“Oh. Lara. You’re awake?” asked Xiumin who could be seen walking in the hallway, toward his room.

  “Yeah. Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” said Lara, still felt upset and tried to ask for each boy’s responsibility for leaving her on the couch earlier.

  “O..oh. Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t want to leave you actually. I and the others were worried If we carried you, you’d awoken. So we decided to leave you there.” explained Xiumin felt guilty.

  Seeing Xiumin’s expressions made Lara threw her annoyance behind and accepted what has already happened.

  “Forget it, it’s okay. Xiumin, I’m still not sleepy I guess I sleep for too long. Will you accompany me?” asked Lara.

  “Oh, yeah sure. I actually can’t sleep too that’s why I’m hanging around here..” said Xiumin.

  “What if we go to the terrace to enjoy the night view?” suggested Lara.

  “Okay, that’s a good idea.” agreed Xiumin.

  They walked through the hallway, at the end of hallway they could feel the breeze from the outside air when opening the door. Then they sat down on a small bench located in the terrace and enjoying the night view.

  Lara looked up at the sky and leaned her head on the chair. She saw a lot of stars in the sky.

  “Xiumin, you came from EXO Planet right? Where exactly is planet EXO?” asked Lara suddenly.

  Spontaneously, Xiumin also looked up at the sky.      

  “EXO Planet? Not too far from Mars and Venus..I guess.”

  “Hm, is that so...”

  “How’s the situation there? Can I go there one day?” asked Lara again.

  “It’s very different with earth. There aren’t a lot of high building like in here, I’m afraid you’ll take some time to get used to it.” said Xiumin.

  Suddenly Xiumin felt quite a strong breeze blowing at them. He put his arms around Lara to cover her from the breeze.

  “Lara, come here. The wind is cold. I don’t want you to get sick.” Xiumin said.

  Lara was blushing because she was so close to Xiumin and she had never thought that even though Xiumin had the frost/ice power, it wasn’t cold at all to be around him.

  “I thought it’d be cold if I’m close to you?” asked Lara curiously.

  “Was that what you think? Nah, don’t worry. Just because I can control the ice, it doesn’t mean that I made of ice. My body temperature is actually quite normal. In fact, I can control the cold temperature around us so we won’t get cold.” explained Xiumin.

  “Well, that’s great.” responded Lara.

  “Thank you.” said Lara again. Xiumin just smiled.

  Seeing Xiumin up close, Lara could see his dumpling-like cheeks stood out. Unconsciously, Lara touched Xiumin’s cheeks. Xiumin got startled a bit, but then smiled.

  “Xiumin, do you still remember the thing you told me before?” asked Lara suddenly, curious about something.

  “What was it again?” said Xiumin, trying to remember the things he had said to Lara.

  “That natural things will happen If I get close to you guys. That I shouldn’t resist it, and that way it will be easier to tie our bond. Should I really do that?” asked Lara.

  “Oh. Yes, that will naturally happen. It will be the easiest way to tie our bond.” answered Xiumin.

  “But, I understand that you will need some time to get used to it. That’s fine. Just do whatever you feel right. There’s no need to be in rush.”

  ‘Ah, why are you so kind and understanding?’ thought Lara in her mind.

  “Alright then. From now on, I won’t resist it.” said Lara again.

  “If that’s what you want, I’ll support it.” responded Xiumin.

  ‘Ah, this kind and gentle boy.’ thought Lara again in her mind.

  Then Lara took a step closer and intended to kiss Xiumin’s lips, but she moved and kissed his cheeks instead.

  Xiumin froze, surprised with Lara’s sudden action and because he had just received a gentle kiss on his cheeks from Lara. A few seconds after that, a symbol followed by a flash of blue light appeared on Xiumin’s right hand. He could also felt his power increasing, that he could froze the whole land with his enourmos power. But, he could still controlled his power and felt extremely happy because Lara had just kissed him.

  “I’m sorry..” said Lara, noticing Xiumin’s expression.

  “Why apologize? This is the natural things that you feel—that I also feel. I like it.” responded Xiumin with a smile on his face, making his cheeks looked more adorable.

  ‘Why am I acting so weird? I just kissed D.O earlier, but why now I’m feeling fluttered and want to kiss Xiumin too?’ asked Lara to herself.

  She then decided to discuss it with Xiumin. Lara knew that she could depended on Xiumin, and only with Xiumin she felt that she could asked a weird and nonsense question which she reluctant to ask the other boys about it.

  “Xiumin, I feel weird. Earlier I felt the same feeling about D.O and kissed him. But then, I meet you and I want to kiss you too. Is this normal?” asked Lara curiously.

  ‘Oh, so Lara had kissed D.O first?’ asked Xiumin to himself feeling a little bit jealous.

  “Yeah, you must be confused. We are all connected with you, Lara. I think skinship or any other affection is one of the way to tie our bond together. It’s natural if you always want to be around each of us, because each of us have different energy that makes you attracted to us. But you are actually our main source of our energy, so all of us will be attracted to each other. Don’t think about it too much. You’ll understand later.” said Xiumin, finishing his explanation.

  “Well, for a normal person, it would be weird If I were to kiss or do any other skinship with 12 different guys. But I guess since all of you are different and special, the case is different.” responded Lara.

  Xiumin smiled after hearing Lara’s response, made Lara wanted to keep pinching his dumpling-like cheeks.

  Being in Xiumin’s embrace, Lara felt warm because the cold temperature was blocked by Xiumin with his power. Finally Lara fell asleep in Xiumin’s arm.

  Afterwards, Xiumin carried Lara to her bedroom. He put her under the blanket so she wouldn’t be cold, kissed her forehead briefly and then got out of her room to let her rest.

   Losing the warmth she got from Xiumin, Lara awoke.

  “Xiumin, where are you going?” asked Lara with a hoarse voice.

  “I’m going out to let you sleep. Sleep tight, okay?” answered Xiumin.

  “Why? Xiumin, sleep here with me. Sometimes I feel lonely to sleep in a spacious room like this.” said Lara spontaneously. She didn’t usually spoke what was in her mind or her worries to anyone. She wanted to be independent. But, sometimes she felt tired pretending to be strong and she felt that she could be dependent on Xiumin even just for a while.

  ‘I’m sure Xiumin won’t do something weird.’ thought Lara in her mind.

  “Oh, is that okay? Um..Okay then, I’ll sleep here if you don’t mind.” responded Xiumin sheepishly accepted Lara’s request.

  Xiumin then started to walk towards the couch on Lara’s bedroom  and was about to lay in there.

  “Xiumin, stop playing around. Sleep here with me.” asked Lara.

  Xiumin was unresponsive for a minute but then he responded, “Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly.

  “Yes. I know you won’t do something weird.” said Lara again.

  He then moved from the couch to Lara’s bed.

  “I won’t do something weird? Don’t be so sure about it.” said Xiumin suddenly. He then started approaching Lara’s face. Lara who was already going to sleep felt startled of Xiumin’s sudden change of action.

  When Xiumin was getting close, Lara closed her eyes and turned out Xiumin was only kissed her forehead.

  “I’m sorry. I was just kidding.” he said and laughed.

  “What? Xiumin! I was startled that you suddenly changed.” shouted Lara felt upset.

  “Hehehe...It’s a lesson for you. Don’t easily ask anyone else to sleep with you next time, okay? Calm down now, I won’t do anything weird. Good night.” he said while patting her head.

  “Yeah, I get it.” answered Lara while still blushing.

  ‘Why can she be so sure that I won’t do something weird to her? Who can hold himself sleeping with such a cute girl like her? Ah, but I won’t force something that she dislikes.’ said Xiumin to himself.