Chapter 4

You are My Destiny

Raina had been staring at him for a while now – since the moment he'd come in, as a matter of fact, strutting in like it was his personal ramp before claiming one of the front seats – and she still couldn't bring herself to step out from behind the stage, like Kai and Sehun, and go talk to him. 

Was it her fault he was so handsome? She had a weakness for handsome; she couldn't form coherent thoughts, let alone words, in wake of any beauty – heck,

Tiffany had intimidated her; Baekhyun and Lay still did, though thankfully she didn't lose her tongue – let alone someone who literally made time stand still. 

Tao swore his fever was over and he wasn't doing anything, so Raina had no choice but to accept the simple fact – she was in love. Hopelessly so. Mei, the love expert in their group of friends, had assured her that the time-slowing-thing was the trademark of true love and well...

It was more than just that, though. After that fateful battle with Evil, when she'd suspected for a while that he'd actually died… she swallowed. She'd realized how much he meant to her, then – or well, after waking up, when she'd found herself desperately looking for him. Not Kyra, whom she most assuredly loved. Nor Lay, whom she thought she loved. But Tao. 

She sighed, feeling like an idiot leaning against the pillar and melting at the sight but her legs had refused to cooperate with her and were firmly rooted to the spot. 

Beside her, Tiffany sighed – more like huffed in irritation – as well. 

'Why isn't he pushing her away?' She muttered angrily. 

'Huh?' Raina blinked, coming out of her Tao-induced haze. 'Who?'

'Sehun…' Tiffany hissed, looking extremely annoyed.

Raina followed her gaze, eyes landing on Sehun, who'd left Tao to get on the stage and was now ing his hips and obviously showing off his dance moves to the bunch of girls who'd gathered around him and one of them was…

'Oh.' 

'Take you ing hand off him!' Tiffany lunged forward and Raina wrapped an arm around her torso to hold her back. The heels made her stumble but she regained her balance enough to stop Tiffany from doing something rash. 

'Chill out, she's just his project partner…' she reasoned.

'I don't care – she'd better take those claws off him or I'll…'

'Tiff, relax.' She patted her shoulder, trying to calm her down, 'it's just this once. We all have to perform couple dances, trust me, he doesn’t even look at her.' 

'Then what do you call that?' Tiffany shrilled, pointing her finger accusingly.

Raina sighed, followed her gesture and…

'Oh.' 

Maybe Sehun had a death wish. Or he didn’t know the extent to which a jealous Tiffany could go. Either ways, he really needed to stop looking at the girl and take his hands off her waist or there'd be mass destruction here and they didn’t even need Legend powers for that. Tiffany alone would be enough. 

His mate-radar must've gone off. Or maybe his self-preservation instincts. Either ways, he turned around, searching for something before his eyes landed on Tiffany and he broke out into a smile, eyes crinkling into tiny crescents. 

Beside her, Tiffany melted like chocolate, anger evaporating as quickly as it had appeared. She giggled when Sehun bounded to her, pulling her up on the stage and twirling her around before catching her in his arms when she stumbled. 

Moments later, they were busy gazing into each other eyes, slowly closing the distance between their mouths and Raina thought Tiffany truly had forgotten about Sehun's partner. 

Until, that is, she spied the bird Tiffany was flipping at the poor girl behind Sehun's back. The girl's eyes widened in surprise before she turned away with a huff.

Shaking her head at her friend's tactics, she turned to stare a bit more at Tao. 

Only to stumble in surprise at finding herself face to chest with him. 
……………………………   

She looks beautiful. 

Tao blinked at the sudden thought but it was, in fact, true. Right now, she really did look beautiful, hair pulled back in a high ponytail and just enough makeup to highlight her features. For once, she was wearing clothes that actually complemented her figure, her toned stomach exposed by the cut top and long legs gracefully encased in black pants. Simple but y. 

And the heels. 

He liked heels. 

Feeling heat rise to his cheeks – he'd been blatantly checking her out – he cleared his throat. 'Ya, careful! What if you fell?' 

'H-hi Tao.' She muttered, throwing her head down. If her hair had been loose, it would've fallen forward to cover her face but as it was, only her ponytail slid forward, strands catching in the delicate chain that was shimmering in her neck, pink rising along the column to reach her cheeks. 

'Why're you so dressed up?' he asked, getting curious. Not that he minded because well, look at her. She actually looked prettier than Mei and that was saying something. 

But Raina had a terrible fashion sense and not prone to dressing up – a point of contention between them because he always thought it was such a waste and looking at her right now, he knew he'd been right. Also, make-up. Raina didn't even use a gloss and Tiffany was always despairing for her (along with him).

She blinked as if surprised. 'Didn't Kai and Sehun tell you? We have a showcase today.'

'Wait, you're in it too?' 

She nodded, smiling. 'I was selected as well.' 

Tao frowned, not liking it. From what he'd gathered, today's showcase involved couple dances. As in, dancing with the opposite gender… in Raina's case, a guy. 

'Who's your partner?' He asked rather rudely, eyes narrowed. If she noticed his annoyance, she didn't comment on it.  

 'Um… actually, I don't know. My partner got injured so he had to go back. They said one of the teachers maybe or…'

'Raina!' The soft voice calling out had them both turning around – and Raina blushing even more furiously as Tao felt something cold land in the pit of his stomach. No, please no.

'I was told you needed a dance partner?' Lay asked, stepping close. 

Raina nodded, looking a little apprehensive. Lay smiled, the indent in his cheek flashing winsomely. 'Well then, let's practice!' 

Raina said something, Lay replied but Tao didn’t hear any of it. His ears were ringing with the unreasonable jealousy clamoring inside him, uncoiling like snakes inside his stomach. It flared even more when Lay led her away, arm hovering around her waist to guide the way. 

He didn't realize he was growling until his nails dug into his palms, pain bringing him back. He stared at the crescents in his palm uncomprehendingly before shaking his head. He was being unreasonable, of course. She needed a dance partner, of course – all of them did, that's what couple dancing meant. That it was Lay… well, it was just a fluke, right? Lay knew she was his mate and he could be trusted to keep his hands to himself. 

But Raina…

She'd been acting shy with him this past fortnight and he knew she'd been staring at him while he'd been talking with Kai and Sehun, so he'd assumed she was interested in him. But that didn't mean she'd gotten over Lay, did it? None of her actions had been blatantly caring or anything – not like Mei, who couldn’t seem to cling enough to Luhan or Tiffany, whose possessiveness rose in a distinct aura around her the moment another girl neared Sehun. Or Angel who positively glowed with happiness every time Suho was near. 

Nope, she just stared at him and occasionally sighed. Before, they'd hung out together but ever since finding out that she'd triggered his fever, she'd avoided him and he didn't like it. He'd assured her his fever had subsided but she still didn’t seem to want to hang around him. 

And look how easily she'd gone off with Lay. Of course. He was her ultimate crush, why would she miss a chance to dance with him? Pfft, he could totally dance better. Besides, Lay was shorter and with her heels, they were almost the same height and it looked weird. He'd look much better as her partner but whatever. See if he cared. 

He didn't realize he was pouting but he was, intensely. And he stalked angrily back to the seats in the auditorium, slumping into the first one he came across, crossing his arms and sulking. They were on the stage now and she spun on the stage, surprisingly graceful. You wouldn't believe she couldn't walk without tripping on her own feet every two steps, the way she moved. 

It was good, he admitted grudgingly. Her dance was actually at par with Kai's and if he wasn't feeling so annoyed, he might've enjoyed it. As it was, fire lit in his stomach when Lay's fingers danced over her arms, linking their hands together before they sprang apart. A few from the audience wolf whistled. 

He'd seen enough. No one had paid him to put himself through this kind of torture.

She didn't notice he was leaving, of course. She was too busy dancing with the freaking love of her life. Did he care? No. 
He was above this kind of pettiness. 
………………………………………

Lay was surprisingly easy to dance with and Raina was silently thanking her lucky stars that he'd seen her dance enough times to be able to keep up with her. 

He was their TA, taking classes when Yunho was busy or otherwise committed – for extra credit, he'd told them the first day he'd shown up. 

Raina hadn't thought having him as a teacher would be easy but it was. She never even thought about her little – okay, huge – crush on him when he was teaching, simply because his dancing was enough to drive every other thought out. 

And even now, despite the rather provocative steps they'd incorporated in her dance – 'You're both y, play it up,' Yunho, their dance instructor, had advised her and Kikwang, her dance partner – it wasn't awkward. He made sure to keep his touches professional and aloof, completely concentrated on performing each step perfectly. 

With a last twirl, he put his arm behind her back and she dropped her head, arching so she was bent almost in a half, leg rising in counter point as the music came to a halt.

There were claps, whistles and hoots as they straightened and she blinked in surprise. While they'd been practicing, a crowd had gathered in the hall, a few of the judges entering as well. They bowed and hurriedly left the stage as another couple took their spot to practice before the showcase officially started. 

'That was amazing!' Tiffany squealed, excitedly jumping around her, 'You guys looked so cool!' 

'Thank you…' Lay mumbled humbly, bowing before heading away. 'I'll be just a minute, excuse me.' 

Raina nodded, not really paying attention as her eyes scanned the crowd. 'Where's Tao?' She asked Tiffany, who still gushing excitedly. 

'Huh? Oh… I think he left a while ago…' 

'I see.' Raina muttered, disappointed. She'd hoped he'd compliment her after he'd seen her dance – people always told her she looked her best like that and she'd put in a lot of work with her look. But he hadn't commented on that either and now, he couldn’t even be bothered to watch her perform. 

'Hey…' Tiffany began warily as her lower lip trembled. Raina sniffed, biting her lip before straightening her shoulders. Fine, if that's how he wanted to be… well so be it. See if she cared.

'Whoa!' Tiffany's arms flailed as Raina turned around and rushed away, unbalancing Tiffany who'd just put her arm on her shoulders to hug her. She might've landed on her had Sehun not caught her just then. 

'Careful, will you?' He muttered, straightening her and dropping his chin on her shoulders, arm wrapping around to pull her in a back hug. 'What if you fall?' 
Tiffany smiled, eyes closing as his lips feathered over the shell of her ear, tracing down her neck. 

'I won't…' Opening her eyes, she turned in his arms, sliding her own around his waist and smiling up at him. 'Because I know you'll catch me.' 

He rubbed his nose against hers. 'You're so cheesy.'

'You like it…' she muttered back, rising on tiptoes so she could reach his face. He let her struggle for a few moments before wrapping an arm around her and lifting her off her feet. She squealed, giggling when he buried his face in neck, swinging her around before letting her down. She swayed against him, resting her head against his chest and feeling the steady, soothing heartbeat underneath her ear. 

It was reassuring, to have him in her arms, to hear his heart beat like this. After the scare he'd given her…

'It won't happen again…' Sehun spoke softly, hugging her tight. 'I promise.' 

It won't, she agreed mentally, I won't let it.

Evil had better think twice if he wanted to target Sehun again – Tiffany would tear him from limb to limb if that bastard ever thought of laying its filthy claws on her precious baby ever again, see if she didn't…

'Ya…' Sehun choked out, laughing a little, 'can't breathe…'

Tiffany was too busy thinking violent ways to torture Evil to pay attention so he conked her head. 

'What?' She pouted, tearing a little because dammit, he'd hit with his knuckles. 

'Let me go, I have to practice.' 

Tiffany's eyes narrowed, peering around him to find his dance partner. The girl had changed to her performance costume and it was quite revealing. She met Tiffany's eyes and smirked, as if to say 'in your face', making her bristle. Very deliberately, she put her hand around Sehun's neck and dragged him down for a scorching kiss, making a show out of it so the girl would have absolutely no doubt who he belonged to. Her nails dug painfully into his skin, making him yelp but she didn’t let go until she was satisfied. 

He had a dazed look on his face as he his lips, pink and a little bit swollen by her fierce kiss. 

'Wow… what was that for?' He touched his mouth, eyes going dark as he met hers. 

'Good luck.' She told him sweetly, flipping her hair over her shoulder and strutting away, making sure to swish her hips and throwing a coy look over her shoulder. He looked like he wanted to ditch the dance and follow her and she blew him a kiss before smirking triumphantly at his partner. 

The girl rolled her eyes and huffed off. Tiffany sank into the chairs and waited for the show to start. 
………………………………… 

A/N

they're both idiots but they're cute, aren't they? don't worry Tao, she'll come around ~ 

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Alisha0074 #1
Chapter 84: Yikes!!
Alisha0074 #2
Chapter 83: What future????? I'm going to reread....
thanks for the update!!!
Alisha0074 #3
Chapter 81: Thanks for the update!!! Its was nice to read this again.
As for the kris may I suggest something??
Alisha0074 #4
Chapter 79: Finally finally xiu can get his girl but now what do we do with kris?????
these elders ....
Crazydork22 #5
Chapter 79: Woohoooo! You go Xiumin! Get your girl!
topgirls
#6
Chapter 77: This update made my morning!! Keep up the great work!!
shenaya #7
Chapter 76: I hope you did not give up on this masterpiece.
Crazydork22 #8
Chapter 75: Oh my GOSH. I was so excited to see a new update on this. I went to read the chapter and I was confused because it didn’t seem to flow with the end of the previous one from my memory so I went back and....somehow I missed an update?!?!!!!! How did I miss two chapters??? And SO MANY XIUMIN LILY MOMENTS???? Ahhhhhhh!!! Okay so loved the Xiu/Lily, her payback was XD also big lol to some of them wondering why it was snowing. This newest chapter, yes! Xiumin! Put a ring on her!



As to real EXOland, oh my gosh I was so so so happy when Jongdae came to Baekhyun’s show! All the pics were LQ, but it was so lovely to see him. AND Minseok and Kyungsoo had their musical live streamed yesterday! I’m so proud of them! Minseok’s character is so adorable and meme worthy!
Alisha0074 #9
Chapter 73: Poor poor minnie!!!!
thanks for the update!!!!
Alisha0074 #10
Chapter 71: Thank you for you're updated!!! Glad to see my 2 lovely ppl falling back in line