Words in Maroon are dreams.

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I stretched my arms over my head and yawn. Opening my eyes, I looked over at the clock, it was 9 in the morning. Sunlight was seeping in through my curtains and I sat up only to be pulled back down. I turned and saw him sleeping by my side. His arms wrapped around my waist, holding onto my tightly as if I will leave him. I looked down at his arms around my stomach, I didn’t feel anything. I touched my arm, tracing the bandage at the rim, usually I was ticklish around my inner arm area but there was nothing. It was not ticklish at all. I looked at my hand as I clenched my fist, I couldn’t help but feel sad, confused, fearful and worried.

I turn to face him, he looked so peaceful and I couldn’t help but smile a little. He looked like a child sleeping. I could help but traced his eyebrows to his nose and lastly his jaw. His look changed quite a bit, a bit more manly and his features were more define. There was a soft knock on the door and I looked up as the door open slowly.

“Hey.” He said as he walked in and froze halfway, seeing me in Jongin’s embrace.

“Hey, good morning.”

“You slept with him?” he raised his eyebrows and I smiled at how cute he looked. Bed hair and sleepy eyes. His clothes were slightly crumpled probably from the way he slept.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone.” I said softly as he made his way nearer to my bed.

“How are you feeling?” he touched my head softly.

“Much better. Sorry about yesterday.” I looked away from him. “It’s just that on that day, I’m always off the edge.”

“It’s not your fault.” His hand touched my chin and made me look at him. “It was an accident. And I’m sure they wouldn’t want you to be like this. They would want you to be happy.”

“I know. I still need time.”

“I’ll help you.” he touched my cheek and smiled, his eyes turned into crescents. “Hyung made breakfast, want to go down?” I nodded and looked at Jongin who was sleeping soundly.

I slowly lifted his arm off me and replaced me with a pillow. He didn’t even move and I brushed away some of his hair covering his face. I couldn’t help but think that he grew up handsomely.

“Let’s go.” I said and walked to the door with him by my side.

“Good morning.” I was greeted by a bright voice that made me look up. “Are you feeling better?” I nodded and made my way to the kitchen where a few of them were currently seated.

“Come here.” he open his arms and I hesitated to move. Seeing that, he came over instead and wrapped me in his arms. I took in his lavender scent and it made me relax.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” I shrugged and lean on to him, closing my eyes. “I’m sorry for how hyung acted yesterday. I’ll apologise on his behalf.”

“It’s okay. You all didn’t know.” I said softly.

“Next time, just let us know. Treat us like your brothers.” He pulled away and looked at me. “Is that too much to ask?”

“No, but it will take time.”

“No problem, start by calling us oppa.” He smiled. “You are younger than Sehun right?”

“Yes, oppa.” I looked at him, feeling thankful towards him for being so understanding.

“Thank you Suho oppa.” I smiled.

“Okay, enough of all this talk, come here Rin. You need to eat.” D.O grabbed hand and pulled me gently to a seat and made me sit there. “I made you beef soup. You need your strength so that you can recover fast.”

“Isn’t that a bit too heavy for breakfast?” Sehun asked and D.O shot him a small glare.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating a heavy meal isn’t going to affect you.” he placed the bowl of soup in front of me and it smelled delicious. “Try it, I hope it’s okay.”

I took a sip and it was heavenly. He really is a great cook.

“How is it?” he looked at me with wide eyes, looking nervous.

“It’s lovely.” He breathe out a sigh of relief and I broke into a smile. “You can open your own restaurant if you want.” He beamed at me.

“Eat. There is more from where that came from.” I looked at them, Suho, Sehun, Baekhyun who was smiling at me and Chanyeol who just walked into the kitchen.

“Thank you and sorry about yesterday. I didn’t want that to happen at all.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on recovering and remember that we are here for you.” that put a smile on my face.

“Thank you.” I had a new family here.

“You know, your smile is really lovely, you should smile more.” Chanyeol mention. “It looks familiar to me too though.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve seen that smile before.” Baekhyun said while scratching his head. “Where have I seen it?”

We were interrupted but the opening of the front door. In came Kris, Lay and Chen. They came over and I immediately felt his eyes on me, making me look down at my soup.

“Your back?” Suho went up to them and asked them work related stuff. I drank my soup quietly and suddenly I jerked forward as I felt a shiver down my spine and my body slowly became numb. I dropped my soon on the table and everyone looked at me. My hands shook a little and I closed my eyes hoping that the feeling will go away. I was beginning to feel scared.

“Are you okay?” someone came next to me and I knew from the scent it was Lay. Next to him stood another person.

“I-I fine.” I placed my hands on the table and pushed myself off the chair, onto my feet. I took small steps and headed to my room. I didn’t know what this feeling was, I wasn’t angry at him anymore. I wasn’t angry at anyone. I was more embarrassed and sorry. I walked slowly but was held back. I turned and realised that he was holding my arm. He looked at me, his eyes soften a bit.

“You look pale. Why don’t you go to the doctor?” he asked.

“I’ll be okay. I probably just need to sleep some more.” I removed his hand away from my arm and turned back.

“Rin, use my room. You can rest in my bed since Jongin is still sleeping in yours.”

“Jongin slept in your bed? You slept together?” he stopped me again, turning me around to face him.

“Yes, now will you let go of me?” I asked softly, but with a commanding tone.

“Are you two lovers?” I looked back at him in the eye.

“No, he is my best friend.”

“Best friends don’t sleep together.” He didn’t look convinced.

“Well for your information, we did. We slept together when we were younger too.”

“That’s not the problem.” He said louder. I knew what was coming, from the tone, he was starting to be pissed off. “How can you let him sleep in your bed? Don’t you know that a male and female should not be in a room alone?”

“As I said, we are not in a romantic relationship. He is like my brother, my family. What’s wrong for him to sleep in my room?” I reasoned with him. “And it’s up to me who I let into my room. It’s none of your business.” I said softly.

“He is one of my brothers, I need to know if he is doing anything dirty in the house.”

“We didn’t do anything. We just cuddled and slept. That’s all. Asked Sehun if you want, he walked into my room this morning and I was fully dressed and so was he.” He turned to Sehun who nodded vigorously.

“I didn’t do anything wrong but I’m being interrogated.” I sighed. “Thanks for the pleasant morning really.” I moved backwards, my legs were about to give way from the numbness. He held onto me, refusing to let go.

“Please let go, Kris.” he didn’t move at all. I then reached out and removed his hand.

“I don’t want to ruin your morning.” I turned around and climb up the stairs. Halfway up I paused and thought if I should mention this. I gripped onto the railing and held myself up. “Sorry about yesterday.” With that I made my way to Sehun and Jongin’s room, closing the door behind me, my legs just gave way and I fell. I tried to stand up but I couldn’t, there was no feeling in my legs. Tears sprang up and I blinked them away.

“Are you feeling numb?”

“Yes. I can’t stand up. It’s like I lost all feeling in my legs. It’s still numb.” I looked at her, she was crouching down next to me.

“What do I do, Qian? What do I do? Why is this happening?” I said softly as a tear slid down my cheek.

“I’m scared.”

I just sat there in front of the door for a long time. I don’t know how long but it felt like hours, waiting for the numbness to go off. Slowly, it faded away. And I tried to stand up, I had to hold myself up using my arms and Qian guided me to the bed. She is not a ghost, she wasn’t translucent. She could hold and touch me but only for a certain period of time.

I sat on their bed and looked at my legs. I wiggled my toes and was relief that they could still move. All along, I was healthy and fit. Why am I suddenly experiencing things like this? I watched as my hand shook, not vigorously but it was like I was shivering from the cold. I tried to control it but it was no use, I waited for it to die off.

“I’m sorry.” I looked up.

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.” I whispered.

“I’m supposed to protect you. But I’m not physically here with you, I can’t help much.”

“Don’t say that, you helped me a lot. When I had no one to talk too, you were there for me. When there was some sort of danger, you warned me.”

“It’s not enough. I’m supposed to stop this from happening.” she looked sad and guilty.

“You know why this is happening right?” she nodded. “Could you tell me?”

“It’s not time yet, you will find out soon. When that happens, I’ll tell you everything.” I wanted to know, why this is happening to me. The dreams, the numbness and the sudden outburst of emotions. Is it all linked or just a coincidence?

“WOAH!!!!!” shouting from downstairs made me jump in shock. Suddenly the door burst open and I was tackled into a hug.

“We are going on a trip!” he shouted as he hugged me. “We are going on a trip!”

“Okay. But could you let go, I can’t breathe.” He immediately pulled back and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry. I got too excited.”

“You were given a break?” he nodded happily. I guessed they were rarely given a long break.

“Where are we going?”

“BUSAN!”

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“So, how are we going to split up?” Suho asked as they placed the last luggage into the boot. 14 people’s luggage is really a lot.

“I call the front!” Chanyeol shouted and ran to one of the cars, seating in the passenger seat. Suho literally face palmed and the rest just burst out laughing.

“Who’s driving?” Xiumin asked.

“Me and Kris. So take your pick. Each car can only hold 7 people.” Just as he finished saying that, Xue immediately ran to Kris side and stuck to him. Seeing his sister going there, Luhan had to follow him. Since I was her bodyguard, I had to be in the same car as her right? Even though I feel uncomfortable around them.

Xiumin walked to Luhan, giving him a hi-five, Lay and Tao just walked to the car. So that means that their car is almost settled, leaving one seat. I was about to walked to them since it was my duty, but someone held me back.

“You are seating in our car right?” Jongin asked and the others looked at me except for the few who were already boarding the cars.

“No, she has to work.” Luhan came over and grabbed my right arm.

“But your car is already full.” Jongin argues back. It was true, since Chen went over to them while they were talking. Luhan looked back and did a head count and realised that Jongin was right.

“Rin can seat with us.” Suho came over and tried to end the discussion. He must have sensed that I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. Seeing that no one is moving, Chen walked over to the other car instead.

“I’ll go in the other car.”

“YES!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol shouted in delight and the 3 of them started making noises.

“The whole journey is going to be a long and painful one.” Suho rubbed his temples. “One with the 3 trolls nonstop talking.” He looked at me apologetically.

“Now that that is settled, we will be on our way. See you guys later!” he waved and grabbed my right hand, pulling me to the car. I looked back and Jongin gave me a small wave.

“Seat at the back.” He pushed me into the car and I stumbled behind, accidentally hitting Xue’s shoulder.

“Watch it!” she snapped at me and Tao glared at me.

“Sorry.” I said softly and sat down behind them. Next to me was Lay.

“Hey, seat buddy. Please take care of me.” he bowed and grinned, making me smile a little. It was awkward. Really the atmosphere was a bit tense and I tried not to say anything. Kris drove off and we were on the way to Busan. I looked out the window and sighed softly. I wished I took the other car instead. Having Sehun or Jongin or another K member would be okay.

“Hey. Are you bored?” I turned and looked at Lay, he asked me softly.

“A little.” I whispered back. He smiled and took out his iPod. Unwinding his earpieces, he handed me one side and took the other side.

“These are my favourite songs.” He played a couple of Chinese songs and we listened to it. One of them caught my attention.

回忆过去 (hui yi guo qu)

Reviewing the past,

痛苦的相思忘不了 (tong ku de si xiang wang bu liao)

The painful memories are unforgettable.

为何你还来 (wei he ni hai lao)

Why do you come then

拨动我心跳 (bo dong wo xin tiao)

To make my heart race.

爱你怎么能了 (ai ni zen me neng liao)

How is it possible to stop loving you?

今夜的你应该明了 (jin ye de ni ying gai ming liao)

Tonight, you should understand

缘难了情难了 (yuan nan liao qing nan liao)

It is difficult to escape fate, just as it is difficult to dissolve love.

“It’s sad.” He looked at me as I listen to the lyrics. “It’s a sad song.”

“Yeah. A sad love story but one that shows endless love.” I looked out the window and watched the cars pass by.

“Endless love.” I closed my eyes and listen to the lyrics.

“Come here!” the boy waved and I ran towards him, giggling.

“Here!” he pulled me behind the bush and we hid together.

“Where are they?” a voice boomed. I clasped my hands over my mouth and he lifted a finger to his lips, asking me to keep quiet. “Where are my kids?”

“He won’t find us.” He whispered to me. I looked at him and he smiled, showing a set of dimples. I reached out and poked them, making him smile even more. He pinched my cheeks and I squealed.

“Ah ha!” an older man appeared and I scream in delight. We were found.

“Mei mei! We got found because of you.” he frowned and I looked at him.

“Sorry.” He looked at me seriously before bursting out in laughter. He held his stomach and I tilted my head sideways.

“You are so cute! It’s okay, we can play another round.”

“Ah, my children, getting along in harmony.” The older male smiled and lifted me up in his arms, he planted a kiss on my cheeks.

“Pa pa.”

“Yes, I am pa pa. Now who is he?” he pointed to the boy.

“Ge ge!” I waved my hands in the air. He smiled and my ‘Dad’ threw me in the air, making me laugh.

“Rin?” I slowly open my eyes and squinted against the sunlight shining into the car. I turned and looked at Lay who woke me, my head was resting on his shoulders.

“We are here.”

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Rin's injured hand is on her left.

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