Going back to his apartment probably wasn't a good idea because he was in no condition to be alone. Yet, he was even less suited for company right now and the animated chatter echoing around their temporary residence was beginning to get on his nerves. He was craving silence – or Lily but she was out of the question now – even if it meant he'd have to spend the entire night battling his nightmares.

At least, he won't accidentally freeze someone as he'd done with Lily. And more recently, Lay, though the Legend had just smiled and waved it off, sending enough healing energy in his system to knock him out and sleep dreamlessly for once.

Suho didn't look too happy with his decision but he'd always respected his choices and only told him to call if he needed anything. Xiumin deliberately avoided Luhan because he didn't want his too-perceptive eyes watching him, guessing his thoughts and voicing them aloud. He just wanted to be alone and wallow in his misery.

The apartment was dark – he hadn't gone back ever since their break-up because Lily was still frequenting the shop and he hadn't wanted to make it harder for her or himself. The new manager, Ken, greeted him quite cheerfully but backed off when he glared, obviously sensing he wasn't in the mood to interact. Xiumin told him to close up early and leave because he didn't want anyone near him.

His bed was made, like it usually was because both of them were neat freaks.

Despite the fact that she hadn't left anything behind, every room seemed imbibed with her presence. He looked at the kitchenette and he saw her, making breakfast. The bedroom was infused with her scent that refused to be buried under the aroma of the air-freshener and every single piece of furniture screamed her name. Her fingers had lingered there, her body had touched it.

He didn't realize just how long he stood in the middle of his living room, staring around and trying to remember, to picture her bustling around his apartment like she bustled around the shop. Or lazing about, unlike herself, because she liked being lazy with him.

It made his heart ache but then again, it hadn't stopped aching since he'd broken up. He hated himself for doing it, even if he knew it was for her own good. He hated himself for his inability to claim her as was his right, to mark her as his so he didn’t have to make this painful choice.

The room began to feel suffocating, became overwhelming as his emotions rose and swirled, getting out of control. Anger and hurt. Anger at himself, hurt because of her. He had done it because it was necessary but she hadn't fought for him either. She'd taken it so calmly, so easily like their breaking up was nothing.

Sure she cried – he, more than anyone knew the warmth of her heart, of course she'd cried but… if she'd really wanted him, she would've fought for him, right? She didn't give up if she really wanted something – she'd gone against all odds and completed her studies, graduated from the university and even started her own business. She was a fighter, so why hadn't she fought for him as well?

Because we aren't mates.

The thought made rage rise inside him like a tidal wave. Irrational, violent anger and he lashed out, throwing a punch at the mirror he'd been unconsciously staring at, hating himself. If he'd claimed her, as he should've been ing able to when he kissed her, when he took her…

His breath ragged, he stared at the blood running down his reflection's forehead, frost spreading out from the point where his hand touched, water condensing into tiny crystals rapidly. Too rapidly, perhaps, but he didn’t care. Even if this entire room froze, even if the whole ing building froze, what use was that? It wouldn't bring her back and he could freeze everything but with his heart thawed, he would still hurt. Still pine. Still suffer.

His eyes were red but he ignored that too. What was the point anyway? What use was the beast when it hadn't claimed her like it was supposed to? Why hadn’t it come to the forefront then? Why? He had no use for it now, no reason to set it free and he tried pushing it back but it snarled inside him, echoing the same rage he'd been feeling, the same overwhelming sense of loss.

Snarling himself, he turned away so he wouldn't have to look at himself and found himself staring out into the darkened street. He didn't know how long had passed since he'd come back but it was bound to be late. Not that it mattered, he wasn't going to sleep anyway but Suho expected them all to be diligent about their duties and seeing as he'd done all of this to save her from Evil, he wasn't going to go lax about it.

Sighing, feeling only marginally better after freezing his entire room, he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes.

Of course, Lily's face was the first to flash behind his eyelids, her expression so melancholic when she'd said goodbye. Like she was never coming back.

His heart cramped and the beast howled in protest. She had to come back when they beat Evil, she simply had to.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge it. He'd vented once, he couldn't afford to keep having these emotional breakdowns when there was so much to be done.

The darkness seemed impenetrable through the window's glass, reminiscent of the Abyss and he stared into it as if challenging Evil to show himself, face him instead of taunting him in his dreams. Or when he was awake…

Don't hurt Choomin!

He must've misheard her… or maybe it was just a coincidence? Xiumin and Choomin were kinda similar, though it didn’t explain why Rose was suddenly trying to protect him. From what he knew about the girl, what Lily had shared about her, she was quite the firecracker and not afraid to pick a fight. She'd be more than willing to land a punch herself, so why…?

He'd been staring at the same spot, lost in his thoughts, so it took him a moment to realize what he was looking at.

A pair of eyes, dull red like the abbies', yet somehow tinted with gold, stared back at him

He blinked and the eyes vanished.

He didn’t think twice, throwing open the window and jumping out. A sheet of ice formed beneath his feet as he slid down, hurrying towards the place where he'd seen the red spots.

If Evil or any of his minions were here, he'd make sure to capture them. The belt around his waist held a lot of things that might come in handy and he unclipped the flashlight with one hand, the other poised for a strike, to release the tiny icicles that'd freeze and lock his opponent in place.

The light beam landed on a familiar face and Xiumin's hand stopped as they both blinked in confusion.

'Chen?'

'Ya, ya what are you doing?' Chen raised his hands in front of him defensively, 'it's just me!'

'What…?'

'Were you going to attack me?' He asked incredulously, staring at Xiumin's fingers, poised to snap. Xiumin ignored his question, staring at the Legend in front of him suspiciously. Evil had played this game with them as well and they'd learned not to fall for the same trick twice. Besides, he was sure what he'd seen were Abby eyes.

'Who are you?' He asked menacingly. He was not in a good mood and Evil had picked the wrong night to mess with him.

'Chen,' the Legend replied, backing off warily, 'Swear!'

Xiumin was still unconvinced so he sighed, lowering his hands. 'Okay, I'll prove it.' Nodding, he snapped his fingers; lightening flashed and thunder, loud and clear, echoed overhead.

Xiumin lowered his hand, letting it fall loosely at his side. 'What're you doing here at this time of the night?'

'Um… couldn't really sleep so I thought I'd help Kris out tonight?' He offered a large smile. 'Didn't mean to scare you.'

'Did you see anything here?' He glanced around to see if there were any other clues.

'Nope, it's just me.'

Xiumin glanced at him again, still a little suspicious, but Chen only offered another friendly grin. 'What?'

He shook his head and turned around. 'Wait for me, I'll join you.'

'Sure.' Xiumin headed back, choosing to take the door instead of climbing back in through the window, and neither Legend noticed the flash of red that appeared in the trees behind where Chen was standing before it vanished again.

………………………………………..

They were never going to kiss if everyone kept interrupting them like this, Raina thought crossly as she sat squished between Baekhyun and Kai, wincing a little when Baekhyun belted out the high notes a little too enthusiastically.

Tao was glaring at the Legend, slouching sulkily in place with Sehun's arm around his shoulders and huffing in irritation every time Baekhyun cheered at unlocking a new achievement.

When he'd said they would hang out and go karaoke, Raina had assumed they'd be alone. And going by Tao's expression, he had assumed that as well.

He'd found her pacing in the corridor as she wondered if she should knock on his door or wait for him to come get her because she didn't want to appear too eager – something to do with feminine mystery if she correctly recalled what Chen and Baekhyun had said – and he'd seemed pleased by her attire.

At least she assumed that's what his noncommittal grunt meant when he'd seen her – that she was passable. He hadn't said anything, just averted his eyes and started marching towards the exit and she hoped he'd told Suho they were going out because she didn't want to get locked out.

D.O was quite vicious if anyone stayed outside without informing him first because he was in charge of security. He'd locked Baekhyun and Chen outside when they'd decided to go for a midnight snack and it had taken their combined yowling outside Suho's window (and the consequent interruption of Suho's lovemaking if his waspishness was anything to go by) to get back in and they'd clung to Chanyeol, sniffing and whining as the Legend stumbled under their combined weights.

'Don't you love us?' Baekhyun had asked, making puppy eyes at D.O who'd only rolled his own and kicked his hands away.

Needless to say, Raina did not want to resort to such drastic measures. Maybe Tao could ninja his way back to his room and enter the passcode to let her in? That way, she wouldn't have to face an angry D.O. – last semester given her enough exposure to foaming-at-the-mouth-crazy D.O to last her a lifetime and she really wanted to see his cute, gentle side more so she could promote him to Kyra. Chen was nice and all but Kyra was being a little , avoiding D.O (and her own feelings) like that and…

When Tao's hand brushed against hers, she all but jumped out of her skin. Crap. She'd been thinking about random stuff so she wouldn't have to think about their impending date. They'd be alone, together, in the karaoke bar…

She gulped, heat rising over her face. After this morning's almost kiss, the butterflies in her stomach were worse than ever and he wasn't helping anything, looking like he did. And did he have to wear so many accessories? It made her notice weird things like his fingers and his hands and his ears and the jaw and neck leading up to it. And the mouth. He had so many piercings, it made her wonder how he'd look with a piercing on his lip.

She gulped again, feeling a little short of breath and strangely thirsty. This was bad.

Then he turned to look at her, probably to ask if she wanted some snacks because they were in front of a tuck shop right outside the bar, and time slowed to a halt. His eyes were half-mast as he looked down at her and his hair fell most enticingly into his eyes, fingers flicking to push the fringe out of the way. Sounds faded into the background and he seemed to fill her vision until she could see nothing else…

'Raina?' He prodded, a tiny smirk pulling at his lips and she shook her head, dazed. 'Huh?'

'Want something to drink?' She her lips, feeling the dryness in and nodded. 'S-sure.'

His fingers brushed against hers when he passed the drink, before he took her other hand firmly in his – she tried not to swoon on the spot – to tug her towards their room. There was enough space to spread around but he still sat next to her, leg brushing against hers as they sipped their drinks in silence, her hand still in his, thumb caressing over her knuckles absently.

After a while, he seemed to realize what he was doing because he pulled his hand away and she tried not to feel too disappointed when he stood up.

'What'd you wanna play?' He asked her, looking through the playlist. She shrugged noncommittally first – she wasn't that great a singer to be honest, she was sure she'd at everything anyway – before remembering something.

He'd said he liked to rap and the only she'd heard him rap was at that stupid face off with those gangster boys Baekhyun had befriended – XXX gang, though she'd heard they went around calling themselves Bangtan Boys these days – and that hardly counted.

'Something with rap?' He looked pleased as he selected a song and hit play. She watched in fascination as he started before he threw a spare mic at her. 'Help me with the chorus.'

'But…' he glared at her so she shut up and picked the mic. Hopefully she wouldn't sound like a dying goat or a mournful cat.

Ten minutes later, he'd collapsed on the floor, pointing and laughing as she pouted sulkily. She'd never claimed she could rap.

'Shut up,' she muttered, blushing. 'It's not that funny,' she insisted, stamping her foot but he only rolled to his side, clutching his stomach. 'It's not…'

She threw the mic down and sat into a corner, turning her face away. 'You're mean…' she pouted, crossing her arms defensively.

He kept laughing for a while, shrill and girlish unlike his appearance – then again, he was a walking, talking mass of contradictions but she was not going to think about him because she was mad. She sniffed a little, then stiffened when he slid in beside her.

'Raina…' he sang, lightly pulling on her ponytail.

'Go away, I'm mad at you,' she turned her face away, staring at the wall.

'Why?' He teased, 'I really liked your rap – you should do it more often.'

'Don't make fun of me!' she huffed, irritated and shrieked when breath hit her neck. 'What the…'

Her words trailed off at finding him so close. He was smiling happily as he looked at her and it made her heart skip a couple of beats even as she locked her limbs in place so they wouldn't give out on her if he swooped in to claim her lips.

She knew the moment he decided that because she was staring at him and observing even the slightest change in his expressions. So she noticed when his eyes dropped to , smile slowly fading and eyes taking on a reddish tint.

Her breath stilled, anticipation uncoiling in her stomach as he leaned the rest of the way in. Heart thudding like a jackhammer, she kept her eyes open until the last moment, watching everything unfold in slow motion before her eyes finally closed as his breath hit her lips, making them tingle.

The crash of the door made her squeal in surprise, hand slipping as she fell back and hit her head on the edge of the sofa. Tao, however, looked mightily pissed off as he turned to glare daggers at whoever had interrupted them.

Baekhyun grinned unrepentantly, 'Thought you could have fun without me?'

Kai had the grace to look sheepish as he stepped in after Baekhyun, who'd immediately slipped in between her and Tao and was busily swiping through the playlist.

And then, Sehun followed, Tiffany in tow. Raina shot her a betrayed look and she mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' looking guilty but nothing could be done now. As Baekhyun proceeded to sing his head off, Raina turned to Kai. 'Why?' she whined under her breath, looking at him accusingly.

'I had no idea he planned to barge in on you two, swear…' Kai justified, still looking sheepish. 'You know I'm rooting for you.'

'Whatever.' Sulking, she stared at the trio sitting opposite her. Tao looked irritated but Sehun was staring at her, smirking teasingly as he wrapped an arm around Tao's shoulder. Probably to rub it in her face that how much closer than her he was to Tao. Annoyed – what? She wanted to wrap her arm around him – she looked away and caught Tiffany's eyes.

Tiffany nodded towards the exit and slipped off her seat, 'I'll be back in a mo.'

Raina didn't want to talk to her – how could her own best friend betray her like this? – but her tummy felt like it'd explode if she didn't share that they'd almost kissed, so she followed after her.

'I'm so sorry,' Tiffany apologized the moment they were alone, 'Sehun was grumpy because of this morning, so I thought he'd cheer up if we went out. And then, Baekhyun overheard when I said we could join you guys later – I totally meant to text you first and…'

'Tiff, we almost kissed.' Raina said, tummy fluttering at the thought and Tiffany shut up. 'What?'

'He kissed me…' she repeated, unable to stop the grin spreading over her face, 'or well, almost kissed me since you guys interrupted us but Tiff, he wants to kiss me!!!!'

Simultaneously squealing, they hugged and danced around each other happily before stopping and laughing out loud. 'This is awesome!'

'I know.' Raina couldn't stop smiling the rest of the time they were together and she was still smiling when she went to bed that night.

…………………………………… 

A/N

They are not kissing any time soon :P