'Confinement' is a building located in the west of the Kingdom. Powers given by the water droplets cannot be used in that area. This is why it is extremely difficult to rescue those imprisoned there.

*

Chanyeol had snuck into the back office like Luhan had instructed, only to see two men cackling maliciously before a series of screens. They were monitoring every corner of the building – no room or hall was left unobserved, no matter how insignificant the room appeared to be.

“Don’t those two live together?” One asked.

“Men will always be men,” replied the other, lifting a shoulder in a shrug before focusing on the screen again.

Easing himself into the room, Chanyeol took the chance to knock them unconscious with a baseball bat, cringing when he heard the solid thunk of the wood meeting bone each time. Looking up, he saw Yixing and Huiyin in one of the screens and he took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, Huiyin. Just hang in there a little longer,” he whispered, rushing out to help Luhan.

*

She was still for the first few seconds, but then she tried to speak and her words became incoherent mumbles as Yixing deepened the kiss. She could only think of how much she wanted to leave and she struggled, attempting to somehow throw him off.

It wasn’t working. Nothing was working.

When she finally acknowledged the situation she was in, silent tears ran down her face. Her soft whimpering caught his attention and he slowly opened his eyes, pulling away from her. His hands brushed across her face, wiping her tears away.

“I’m sorry, it’s okay now,” he told her gently, reaching out to touch the metal chains, watching as they dissolved upon his touch. When she was free, he sat her up and pulled her into his arms, trying to calm her down while rubbing circles into her back. Despite his change of attitude, she continued to cry. “Shh, it’s okay now. I’m sorry.”

It was all he could say until the door swung open to reveal Chanyeol and Luhan.

“The coast is clear. Huiyin can leave with Chanyeol now,” Luhan announced coldly, but there was a sense of sympathy from him when he noticed the crying girl.

Yixing moved his hand up from her back to her hair, still trying to comfort her but it was no use. Her tears continued to fall, though her whimpers became less frequent and Huiyin got a brief idea what was going on, but she didn’t care. She was just afraid. In those brief moments it was like she went on a rollercoaster that lasted hours.

“I think I broke her,” Yixing said, glancing at Chanyeol with wide eyes to which the latter just laughed.

“No, you haven’t. Our Huiyin is a lot stronger than this.”

Chanyeol moved closer to the bed, turning his back towards Huiyin so he could give her a piggyback. Without hesitation she reached for him, seeking his presence and Yixing helped to place her on his back.

“It seems like they gave her some sort of drug as well. She’s really weak right now,” the healer said.

“Got ya! See you at home, Yixing!” Chanyeol did his goofy grin, quickly disappearing before anything else happened.

“Let’s go. We have to save Jieun,” Luhan instructed, pointing towards the door with his thumb. “If you agreed to help me to begin with, things wouldn’t have gotten this complicated.”

Yixing refused to look at him directly, quietly following him to their next location.

According to Luhan, unlike Huiyin who had been locked up in a room, Jieun had been thrown into a cell.

“Why did they target her?” Yixing asked.

“Because of that stupid prince - he took a liking in her,” Luhan spat. “But she’ll be safe for now. That brat is too busy trying to impress the king on his birthday to attempt to torture her.”

”But there’s one thing that kept bothering me,” the healer expressed. “How did you know some of my powers weren’t from this Kingdom?”

“I know a person who possesses the power of poison. She can’t heal. She can only remove the poison she placed into a person; therefore, you lied.” Luhan smirked, giving Yixing a quick glance. “But I’m glad you did. Now we don’t have to be afraid of this place anymore. We can finally claim the peace we’ve always dreamed of!”

“Luhan, what is peace to you? This Kingdom once had democracy in the past, but that system failed and was replaced by the Monarch again. The Monarch ruled this place for the last five centuries. Will peace really come after your rebellion?”

Luhan came to a halt and Yixing followed, finally bringing himself to look at him in the eye.

“I don’t know. I’ve asked myself that question countless of times: is this really a wrecked system? Will a rebellion bring peace? But then I found my answers,” Luhan said, his eyes filled with anguish, sorrow and determination.

“Peace is when you can sleep through the night without having to worry. Right now, we’re all having nightmares at night, not knowing when we’ll be taken to war. Not knowing when we’ll be captured to use as the Monarch pleases. Everyone is an enemy in this system and in order to avoid poverty, they are all trying to get to the top by any means necessary.”

Yixing let out a quick sigh before turning away from him. “Come on, Jieun is waiting.”

*

After a long night, Yixing was finally able to return to their house. He decided to head up to his room to get some rest and to mull things over but the sudden movement from the sofa startled him - he was expecting everyone to be fast asleep in their rooms.

“I can finally sleep now that you’re back!” Chanyeol cheered, stretching his long legs before jumping up and onto his feet. “Huiyin is in her room.”

“W-what?” Yixing was surprised by Chanyeol’s words. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to see her right now. Not after what happened earlier.” Yixing admitted, keeping his gaze fixed on the coffee table, unable to look Chanyeol in the eyes.

“But didn’t you say she was drugged? You’re the healer.”

“Oh, right.” He felt his heart squeeze a little. It amazed him how Chanyeol always managed to say something beyond his expectations.

“Good night.” Chanyeol yawned, stretching his lengthy arms before heading for his room.

“G-good night.”

*

He reluctantly pushed the door open to see Huiyin lying in her bed and his heart tightened as he dragged his feet across the room. Kneeling beside her bed, he held her hand in his, concentrating his energy to extract all the poison in her body. A radiant turquoise glow surrounded their hands whilst a line of black liquid flowed out from her fingertips, the amount growing until it was the size of a table tennis ball. He grabbed the black liquid and destroyed it by squeezing it in his hands, making it disappear along with the turquoise light.

He sighed inwardly and just when he was about to get up and leave, he saw her eyes open. “Yixing,” she mumbled and their eyes met.

“I was just about to leave,” he whispered, so softly that it was almost inaudible for her to hear.

“I want to ask you something.” She sounded weak and tired, as if talking took up too much energy, but instead of getting her rest, her fingers tightened gently around his in a silent request to stay. He stared at her with guilty eyes and stepped closer to the bed once more. He didn’t have the heart to say ‘no’. “What is a kiss to you?”

Yixing was taken aback by her question.

“I did that to distract those guys who were monitoring you so Chanyeol could attack them. Look, I’m really sorry. It was Luhan’s idea, I swear.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t answer the question,” she said quietly, heaving a sigh. “I saw you today, kissing those girls.”

He blinked bafflingly at her curiosity.

“To me, a kiss is merely meaningless contact between people; like holding hands – my hand is holding yours, but it doesn’t mean anything. That’s why when the girls said they would pay me 100X if I kissed them, I did.”

Her eyebrows creased. “100X?”

He nodded. “Ah, but you have no right to judge me for what I did today. I told you to never remove your glasses.”

“Who would have thought that would happen?” Huiyin protested. “There are so many prettier girls on campus!”

“But you’re the weakest amongst them all,” he teased, poking her forehead with his index finger.

She pouted a little. “Can you not earn X’s like that again? We should earn them together, since we’ll be using them together.”

“Only if I don’t have to rescue you again. Rescuing you was tiring.”

They both smiled and a warm fuzzy feeling burned deep inside their hearts.

“I never asked you, because you always seemed so…unapproachable, but what was your home like? What was your life like before you met us?” she asked, a little quieter this time. “You seem to know a lot about our world.”

He looked away, wondering how he should answer. For some reason, he didn’t have the courage to be honest with her like how he was with Chanyeol. He didn’t want to face the possibility of her avoiding him if she knew he was the Devil and for some reason, the thought scared him.

“I’ve already told you that my place is in between this world and yours. I’ve been living there alone for a long time, so I spent a lot of time observing the two dimensions. It’s very different from this place. It’s darker; colder.”

“What about your family?” He could feel her grip on his hands tighten as though she knew he didn’t have one to begin with. He thought deeply and carefully for his next set of words.

“I didn’t behave in the way my parents wanted me to, so they adopted another child. That child acted the way they wanted, so they loved him dearly. I got angry and threw a tantrum at them and I made a mistake, so I ran away because I was no longer wanted.”

She pushed herself to sit up and he helped her, his free hand supporting her back, resting her against the headboard. Her arms flung around his neck when he was close enough and pulled him into an embrace, despite how weak she felt.

“This is your home from now on. You won’t ever be alone again,” she spoke soothingly, pulling back with the kindest smile he’d ever seen directed at him.

It was then that Yixing wished he had Tao’s ability to stop time. He wanted to cherish the moment shared between them because it was special. It was new, and he liked it. His head told him to push her away but his heart said ‘just a little more’.

She was like a drug and he was becoming addicted to her.

Without a second thought, his arms circled her waist, pulling her closer to him.