D.O was getting sick and tired of the rut he was in. How long had it been since he'd left the headquarters? A week? Ten days? And he had yet get even the tiniest whiff of her delicious scent.

He had ransacked every nook and cranny of Oulphesden and nearby places, smelled so many odors he'd rather not and still, he wasn't any closer to finding her. There wasn't even anything close to her perfume that would point him in the right direction and he was thinking maybe it was time to take Baekhyun's advice and capture that Raina girl.

He'd force the answer out of her and then, find his mate and she'd better be prepared to face the consequences for putting him through so much…

You're doing this for Chen, his mind spoke up, making him growl in denial. No, she was his, not even his Shadow…

You wanna wake him up or not? It sounded frustrated, like the rest of him and D.O stopped his growling, inhaling deeply to calm himself. Yes, he wanted to wake Chen up and if that meant they had to use his mate…

She could be his, don't be too sure. Sometimes he hated how rational his mind could be. Be that as it may, all he cared about – or so he tried to convince himself – was waking Chen up.

Because he was tired of waking up in the empty room, making breakfast for one and having no one to annoy early in the morning. He missed his smart-alecky replies and his sassy jests, he just plain missed his damn Shadow and seeing him lying peacefully in that bed, giving the illusion that he was asleep, only enhanced his desire to see him open his eyes.

When was the last time he'd seen Chen awake? When they'd parted with the promise to keep in touch – not him, Chanyeol had been the one to promise that, he'd only patted Chen's back as goodbye, not complaining even though he didn't particularly like being separated from his Shadow. He was a territorial creature, possessive, and giving up his Shadow even for his pack was against his instincts. Then again, he always wanted their pack stick together, so separation had never sat well with him.

But maybe he should've insisted on keeping Chen with him, to hell with practicality. Who knew, things could've been different now. Why hadn't he?

The lightening that cracked across the sky didn't surprise him. He'd finally gotten used to causing random lightening-storms, gotten used to not reacting whenever he heard the crack of thunder, knowing that he was the cause of it, not his peacefully sleeping Shadow.

He'd done everything he could to the tempt the Legend into waking up; heck, there were even times when he fooled himself into believing his Shadow reacted to his voice, that his eyelids fluttered, his fingers twitched as if in response – but he was no fool and he could only delude himself so far. Everything they'd tried so far hadn't worked and the mate was their only hope.

There was nothing that could tempt a beast to rise more than being near its mate. That was what he was betting everything on.

After he found her, that is.

He was going to give it one more day – if he didn't find her by the end of tonight, he would go back to the headquarters and scan the university. He'd left that place untouched because he could go there anytime – he was a student now, wasn't he? He'd taken this time to explore places he'd been unable to before, with all the restrictions Suho had placed on them. He hadn't found her but it wasn't because he hadn't looked.

Sighing, he glanced at the sky – while he could control the beast power, lightening always got out of his control. It wasn't his, he wasn't ready to accept it completely – Chen could wake up any moment and he'd obviously want his powers back, so D.O had to be ready to give it up. He couldn't do that if he actually accepted the beast.

The said beast whined inside his head, deprived of its vessel and feeling ignored because of it. D.O tried his best to settle it down, then got back to his work.

……………………….

Raina smiled at the customer in front of her.

'The usual?' She asked, already moving. He nodded, smiling that adorable smile of his.

'Thanks.' He bowed while he was sitting, nearly hitting his head on the counter and she suppressed a chuckle. He was just too cute and she suspected she was developing an obsession over this particular customer.

Lay. Xiumin's brother and musician extraordinaire, her senior at the performance school, in his final year now and a music major. , she was obsessed.     

He'd shown up the day after their chat for another steaming cup of cappuccino and since then, it'd become a routine. He'd just sit there and sip his drink, occasionally speaking up, though mostly he just silently observed her, smiling when their eyes met.

She suspected his real smile would be even more endearing than the half smile he usually sported, and wanted him get over whatever was making him sad so he would smile fully – she was sure the world was losing a great asset here and… okay, she needed to stop obsessing over him and quit staring like an idiot.  

She reluctantly moved away, dealing with the other customers and orders she was given. She was efficient and quick when it came to filling the orders but often very casual and it ended up giving her more burns than anyone else in the shop. And given her penchant for stumbling around, it wasn't a surprise that she spilled stuff over herself more often than not.

This was exactly what happened when she went to take the next order and put her finger directly underneath the hot water, nearly burning the skin off. She quickly pulled it back but the skin was already a raw red and it stung like hell.

Dropping the cup, she told Tiffany to take her place then slipped into the back office and patched her hand up. Lily had put up a separate medic kit especially for burns since Raina had joined. The burn still stung but she was pretty used to the sensation by now.

Or not. She yowled when her hand bumped against the counter as she went back to her designated spot. Crap, she needed to be less clumsy and pay more attention to her surroundings. Argh, this hurt like hell…

'What happened?'

She looked up at the soft voice, feeling a sudden blush climb on her cheeks. Gosh, his voice was so sweet and he was so close… she mentally shook herself. He'd asked her a question. 'I burnt it… no biggie.'

He frowned, obviously disagreeing – so cute – and put a hand on the counter. 'Let me see.'

She stared at the delicate fingers, wondering if there was a part of him she didn't find insanely attractive. She thought she had a for his hands to go along with his dimpled smile and his sweet honeyed voice. And the way his hair fell into his eyes and…

Quit it, you're embarrassing yourself. She was. She'd been staring at him like an idiot again. She cleared . 'O-okay.'

She placed her hastily bandaged hand on the counter and tried not to squeal with delight when he grabbed it, pulling it closer to his face. 'It must sting…' he muttered, examining the reddened skin that showed through the clumsy dressing. She nodded. 'A little.'

He stared at her hand thoughtfully and she wondered what he was concentrating so hard about – not that she minded – then his finger gently traced over hers, rubbing in soothing circles.

She smiled at that – how sweet, he was trying to comfort her – but he let go after a while, sighing and looking extremely disappointed.

'It's not working…' he muttered, sounding sad, then looked up at her. 'I'm sorry, I can't do anything.'

She disagreed. If he'd been trying to make her feel better, it'd worked.

'It worked,' she assured him, 'It feels loads better now.'

He shook his head, but he smiled when he looked at her again. 'Does it really?'

She nodded, flexing her finger and trying not to wince when the movement made her skin stretch and burn like crazy. 'See? All better now.'

He gave a half smile, looking into her eyes. 'Thank you.' He told her seriously.

She felt a bit awkward and laughed it off. Because it was easier to say he was cute and treat him like one of those chibi characters from her mangas and light novels but it was hard to keep that perspective if he acted like this.

'Haha, that’s okay…' She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. He nodded a little, going back to his drink and thankfully breaking eye contact. She sighed and surreptitiously put a hand on her chest.

Her heart was racing.

………………………

'Lily…'

Xiumin sounded a bit strange and when Lily glanced up, it was to find him sporting a strange expression. She put the letters she'd been reading down. 'Yeah?'

'Am I too…' He sounded unsure, like he couldn't understand how to phrase the question. He bit his lip before continuing. 'y?'

She blinked. 'Come again?'

He flushed, looking uncomfortable. 'I mean… um… well, the girls keep calling me senpai and a couple of guys hit on me when I was serving their coffee and left me their numbers.' Lily tried not to smile. Xiumin continued. 'And one of them told me I should change my name to ymin instead of Xiumin.'

She burst out laughing at that. 'Really?'

He looked like he didn't appreciate her humor. 'Yes really. Stop laughing, this isn’t funny.'

Lily merely grinned. Since he'd come back, he'd left quite an impression on both the employees and the patrons who visited the place. Previously, he'd been popular among the ladies because of his cute, round face and he'd played that to the fullest to garner more customers. Now, he'd lost so much weight and it gave him a more defined look; add his blonde hair and the scars he'd retained from his injury and it gave him a rough edge that drove everyone crazy.

'So?' He asked again.

She shrugged. 'I think ymin has a nice ring to it.'

'Ya!'

She laughed, 'Why're you getting so flustered?'

'I feel harassed.' Xiumin muttered, pulling his collars close protectively. 'And objectified.'

'As long as it brings in customers, I don't mind.' Lily shrugged heartlessly.

'What, you agree with them?' He sounded scandalized, making her grin again. 'Well, a fact's a fact.'

He made a face. 'I'm not going out there anymore.'

'Someone has to keep an eye on them.' She told him, not budging from her seat.

'Exactly.' He came inside and grabbed her hand, pulling her up. 'Go on.'

'No way!' She smacked him, trying to sit back. 'I'm already halfway through these letters, let me finish.'

'Deal with the customers, then finish. I'm not getting harassed out there!'

'Stop being a baby, you're a grown man.'

'I don't like getting hit on when I'm in a committed relationship, okay?' He declared, grabbing her waist to hoist her over the desk. 'You should also care that your boyfriend's getting so many propositions.'

'I care.' Lily told him, sliding over to stand beside him. 'That's why I send you out there.'

'You're using me.' He shook his head in mock disappointment. 'You're so heartless.'

'Business has no room for it.' She told him, pinching his not-so-fluffy-anymore cheek. He opened his mouth to say something else but the door to her office opened, Tiffany peeking her head in. 'There's a girl asking for the barista boy and…'

Her eyes landed on the Lily and Xiumin, his hand still on her waist, hers resting on his face and her eyes lit up like Christmas had come early. 'I'll just tell her he's not available.' She announced cheerily, then pranced off before Lily could call her back.

Lily closed , shaking her head. What did it matter if Tiffany misunderstood the situation? At least this time, she really was in a relationship with him, even if it was just a technicality. She'd asked him to officially become her boyfriend because she didn't feel right lying to her mom – who sincerely only wanted her daughter to settle down, thus setting her up for horrible blind dates – and he'd agreed because 'everyone believes we're together anyway.'  

A moment later, the door banged open again and Tao sauntered inside, throwing his bag on the couch.

'I'm here.' he announced the obvious. Xiumin sighed with relief, then pushed her towards the door. 'I'll be tutoring him, so don't disturb me.'

'Coward,' she told him, 'you're such a coward.'

'You try getting hit on all the time.' He muttered, the tips of his ears a little red. 'I'm staying here.'

Shaking her head, Lily headed out.

………………………...

A/N

Because I thought people other than the Brat (yes, he's a Brat with a capital B) deserved some time. Also, I had a lot of Xiumin feels when writing this so you'll find plenty of references to his iness (just a heads up XD) - nah, kidding. I put it in because the plot demanded it (whut?) and yeah. That's it. So... spam? I think yes XD

(This picture is just unf!!!!)

 (so badass >///<)

 and then he goes on being cute again :3 hot+cute min <3)

 okay, i'll stop now :D

As for Raina, I did say I was projecting :P no seriously. She gave me so much trouble right up to the end and... you'll see how it goes. BTW, I recently found out there's a name for what Lay's going through... I mean I knew what I was writing about but I was unaware of the technical terms. Before I reveal it (when relevant), care to take any guesses? Its a common condition in healthcare professionals (BIG hint :P)

Also, do comment. Like really, please. Its upsetting not to hear a single word about how the story is being percieved, especially when one puts so much effort into it. I'm not saying I'm not grateful you're actually reading this but please, do take the time to make a comment every once in a while. Its nicer than having supscriptions, trust me. And I don't bite, honest.

Until later then :) bye