For a long time now, I was just staring around me. I noticed a lot of things; and I usually don't notice anything at all. But maybe, the tension growing in the room, and the nervous glances thrown over one another was making me extra attentive. I noticed Joonmyeon's troubled glances from Kai, to Baekhyun and I. I noticed Chanyeol’s gulps, I didn't know why he felt the need to gulp down every passing second. Was Kai’s presence worrying him? They were best friends before; so he must be the most worried. Baekhyun looked furious, steam exiting his ears and nose. But, perhaps even he himself didn't notice; but he looked scared, terrified. His whole body was shaking, and he kept poking his tongue out and moistening his lips.

Xiumin looked.. neutral, or maybe he was only pretending. His eyes kept going back to Kai, scrutinizing and searching. I even noticed how he giuded his eyes to all parts of his body, as if checking for visible injuries. Sehun was gaping, but I realized he was trying not to make it very obvious. He was sitting beside me. His continuous skin ship was making me wonder about this new, affectionate side of him.

Kai was.. I don't know what kind of expressions Kai was making, maybe because he was someone new to me. But at the same time, I knew what he was thinking about, almost too well. He kept dodging stares, and he kept looking back at the window. His legs were shifting around, and his left foot kept patting the ground nervously, and his hand kept fiddling with his lush hair.

“Kai?” I didn't realize I was calling him until the boy looked up at me with wide eyes. “Come sit down, you’ve been standing for a long time now,” I patted the space beside me on the bed nervously, hoping he wouldn't refuse. Surprisingly, he didn't; and slowly he walked towards me, giving me a last stare before lifting himself up on the bed, sitting close beside me which was another shock to me. I remember how I met the others; none of them were so easily persuaded, and they did what I asked them merely for they thought it was a command (until now, they took their freedom rather well) but Kai was different; he didn't even flinch or look at others for reassurance, which was nice for a change, but pretty odd as well.

“Would you like to tell us what's bothering you?” I asked the boy sweetly, leaning my head lower to peer down at him since he was looking down at his fingers, shutting himself out. Everyone around me held their breathing, and I found myself doing the same unwillingly.

“Um…” Kai gulped down, looking up at us and causing his loose, hair locks to fall down his eyes. I found my fingers itching to touch him and swipe his hair away, but I settled on watching him blowing on them gently, ruffling them away. “I-I have a master, a-and he knows about Hani’s existence,” Kai stated while stuttering, and I found him absolutely adorable at that.

I heard a shuffling of papers before I could say anything, and we all shifted our looks to Chanyeol, who started scribbling down furiously on his sketchbook. “And, Kai? What did you do?”

Apparently, Chanyeol already realized Kai’s words were double-edged, and that he; in fact, was hiding something from all of us. I snapped my head to Kai immediately and fast enough to catch the flinch he tried to hide. I gulped, heartbeats thumping, and watched Kai as he fiddled faster with his fingers, his eyes wildly looking everywhere.

“Kai..” Baekhyun stressed his name angrily, eyes ablaze; though I could still catch a hint of gentleness and soothingness in his eyes that were enough to will Kai to spill everything.

“I—I- I might have told them something to know about her,” Kai finally admitted, and Joonmyeon's eyes snapped up to meet him. “Kim. Jongin!” he roared, eyes wide and body almost lunging forward. Kai whimpered softly, and unconsciously shifted closer to me. My hands almost had a mind of their own, as they reached for Kai’s arms and pulled him closer to me, until he was leaning against me with his head leaning on my shoulder. The boy didn't flinch, didn't pull away, and he tried looking away from Joonmyeon.

“Joonmyeon, let the boy explain himself. I’m sure he didn't do it willingly,” I looked at Kai softly, my hand reaching for his hair and tracing circling movements around his head. “Right, Kai?” the boy almost immediately nodded his head and flung himself up, away from me. My side tingled at the absence of warmth, and I spread the fingers of the hand I touched him on his head with and wiggled them about. There was an almost faint feeling of warmth left, and I craved for that feeling to come back the moment Kai pulled away. Shrugging myself out of those nonsensical ideas, I concentrated more on the problem at hand than the girly fetich I was drowning in.

“I swear it was by accident—I didn't mean it!” Kai’s tone was almost pleading, and the natural huskiness of his voice turned higher in pitch because of panic. Joonmyeon's twitching eyes weren't helping. “I-I was just wandering alone because god, I was finally given an opportunity to leave for a small amount of time. But then I caught a small part of your aura and I just had to look for you. Look, guys; the amount of power that I’ve felt was too huge, too concentrated to be ignored.. I—I had to look for it, and they know about me being one of the Twelve. Guys I’m so sorry,” I could see the plea in his eyes, the desperate kind of plea. I almost felt a squeeze of pain in my heart at the raw despair in his orbs and whole body as he bent over himself, as if the mental pain was too great to be contained in the mind; so it traveled to his body.

Unconsciously, I crawled towards him (having to let go of Sehun in the process) and patted him on his head. The boy didn't flinch or do anything close to that; but he didn't lean towards me as well. He glanced up at me with chocolate eyes that made my heart stir, and I found my lips stretching into a smile. “They saw me, and they knew right away what you guys were. They didn't like it,” Kai continued, his eyes on me as if he was seeing only me. The thought made my heart flutter.

“You didn't mean it, right?” Even then, I knew the answer to that question. Kai didn't hesitate to nod his head at me, still looking at me as if apologizing silently for what he did. I shook my head at him, and only then did he look back at his friends, brothers; waiting for their reaction.

Baekhyun was covering his face with both of his hands in anguish and annoyance, although he knows deep inside there's nothing he could do. Joonmyeon only sighed helplessly, nodding at Kai as if he understood. Chanyeol sat beside Kai and gave him a sideways hug, which Kai didn't hesitate to return. The others held a neutral expressions, as if they already knew from the beginning that Kai has his reasons – I’m sure all of them thought that; they just let their anger consume them for a second.

“What are we going to do now?” Sehun said, and for a minute; there was this raw expression of panic that reminded me for a second how young Sehun felt amongst his older friends. Joonmyeon let out another sigh and walked closer to the bed, while Xiumin stayed silent, waiting for Joonmyeon's suggestions. Joonmyeon bent over the bed’s railings and rested his palms over the wood. His shoulders flexed and he was oddly enticing like that. He started speaking, his eyes roaming everyone besides me, and I felt a twinge of pain within me at the ignorance in his act.

“I think we need to get to them before they get to us. We have Jongin now; we have an advantage over them. We raid them in their weakest spot and attack them before they attack us.” Joonmyeon spoke as if it was the most easiest thing in the entire world. I stared at him incredulously, mouth agape; but he managed to skim his eyes over me before looking away.

“Are you serious?” I asked him, despite the fact he couldn't meet my eyes. Joonmyeon hummed in reply, and Baekhyun found it the perfect time to mock me.

“Are you afraid?” a smirk blossomed over his mouth, and he appeared amused, as if he had me all figured out. I turned to him with emotions of rage and annoyance blooming inside me. Thankfully, those feelings did not reflect in my eyes.

“As a matter of fact, I am afraid; and I’m not ashamed of it,” the pure mockery in his eyes faded until nothing remained, and unaware of him, his mouth curved into a scowl. I know Baekhyun practically loathes the ground I walk on, even though I didn't do anything to him at all. A past experience I had deemed was the cause of his actions, and I was ready to throw it behind my back. But if his ridiculing actions continued with