Listen to Only Tears by Infinite : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXThp405adI       

                                                                                 JIYEON

"Jiyeon!"

Yong Guk jumped away from the discussion and ran towards me, holding me in a tight embrace. He kept trailing kisses on my neck and my face, murmuring, "Don't do it again," "I love you", "I won't let you out of my sight."

From my peripheral gaze I saw L.Joe rolling his eyes at us. My heart softened when I saw Himchan smiling a bit at something Dayoung had said while Daehyun was trying to get her to eat. But behind me was a dark energy and Yong Guk, after releasing me, narrowed his eyes at him. 

"Baekhyun," he simply said. Baekhyun gave us a stiff smile and nodded. 

"Thank you for bringing her back," Yong Guk smiled and guilt took over me. I had kissed Baekhyun and it had not meant anything but it was considered cheating nonetheless. Baekhyun noticed my expression and gave a polite nod. 

"No problem," he murmured. "I need to go to Suho now…"

"Oh yeah," Yong Guk said, waving towards the kitchen. "They're all sitting there. Discussing."

Yong Guk's words distracted me and I looked at him. "Discussing what?"

"They're coming here," he said and a distant look caught his eye. His vision seemed to have been glazed over by memories, but before I could call out, he returned. 

"The Hidden," he explained. "With the General's daughter."

I remembered Baekhyun's words. "The General's daughter is fighting with us?"

The surprise in my tone reached Ricky's ears as he interrupted our conversation with a huge grin. 

"I've seen her pictures before!" he said, whistling after a while. "Isn't she something!"

Yong Guk gave a disgusted scowl and when Ricky realized what he had said, gave me an apologetic bow and scurried away. Yong Guk then turned to me and shrugged. "That's what Suho was telling us. EXO-M will be traveling with them and they'll be here tomorrow. We need to clean up this place and the basement below."

I nodded and began walking towards the room. I caught Baekhyun looking at me and even when I turned away, I saw his reflection from the small hanging mirror, his eyes boring into my back. 

He's the past Jiyeon, I told myself. "In the past," I murmured. 

                                                                                       HOYA

"I say Ho! You say Ya! Ho!"

Luhan looked at me with an expectant grin but I gently pushed him away. "Knock it off," I muttered. He frowned and as I began lifting the boxes into the car, I found him right behind me. 

"What do you want Luhan?" I asked, irritation seething in my voice. 

Luhan gazed at me for a while, then said, "You like her. That Kairi girl."

I widened my eyes and punched him in the stomach. Luhan didn't budge and I attributed it to his newfound strength. 

"Stop spitting rubbish like that! We're in the middle of a war!"

"The existence of war doesn't imply the absence of love," he said and shrugged. "I don't need you to accept your feelings. I already know how everything works out here."

I scrunched up my nose. "Meaning?"

Luhan dangled his arm around my shoulders and turned me around. He began by pointing at L. 

"That kid?" he said. "He is in love with that girl." He waved his hand at Yoona and I shook my head. 

"Wrong bro," I muttered. "They're friends and all but they don't love each other."

"When did I say they love each other?" Luhan bluntly stated. "I said L loves Yoona. Yoona is too busy to be aware of her feelings."

Luhan then made me turn to the right. "That girl Jiyoon? She had a major crush on Woohyun but ever since you guys shifted from the cave to Paradise, things have changed. So has she. She's softened up and it seems she's okay with being single and killing people."

"Then we have those two. The Gandhis." Luhan chuckled a bit and when I found him nodding at Sung Gyu and Nicole, I followed with a grin. "Non-violent, humble, not really involved in the aggressive business. But if he had to, then Sung Gyu could start genocide for her. He's crazy about her. Nicole is bloody well intuitive and unfortunately, she will not kill anyone for Sung Gyu. She might just be a strong contender for a martyr though. She's very selfless."

"Junhyung isn't as oblivious as he looks. Hara isn't as demure and soft. The reason they're so compatible is because they don't have any expectations from their relationship and like to keep things simple."

I nodded. Luhan might as well have been with us right from the beginning. Someone caught my eye and I made Luhan turn to her. 

"You tell me her story and I'll never hit you again."

Luhan's eyes brightened at the challenge but the moment he followed my gaze, his grin faltered. He pursed his lips and for a moment, it looked like he was repressing a cry.

"Seo Joohyun," he murmured softly. He blinked then looked down. I quirked an eyebrow, waiting, only for him to look back at me with a sad smile.

"You win," he said and walked away. I found him throwing a wistful glance at Seohyun before leaving to help Sooyoung with her monstrous luggage. 

"Hers was the simplest," I murmured and scoffed. Seo Joohyun, widow of late musician Jung Yonghwa. No kids, left family to join us. That's all Luhan had to say.  

Before I could start revising everyone's history in my head, I shook off the mind game and focused on the work. Everyone was going to be divided into four groups and we would be moving in intervals. The first group was going to be headed by Tao and Xiumin and included Hyosung, Luna, Sungjong, Donghae, Hyoyeon, Leeteuk, Krystal and younger crop. Since both Tao and Xiumin were martial arts experts, the youngest (and the weak; Donghae was not quite good with field combat) of our team were reassured with safety.

The second group consisted of Jiyoon, Nicole, Sungyeol, Yoona, L, Dongwoo and Seohyun. Sung Gyu insisted on being in the same group as them but Seohyun gently reminded him that the last group i.e. the one with the most fighters, could not be left without a first-aid professional. Nicole later reassured him that Kris would be leading them, though that arrangement changed as I saw Luhan whispering something to his leader and receiving a nod of confidence in return. Jiyoon protested Luhan as the head of their group, an outcry that was quickly suppressed when Chen told her that his intuition level and physical agility was the highest. 

"Trust me," he said and smiled. Jiyoon looked dazed for a while then nodded, quietly slipping behind Nicole. 

The third group was not going to be too far from the second, with Chen and Lay at the lead. Chen was good with trails and was apparently quite in-tune with the entire expanse of Paragon. Lay was the medical expert of EXO and as I saw Sooyoung and Amber meticulously discussing the order of positions during the journey, I knew they were going to do just fine. 

All of a sudden, Kris took Amber away and said something that made her freeze and then fervently nod in agreement. She stretched her neck and found Woohyun. "Namu!" she called out. Woohyun turned to scowl at her, only to have her wave him away to say what she had to. I tried to get in on the conversation but before I could hear anything, Woohyun stormed towards Kris and began a heated argument with him. 

The rest of the team noticed the tension and as I saw Amber talking to Kairi, I knew exactly what Kris had suggested.

"Lay will be with her," Kris quietly explained, but Woohyun shot him down with a sharp shake of his head. Kris sighed then looked towards Amber. He then faced Sooyoung who closed her eyes and mouthed, "I'll talk to him."

Kris was right. Having Kairi walk with the last group was stupid. She wouldn't be far from the second group plus in case of any injury, Lay was going to be there. We were heading to war, Woohyun couldn't babysit her all the time.

Amber continued talking in hushed tones to Kairi, who was staring at nothing and simply nodding to assure her attention. Finally she stood up and pulled Woohyun away. After failing to calm him down, she exploded.

"I'm not a kid Woohyun!" she bellowed and when he turned to look at us, everyone turned away. He found me staring at them and I nodded. 

"She's right," I said. "Let her join Sooyoung and Amber. She'll be right behind a group headed by a sixth sense freak and right ahead of this--" I waved my hand to trail Kris' height, who quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. I returned my attention to Kairi. "You're strong aren't you?"

"I can take care of myself but I won't be foolish."

"There you go," I said. Woohyun seemed pissed but all it took was a light touch on his arm. Kairi gave a warm smile and suddenly, all that anxiety melted away. 

I couldn't look at them anymore, but if I had to protect Kairi, then I had to keep her in my line of sight. And it hurt. It really did.