***

Waking up felt like falling into a tank of ice cold water and then being dunked out of it again. The light poured into my eyes like the sun intentionally shone its rays that way and I gasped. Jack-knifing into a sitting position, my limbs were flailing around as though I was still falling. I tried to scream, but there came no sound. 

Jae, Jae...

"Jae!" someone called and my movements stilled. I was caught in something warm and secure, and it took me another sharp breath of air to realize that I was being embraced by someone, which just startled me all over again. 

"Shh, shh, it's okay, calm down, Jae, you're alright, calm down, you're safe," the soothing voice hushed, holding onto me tightly while gently rocking back and forth, rubbing my back to comfort me. My muscles were still tense as I tried to inspect my surroundings, feeling utterly disoriented. I inhaled the gentle scent of magnolias and relaxed. 

I pulled gently away. "Luhan?" 

I was met by a small smile as Luhan brushed the hair from my face and it soothingly. "Hey," he greeted quietly and an immense relief washed over me as I allowed myself to lean back into his embrace again. I heard him chuckle, his chest vibrating warmly as he tightened the hug. For now, I didn't mind. I was just happy to be back. There was no sign of the white wolf or the empty world I was in before. I held up my hands behind Luhan's back so I could check on them and saw that they were perfectly clean. It appeared as though I was back in my uniform as well. 

"You gave us a bit of a scare back there," Luhan said, his voice still gentle and quiet, as if he was afraid that I'd be startled if he spoke in a louder volume. 

"Where am I?" I asked, pulling away from him, touching my hair to see that it was perfectly brown. 

"At school. The nurse's office," he explained, giving me some space as I sat up more properly on the bed. 

"What happened?" I then asked, trying to get used to my surroundings again. Luhan chuckled, shaking his head. 

"We were hoping you could tell us," he stated. 

"Us?" 

He frowned and moved closer towards me, suddenly placing his hand on my forehead. "What's your name?" he then asked, and I gave him a look of skepticism. "Oblige me," he urged and I sighed. 

"Miyano Jae-In," I retorted dryly, pushing his hand away. "I'm fine, I was just wondering what you meant with 'us' since there's only you here," I elaborated and found it in me to smile at the goofy look on Luhan's face as he realized that he was overreacting. 

"Ah, right, sorry," he apologized, scratching his cheek. "I meant the others," he quickly explained. "The pack," he whispered. "We came as soon as we heard. Lay tried to-, you know -, but there were too many people around, so we just had to wait until you'd wake up by yourself." 

I nodded in understanding and removed the blankets, attempting to get up. Luhan stopped me before I could swing my legs over the side of the bed. 

"You should take things slow, Jae. You were out for a good hour," he said, pushing me back. 

"I was? Feels longer," I murmured, rubbing my neck, thankful again that my hands were clean and that there was no trace of blood anywhere. I shivered. Luhan looked at me, cupping my face so I would look at him. 

"Jae, what-,"

"Jae-yah! Oh my goodness, you're alright!" a sudden squeal sounded and in came Lili with two cups in her hands, running towards the bed. To my surprise, she simply shoved the cups into Luhan's hands as he made way for her and attacked me with a hug so fierce I was flung back into the bed. 

"I was so worried! I didn't know what to do when you just, just- just fell like that! Don't ever scare me like that again, please!" she urged, hugging me tightly before she finally pulled back. "If Luhan-oppa hadn't been there with Kris-oppa and Xiumin-oppa and, oh all the oppas and dongsaengs- I wouldn't know what I would do! Jae-yah, what happened? You just dropped like that," Lili snapped her fingers for emphasis, her bright eyes gazing worriedly at me. I was still processing her hurried, panicked speech and exchanged a glance with an equally flustered Luhan. 

"Uh...I- I'm sorry," I started, chuckling lightly. "I'm sorry, Lili," I said in a stronger voice. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I guess I was far more exhausted than I thought I was." It felt a little nerve wracking to have to lie to her, with Luhan in the room, but he seemed a bit out of sorts as well with the girl around. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was being completely ignored at the moment, which I admittedly found just a teensy bit hilarious. 

"Jae-yah, you have to promise me to take better care of yourself. This isn't healthy," Lili said, taking hold of my hands. "You're my friend, Jae-yah, I don't want anything bad happening to you," she said, and I smiled at her. 

"Thank you," I murmured, squeezing her hands. "I'll try to do better," I said. 

"No, you have to promise me that you take better care of yourself," she said firmly, pouting a little to show me that she was being serious. 

I chuckled. "I promise I'll take better care of myself," I repeated, even though I didn't really believe my own words. I sounded convincing enough for Lili though, as she smiled brightly and gave me another hug. 

"Good," she said, when her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Oh! Luhan-oppa!" she squealed, turning towards him as if she just remembered that he was there as well. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, deep red blushes covering her face as she took one cup from his hands. "That one is yours, oppa, I thought you might be thirsty," she said shyly and I smiled when I saw how shy Luhan was reacting to her as well. 

"Oh, thank you, that's very sweet," he said and flushed when Lili audibly sighed in awe at him. I prevented from snorting out loud and kept a straight face when Lili turned towards me and handed me the other cup. 

"It's water, you should drink, Jae-yah," she instructed sweetly, though her eyes were signaling excitedly at Luhan. "Luhan-oppa was so kind and heroic, Jae-yah," she swooned. "He waited with me all this time. The nurse wouldn't let all of us in. Of course I insisted to stay by your side until you would wake up, and then Luhan offered to wait with me," she regaled, stars in her eyes. I looked at Luhan who shuffled his feet and didn't look up from them. 

"Wow, that's very chivalrous of him," I exclaimed to and I saw him closing his eyes out of shyness. 

"Yes! Luhan-oppa is a knight in shining armor," Lili agreed wholeheartedly and I bit my lip to prevent from laughing as Luhan suppressed a groan. 

"I'm just going to sit over here, near the wall. You girls talk," he relented, moving to a chair in the corner, far enough to grant me and Lili some privacy. I smirked. 

"You know, Jae-yah, the others of the Majestic Twelve are here as well. They're waiting outside. Minho is there too, he seemed pretty worried," Lili continued and I widened my eyes, quickly casting a look at Luhan and the expression on his face told me that he was listening in on our conversation. So much for privacy...

"Minho is here?" I asked and Lili nodded. 

"He's waiting with the others. Came over as soon as he heard what happened," she explained. 

Oh man, poor guy, I immediately sympathized with him. Poor Minho, a lamb in a stockyard full of wolves. I hope they were treating him alright. Based on what happened before, I was seriously having my doubts. I sent a quick glare of warning towards Luhan for good measure, and I didn't like how he just smirked. They better not be mean to him. 

"That's very sweet, but unnecessary. I don't mean to keep everyone from going home," I said, feeling a bit guilty. 

"Don't worry about that, Jae-yah. As if we'd leave you behind," Lili nudged me playfully. "Speaking of which, I think the nurse would like to know that you've woken up now so she can check on you. She wanted to get a doctor here if you wouldn't wake soon, but now she won't have to. Want me to tell the others that you're awake, as well?" she then offered, getting up. 

"Thank you, Lili, you're awesome," I nodded. "Do you, by any chance, know whether she called my parents? I don't really want them to worry over this." 

"Ah, no problem, and yeah, sorry, she called them fifteen minutes ago to tell them you passed out. I think your mom was going to come as soon as possible and your dad would join her as soon as he could slip away from work," she said, patting me sympathetically on the shoulder when I groaned. "I'll be right back," she said and leaned a little forward to whisper in my ear. "Make me sound good towards Luhan-oppa, okay?" 

She stuck up her thumb and I chuckled this time. When I nodded she happily went on her way. 

"Be right back," she repeated. "Luhan-oppa, watch over Jae-yah, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Luhan saluted, making her giggle giddily and left. He let out a deep breath before sitting beside me on the bed again. "She's very- enthusiastic," he commented and I pointed my finger at him. 

"Watch it. Lili is a sweet girl and she's my friend, so don't talk nasty about her," I warned and Luhan lifted his hands up in defense. 

"Wouldn't dare and wouldn't do so. I can tell she's kindhearted. She wouldn't leave your side, even when I tried to get her to leave the room in hopes that I could try and reach you telepathically, but she simply refused. I even threw in my charm and everything. Then I had half a mind to manipulate her to get to do what I wanted, but that just felt wrong. And something told me that you wouldn't be all too pleased with me either once you've heard about it," he said and I nodded. 

"Color me impressed," I jested and he smiled. "She has a major crush on you, you know," I started, trying to keep my word for Lili's sake. "She's sweet, kind, cute as a button- you can't tell me that you don't like getting her attention," I accused, to which Luhan swallowed nervously again, the sheets. 

"She is very sweet," he finally agreed, rubbing the back of his neck, shrugging a little. "But a lot of girls are sweet," he added. 

"Your point being?" I threw at him, kind of amused at seeing how Luhan was struggling. 

"Well- I mean- w-what's your point exactly? Bringing all this up," he shot back. 

"My point is that maybe when she asks you to go to the Homecoming Dance, you may want to consider saying yes," I replied easily, but Luhan seemed out of place for a moment, the blushes evident on his face. He turned to me and something in his expression changed. 

"You wouldn't mind me going to the dance with another girl?" he suddenly asked, looking intently at me. Now it was my turn to be flustered. 

"What? Why would I mind?" I blinked at him when he suddenly turned his face away. Was I missing something here? He seemed upset...

"Lili is a nice girl, you know," I started. "You'd be lucky to go to the dance with her."

"Lucky, hm," he nodded, but he didn't seem convinced. He cleared his throat. "And, eh, I suppose you know who you're going to ask for the dance, huh?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed. "Minho?" he guessed.

I chuckled. "Actually, oh-great-reader-of-minds, I've no clue yet. I don't know. I didn't think I would go to the dance until recently, so I'm still weighing out my options," I answered casually.

"Hey, at least you can say for sure that I don't go inside your head unless I'm granted permission," he quipped and ran his hand through his hair, checking on the door. "And do me a favor," he whispered, leaning closer so I could hear him. His breath tickled my skin. "Don't count me out just yet." 

I was surprised at the sudden statement and for a moment I didn't know how to respond. I just sat there, wide-eyed, mouth agape, looking at Luhan, stunned. Did he just...No- he did, didn't he? I was a little too late to look away. He probably saw my face lit up red like a traffic light. Luhan smirked and created a good distance between us.

"Now that we've the time, why don't you tell me what really happened back there," he said instead and I was grateful that he changed the subject. 

I cleared my throat and focused. I was cruelly reminded again that choosing a date to the dance was the least of my concerns right now - unfortunately... I was trying to think of a good place to start telling Luhan what happened, when I realized there really wasn't another less dramatic way. I sighed. 

"I saw the white wolf. The ghost-wolf," I clarified. Luhan blinked in surprise before leaning forward again. "It was standing on the sports field, watching me. I was the only one that saw it. I told Lili to look at it, too, but she didn't see it. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but I remember losing consciousness and then..." I stopped to catch my breath, the visions of the destroyed world coming back to me. 

"I don't know. I passed out and woke up in a dream- I don't know," I rubbed my head before moving on to my shoulder. It hurt more than it had before. 

Luhan watched me cautiously before getting to his feet. "Do you want me to get Lay for you?" he asked. "He should look at that shoulder. It's been bothering you since yesterday, hasn't it?" 

I nodded, grimacing as the pain wouldn't go away. I was awake, but I still felt a bit hazy. Was it an after effect of the dream? 

"I'll go get him," Luhan decided, already moving away. 

"Wait," I called. "Don't you want to hear what happened first?"

"No. That can wait. You come first," he stated. "Besides, it'd be easier if the others hear what happened as well. We have to take care of you first," Luhan touched my uninjured shoulder and walked away, leaving me alone for a moment. 

Being as stubborn as I was, I stretched my legs and flung them over the side of the bed. I held onto my arm to support my shoulder and stepped out of the bed. My legs were still a bit wobbly, but I forced some strength in them so I could walk towards the window. I took a deep breath when I recognized the school grounds outside, all the green grass and lush woods. The sun still shone, but was slowly starting to set. Everything looked quiet. Peaceful. Who would want to destroy all of this? I thought, thinking back to what the white wolf had warned me for. 

Maybe it was just a crazy dream after all. It sounded too fantastical that this world was in danger and that I, of all people, had to go save it. Made no sense. It would make a good reason why Miss Kumiho is after you... 

I shivered and softly smacked my cheeks. If that was the case, then it would mean that she was the shadow, the black snake. I know she's somewhat of an itch with a capital B, but that didn't mean that she was an evil snake that wished to see the destruction of this world. No. I needed proper sleep. Some sleep will help me dismiss all of this-

My breath caught in my throat when out of the woods, something moved. I balled my hands tightly into iron fists when the ghostly white apparition of the wolf showed itself to me. It its lips and shone its green eyes at me. Crushing my eyes shut wouldn't help anything. Ignoring it wouldn't make it go away either. But it can't be real...

Remember. 

The voice then said, and the little hope I had of everything being a dream faded away, like the light of a candle dousing after putting up so much effort to stay lit. 

Remember, the ghost wolf urged, sounding more threatening the second time, almost as though it could tell that I was hesitating, inclined to dismiss what it had told me. 

Find the heart, before it's too late. 

I squinted at the creature, feeling out of breath. Why don't you go and find it? I shot back, and of course it responded with a growl so fearsome I'm pretty sure I needed new undies. 

Keep that sense of humor. You'll need it. Find the heart, or all is lost. Is that what you want?

The white wolf looked up at me before it bolted into the bushes and disappeared, leaving me shaking and trembling like a Chihuahua. 

"Okay, don't freak out," I told myself, rolling my shoulders. "Don't freak out. You'll figure this out - with the others," I nodded, mumbling to myself to keep whatever ounce of sanity I still had left. "You're not alone. You'll figure this out together," I stated firmly, having a deep desire to talk to the pack. 

My ears twitched when I heard footsteps approaching and I sighed out of relief. I need to get this off my chest! 

I turned around on my heels. "Luhan, we need to- oh...oops," I abruptly shut my mouth at seeing my mother and father walk through the door to get to me and I flushed, pretending that there was nothing going on. 

"Luhan? Which one is Luhan? What the heck happened to Suho?" Dad exclaimed before he ruffled my hair and wrapped his arms around me. Mom quickly joined, panicked, of course as she brushed my hair back, checking me over for wounds. 

"Oh, my baby!" she exclaimed. "Jae, baby, what happened? I nearly got a heart attack when the nurse called! Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Mom-,"

"Are you dizzy? Does anything hurt? Oh, baby, I told you that you shouldn't stay up until too late, you need your sleep! Have you been eating properly at school? You're not starving yourself are you?"

"Mom, Mom, I'm ok-, Mom-,"

"How's your head? How many fingers am I holding up? Oh, baby, what happened?" she rambled frantically, tugging and pulling at my clothes, inspecting me. I made sure that I didn't wince when she pinched my shoulder and simply bit back the pain. 

"Mom!" I held her hands and forced her to focus. "I'm okay. It was just a fainting spell," I said calmly, making sure to smile because they shouldn't worry about me like this. It wasn't fair towards them, and I hated seeing them like this. Dad was calm, but I could tell he was worried, the way he kept my hair. 

"I'm sorry I made you guys come for me, it really isn't a big deal," I said apologetically, looking at my father. "I hope you won't get in trouble at work," I added. 

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart. You know that you guys come first," he told me, kissing my forehead. "We met your friend, Lili. She was very kind to inform us what happened. She said she was there when you passed out, said that you were tired?"

Yes, Dad, I'm tired. I'm so unbelievably tired of everything that's been going on right now, but you wouldn't even be able to begin to comprehend why I'm so tired if I would tell you...

"I felt exhausted and I may have not eaten properly. Low sugar or energy, whatever. I promise I'll take better care of myself," I said again, resenting how hollow that promise sounded. Truth was, I had no control over this. 

"Honey, you shouldn't scare us like this," Mom then said, cupping my face. "You know your father and I- we'd be lost if something happened to you," she said softly, and all I could was nod. "Yeah? So, just in case, you'll be staying home tomorrow- no exceptions!" she added when she could see that I was about to protest. 

I swallowed. "Okay," I mumbled and she smiled, kissing my cheek. 

"Are there still people out there waiting around? They should head home," I then said, changing the subject because seeing my parents like this made me feel uneasy, like I wanted to confess everything and I knew I couldn't. I clung to my mom for comfort as she wrapped her arm around me. 

"Lili, and another boy- Minho, I believe-, went home and said they might get in touch with you later," Dad said. "The nurse said that you should go home ASAP, young lady. Get some rest, and it wouldn't be a bad idea for the doctor to come see you again."

"O-oh, right, okay," I mumbled as we started to head out to the hallway. 

"Suho is still waiting around, the dear boy," Mom then added. "Your other friends are there as well. They insisted they see you first before heading home. It's very endearing," she mused. 

"Annoying, my love, the word is annoying," Dad quipped, looking relieved to hear me chuckle. "Seriously, you've got one girl friend and all the rest of them are guys! How can that not be annoying?" he continued and I laughed. 

We walked out into the waiting room and sure enough, there were twelve guys, talking amongst themselves and almost standing up simultaneously when we entered the room. I rolled my eyes and gave a small wave. Luhan and Lay looked a bit antsy, but I assured them with a quick gesture that I was alright. The healing can wait. 

"Well, here she is, boys, alive and kicking. You should all head home now," Dad announced. 

"Ryo, shame on you," Mom warned, turning towards them with a friendly smile. "Thank you, boys, for staying with Jae all this time. It's nice to know she has friends that take care of her," she said sincerely, making all of them bow when she did. I shuffled with my feet, nudging Dad when he had a pouty look on his face. 

"You should all come over for dinner some time," Mom suddenly invited. "It'd be nice to get to know you," she winked and I nearly face palmed myself, the boys shyly and politely accepting her offer. Now it was Dad's turn to nudge me and I pulled a face his way, making him grin. 

"Thank you, Mrs. Miyano, we'd love that," Baekhyun piped up friendly. 

"Are you feeling better, Jae-noona?" Sehun asked, looking so lost when he looked at me. 

"Yeah, much, thank you," I replied and then turned to my parents before things got too awkward. "Why don't you guys go ahead, I'll be right there," I tried subtly, earning a disapproving look from my father, but Mom, thankfully, understood. 

"No problem, sweetheart. Don't take too long," she said. "It was nice meeting you, boys," she then greeted. "Suho, don't be a stranger," Mom patted his shoulder and Suho smiled widely. I waited until they were out of hearing range before turning towards them. 

"And how are you really?" Kris asked and I huffed out a breath of air. 

"I'm-," I wanted to say that I was fine, really I would, but, I wasn't. Instead, I sighed. "There are a few things we have to discuss," I said and rolled my eyes when I heard how that sounded. "God, that sounded dramatic. What I meant was, something happened and I'm at a loss. I'd like to talk to you guys about it, cause I won't be able to figure this out on my own," I said, smiling when I caught D.O. grinning at me. 

"We're here for you, you know that," he said. 

"Luhan-ge mentioned you saw the ghost-wolf again, noona," Tao started carefully. "Did it hurt you again?"

"Not precisely. But it's what I want to talk about with you. You think you guys can meet me tonight, usual place?" I suggested. 

"You sure you should do that, Jae-yah? You need to rest, not to mention, your shoulder," Lay pointed out in concern, totally not convinced that I was up for meeting tonight. 

"No worries. When we meet up tonight you can take a look at it as well," I assured him, but he pouted slightly, still not entirely convinced. 

"If you say so," he mumbled, the worry never leaving his eyes. 

"Well, here, noona. Your stuff," Chen then pointed out, handing me my backpack. 

"Ah, thank you! I was wondering where it was," I swung the strap over my uninjured shoulder. 

"And don't worry about any homework, noona, it's taken care of," Chanyeol added with a suspicious wink and I squinted at him. 

"What did you do?" I demanded to know. 

"Nothing. But, if the homework had suddenly combusted into flames, that is no one's fault," the tall teen said, grinning widely. 

"Chanyeol," I warned and he laughed. 

"Just say that it was a candlelight accident, noona. Works for me all the time!"

I laughed while shaking my head at him. "Now, will the rest of you stop looking at me as if you're all constipated? I'll be alright. Just meet me tonight, okay?" I tried to reassure them, since having them look so concerned and anxious was not doing well for my nerves. 

"See you tonight," Luhan nodded. "And do us all a favor by not fainting like that again."

"I promise," I waved at them, turning around to walk away. I stopped and turned around again when I realized I forgot something. 

"Hey, thanks," I told them, shrugging a little. "For staying, and stuff." I was met by gummy smiles and felt relieved again that they were around. "See you tonight," I greeted and left to meet up with my parents. 

If only I had remembered that plans could easily be changed.

If only I remembered that promises easily made... were easily broken.