Contrary to popular belief that Tiffany is a calculating , she has her ‘human’ moments. Well, she would like to believe that fact as well. As she flips the pancakes and catches the scent of brewed coffee ; her minds drifts off to a reality where everything is normal. She hears the sound of a door closing and turns to see Hyuna who hates waking up early in the morning and it ends her dream of a perfect morning. 

“ are you always this chirpy?” Hyuna asks, looking at herself in the mirror and glares at the nasty bruise on her neck. Their troupe leader, did not like what happened in here nights ago. He was not happy that Key got away, so they all had to accept his wrath. Her eyes travel to the sala, seeing G.O and Mir acting like complete jerks. 

“ STOP BEING SO DAMN NOISY YOU GITS!” she hollers before she stomps towards tiffany and accepts her orange juice. 

“ and are you always this y in the morning?” tiffany greeted back, a sweet smile in place. She calls to the two boys who refuses to hear her out. But this is one of the parts of her day that she loves. Tiffany remembers what it was like back in the manor but this is better. The resistance holds the answers to her questions and they are not treating her like a prisoner. 

“ I have to eat a lot , my coach says im losing weight. ” Mir complains as he plops down on a chair. He has a college scholarship for his swimming skills. Well, add the fact that he is a half-element. Half-blood. Whatever that is. He shrugs at the thought and continues to eat. 
A door opens and they all turn around to be greeted by their trusted senior. Rain. 

He all took them in, knowing that they are all lost and that together, they can make sense of their world. Misfits who had no family or well known bloodline. Castaways. The resistance stands for equality among those who have the power. They stand for independence to decide what to do with the gift given to them. 

“ you are early.” G.O states and Rain walks over to them, throwing file folders all over their table. 

“ HEY! IM EATING!” Mir called out but Rain slapped him in the back and he winced. 

“ we need to get to work, that masked man is pissing me off.” He replies thickly and tiffany rolls her eyes. Trust Rain to be angry at anyone who is supposed to be stronger than a resistant member. 

“ YES MY LORD - ” Hyuna says in a sing song tone and Rain raises his eyebrow. 

They finished eating and Tiffany excused herself, only to be cornered by Rain. She shivered at the thought of having to explain some things to him and the fact that the traitor is already inside the covenant. 

“ so, how’s school?”

“ really, you wanna start a conversation with that? You could do better.” Tiffany snapped. She still cannot forget that it was his idea to get Key in exchange for yoogeun. He thinks that it is better for them to have the trigger than an innocent child who can perform miracles. She had grown close to the boy and seeing Rain treat him like a thing to be exchanged. 

“ oh. Okay, how close are we to starting the apocalypse?” he put bluntly. 

“ very close – they are in my hands and if things go as planned- we will have that apocalypse. ” She replies and looks down on her feet. The truth is, she is not sure and their plan is not perfect. But she had to hope that the end will come. She cannot wait for the world to be rid of all these annoying weaklings. 

“ please do your best , the master is waiting for results. ”

She stalks off only to be met by Mir who is already dressed for school. He eyes her suspiciously as he thinks of something to say. 


“ what happens now? ” 

“ we will make sure that the world will end.” She states simply, 

“but we are not immortals, we will die from that nuclear power.” 

“ but I found someone who can resist it.” Her answer floors mir and he was out of words. Is there someone who can protect them all? Someone that strong? 

“ stop gaping Mir, it is possible and it will happen. They will come crawling back to us. ” She replies bitterly and Mir understand where she is coming from. 

“ we were always outcasts, people who did not fall in their perfect little circle of people, well its time to show them that we can fulfill our own destiny.” 

Mir listens and lets tiffany gather her thoughts. They are both pulled out from their conversation as G.O calls for them to get out and they will all be going out to attend classes. 

Before they stepped off, Tiffany held Mir’s hand. 

“ do you remember what they did to you when they found out about your power? ”

Mir hates to remember but it was hard to not look back. He was a normal kid, raised by his mother alone. Seven years old and he can control the water like he held some power. But he kept it and made sure no one saw him. As a child, he knew that people who are different will suffer. One night, he comes home only to find a group of strangers taking her mother away- separating them. 

“ you are dangerous,” they tell him but he does not understand the statement. How can he be dangerous when they are the ones beating him and his mother up? How can he be of danger when he tried his best to conceal his ability and not use it? Anger boiled in his body and a nearby store water tank burst. That was it. He was taken away. 

Locked up. 

Stowed away in an unknown location along with an old man who acted like his foster father. 

“ Mir?” Tiffany jolted him and he turns away. 

“ why are you asking?”

“ nothing, I just thought you should be reminded of why we should be fighting. We want the covenant dead. We want all the other humans annihilated, they cannot hurt us anymore.”

The door closes and the house is empty once more. It was a start of a normal day- but to them- nothing will bring back what they all once lost. Perhaps acceptance is all they need but a heart like theirs did not need such things anymore. 

Anger is enough to keep them alive. 


////////////////////
Onew’s Point of view. 

I watch Jino play with his breakfast and I momentarily want to personally cut his food and shove it down his throat so we can get out of here and talk. My brain is whirring from the alcohol from last night and what happened after. Don’t they ever relax? It’s like the resistance is on full fire right now, not even stopping for a breath in making sure that the covenant fails. 

“just eat it.” I command and he pouts, he is clearly irritated. He had been this way ever since that day I punched Key. He knows that we already made up but he is still making an effort to irk me. What happened to one of my best friends? Key had that quality in him- making people want to side with him and protect him. 

“ I apologized to key, so stop doing that –we need to talk. ” I pleaded and he grants my wish by finally starting to eat properly. 

“ I know. He told me, has it crossed your mind that maybe I just want to annoy you?” he laughs and I throw him a napkin. 

He is acting like nothing happened. Last night, a threat was given to us and through Key once more. I can still remember the fear in his eyes when we stepped inside his room. There it is again, someone is still after him and us. The message was more of a clue than a threat. 

Someone is a traitor? I cannot wrap my head around the concept.

“ Look, I know you want to talk about who the traitor is. You must know that TOP and GD are mad researching right now and doing background checks to get a clue.” Jino explains and I can only frown. That is not enough, I can feel that this traitor covered his/her tracks perfectly. 

“ we must not be lax, we need to find out who it is.”

“ yah, we will find that out, but if you forgot, our focus is the apocalypse. We need to find the trigger for minah first.”

My stomach did flips at his words. If he only knew, Key is the trigger. We haven’t really figured out how to keep that knowledge a secret. I agreed that we will keep it between us. 

“ yes. The trigger, ” I repeated and Jino continued eating. 

“ what are your plans for today?” he asks and I gather my things, I almost forgot. I should be going. 

“I will be taking Key to the Manor, give him a tour.”

“ oh. That’s nice of you- better show him around the garden .”

I wave goodbye and left, walking towards the parking lot. Key is already waiting for me and I can see his face flush as he looks at me. 

“ am I late? I was talking to Jino.” I reasoned,

“no, I just got in- so, shall we go to the manor?”

Taking the driver’s seat, I started and headed towards the Manor. This is not a friendly visit where I will show Key around (but I intend to). We are here to research about the trigger. The house is full of books that has information on the apocalypse, I remember my father reading about it when I was a kid. We could use a little information. 

“what do you reckon we’ll find there?” Key asks me as I turned a corner. 

“ information, answers on what will happen. I have heard stories, but its better if we read about it ourselves.”

He only nods in agreement and we enter the gates of the manor. I always feel safe in here but at the same time I remember the memories wash over me. Key takes it in and I think he likes the place. 

“it looks better in the morning, ” he comments and I remember that he came here in the masquerade party and it was dark and filled with people. 

“ I will give you a tour, don’t worry.”

Our butler greets us and Key is startled as we make our way to the library but I excused my self and made a detour to my room. He stands outside, taking in the look of my room. 

“ hey, come inside.” 

He shuffles his feet inside and plops down on a chair. I look for some clothes and extra hoodies as well. Key eyes the pictures on my wall and I explain it to them, 

“that’s my mom and my dad, im an only child.” I explain and he looks at the others. 

He seems guarded and I guess its because of what happened between us. He is cautious for whatever reason and I cannot command him to relax around me. 

“ hey, we’re okay. ” I blurt out and he relaxes, finally. 

“ sorry if im being uptight. This place is intimidating,” he explains and I smile at him. 

“ its your home now as well, ” Key’s eyes widen at my words and perhaps it because of the weight of my words. But its true. Any part of the covenant can consider this as home. Less commanding than the Palace if you ask me. 

“ really? You cant take that back.” He teased. 

“ but you wont get your own room yet.” He pouts at me and I can only usher him out. 

“ The library in here is better than the one at the Palace. Its passed down to generations of the Lee bloodline, ”

“so, you are a family of heroes?” 

“ you can say that.”

I recall walking towards the library when I was a child, holding my father’s hands as he told me stories about our ancestors. Different powers but all are heroes and leaders of their own right. The Lee bloodline is a strong one and was expected to bring about good in the world. 

We enter the library and I quickly went to one of the tables. I have pulled out all the books talking about the apocalypse and Key sat down next to me. 

“ no kidding, this is bigger than the university library.”

“ not really, uni has 3 floors, we only have one.” I pointed out but he quickly gets one book and starts to read. We do not talk that much as I myself am absorbed in reading. After two hours, we are called for lunch and I am glad that its time to eat. 

“what do you think?” I ask.

“I learned a lot Onew. Thanks. But I think we need a plan to stop this apocalypse from happening. If the resistance is telling the truth about the traitor, then we must be extra careful.”

“ you’re right, TOP and GD are investigating on that- in the meantime. We have to be vigilant.”

I hate talking business when eating, it dampens my mood all the more. Honestly, the only plan I have in my mind is to make sure that Minah and Key have no opportunity to be vulnerable. The capsule is not the answer, I should know. Tiffany got out of there. What they need is to learn how to protect themselves from danger. We finished eating and I invited Key over the garden, His eyes lit up at my invitation.

“ Jino told me it’s a magical place.” He explains.

“ what else did he say you should see?”

“ your room. ” he replies, not looking at me but he continues walking in a quick pace. When we reached the garden, he held his breath and I stare at him. 

The universe decided to trick me and the sun just hit Key’s face in the right moment and I had to catch my breath. Here he is, standing before me and innocently looking out at the variety of flowers and that one knowledge tree that was here ages ago. After all my time with him, I thought I would have been more prepared. But seeing him this way made me choke. In this moment it was made more clear, the fact that I have known for a long time. 

Key is beautiful. Was it the wrong word to use? But it feel so right, so apt to what is before me. He turns to look at me, he Is saying something but I forget it. 

“ can we walk over there?” I finally hear his words and I nod. He does not walk, but he runs through the garden and I keep my slow pace. 
I suddenly remember what my father told me. That this garden is a magical place. For all of the evil that is happening outside, this place brings out solace and the environment just made you want to be happy. He even shared that in this place is where he realized that he will marry my mother. So maybe its just the magic of the garden that had me getting butterflies in my stomach as I look at Key. 

“ hey! Slow down.” I call out to him and he halts. 

“ are you sure we can do this?” he bites his lips and looks up at me. I have the sudden want to have my teeth sink on his lips. What he hell? 

“ stop the apocalypse I mean.”

“ anything is possible and I don’t think something as bad as that will happen when Heroes like us are alive.” I managed to smirk and keep these foreign thoughts out of my head. 

“ you really believe in your power don’t you?”

“why wouldn’t i? it’s the best thing about me.”

His phone rings and he answers it as he mouths the words ‘jino says he’s here.’ I groaned at that/ Trust Jino to take every opportunity to make this into a museum tour for Key. We meet him jumping up and down the parking area and he ran towards me. 

“did you take him to the full tour?”

“no, that’s your job.” I stated and he smiles at me. 

“ right you are, NOW. Key, I will take you to a tour. ”

Key agrees and I feel sorry for him, he will be exhausted after this. I take JIno aside and whisper to him. 

“do not tire him out okay, and why are you always on his side?” I complain. Irritated. 

“ jealous?” he sniggers and I punch him lightly.

“ shut up.”

“ but he looks really interested in the Manor, I cant resist giving him the full tour. Don’t worry, his last stop will be your bedroom.”
He winks. He ing winks at me and I shake my head. Did he know what I was thinking that time? I remove the thought from my head and jogged inside the house. 

This is nothing. Just a fluke. I will get over this. I say this over and over again and willed myself that maybe, it will go away.

Key’s POV. 

I am tired. My mind kept telling me as I tried to eat dinner. Jino is telling is a story about the party the other night. Giving us details of who passed out and who broke up. It was entertaining and I hope I am smiling and nodding at the right moments. Onew is looking at me and I see the concern in his eyes. This is progress. I think. I am reminded of what will happen to us, years from now. 

Will we be living in this Manor? 

Will we spend our mornings walking in that garden? 

My cheeks flushed at my thoughts and I looked down on my food. Im way ahead of myself for thinking this way, but a life with him is so clear in my head that I can almost touch it. 

“ you can stay the night. ” I look up at onew and he repeats his words. Jino is looking strangely giddy at this invitation. 

“ yes! Yes! You can stay in my room.” Jino offers and Onew glares at him. 

“ you will keep him awake all night Jino, he needs to rest. ”

“ so he will be staying in your room then?” Jino offers and I feel the blood rush out of my body. I cannot stay in the room with him and not feel uncomfortable. The last time I laid in bed with him- well. Images of our night together, my night with the future onew left me wanting to bolt out and go back to my bed.

“ he will. ” Onew smiles and I couldn’t say no.

“ that would be wonderful.”

I should seriously learn how to say no. 

His room is glorious and I have to say that Onew really lived a privileged life. His bed is large enough that I won’t be able to reach out for him when we fall asleep. Thank god. 

“ this room is like a whole house.” I comment and he raised his eyebrow at me.

“ if you put it that way, I guess that it is really my house. I spent my time holed up in here and the others made it a point to have this room as a meeting place.” He explains and he lays in bed. As much as I want to reach out and embrace him- I must stop. I must give him time. This onew is different and conflicted. I cannot just slap him and tell him the truth. What would I say? ‘ hey im your future fiancée and this is our wedding ring, and did I mention that I wil die- so you came back cause you want to save me.’ But the thing that is nagging me all along is what the future onew told me.

The apocalypse is inevitable. He knows that. Perhaps it was written in the stars or what. I motioned to lie down as well. A good distance away from Onew. I can hear him breathe and I close my eyes. 

“ what if the apocalypse is something we cannot stop?” I ask and I feel the bed shift. He is probably turned towards me now. 

“ I think about that too, it happened years ago right? In history. Even religious book have that prediction but we have to HOPE.” He answers and I want to tell him the truth. I know that he Is thinking about how to stop this all. 

“ the book I read says that the apocalypse will not really be the end for all humanity, but the start. Do you believe that?”

“ there is no clear description, but I agree, it will be more of a start that an end. ”

I challenge him and replied, “so why stop it?”

Silence overpowers us and I want to just pass out right now but my nerves just got the better of me. As much as I want to stop Minah from setting everyone in danger, I feel like no matter what else we do. We could not stop it. The future onew did not tell me what happens to the apocalypse. 

“ you think too much,” he jokes and im glad that this conversation is over. But what if we are wrong about this apocalypse? I have to ask the future onew next time. If he turns up. 

“ I need some sleep~ ” I announce and I pull my blanket up. I can feel Onew even if we have this distance between us. The urge to reach out to him is almost unbearable now.

“good night. ” he whispers but I hear it clearly. 

Closing my eyes, I drift off to sleep and hopefully, I will dream about happier things. Dreaming is way better than what I have in reality now. 

Taemin’s POV 

Hey,

How have you been? Im sorry if the blackouts are so recent now. I guess its because we are so close to danger. Ive been talking to minho in the lapses and I am surprised at what is happening. Please take care of minho for me, okay? I gather that he is very fond of you and that he wants to keep you safe. To tell you the truth, I am a bit jealous. But a ghost ; someone like me who is already dead and but a soul have no right to make my mark on the living. So I just ask you to look out for him. I do not know of what you feel for him but I know that you see him as an important friend atleast. 

I am sorry that you have to get through this. I will separate myself from you when we win against the resistance. I am telling this to you alone. I know the way to extract my soul from you so that I can cross over to the other side. But not now. I haven’t fulfilled my duty as a hero yet. 
Please be patient. & thank you. 

Taeyeon.


I crumpled the paper in my hand and kept it inside my notebook. She cleverly placed this on the mirror so I wont miss it. This is the first time that she talked to me and I want to punch her in the face for assuming that I will grant all her wished. About Minho, well. I was doing that already. 

“are you there?” I hear minho call out from the bathroom. He had to quickly change here. Thank god that key is not here or he will make those horrendous jokes about us being a couple. How I wish. We are not exactly together but there is something there. We just won’t say it out loud. Saying it would make this complicated situation we are in more real than ever. 

“yeah. Are you headed to the manor after this?” I ask. 

“ yes, but we still have to make a detour in the Palace. ”

I sighed. I thought we already escaped this. Well, I thought I escaped this. Minho arranged a meeting with Lina, telling me that she wants to meet us and she will tell us something. She had come to her senses according to him but I cannot bear to see that woman again. After what she did to me. Its been a staple nightmare of mine and I shudder involuntarily as Minho confirms that we will ended see her. Sensing my discomfort, he holds my hand and squeezes it tight. 

“ you will be fine, she cannot touch you.”

I hold his words in my heart and we both headed out. Seeing Lina there inside the capsule in her own cell is making me feel sorry for her. I understand the madness that comes with Love and crazy or not I find her loyalty to Taeyeon almost commendable. 

“ Lina,” minho greeted her, his voice in monotone. 

“ you came,” she said, more to me than to minho. 

“ im sorry kid, I just needed her to be with me again and- I wasn’t thinking.”

“sure you are.” Minho snapped. 

“ I know you are angry- but I have no more excuse. And I am paying for it all here, in this capsule cell, all alone with no one to talk too.”
Is she making me feel guilty? Cause if she is, she is succeeding at a high rate. I look away and Minho moves closer. 

“ we need to know if there is another way to remove taeyeon from him, without killing taemin. ”

I cringe at his questions. I did not tell him that taeyeon knows how and she will tell me how. Was she even telling me the truth? 

“ I don’t know much, you must ask taeyeon.” Lina replies and I walk away, I suddenly want to leave. Minho notices this and he follows me. 
“we need to know how to get her out of you.” He informs me and I face him,

“ I know, taeyeon told me that she will tell me how, soon, ”minho looks at me disbelievingly,

“ you can talk to her? But how?”

“ no. I don’t talk- we don’t talk, she wrote me a letter.”

He only nods at this and we walk out. Why can’t we talk about something else? Why do our conversations have to be limited to the world’s demise and how to resolve my problem of someone else’s soul in my body. Im getting sick of this. I stop on my tracks and Minho halts as well. 

“ im tired.” I croak out. 

“ ok, I will take you home.” Minho replies but im still immobile.

“ no. im tired of this, whatever this is. ” he catches my intention and he looks at his feet. So, he isn’t exactly a genius about this too? With him being a soccer superstar and every other person wanting him – you’d think he will know more about this. 

“ my mother thought me this- for ten minutes, let us tell each other the truth. No holds barred. Just the truth, START.” Minho chimes in and my brain tries to process what he is saying. But before I can even think of something to say, he launches into his ten minute truth speech. 

“ I LOVE TAEYEON. Im not gonna lie, cause you can’t just go from practically living with someone practically all your life –and she’s all I know. You have to understand, ”

My breath hitches. No. no. please no. he can’t be telling me how much he loves Taeyeon and not me. 

“and she dies and nothing makes sense to me. I don’t know if you felt that as well, so. But then I see you- and you look exactly like her –and its like- ”

“STOP. PLEASE.” I plead but he hushes me and continues. 

“ I WANTED TO PASS out and wake up , but you’re real. And – different. You look exactly the same but you’re not her. Im not going to lie, this- what we are doing, trying to get her out of you is getting harder. I do not know if I want to keep that part of her with me. But when I saw you dying, because of Lina- I just knew. You are what’s important now. Wheter you accept that or not. ”

I close my eyes, I was not ready for this truth just yet. But I look into his eyes and he looks at his watch, I can tell that he is running out of time. 

“ I understand if you want to stay this way. Us going on roadtrips to exorcise someone out of you. Talking about the end of the world, me sleeping right next to you so you won’t have too much dreams . its okay. Let’s keep this up.” He says hopefully and keep quiet. I move closer to him and I realize I should be brave. I have to jump off the cliff now. Figuratively or not. 

“ I don’t need ten minutes for this.” I breathe and move closer. 

Just a little more. 

And my lips were on his and I wonder how I survived this long without this in my life. His breath is hot against mine and I grip him closer, cause I want to know if this is real. I got my answer afterwards as he pushes towards me. Our bodies closer than before and I knew that I am ready for this. 

Taeyeon. 

I talked to Lina today, i admit I am jealous that you have someone like her who loves you and will do everything for you. She looks fine and strangely at peace. Maybe you can give her a letter if you can. It will mean so much to her. 
I learned this from Minho, so this is the moment when I tell you everything. The truth is, I hate you. Ite because of you that I am stuck in this mess where I am always in danger. I almost died. I have sleepless nights. Black outs and sometimes im scared that I did something bad without my knowledge. But if there is one thing I am happy about is- in a way, I found who I am because of what happened. There are things bigger than me and the next dance competition. Greater than my literature homework and this cheerleader who wants to make my life a living hell. 

So, what im saying is. THANK YOU. They all judge you and what you did for the world. What they failed to understand is that you did this to save the world, nevermind if they hate you and if you suffer in the process. Your visions help us a lot. Thank you for letting me meet the people from the covenant. And most of all, if it wasn’t for you I would not have met Minho. And this is where I apologize. I tried to keep my heart in check and forget him. I try to quit. I try to push it aside but the pull Is too strong. So here it the plain truth, I love Minho. I love him that I am willing to be your ‘host’ just so I can help him in his cause. I love him that I will be willing to help the covenant and whatever he tells me too. 

You sure as hell will not be comfortable with this but it’s the truth. And I guess it’s the power of a letter rather than saying this in your face. 


Till then. 
Taemin. 


Key’s POV

I woke up feeling better than possible. I rolled off the bed and replay what happened, oh yes. Im here. In Onew’s bed. I blushed at the thought. As soon as I stand up, I see a note on the mirror. 

Key,
Breaksfast is downstairs. Eric needs me. 
-onew. 

I read it about a hundred times. I know this is not in the last bit a romantic note or like that. But I can totally get used to his. Waking up in his bed and reading notes when he is gone. I fix myself and go down the stairs. I see Professor K playing the piano and I am delighted to see him. 

“ been a long time,” he greets me and I pout. 

“ yes, you know being a stupid git who gets himself kidnapped and all.” I answer and he chuckles. 

“ so, you finally had the tour of the manor?”

“yes, Jino was a very convincing tour guide.” I comment and our eyes both glaze over the wall filled with pictures of all the families including the covenant. 

“what bloodline are you?” I ask and Professor K goes back to playing the piano. 

“ no one.” He says in a tone that I can almost take as singing, 

“what do you mean? ”

“ I just said, I have no bloodlines. Im alone in my entire family, ”

I sympathize. I am the same as him. Freaks of our nature. We have no one to look up to but this made me admire him more. Without anyone to look up to, he still grew up to be this man.

“Key,”

I turned to see Luna, calling me and telling me that breakfast is ready. We are the only ones in the table and I make It a point to keep my mouth full to have an excuse to not talk to her. She is uncomfortable and she keeps on opening then closes it. Thinking of what to tell me. 

“ key, I am telling the truth, when I told you I wanna be friends. You are part of the covenant and onew sees you as someone important.”

You have no idea. I whisper in my head but I look at her and I can only nod. 

“thank you Luna, I appreciate it.”

She smiles at me and her eyes are still shifting, “ I don’t really have that much friends to ask, but onew and jino keep telling how good you are with fashion and all.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Ofcourse, trust those two to brag about my fashion sense. 

“ not really,” I downplay but she quickly fishes out a box. I gasp as she opened it, inside are 5 different kinds of ring bands and I stare at her. 

You have go to be kidding me. 

“which one do you like?” she asks,

“WHY?” I blurt out and she blushes. 

“ You see, its been a long time and- ”

No. no. no. this is a dream I chant to myself but she keeps on talking and I want to run away or maybe put my hands on my ears just so I will not hear what she will I say next. 

“ with the apocalypse and the covenant feels like we are running out of time. And I don’t want to not do this. I know you might think im crazy,”

Yes you are crazy. Please stop talking. 

“ Key, you are the first one I will tell this too. But, I am planning to ask Onew to Marry me.”

I blink my eyes rapidly and realize that this is real. I am not dreaming. Quoting what Taemin told me days ago, I am repeating it in my head right now. I am going to die.