[Yixing]

I gently patted the head of the little bunny in my arms. "There there, little one. You'll be fine." Warmth enveloped my hands and the red patch on its hind leg soon disappeared. I patted its head once more and lowered my arms towards the grass. Jumping out of my arms, the little creature landed with a soft thump and quickly darted off into the bushes. I watched it vanish between the dense green with a small smile that widened itself when another presence made itself known to me.

“Aww, my baby is so kind to animals too!" She settled down next to me, her face looking ahead in the direction where the bunny disappeared. "But the bunny ran away even though you healed her! A thank you wouldn’t hurt right, bunny?” She pouted.

“It’s okay, Sera ah.” I reached over to ruffle her hair playfully.

She turned to face me, the pout still on her face. “You’re just too kind, oppa. I suppose that you’ll heal anything that you deem needs healing. Am I right?”

“My baby girl knows me best huh." My fingers pinched her cheeks lightly. "I chanced upon this injured bunny and I couldn’t let it go without healing its wound. It’s in my nature."

"You have a wonderful nature, you know that?"

I chuckled, "I just can't bear to see anyone getting hurt, that's all." All of a sudden, though, I felt my emotions taking a full u-turn. "But, I will never ever forgive anyone that tries to hurt you. He or she will have to suffer under my wrath if he or she dares to harm you."

Her eyes found mine and I cupped her face gently but I could feel myself exerting some strength onto her; not to hurt her, but to make her understand I’m serious. "I will always protect you no matter what happens, Oh Sera.”

"I know." She nodded, a knowing smile forming on her face.

"I know that you always protect me."

I…

An excruciating pain shot through my head, as though a sharp sword had landed a clean cut on it, effectively slicing my noggin into two. The pounding in my head continued, even as I blinked my eyes slowly at first, then rapidly. The image in front of me gradually sharpened and my breath hitched. I wished I was blind.

I wished that I was dead.

What… have I done?

Her head lolled sideways, chin resting on my fingers that had somehow wrapped themselves around her neck. There was no rhythmic beating beneath my fingers, there was no pulse that indicated life within her. I couldn’t hear the beats of her heart, I couldn’t hear her.

Was… I the one who did this to… you?

Her name slipped out of me before I could process my actions. Releasing her neck from my hand, her body went limp but I had my arms around her before she could crumple onto the floor. In my arms, she behaved like a rag doll, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. There was no movement, no breaths, nothing. She was lifeless.

And I’m the one who did this to her.

“I am so s-sorry Sera! I-I am so s-sorry. Please come back to me…” I was bawling, wailing like a child who just lost something he treasured dearly. Incoherency took over my words, rendering them nonsensical and purely noise. Yet, I continued to pour out my grief, wrapping my arms tighter around her, bringing her closer to me. I would have thought of letting time stop right then, at that exact moment of loss and regret, when a voice I felt that I haven’t heard in a long while broke my bubble of mourning.

“I am impressed, Yixing. How did you do it? How did you break out of my control?”

My head snapped to the direction of the voice, my eyes widening to find him looking down at me with genuine bemusement in those dark orbs of his. “Control? What contro–” It was then did I put two and two together, and I lost it. “OH JAEHYUN!”

“You might want to stay away from me, boy.” I was about to reluctantly separate myself from Sera when he wagged a finger at me. My fingers tightened their grip on the girl’s forearms instead, and my heart dropped when I felt how cold she was gradually becoming. , I don’t have much time.

Just then, my body acted on its own and I dipped my head towards hers, capturing her lips in a swift motion. My mind was blank, but somehow my body knew how to move on its own. My canines bit into my gums, hard, and an all-familiar taste of copper filled my mouth. The kiss deepened, and my tongue delved into . It painted the insides of with my blood, gently caressing the walls of flesh, memorising every nook and cranny of her teeth. It was like an artist working on his art, his last piece of art.

I continued to kiss her, fiercely, passionately, lovingly. Yet, scorching tears continued to rain upon her face, slipping down her cheeks, entering the crooks of her lips and I could taste the saltiness. She didn’t kiss back, her body still as cold as it was. Reluctantly, I pulled back, my vision blurring but her very red pair of lips stood out and as if they had a mind of their own, my lips spread into a satisfied smile.

“Ugh, teenagers and their hormones. Anyway, I don’t know how exactly you managed to break out of the seemingly impeccable ability of control, but I must say that I’m impressed.” An ugly smirk formed on his face and I wished I could rip it away. “Anyway, my aim has been met and that is the result of my power and unfortunately, yours too.” Jaehyun carelessly jabbed a finger at Sera before sticking his tongue out and I watched with utter disgust as he flicked it around his blood-coated fingers. Wait. Blood-coated.

, Sera’s.

“But, as much as I want to set you free because I hope that you’ll be a good boy… I can’t. You’re not behaving in the way I want you to, and this behaviour will hinder my plans. So, dear boy, be good,” His eyes lit up in a dark shade of crimson and he affixed them on me. “And listen to me once again.”

As though a strong gust of winter wind blew through the practically-destroyed Room, I shivered. Something foreign tugged at my mind and my vision began to turn spotty as a wave of darkness washed over my eyes. I tried to get away from the pull, but it was stronger than my consciousness. But as my mind let out a scream of terror when the darkness had almost wrapped itself around it, a surge of warmth seeped in. The warmth, in the colour of gold, pushed back the blackness. The cold that came with the inky darkness was replaced with the golden wave’s heat, warming my mind instantaneously wherever the gold made contact.

A constant murmuring kept buzzing within my mind as the golden wave worked its magic, still trying to repel the man’s own black wave of control. I listened closely, heightening my mental sense of hearing and her voice greeted my ears.

“I love you.”

It’s… her. It’s Sera.  

"Alright, continue with what you were doing my puppet." The buzzing was interrupted by the voice that the girl clearly hates with a vengeance. "Oh, and leave the girl here. I have unfinished business with her."

He… doesn’t know. He doesn’t seem to have sensed that his control over me had failed.

I suppressed the smirk that threatened to spread itself across my face triumphantly. Instead, I rearranged my face to that of a blank expression and just let my mind control my movements. Well... Two can play at this game of puppeteer and puppet.

Unwillingly, I let Sera down onto the floor, hoping that my movement seemed natural yet robotic enough. I stood up, turning my head to the rest of the Throne Room and again, I wished I was blind. The Room was beyond recognizable. The small circles that dotted the space, the hills and mountains of unidentified grey substance that were scattered throughout. My eyes landed on several bodies that laid rather lifelessly on the uneven flooring and I had to muster up a huge amount of control to not let myself fly towards them to heal them back to health.

If the adults can be injured… Then, what about the boys!?

“Yixing, go to her brother and finish him.”

I mentally gulped. Fini