[Year 19 of Exile]

“I don’t know what to say about this…”

“Then don’t say anything, Jongdae.”

“Sheesh, someone’s protective of his girl.”

I heard a loud whack from behind and two shadows sped past me. The creature within my embrace struggled and I tore my eyes away from the two boys chasing each other to look down with a frown.

“Ah… Puppy…” I clamped my arms tightly on the animal, not wanting it to escape. “Stop moving… If you run away, how am I going to catch you…”

“I’ll help you catch him.”

An unfamiliar voice came from above me and I lifted my head up, eyes registering the person’s square-shaped grin. He settled down next to me rudely (without consulting me), and his hand reached over to me. I cringed away from his touch in reflex as I’ve done whenever someone other than Chanyeol enters my peripheral distance.

“Guess someone’s still rather unwilling to be friends…” He sighed, retracting his hand to support his chin as he shut his eyes. “And I thought bringing you this puppy would change things…”

I felt compelled to ask as my curiosity had been piqued with the boy’s statement. “You… You are the one who brought the puppy to Chanyeol…?”

A cheeky grin instantly appeared on his face, his eyes flying open and I shrunk under his intense gaze. His arms opened and he jerked his chin to the puppy that had somehow stopped squirming in my arms. I gingerly passed it to him and was immediately astounded at how the puppy his face affectionately, yelping softly as the boy cooed fondly at it.

“T-Then do you have a name for the puppy…?” Surprise filled me as I found myself speaking up first, something that I haven’t done; not even with Chanyeol. “S-Since you’re the one who b-brought it.”

“This puppy isn’t an ‘it’.” He wagged a finger in front of my eyes and my orbs stupidly followed its movement, rendering me dizzy and I had to shake my head lightly to get rid of the dizziness. “The puppy’s a ‘he’, and my father named him...”

“Aran.”

I shot up, vision darkening as the blood rushed to my head. I clutched it, shutting my eyes for a moment before reopening them to find the twelve familiar faces gazing at me worriedly. A single boy’s expression changed when I rested my eyes on him, a cheeky grin forming when I looked at him, the question conveyed to him through our non-verbal exchange.

“He’s here, if I interpreted your stare correctly.” He chuckled, his lips pulling into half a square and what I dreamt of came flooding back to me. “The ‘puppy’ is here.” He quoted in the air with his fingers and the faces of the rest of the boys depicted their confusion at our seemingly one-sided conversation.

I threw the comforter off me and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Standing up, I tried to walk but my legs weakened and I stumbled forward.

“I’ll help you catch him.” A pair of arms caught my waist, and pulled me up. “Sheesh, and to think I needed to catch you instead.” The same square-shaped grin appeared in my sight and a hand bypassed my face to ruffle my hair.

“Baekhyun… I’m no longer that little girl…”

“I know,” He inched his face close to mine, and the response was instantaneous; the boys pulled him back but not before he winked. “I’m just reminiscing the past.”

I pouted, and the boy laughed as his hand grabbed onto mine.

“C’mon, let’s get you to him.”

“That boy sure is strong.”

After moments of excruciating silence, the creature spoke up and I had to stifle a snigger at his words.

Baekhyun had tried to drag me over to him, amidst violent objections from the others due to my neck wound, but the boy stubbornly fought his way through and promised that I would be alright. After realising that my legs had somehow turned to jelly, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me bridal-style instead. Of course, his sudden action didn’t go too well with the rest of the boys who erupted into fits, but he held on tightly to me despite the others trying to wrench me away from his arms. Surprise filled me as I witnessed the strength I never knew the boy had. Together (or rather him), he carefully stepped down the stairs and proceeded to the backyard. Kicking the door open, he surveyed the large green patch but under the evening sky, it was hard to make out amongst the numerous shadows. Turns out, the creature had rested right next to the door, making the boy curse aloud at wasting his precious eye power to search.

“Yeah, he sure is.” I breathed, keeping my eyes on the dancing blades of grass at my foot. The night breeze blew through my backyard, but it was silent enough for me to hear the din in the kitchen where the boys were preparing dinner.

The wind came and left, as did the conversation between us. I swallowed, hoping that he would speak but he didn’t.

Minutes (probably) ticked by and I found my eyelids fluttering shut. It was when the sounds of grass rustling did I perk up as my eyes darted downwards to find a furry paw sliding over, with something lodged under it.

“Here. It’s something you’ll like.”

My fingers pinched onto the edge of the thin object and I immediately knew what it was. A photograph… Why would Aran give me a photograph?

“Levre told