I jumped awake from my slumber, startled beyond my wits at the noise of a bang somewhere in my room. I glanced around me frantically, my eyes wide and my heartbeats racing. I caught Xiumin, with equally wide eyes and awkward half-smile. He looked so surprised that I snapped awake in my bed, and he looked quite laughable at the stiffness of his body.

“What are you doing?” I asked hoarsely, my voice thick with sleep. Xiumin blinked his eyes repeatedly, looking down at the box of the cards on the floor just beneath his body.

“Um,” he started speaking awkwardly, and I noticed the pinking cheeks of his. “Suho’s card was glowing and I looked to check out what went wrong, but I accidentally dropped the box.”

“Wait, Suho’s card glowed? And where the hell is everybody?”

Yesterday, when my mom came to pick me up; she didn't notice anything was wrong with me, even when I winced when she hugged my sides, or when I grimaced in pain when she cupped my cheeks, accidentally touching a bruise on the corner of my lips, and the bump on my head (of course, this didn't go unnoticed by my mother, but I told her I fell down in training, and she didn't ask anything).

The moment I reached home, greeting my very enthusiastic father about the promotion as he had arrived home the minute I did; I went to sleep. Thankfully, I hadn't had a dream about the boy, and he allowed me a dreamless night.

“It stopped glowing the minute you woke up, and the boys are in the nearby garden getting a breath of fresh air.”

“Oh,” I let out, even though my head was buzzing with so many questions about Suho’s card and why the hell it glowed in the first place. I realized that Xiumin was staring at me while I wallowed in my own world of memories and thoughts, and when I looked up at him; he looked sheepish.

“What? Your face is screaming with guilt. What did you do?” I playfully raised an eyebrow at him, sounding awfully cheerful for a girl with wounds.

“Wait,” I suddenly perked, realizing something.

“I didn't—“

“I don't feel any pain. Nothing hurts and my side..” I glanced at Xiumin with a semi-glare, my hands busy fiddling with my waist and head, waiting for the awful pain to pulse again.

“You didn't what Xiumin?” I hardened my glare, and the sheepish smile on his face faded to pleading eyes, shuffling closer to me and sitting on the side of my bed with dark cheeks.

“I gave you only one hours worth of my life cells, I promise! Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Minseok,” I growled, and I didn't know a feral growl could be emitted so strongly from my own throat. Xiumin winced at the use of his real name, realizing I was pissed off because god knows I only use his real name when I’m pissed off or frustrated. “I told Kai already and I didn't think I would need to tell it to you one day, Xiumin. Value yourself more than me, please, and be selfish about this.”

“You have no idea how selfish this already is, Hani,” Xiumin replied calmly but strongly, eyes quiet and distant, but there was an obvious admiration and wisdom in them that had me in awe.

“How is this for you, Xiumin? You wasted a whole hour of your life. Don't even start with me over-exaggerating about it because no one should be allowed to give some of his life,”

“I want to be able to give some of my life to you, Hani. I want you to be alright and healthy. I want you to be around here, and if it requires some of my own, than I’m ready to give. I’ve lived for a long time anyways.”

“Xiumin,” I whined, finding no power within me to fight more about this matter with him. “I care for you, Xiumin. I don't want you to give something so precious to me.”

“Why?” Xiumin looked livid and absolutely offended, like I had said something absolutely ridiculous. I should know, because I have always managed to say something quite ridiculous to evoke such expressions. “Do you think you are so undeserving of it? Do you think we don't care about you as well? Hani, this relationship of ours, or any relationship of any sort, needs to take and give. You can't always be on the giving end.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a small voice, unable to contain the gushing of feelings and emotions at his words. I had always thought Xiumin looked mature for his looks, and now that I have seen such a side of Xiumin made a newfound awe and respect bloom within me. I hadn't thought either, that Xiumin thought like that, like he could easily give an amount of his life cells for me, that he thought I’m so deserving to this magnificent gift of his. “I’m thankful, I truly am. But, can you please be so giving in something else? This is so.. big, and important—“

“Hani, you are important to us. You didn't see the way Joonmyeon kept fussing over you and how much he wanted to give an hour of his life cells if Kai hadn't stopped him, knowing you’d be upset. Kai and Sehun wanted too, I could tell; but they were much more level-headed than Joonmyeon. The boy flips when he is stressed.”

“Did you do it when they were not around?” I asked with furrowed eyebrows, and Xiumin raised his; giving me that incredulous look like he didn't even understand why I was asking in the first place.

“Of course I did it when they weren't around. They didn't need to know,” I snorted and he laughed, the crinkling of his eyes, making crescent moons each, made a fuzzy feeling of adoration bubble up to the surface.

Xiumin was just beautiful in so many different ways.

-

“Hi guys!” I exclaimed so loudly, jumping in the circle the boys were cramming around, and giving them the shock of their lives.

Xiumin, who was beside me, let out a laugh at the expressions morphing on their faces, and I stared at him with a smile before letting out a small giggle myself; finding his amusement too contagious to hold.

Finally, Joonmyeon realized what was actually happening around, and sent a heavy scowl to Xiumin before jumping on his feet, scanning me from up and down with his eyes, leaving me heating up inside with his intense stare. Then, he stared at my eyes, his orbs dark and filled with worry. For a minute there, I thought he would yell at me for being so careless, but he ended up sighing and scratching his head.

“Xiumin did this, didn't he?” I always find myself at awe with his observant eyes. Xiumin and I shared a stare, before we simultaneously nodded our heads. Joonmyeon let out a groan of annoyance with a backward arch of his head, his hands on his eyes; before he sharply glared at Xiumin.

“I wanted to do that,”

“What? I did too!” Sehun, who had been watching the scene with boredom, stood up from his place with bothered, hot eyes, shooting the two eldest a withering glare. With his natural face and sharp features, he looked deadly.

“What?” Joonmyeon shot his eyes at Sehun with fury. “Why did you want to do it? Do you think I would have allowed it?”

“First of all, I didn't say anything because I know you wouldn't have allowed me. Secondly, wow, hyung, talk about hypocrisy.”

Of course, Joonmyeon shot a reply at the youngest one, which earned him an equally heated reply. They kept bickering, and it looked amusing, because of the height difference, and the fact they were acting like babies.

I slipped out of their argument with attentive steps, already seeing Xiumin sit down beside Baekhyun and Chanyeol, conversing with them about meaningless conversation like the weather’s forecast they had previously seen in my dorm room. I saw Kai sitting in front of them with his arms wrapped around his knees, suddenly silent when Xiumin decided to appear in the picture. I frowned, because what was that?

I sat beside him softly, placing a hand on his arm to alert him of my presence. He looked down at me with a small smile, seemingly already realized I had sat beside him. Before I can open my mouth and talk about Xiumin, and why he suddenly turned silent in his presence; he started speaking.

“I wanted to do it too, you know,” his gentle voice that dropped octaves lower, and his naturally piercing eyes on me, slightly half-lidded, made a weird tingle of some sort explode in me (butterflies? More like dragons flapping their wings) I couldn't help but turn giddy and blush, already knowing what he meant with that.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I would've done it; with or without Joonmyeon's desire, but I couldn't either way. I needed the Master-Warrior bond,” I frowned at that, and Kai straightened a little in his position, taking something out of his jeans pocket (the clothes fitted him perfectly; and despite the sweater being slightly big on him, it made him look snuggly). He crawled closer to me, making our thighs touch and shoulders graze. I flushed, cheeks turning completely crimson and breathing unstable, and I didn't seem to hate it at all.

“So, Hani. Would you give me the honor of being able to do something about it? Being able to help you whenever, and wherever you are? Would you bond with me too?” I saw his card in his hands, ready to be taken by me. My heart thumped and thumped and thumped, and my cheeks colored as deep as a red can be. I looked up, and I saw his small smile and expectant eyes. I didn't even need to look for an answer, it was silly for me to ponder so much over this matter. But I still did.

I looked again at the card, and this was the first time I had seen his card. It was w