS' new song on repeat.
title quote: "we can't turn things around"~Diamond