To D.O., nothing was worse than letting down his guard; because letting down his guard was what destroyed his world in the first place. He had spent his entire life building walls around himself, making sure no one had gotten past them; and for most of his life, no one did get past his walls. That was until Jongin appeared, though. At first, the two hadn't gotten along very well, but Jongin creeped his way into D.O.'s heart and quickly became someone D.O. couldn't live without. 

Raised in an influential family, D.O. was raised with the belief that letting someone into his heart would only mean betrayal; and he wished he could remind himself of that constantly. Instead, when Jongin announced that he was chosen to be part of the MAMA Corporation's experiment with the Tree of Life, D.O. didn't think twice and followed him there. 

At first, D.O. was just there to watch and make sure Jongin would stay safe; and being the heir to the MAMA Corporation allowed him to do so without anyone pushing him away. Being the heir also meant that as soon as he and Jongin got into the company, they were whisked over to the lab where a beautiful scientist named Yuna was speaking to a group of ten males around his and Jongin's age. Yuna was surprised to see two males when she was only informed of Jongin's arrival, but when she learned it was the heir to her company, she smiled and asked the twelve if they would like a tour of the building.

The twelve never acknowledged each other, other than a pair that seemed to know each other as well as Jongin and D.O. knew each other. D.O. himself wasn't impressed, but he could see the smile on Jongin's face as they walked side by side. They were brought to weird chambers and D.O. couldn't help but wonder what was going on; he was curious, and being curious was dangerous in his world.

Jongin and the other eleven mages that D.O. didn't know were required to live in the company in rooms that were provided for them. D.O. wasn't allowed to stay with them since he wasn't part of the experiment, but he was allowed to come back every day to see the progress Jongin went under; and he did. For months, he came back to see how Jongin was; and the younger was more than happy to see him, though he had made other friends with the eleven others in the company.

Yuna was also excited to see him and would give him a heart breaking smile every time he stepped into her lab. D.O. wasn't very smart, but he watched Yuna work and interact with the eleven men who she was working with. Unknowingly, D.O. let down his guard, and accidentally spoke of his desire to make his life more meaningful to Yuna. Yuna never actually said anything, but he could see the gentle smile on her lips.

One day, when he had gone to visit Jongin at the company and the two had decided to walk around for a little while, Jongin stumbled and fell onto the ground while screaming. Seeing this infuriated D.O. and he demanded to Yuna that Jongin be released; but Yuna denied his request and had called security to place him in the room the other eleven were being held in. 

Yuna's only explanation was that D.O. had learned too much to be released, and he remained there like a caged animal, only to learn his family had already sold the MAMA corporation to some other business due to his disappearance.

So yeah, maybe he was a jerk to treat Yun Seung so badly after all that she did, but D.O. refused to take chances anymore. Yun Seung was the best master anyone had ever had, and he was no exception in thinking so, but he'd rather see the rest of his brothers safe than betrayed by another woman they thought they could believe. Even though he would defend her with his own life, D.O. would not give up his life for her; but it seemed that the others would.

They had all gone gloomy after Yun Seung's disappearance, and D.O. wanted so badly just to make them stop looking at the empty space before them like she should materialize there. Looking for her meant they were yearning for her, and yearning for her meant doing anything to get her back. Doing anything to get her back would be the same as letting down his guard.

D.O. would never let his guard down again.

"Kyung?" Chanyeol was waving a hand in front of his face because D.O. was staring blankly at the ground during another of their group's daily meetings, "Kyungsoo?"

"Don't call me that." To D.O., the boy who was known as Kyungsoo was killed the day he was forced to stay inside of a lab to be experimented on.

Chanyeol pulled his hand back quickly, as if D.O. was a rabid dog that would attack him. He wasn't surprised, though, because all of the other mages reacted like this around him ever since Yun Seung disappeared.

"What is your problem?" Baekhyun would never sit still if someone hurt Chanyeol, and that's why D.O. again wasn't surprised when Baekhyun had held him up and then shoved him with his face twisted in irritance, "You've been like this for almost a month now!"

"Don't start fighting again." Joonmyun's voice warned, but as D.O. glanced at their first leader, his lips almost curved into a sneer. Joonmyun didn't want them to fight against each other, but if anyone were to take a look outside, all they did was fight.

"We wouldn't be fighting if Kyungsoo-"

D.O. shoved Baekhyun off him quickly and turned to Sehun, who visibly gulped as he saw the elder's death glare, "I said not to call me that!"

"Don't you dare yell at him when he didn't do anything wrong." Luhan hardly ever got mad himself, but he was just as protective over Sehun as D.O. was with Jongin.

"D.O., return to your room." Kris' voice wasn't as loud as anyone else's, but it cut through the air and had D.O.'s entire body tense as he glared at their second leader. "I said to go. Now."

With a mock salute, D.O. spun on his heels and quickly retreated into the room he and Jongin shared, barricading himself with Earth on all sides. He was crying silently as he sat there, because how had he become the villain?

He wasn't sure when, but a while later, someone's footsteps padded into his room and then someone was knocking on his fortress. He knew it wasn't Jongin immediately, because Jongin would have just teleported inside of the space without even asking. When he asked who it was, it was surprisingly Tao's gentle voice that answered back, asking to be let in.

D.O. complied after a moment of hesitation, though he had to make the fortress bigger due to Tao's long body. Thankfully, because there were only small cracks on the ceiling to allow air to pass through, there was little light to show Tao his embarassing state. 

"Why are you here?" He couldn't help but ask, considering Tao was never very close to him and he was sure he'd scared all of the other mages away with his attitude already.

"Because you are." Tao's answer was simple, as if he couldn't believe D.O. was asking him a question to which the answer was so painstakingly obvious. For a moment, Tao had gone quiet and D.O. waited to see if Tao had anything else to say before asking the younger to leave, "What were you thinking about?"

The only sound D.O. made in return was that of a sniffle, and knowing what it meant instantly, Tao chuckled lightly, and his hand shot out to take D.O,'s and squeezed it reassuringly, "I'm sorry, but since I'm not Yixing, I can't heal your broken heart." It wasn't funny, although D.O.'s lips twitched upwards into a smile, "I do have memories, though; of Yun Seung."

"I was the first to be claimed by her, and at first, I was as skeptical of her as you still are. She was a little violent and covered in dirt, and she said something about cutting my arm off. But she stayed with me so I wouldn't be alone for the first time in years. Without me even asking, she fed me and gave me water to drink. Without knowing my past, she agreed to help me find my brothers, and she promised to set us free. Yes, she's reckless and maybe too gullible for her own good, but I've watched her as we found more and more of you all. Even though she knew our friendship wouldn't last, the relief she got every time she found one of us was genuine."

Jongin had already told him of how he was found, and how Yun Seung had treated him even though Jongin was nothing less than hostile towards her. Joonmyun and Baekhyun had also been cruel towards her at first, and D.O. knew he himself was the cruelest of all. That never changed how she treated him, though, and he kept forgetting that.

"I know... it's just that..." As he spoke, he was cut off by a voice from the outside of their fortress.

"It's hard to believe that people can be different." It was Yixing's voice that answered, and as D.O. pulled down the fortress surrounding himself and Tao, he noticed the other mages had found themselves in his room.

"That's not it at all, is it, Kyungsoo hyung?" When Jongin spoke and called his name, D.O. clenched his fists, but he knew he wouldn't do anything to Jongin, "He's afraid that if we get too close to her, we'll bury our pasts the way he buried his."

"I know how you feel, Kyung." Minseok walked over to him and sat down next to him as well, slinging an arm over his shoulder to keep him close, "Trusting in Yuna is what got us here in the first place. But you know... you've seen Yun Seung. She's nothing like we expected her to be."

He was right and D.O. knew it. Everyone knew it, in fact, because Yun Seung freed them. 

"And in the end, she never betrayed us." D.O heard himself mutter, and though no one answered him, he knew what they were all thinking, "Because we betrayed her first."

For another moment, the mages had gone quiet, and the mages turned to their second leader, whose head was bowed as he cleared his throat, "I'm having trouble locating her. The barrier that had been stopping me before got even stronger."

"It's like someone knows we're looking for Yun Seung." Joonmyun muttered, and after shaking his head, he looked up at the other mages, "Do you think Yun Seung was able to-"

"No. That kind of magic is nothing Yun Seung could contain, even if she's able to use our powers at will." Minseok cut him off with a shake of his head, and then the other mages sighed as they thought of something else they could do.

"I can find her." D.O. finally offered, and as the other mages looked over to him in surprise, he felt courage building up in his chest, "I can track her signature on the earth."

He realized then what he was really feeling because of Yun Seung. He had made himself swear after what happened with Yuna that he would never trust another person again. Trusting in another person had him tied to a ring and had almost cost him the life of someone dear to him. Trusting in another person led to him being claimed by master after master, each being as terrible as the former; and he thought he had learned his lesson after being betrayed after enough times. However, trust did lead to some amazing things in his life.

It led to Yun Seung being one of the only ones to have him let down his guard.

A lot of you guys asked for it to be done either by Kris' perspective or D.O.'s, and I chose D.O.'s because there's something I'm planning for Kris as well as Kai. Don't be mad, I'm sure you'll enjoy the surprises when you see them. I don't think this chapter was done very well, but I hope this explains what D.O. feels a little better to you guys. I think next will be Luhan but I also kind of want to bring some focus onto either Sehun or Tao as well.

No questions for today, but please do let me know what you guys have thought of this chapter!

As always, thanks for reading, subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! All of your support makes me very happy and I'm glad I could present you with such a nice story! It's still not perfect, I know, but I'm glad you're reading this far! Please enjoy this chapter, and have a brilliant day!