All four of them were sitting in the living room, later joined by Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kai who were first excited to hear Sehun brought a girl back home. But seeing the dense atmosphere, they knew it was not a good time to tease Sehun.

            “Lay... what happened?” Suho broke the silence. “The last time I hear from you was 5 years ago, before you said you have some tasks to be completed. I thought you will never return...” He was still shocked to find his old friend right in front of his doorstep.

            “Well, it was a long story, but I’m glad to know that you are worried of me,” Lay said jokingly.

            “Of course I was worried,” Suho exclaimed. “You were gone without a scrap of news!”

            “Wait,” Sehun interrupted. “Suho hyung, you know him? And who is Lay? I thought his name is Eric,” he asked.

            “Well, it was a long story,” Suho glanced towards Eric.

            “I have something to ask from you guys, especially you, Suho. I will need your help.” Lay said with a serious tone.

            “Why? What’s wrong?” Suho raised his eyebrow.

            “First of all, let me introduce myself to all of you,” Lay turned to the other boys. “I’m Lay, the Guardian of the Medella Waterfall and the Healer of Unicorn Touch. I may sound like a con artist, but believe me, I’m not. I came from a world different from yours. You can say, I’m different from you guys. I had come to Earth years ago, to guard the Waterfall, hidden in the forest west of the city.”

            “But today, I am not here as a Guardian, I’m here as Elyna’s big brother.” Lay added. “I want to ask you guys to take Elyna to live with you.”

            That last sentence shocked Elyna. “Oppa!” she exclaimed. “What are you talking about!?”

            Lay held Elyna’s hand, a sign telling her to keep listening. He then turned to Suho. “Remember when I left 5 years ago? I have told you about what was happening in my place,”

            “Yes, I still remember that. But I thought it was over,” Suho replied.

            “They are back, Suho.”

            “They? You means the Seekers? Gondova’s army?

            “Yes. And now they are back with worse news. After the end of the first war, I thought they were gone for good. But no, I was wrong. They have gathered different power from all over places, and now their armies are unbeatable.”

            The others were listening attentively to the conversation, although they did not have any clue about what they were talking about.

            “But what does it has to do with Elyna?”

            “To increase the strength of their army, one of the most important powers they need is the power of a healer. Healer is the rarest power in that world. Not many people had that, other than the Guardians. And if there’s any, it would be only because they had asked for the Healing Touch Curse." Lay added. "Before l left, I also told you about the girl who came to ask for the Curse. Remember?”  Elyna’s expression changed when she heard Lay mentioned about the Curse.

            “Yeah, I remember you told me she was the sole bearer for the Curse. Wait, you mean-” Suho paused with his eyes widened.

            “Yes, this is the girl. Elyna, the sole bearer of Healing Touch Curse which still alive,” Lay turned to Elyna. Elyna bit her lip. Her expression darkened. She held Lay’s hand tight. All her efforts to hide the truth had gone to waste. Nothing was more shameful than to be introduced as a girl who bears a curse. She knew everybody would be staring at her and thought she was weird, sort of a monster, sort of a.. freak.

            Lay held back her hand, tight, ensuring her that it was fine. Elyna looked up to his eyes and Lay smiled. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

            “I-I’m sorry to interrupt you guys, but can you explain more? What curse? Why Elyna?” Sehun finally said something.

            “Healing Touch Curse is a curse which will grant healing power to people who seek for it. But it comes with a high price. Th-“ Lay paused when Elyna tightened her grip.

            “Oppa, please stop,” she whispered. Elyna was on the verge of tears. “I don’t want to hear about it anymore.” Elyna did not want to be reminded about the price. Not in that situation at least.

            Lay sighed. “To make it short, Elyna is the Curse bearer. And in fact, she is the only person who has the Curse now.” He continued. “which make her-“

            “Their target,” Baekhyun added. The boys started to grab the situation.

            “Yes,” Lay nodded. “And they are getting nearer and nearer. They had attacked Elyna’s house this evening. Fortunately we managed to take Elyna away. I don’t know when they will come to Elyna again. I can’t always be by her side. So I need to ask for your help. It might be risky, but I guess I can say you guys are my only hope. So, your answer?”

            There was a moment of silent before someone said yes. “Sure, we’ll protect Elyna,” Sehun replied.

Updated: 16/6/2016, 6.29 pm / 1.29 pm