I ran alone in the corridor. Panic flushed through my system and I found it hard to be calm. Jongin was nowhere to be seen. It was my first time in the western wing, and I didn’t know where I should go. It was clear that if any of them went to check on the CCTV, I would be in the camera scope where everyone could see.

I could hear the clinging of metals by the walls, not far away from where I was. It didn’t freak me out as much as I expected. Looking around frantically, I tried to find a place where I could hide, but the corridor was walls and floors. There wasn’t anything to use, or any room to hide, so I continued running down the path.

“It’s Lady Sena!” One of them shouted in relief when they saw my back figure. I turned around and spotted two Genbu Elites approaching quickly. I threw my hands up and shouted back, “Hold up, two of you!” One had a tattoo of number 13 on his forehead, presumably the weakest of all the Elites, while the other one had a tattoo of number 6 on his arms.

“Hey, if you’re gonna take me down like this, it isn’t fair! It’s shameful, alright?! How am I supposed to fight two trained Elites on my own! If you have balls, why don’t you fight me one-on-one?”

They hesitated and stopped. I guess I could work on my persuasion since the words seemed to affect them, “It doesn’t sound too bad, does it? I mean, just because I want a one-on-one fight doesn’t mean that I would win, right? Look at me,” I pointed at the non-existent muscle on my frail arms. “I’m just a girl! As long as you give me a bit of handicap, that would be fine.”

No. 13 looked at no. 6 in doubt, then turned to me, “How could we be sure? Where is your protector? Wasn’t he with you a moment ago?” The other looked around to check if Jongin was around and stepped back a bit. Well, at least this one was smarter, “What if this is a trap?”

“Oh, come on, dude!” I sighed exasperatedly and looked at them in despair, “Didn’t you see his condition? He is injured! I left him somewhere so that he would not take parts in any of this! And even if he does show up, do you think an injured man could fight? He can’t because I told him not to!”

It was not that I left him somewhere – it was the other way around. I was dumped behind while we were running together. One moment he was behind me, but when I turned around, he was already gone – his steps too light and quiet that I couldn’t have known where he’d gone to. However, I knew well enough that Kim Jongin would never break his promise.

“She is right,” No. 13 agreed. Now I understood why he was the last in line. He looked too soft and too young to be a fighter – which meant that somewhere in that deep, dark shadow of his eyes, he still had the innocence and naivety most of us yearned for. “The Lady’s protector is injured. No matter how strong that man is, he couldn’t have beaten us together.”

No. 6 wasn’t so easily convinced. He looked back and forth, contemplating, and with a mocking voice that served as bait, he spoke meticulously, “And why can’t we use this chance to pounce on you? What if we care more about winning and losing than pride and dignity?”

“Come then, if you dare to – but shame on you, Genbu Elites. I have heard nothing but praises from Joonmyun about how good his Elites are, but if you dare to throw away your pride to team up against me, then shame on you and shame on him as well,” I clicked my tongue in distaste. They seemed to really bite on the string and hissed. On one hand, I was happy to see how loyal they were to Joonmyun, on the other – not so much because they were so easily lied to. Men and their vainness.

“Alright, Lady Sena. But may I be so bold as to suggest that should you insult our master anymore, we would not tolerate it further – fiancée or not,” No. 6 glared. I smiled and courteously nodded my head in apology. He stepped back a little and slid down the wall, “Seungkwan, you go first and I’ll observe.”

No. 13 Seungkwan was not as timid when he charged at me with full speed. His fighting style originated from China, and it was something I had seen and learnt from Yixing. Swiftly, I dodged and threw a powerful slap onto his neck, and a punch onto his stomach.

Seungkwan doubled over in pain and spat out blood from his mouth. I had hit an acupuncture point on his neck that rendered him immobile, hence once he fell onto the floor, he could only cough pitifully and looked at No.6 in helplessness. I guessed this was why he was the last one; Seungkwan was not quick enough, strong enough and smart enough. He just charged like a mad bull and ended up losing.

“What’s your name?” I threw No.6 a grin and stepped back a bit as he dragged Seungkwan to one corner. His eyes were stony, his lips pursed onto a thin, angry line. “You acted so weak and fragile and yet you win over Seungkwan in two hits. I am very impressed, Lady Sena, my name is Jisoo. Please forgive me for this offense.”

 Jisoo was much quicker. His steps were perfectly calculated and his punch hit me all of a sudden. I couldn’t even think straight when he tried to deliver another deadly blow and reacted instinctively. So I kicked him and bent over to avoid his hit. Ah, damn! I elbowed his stomach as I spat out blood from my mouth. The iron taste drove me to insanity as I continued to hit him while receiving punches and kicks.

“I’m sorry, Jisoo,” I slammed him onto the floor and choked him with my strength. “A game is a game. Honesty wouldn’t win you anything.” And with that, he fell unconscious with his teammate. I removed a tooth from my mouth and threw it upwards. Good. Two down. I swore I would give Jongin a good beating when he came back. And right at the moment, he chose to appear at the corridor’s end, arms folded and a prideful smirk plastered on his beautiful face. He was clapping.

“Not bad, Princess,” Jongin nodded in appreciation and waited until I got closer, “You actually manage to finish two Genbu Elites in less than thirty minutes.”

“Don’t talk, Kim Jongin, or I would punch you on the face as I punched them. And for your information, I got lucky because I’m a girl and I negotiate my way through,” I hissed. “What about you, jerk? Where did you go? How could you leave me behind without a word? Did you fight with anyone?”

“Oh, Princess, do not be so hasty. One question at a time,” Jongin slung an arm around my shoulder casually as we both walked together to the left path. It was still endless corridor, but with locked rooms. The light started getting darker as we walked along; turning from white to yellow to dimly light orange color. “I went to see a good match between Oh Sehun and the two Genbu protectors.”

“Is he wounded?” I asked warily.

“Of course, but he wouldn’t die,” Jongin’s joke was terrible today. I threw him a look and he shrugged, “But good news, the siblings passed out, so they lost. The bad news is that we lost Oh Sehun and Luhan since he wouldn’t be able to continue with blood and broken bones.”

“Bet Luhan’s pissed off,” I made a light remark, imagining the older boy frowning adorably.

“More than you think. He went to find Yixing and when he came back, Sehun’s already on the floor, badly beaten and full of wounds. He didn’t even get to fight,” Jongin chuckled happily. He seemed to enjoy Luhan’s misery. “And for your information, Minseok-Seungcheol’s pair is already taken care of by Taeyong. So we are now left with five more Elites pairs and Kim’s siblings.”

“That’s good. They’ve done well,” I wiped off the blood from my lips.

“Do you notice that the lamp is almost…?”

“I know. It’s like a scene from a horror movie,” Jongin nodded and looked around carefully. We seemed to have walked on the wrong route but we didn’t stop. Lost as we were, we continued walking cluelessly, “Who knows? Maybe this will lead to a prison filled with psychos or somewhere… else…”

“Yeah, stop that, Jongin. It’s not funny,” I shivered and subtly moved closer to him.

“I think I heard something,” He put a finger over my lips and I almost jumped in response. My heart was beating louder and I immediately latched my fingers onto the hem of his shirt. He suddenly laughed out loud and shook his head, “Oh goodness, Princess, I can’t believe that you are scared of ghosts.”

“Who says I am scared?” I glared. It was only then that we heard slow, but steady steps coming from our backs, and the sound of water dropping somewhere through the tube. I swore I had seen this scene from a horror movie where the main character encountered a ghost in the hallway. Jongin grabbed my wrist with one hand and put another over my mouth and pulled me into an empty room without light.

“What the hell?” I whispered to his ear and hid my face onto his shoulders. Jongin stiffened a little and caressed my hair to calm me down. I was trembling, frightened by the turn of event. We stayed in that position for a few minutes before Jongin pulled out his phone and lit up the light. “Where are we?”

The temperature was colder than the corridor, so I refused to let go of my only source of warmth. Jongin didn’t even move and returned the hug awkwardly, putting both of his hands around my waist so that we were skin-to-skin, and face-to-face. The only heat I felt rushed onto my cheeks as I blushed in the dark. He was so warm and comfortable, and just so huggable. I was still trembling a bit.

“I think we are in the storage room,” He answered with a normal voice. “And I think Kim Joonmyun is outside, so unless you want to face him directly, then we must stay inside for a while.”

“No,” I firmly replied, clutching onto his shirt like a baby. He smelt amazing, and the scent was driving me crazy, whether it came from his perfume or he just naturally smelt so good. It was only then, that I was reminded of his waist and arm injury and wanted to pull back, but he wrapped his hands around me just as firmly. “Kim Jongin, your injury…!”

“They are fine, can’t you feel it?” He gently put my hand on his abs. And oh Dear, what was he trying to do, for real? Was he trying to seduce me? His abs, for God’s sake – was driving me crazy. It was solid, rock hard. I almost cried in bliss. Forget the injury, my hand was under his shirt. I blushed even harder; my heart beat so loudly that something rang in my brain like an alarm. There were tears in my eyes from the embarrassment.

“Can I… Can you…?” I stuttered like an idiot and kept my eyes anywhere but him.

“Are you embarrassed?” Jongin chuckled heartily and let my hand go. It didn’t feel cold anymore because my body was heat up. I couldn’t deny anything and covered my face with both hands. I was so freaking shy at the moment I wanted to dig a hole and died in it. “Dear Princess, how can you be so adorable?”

He tried to pry my hands away but I wouldn’t give in.

“Hey,” His voice was a pitch lower and I was shamelessly aware of it. “Can I kiss you?”

“No,” I finally took my hands off and replied. I was still very much shy, but I wouldn’t let anything ruin my rationality right now. I couldn’t let those red, kissable lips distract me. I really couldn’t – no matter how plump they might be and how delicious they might taste. But damn, while I was staring at his lips, he was staring at my eyes.

“Not even a kiss?” His hand grazed my cheeks and I almost groaned in response.

“ you, Kim Jongin, just this once, then,” I scowled and kissed him first. It was hot, it was wild, it was insanely passionate. Joonmyun’s kisses were hot, but they were without feelings. There was no fireworks, no butterflies. Luhan’s kiss was so innocent and sweet I wouldn’t think much about it. But Jongin…

Jongin’s kiss was fairytale-described. It was like the bones in my body burnt to ashes and dusts. Our breathing were frantic together, chest-to-chest heaving up and down in symphony I couldn't describe. It was a maddening chaos, and yet, nothing seemed clearer at the moment. The thoughts of him flooded my mind and I couldn't think of anything else. I was absorbed in the kiss, and no one - and I thought truly no one - would be able to make me feel this way anymore. I was done, unraveled, unveiled. 

If his lips were a sin, then I would rather live in hell forever.

And strangely, when he kissed me back for the first time – I could see where my life was going for the next few decades. I could feel him with his doubt, insecurity, joy, love, and everything else all at once. I had never been kissed like I was the one and only girl. This was… different.

People said that the best way to find out how to recognize love was through a kiss. And suddenly I wasn’t so sure of Kim Jongin anymore…