BGM: Vintage by Song Jieun ft. Zelo [here]

Daehyun raised a brow. "I think you know exactly why already. Why make things even more hostile between us?" He shrugged but gave them a hard glance.

"Hanseul was supposed to marry me first. If her parents were around, I doubt they would approve of you." 

That struck a chord with all of them.

They had only met Hanseul's brother once, and they had never actually met her parents. 

"Look, even if she was supposed to marry you, that doesn't change the fact that she bonded to one of us, and she never bonded with you in all those years you have spent with her, so back off." Tao growled. 

Daehyun whistled and looked away nonchalantly. "I can see Hanseul has bonded to some over-protective pups." 

"Hey--" 

"No, you guys listen. Have you ever thought about it from her point of view? Hanseul has never came back to this world ever since she was born. She has almost no idea how things work around here. And being the curious cat she is, she needs someone to teach her our ways. Even if she has been taught on Earth, she's going to need someone by her side to let her know what it truly means to be Feliane royalty. And I dont think any one of you can teach her that." Daehyun finished as he made eye contact with Luhan who had been cut off. 

"But..." Lay spoke quietly, but loud enough for all of them to hear with their enhanced senses. "You're only seeing Hanseul as a member of the royal family." 

Daehyun's eyes flashed in warning. "That's exactly what she is. It's my duty to protect--" 

"You're only seeing her as a Princess, and from what I've observed about Hanseul, she hates those terms the most. It's almost as if her title is a burden to her.... I'm pretty sure she would want to be able to make her own choices, and her choice has been to be with us." Lay stated. 

"And you need to be able to respect that decision." Kris agreed. 

"You need to consider her feelings as a person, too. As much of a good princess she wants to be, she's still a person." D.O. said.

Although he didn't want to admit it, and the more he thought about it, Daehyun knew that they were right. He knew Hanseul wasn't ten anymore and that she was more than capable of making her own decisions, but the fact that the twelve boys seemed to know her better than he did after all those years was shocking.

But this didn't mean that he didn't love her.

She was like his drug. He needed more and more of her.

That's why the idea of letting her go seemed preposterous.

He needed her; he loved her. 

Hanseul hopped in the car as Sehun the engine. 

"So where exactly are we going?" Hanseul asked.

Sehun smirked as he looked behind him to back up out of the driveway. "Wherever you want to go, jagi." 

Hanseul looked at him with closed trying not to burst out in laughter. 

Sehun gave her a befuddled look. 

"Did you seriously just call me jagi, oppa?" She said between fits of giggles. 

Sehun frowned. "Isn't it cute? Do you not like it?" 

Hanseul laughed again. "I dunno, I just didn't expect it from you. You didn't seem like the aegyo type." 

Sehun chuckled as he put on his belt.  "I am the maknae, you know." 

"What is up with you guys and cheesy pet names?" Hanseul teased with a smile. "Chanyeol oppa calls me baby, Kris oppa calls me baobei, and now you're calling me jagi when we haven't even bonded yet." 

Sehun's cheeks blushed as he pretended to focus on driving. "Well, when we were all pups, we all promised we would call our mates by different pet names." 

Hanseul's eyebrows raised themselves up skeptically. "Seriously?" 

Sehun cocked his head to the left. "Kind of. It was Baekhyun hyung's idea." 

Hanseul covered her head jokingly. "Does this mean the rest of you guys will have embarassing pet names for me, too?" 

Sehun scoffed. "Blame Baekhyun hyung. I personaly thought jagi was pretty endearing." 

Hanseul smiled. "I was just kidding, oppa." 

"Sureee." Sehun said. "Since you didn't really pick where you wanted to go, I'm going to take us out on a drive after getting some boba." 

Hanseul beamed at him. "Sounds good." 

Minutes later, Sehun and Hanseul arrived at the bubble tea store. Sehun put an arm around her shoulder. 

"What do you want, Hanseul-ah?" he asked. 

Hanseul tapped her chin. "Uh... hmm... strawberry?" 

Sehun chuckled as he looked at her expression. "Go save us a seat. I'll be right there." 

Hanseul nodded as she sat down at one of the empty tables. 

Sehun came back with a strawberry milk tea and a honeydew melon one. 

Hanseul smiled as she began sipping hers. 

"Ready to go?" Sehun smiled as he gestured to the car, Hanseul nodded and they started driving uphill. 

The timing was perfect when they arrived. The sun was beginning to set, and there was a beautiful red sunset above them. 

They sat still in the car with the windows down, letting the gentle fall breeze graze faces. Hanseul shivered a little bit. 

Sehun noticed and grabbed the blanket out of his trunk and wrapped it around themselves.

Sehun somehow found himself asking her a question. It just slipped out of his mouth, but perhaps it was because his heart wanted to know a little bit more about her.

"You look frustrated. Why?"