I slowly opened my eyes, having to blink them by the darkness I found myself suddenly submerged in. I tried getting up from the bed, the humidity inside the room suffocating. My muscles were all numb, sore, and I wondered if Yixing had a hand in that. Reaching for my wounded shoulder, I massaged the area of the dagger, finding nothing but numb sensation of tightening muscles. Feeling grateful for Yixing, I let out a sigh and sat completely up on my bed.

The boys were surrounding me, and the dim lighting cast a shadow over their glowing faces. Most of them were asleep, which momentarily shocked me. Jongdae and Baekhyun, plus Kyungsoo, were the only ones awake, mumbling along themselves softly not to wake the others. I swung my legs out of the bed, groaning, and that caught the attention of the three boys almost immediately.

“Hani,” Jongdae sounded so surprised, “You’re up.”

“Indeed, I am,” I mumbled back in the same soft tone he used, now fully out of bed. I stretched my arms over me, at the intense relief that traveled my body, before looking back at the boys with a frown. “What happened, and why are they all asleep?”

Baekhyun decided to answer, a glowing orb of light slowly appearing in his outstretched hand, creating a soft shadow over Baekhyun's face, and illuminating a small size of the room for me to see. “They’ve been fighting fatigues for long, and they decided not to anymore and just fell asleep.”

“Even Yixing?” I counterattacked, looking stupefied by the soft look crossing Yixing's face as he leaned his head on my bed, right under his hands. He looked like he fell asleep taking care of me, which immediately sent a wave of comfort inside my heart. I wanted to lean forward and pat his head, move the strands of hair that had fallen over his forehead, but the three boys were all staring.

I glanced up at them and Kyungsoo, who was watching me, immediately looked away, and my heart squeezed when I remembered just what happened before. I immediately walked to the three, keeping my steps light so the sleeping boys won't wake up (I was surprised Sehun could still sleep after the intense hours of sleep he had consumed before) and I could just see the wince he tried so hard not to show in his face.

“Kyungsoo,” I started, once I was in front of him, and I saw him visibly stiffen. “I’m sorry, what I said back then, it was just a joke and I—“

“I know,” he interrupted softly, still not looking at me, wincing, and I was left gaping. “I know you were joking, and the guys kind of helped me figure things out. It's fine.”

“No, it's not,” I denied, taking another step closer and trying to mumble my words, not wanting to get louder than what's okay. “It's not fine. I played a cruel and stupid joke on you, and it's not alright. I know what kind of a person you are, Kyungsoo. I know that this is your coping mechanism, the way you react to certain things and your sarcasm. It can get annoying, I admit, but I know that's just your way to express things and it shouldn't be okay the way I joked with you because I know that's not the real you.”

“What if it was the real me?” he asked, looking back at me with hard eyes, although a spark of gentleness and newfound.. was it respect? Was glowing in his eyes. It made my chest warm. I realized that his words were some sort of a challenge, or a test, and I gulped. I was going to make sure I don't fail a test made by Kyungsoo, especially made by Kyungsoo.

“Then.. it's alright,” I cleared my throat at the look Kyungsoo was giving me, his eyebrows raised. “Even.. even if you're like that, than it's still fine. I don't hate you and I don't think you're a bad person. You're just you and there's nothing wrong with that,” I finished, taking a deep breath, looking him straight in his wide eyes. He squinted a little at me, and I shifted my eyes to Baekhyun and Jongdae, noticing they were staring silently, their eyes wandering to Kyungsoo and I.

“Okay..,” Kyungsoo murmured approvingly with a small voice, his squinted eyes shifting into a soft and understanding one, that made an infinite surge of comfort and relief rush inside me. I inhaled visibly, slouching, and shot him a grin. Although he didn't smile, his eyes were twinkling, and that was fine by me.

-

“What exactly happened?” I asked suddenly, after we all sat ourselves down on the mat across my bed, lying down all kind of junk food to eat in front of us. I was especially hungry, and I didn't know about the rest; but there was enough food for all of us to spare. Jongdae, Kyungsoo and I were sitting aligned, beside one another; while Baekhyun was facing all of us, his legs and arms sprawled in front of him almost carelessly.

“Oh, right,” Jongdae uttered, sipping off his cola and then clearing his throat. “The triplets had made a trick. They’ve commanded the earth girl to fog up the entire area, so they could reach you, considering you're the one in command of us.”

“It was mostly a plan B sort of thing,” Kyungsoo completed, letting Jongdae munch on his chips comfortably, and I shifted my eyes to Kyungsoo immediately. “They have thought about it beforehand, that they are to attack the source when they're losing, and since you were far from the battle ground, they’ve thought it was good enough for their long range attack.”

“They got suspended,” Baekhyun dropped a comment, and I whipped my head to his direction with wide eyes and palpitating heart. Did he just say that? He caught my stare and let the corner of his lips curl into a sideway smirk. “True. What they’ve done to you was unethical and against the first rules of battles. You can never hurt a fellow Wielder in a battle using a warrior, considering the disadvantages of the said Wielder,” he paused to ruffle his hair, and I noticed how sticky it was because of perspiration. The air was kind of humid, and I glanced at the air con to find it shut off. Oh wow, I’m an idiot.

“Hold on,” I stopped him once he opened his mouth to complete, and climbed off my legs before walking to the air con across the room. I clicked it on and the sound of it roaring to life was relieving enough for me to sigh out loud. I returned to my previous place while shooting smiles to all of them, mentally thinking of why none of the warriors could just turn it on before they slept. The answer came to me faster than I expected. Because no matter how much freedom you give them, they’ll never be able to do things on their own, not while they’re still tied to this world of cards. That realization made me blue, my eyes softening considerably fast, when I shifted to them.

Baekhyun cleared his throat, dropping his hands away from his hair when a cool breeze of air brushed over him. I realized Kyungsoo and Jongdae were much more comfortable than before, as they sighed audibly through their nose. Their comfort made me smile.

“Anyways,” Baekhyun caught all of our attention, especially mine. “After you passed out. Chanyeol, Xiumin hyung and I ended the game, knocking their warriors unconscious, and considering us winners. But some of the students went to the teachers to tell them what happened to you, as they, surprisingly, didn't like the fact the triplets had attacked you using their warriors. The adaptation teacher defended them, and he got suspended too.”

“Wait, what?” I almost exclaimed, my heartbeats firing up to the sky at the absurdity I just heard from Baekhyun. He merely shrugged, looking oddly content with what he was saying, lips curled and eyes sparkling in evil mirth.

“Indeed