“Ugh, how could demons lose a drunk girl?!” Key yelled as they scrambled over each other through the doorway.
 

Taemin stopped, making all of his hyungs bump into him and utter profanities. “Wait. She was drunk? She didn’t look drunk. I mean, I smelled the alcohol but she walked just fine and she looked pretty focused,” Taemin started. His eyes strayed between his hyungs and the ground. “That’s why I didn’t stop her. I didn’t know what to do...since...you know...her time is up...I panicked!”
 

The other boys quieted at Taemin’s confession. They all kept the date in the back of their minds, and as civil and not AS jumpy as she has been in the past week, they thought...well, they still kind of knew she’d leave. But nobody thought she’d just up and leave without saying a word to them.
 

Jonghyun quietly said with no hope, “....are we sure she’s not just drunk and wandering around?”

She took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was cold and biting. It was clearly winter weather, and there was a slight frost stuck to the grass that was melting in the sun’s rays. She wasn’t dressed appropriately. Her feet clad only in some knee high socks. A loose fitting black t-shirt draped against her frame, the hem almost reaching the end of her denim shorts. Despite the chill, she took it all in. She hadn’t been outside in so long, and the last time she had wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. She stared into the dark trees not too far ahead of her. All of the leaves had already fallen, leaving the branches undressed. Only the pines were modest. She looked up at the blue sky that was unmarred by any clouds. Luna stood tall next to her, ears erect and swiveling towards any sound and head looking around her to investigate the cause. Such a curious animal, she was.

The boys all knew she went out, and she also knew that they knew. Glancing behind her, she spotted Kibum looking out his window at her. Just staring at her with his expressive brown eyes. His one hand held the heavy curtain while the other rested in his jean pocket.

Minho was also at a window, but he was less obvious in his watchfulness. He had pushed an armchair up next to the large windows of the library and was staring at the pages of a book. Of course he wasn’t reading the book. It would be kind of hard to do so as the book was upside down and written in archaic Chinese, just to add to the difficulty level.

Taemin hid around the corner of the hidden passageway but didn’t dare to look at her. Holding his breath, he listened hard for her movements. Jinki sat at the kitchen counter, sipping at tea that was too hot and too strong. Dirty dishes and half empty glasses littered the space. He put the mug down and warmed his hands with it. Staring at the steaming liquid, he wondered what she would do now that she had tasted freedom again. Jonghyun didn’t dare look either. He sat beside Onew and played with the edge of his sleeve. He had actually asked his hyung to keep him from chasing after her. None of them wanted a repeat of what happened last time. Even when the feeling to chase after her and drag her back to them was clawing at their souls, they restrained themselves.
 

It seemed like hours for that she just stood there. Even though it wasn’t, she tolerated many more minutes than any normal human would endure out in the cold. The wolf curled around her feet to share what heat she could.
 

Taemin's eyes were screwed shut the whole time but they flew open as her scent wafted by him. He was frozen to the spot before he started trailing like a nervous puppy a few strides behind her.
 

She paused at the entrance of the garden. The boy froze and shrunk a little away. "I'm not going to run away in socks and shorts," she calmly said before continuing on.
 

They passed through the lonely foyer and found their way to the kitchen where they met two surprised demons. Jonghyun stared in wonder at her presence, and the other members appeared soon after.
 

“Let's get something straight. I'm not staying here for you. I'm staying here for me. I want to test some of these,” she held up her Christmas present,  “out and collect some herbs. Then I'm out of here. Understand?” She stated firmly.
 

They all nodded fiercely like wide-eyed bobble heads.
 

Whether from the cold or the alcohol, her cheeks were pink.
 

Key grabbed a glass off the table and held it out to her, “Umm….I got you some water…”
 

She eyed it before grabbing it and taking a gulp. While coughing, she thought, ‘I should have eyed it longer.’ “That’s not water. You guys at cleaning up.” Her cheeks flamed and she put the glass down.
 

“Rules are as follows! Nobody comes within a one meter radius of me,” she held her finger up to list the first rule.
 

‘One meter?! That’s a lot closer than I thought she'd let us!’ Jonghyun’s and Taemin’s eyes lit up.
 

“Secondly!” She made an unpeaceful peace sign. “No more touching me! Which shouldn’t be a problem if you follow rule number one.” She glared especially at Minho and Onew, remembering the unexpected skinship that occurred during their lessons.
 

Jonghyun looked between the three and was suddenly in an uproar. “Who’s been touching her?!” Jonghyun yelled.

Taemin knew Onew had fallen asleep with her, and the maknae couldn’t really argue with the leader, but he didn’t know why she was glaring at Minho too. “Hyung! That’s cheating! Not fair!” whined the youngest.
 

“RULE NUMBER THREE!” The girl shouted over everyone while holding her hand up over her head. “Aiysh! I can’t think of it right now. My head is starting to hurt.”
 

Everyone instantly started hovering around her (outside of the one meter bubble).
 

Key got her a proper bottle of water that he held out at arms length to her. She took it without pause and then walked past everyone. “I’m going to bed. Excuse me.”
 

They just all gazed at her departure.
 

“She excused herself….,” Minho noted.
 

“To go to her room,” mentioned Jinki.
 

“Which is in this house…,” Key trailed off.
 

“NOONA’S STAYINNNNGGG!!!!” Taemin shouted while opening up a can of beer in celebration.
 

“Temporarily,” Jinki added.
 

“Every extra day she’s here should be cherished!” He finished the beer can and crushed it before tossing it. “Now, Minho-hyung, have you been touching Noona when I couldn’t?” The maknae flexed his fingers.
 

“Are you still drunk Taeminnie…..,” Key raised an eyebrow. “Oh. And I don’t know what Minho did, but I totally caught Jinki-hyung sleeping with her.”
 

“WHATTTTT???!!!!!!!” Minho, Jonghyun, and even Onew yelled.
 

“Ahhh….such a lively holiday this has been,” Kibum mused.

_____

Thea's Corner

Unedited. I wrote that part where she's outside and everyone is just watching and waiting like 3 years ago I swear. That scene has definitely been sitting and doing nothing for a long time...Finally glad to get it out of the archives >.<
Towards the end, I kind of just rambled and didn't have a plan. Part of it I wrote years ago. Part of it I wrote on my cell phone while at work like 2 weeks ago. And part of it I typed with one hand on my bed while laying on my side.

After I get comments from 13 different people answering the question Who is your favorite character in this story and why (doesn't necessarily have to be your bias), I promise I'll post another chapter within 4 days of that 13th comment. And I seriously check my comments like everyday or every other day (even when I haven't posted for like 3 months....>.<);

I just kinda want feedback and more interaction with my readers. It's needed on both ends.

My fave character is the Christmas Tree :P because it brought them all together for a little while, it's epically huge, and with all the decorations on it, it's probably worth ten thousand dollars. if not more. well, not anymore since the faeries stole half the decor. Also, I like Christmas tree just because I like the smell of evergreens....

Posted: 24 April 2014