A couple days have gone by and now Jill and Chanyeol are standing outside a short distance from the house. It is lightly snowing.

“What did you want to talk about?” Jill rubbed her hands together.

“I just ... wanted to thank you ... for being so supportive of me.” Chanyeol stood calmly, not at all affected by the snow.

“Of course! It's great to see how far you've gotten!” Jill smiled and held her hands in between her armpits. She was shivering a little.

 

“Thanks! I can't wait until I get this under control completely!”

 

“I've got a feeling it's gonna be really soon. “I guess being the wielder of fire has its upsides.” Jill noticed how unaffected he was by the cold and chuckled.

“Uh, you need some warming up?”

 

“I would love some!” She immediately moved closer and leaned against his side.

 

Chanyeol put his arms around her, making her feel warmer. “Is that better?”

 

Jill grinned. “Yep!” She stopped shivering almost instantly and relaxed in his arms.

 

They were both silent for several seconds. Then a small whooshing noise sounded close by.
 

Jill lifted her head from his shoulder. “Did you hear that?”

 

“Hear what?”

 

A man wearing a long black cloak covering his eyes and nose came out from the nearby trees. “You're married. Need I remind you of that?”

Chanyeol and Jill broke away from each other and turned to face the man.

“Who are you?” Chanyeol stared at the man wide-eyed.

 

“You don’t remember? What a pity.”

 

Jill felt very uneasy. “Can we help you?”

“I can help you.” The man talked directly to Chanyeol.

“But I don't need any help.”

“Ahhh, that's right. You don't remember your heartbreaking past.” The man shook his head sadly.

“What are you talking about? Do you know?”

 

“Yeah. I know everything.”

 

“Please, tell me!”

“You poor thing, I tried, I really did, but I couldn't keep your planet together no matter how hard I tried.”

 “…My planet?”

“Your home planet of course. And your friends.”

 

“My friends...?” Chanyeol suddenly stumbled back a couple steps looking very disoriented.

“Chanyeol?” Jill quickly grabbed his arm for support.

 

Memories of his friends fly in front of his eyes. He sees all of them in cloaks, they are all looking up toward the sky, then the man comes in, he raises his hand and moves his mouth without a voice, Chanyeol’s friend Kyungsoo starts walking towards the man, he doesn’t listen to his other friend’s voices and continues toward the man as if he were entranced, then commotion happens, his friends disappear and the area starts bursting with many supernatural powers, then there is only black.

Chanyeol breathed in and out hard as he held his head, staring at the ground wide-eyed.

 

“You must have remembered. Sad, isn’t it?”

 

“They... they're all dead..?”

“I really did try to save them.”

“Wha…that can’t be!”

 

“You shouldn't be so grim.”

Chanyeol slowly looked at the man. “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying you're being given the opportunity to see them again.”

“By who?”

“Me of course.”

 

Jill got even more uneasy and pulled on Chanyeol’s arm a little. “Chanyeol, let’s just go.”

 

“I thought you said they were dead!” Chanyeol didn’t move and continued staring at the man.

“…They will be soon to be if you don’t help them fast. You’re the one who can save them.”

“…Really?”

 

“Yes.”

“But what about Jill and CNU and Gonghcan? I can't just leave them!” Chanyeol’s gazed turned to Jill.

 

“You wish to stay wits a bunch of liars?”

Jill and Chanyeol’s gazed turned to the man. “What?” They said at the same time.

“Oh don't even try to act surprised.” The man chuckled a little.

 

“Jill, what is he talking about?” Chanyeol looked at me.

“I-I don't know!!”

“Can't even tell it to his face. How sad.” The man shook his head slowly, his mouth turned in a sly grin.

“Tell me what!?” Chanyeol looked from the man to Jill.

 

“She obviously isn’t going to come out with it, I might as well tell you. They’ve been keeping you with them so that they can sell you to the government so they can test you. It seems that the best people are the ones you can't trust. What a pity.”

Chanyeol couldn’t speak for a moment. “…i-is that true Jill?” He croaked.
 

The man answered before Jill could. "I’m afraid it is.”

 

Jill stared at the both of them dumbfounded. “No! No! That’s not true!”

“Who are you going to believe?” The man crossed his arms.

Jill grabbed his arm. “Chanyeol! Have we shown any intention of sending you to the government?! Any at all??”

 

Suddenly, loud police sirens started sounding off in the distance.

 

Chanyeol stared at Jill in total disbelief and betrayal. “I can’t believe you…” He slowly faced the man with a serious expression. “How can I see my friends again?”

“All I need your necklace.” The man held out his hand toward Chanyeol.

 

Jill was on the verge of tears. “Chanyeol, I didn’t call them! I swear!” She tried to grab Chanyeol’s arm but he pulled away roughly and walked right up to the man, ripping off his necklace.

 

“Take it.” Chanyeol said.

The man grinned. “As you wish.” He took the necklace and let it drop to the ground. Then he raised his foot and slammed it down, crushing the pendent into many, tiny pieces.

 

Chanyeol gasped a little and leaned back. “Why did you--?” He was suddenly cut off by the man’s hand grasping his entire face. Light formed from the man’s hand as Chanyeol tried to pry it off with muffled moans. Orange light faded away from the broken pieces of the pendent along with the light emulating from Chanyeol’s body. His hands suddenly fell to his sides and his knees buckled. He fell to the ground very weak and pale.

 

Jill ran to Chanyeol’s side. “Wh-what the hell!? What did you do to him!?”

 

“Now that the final Tree of Life bearer will be dead soon, my goal has been completed.” The man chuckled and turned around to walk away. Jill was about to shout at him, but then he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She never seen anything like it before, but her attention was immediately turned to Chanyeol as she tried to lift him up.

“Chanyeol! J-just hang in there, ok?? Stay with me!!”

 

“N-no... get away from me…” His voice was very quiet as if was about to fall asleep any second.

 

“Chanyeol please...let me help you!”

 

The police sirens were only getting louder and closer.

 

“No, I don’t want to see you.......”

 

“Those sirens are for something completely different, I swear! We need to get you back to the house now!” Jill could feel him getting colder and colder by the second. He became too weak to fight against her and got still. “Chanyeol? Yah! Answer me damnit!! Stay with me!!”

 

“.... g..... go away.....” He didn’t say anything else after that.