Jiae slowly opened her eyes and gently rubbed them as they got adjusted to the bright light. Her eyes flickered to the clock and saw that it was only eight in the morning. Stretching her stiff body, she got up and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. The entire house was still silent, indicating that her comrades were still asleep.

Jiae bent down in front of one of the many cabinets to find a cup. However, there were only plates and bowls. She wanted to get up when a glint of light caught her attention. A small smile crept up to her face when she noticed what it was. Just yesterday, a few days after the incident with Jongin and Kai, Kyungsoo gave her a necklace with a ring attached to it.

It was a simple ring with the words ‘Paladins’ carved on it and two small rubies at the sides of the word. On the inside of the ring was her name. Kyungsoo explained that only people of the White Paladins had such item. And the rubies on the ring were from the same kind of rubies as Kyungsoo’s key. Kyungsoo had said something about some sort of powers which Jiae did not really understand.

“Morning, my little canary.” A familiar, velvet voice broke the silence in the kitchen. Jiae jumped a little on her spot, startled by the sudden sound. This caused her to hit her head at the top of the cabinet. The pain made her hiss and she quickly rubbed on the spot so that it would not swell up. A larger and warmer hand was placed on top of hers, making her freeze at the sudden contact.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked as he took over the rubbing instead. Jiae nodded but Kyungsoo could see that she was in pain. It was funny how the independent assassin seemed to always be so clumsy around her man in white. She looked up at him and his eyes were laced with concern as a frown was on his beautiful face.

Kyungsoo led her to a table and settled her down while he went to take some ice. Jiae absentmindedly rubbed hr head while she watched Kyungsoo. He was in a white turtleneck shirt and grey sweatpants. The back of his head was messy and flat, indicating that he had just gotten up.

Kyungsoo soon came back with an ice bag and placed it on top of Jiae’s head. “Are you hungry? What would you like to have for breakfast?”

“Pancakes?” Jiae said but it sounded more like a question than a statement. Kyungsoo nodded with a smile and went back into the kitchen. Jiae watched as he took out the needed tools and ingredients. He started expertly mixing the batter and Jiae wondered if he was used to cooking.

Deciding to make something for him to drink, she went to find the cup she had been looking for from the start. Opening on of the shelves above the counter, she saw that was where Sujeong had placed the cups. Jiae stretched to reach the cup but it was too high for her. She mentally cursed her short body. She then tip-toed and tried again.

A shadow loomed over hers and her back came into something soft and warm. Startled by the sudden action, she spun around and came face to face with Kyungsoo’s white shirt. Her eyes trailed up from his chest to his eyes. He was looking at her with no indifference. She, on the other hand, could feel her cheeks getting hot at how close he was away from her.

Kyungsoo took the cup she was reaching for and placed it on the counter. He was making some pancakes when he saw how much she was struggling to get a cup. And if he had not helped her, it looked like she was going to start jumping for it. Kyungsoo did not realised how petite she was until now.

He noticed the slight blush on her cheeks and resisted the urge to brush his thumb over her skin. “You’re short.” He teased she puffed her cheeks.

“I did not have a choice with my height.” She huffed and Kyungsoo mentally chuckled. An annoyed Jiae was a cute Jiae.

“It’s cute.” He smiled when he saw her blush growing deeper. Deciding not to anymore, he went back to the pancakes.

“Soo, do you want coffee?” She asked, taking the empty cup in her hand. He nodded and she went to make coffee for him as a thank you for breakfast.

Sehun entered the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw Kyungsoo cooking. It was usually Sujeong who does the cooking, followed by Sehun. Kyungsoo does cook sometimes, but it was rarely. Sehun noticed that there was a small smile on his face and Sehun trailed his eyes to the petite girl beside his King. She was washing some berries and he was making pancakes. The both of them were chatting softly while preparing breakfast and Sehun could not help but to think of them as-

“Newlyweds.” Sujeong appeared right beside him. Sehun glanced at the girl and nodded.

“It has been a long time I’ve seen Sire like this. The only times were when he was with Chaemin.”

Sujeong rolled her eyes at that name. Sehun noticed her change in attitude and decided not to speak of Chaemin again. He knew that his friend did not like said girl, but he did not understand why, especially when his King was fond of her.

“Morning!” Sujeong entered the kitchen and Kyungsoo and Jiae spun towards them.

“Morning!” Jiae greeted them brightly.

Sujeong skipped towards them with a cheeky grin on her face.

“You two are looking extremely chirpy this morning.” Sujeong said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She saw that Kyungsoo was making and whistled. “What honour it is to have His Royal Highness cooking for us.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and threw a rag in her direction, which he easily caught. “No one said it was for you. I made it for Jiae.”

“Stingy.” Sujeong stuck out her tongue.

“Violent.” Kyungsoo retorted.

“Egotistic.”

Kyungsoo’s jaw dropped a little. “How am I egotistic? Since when?”

“I don’t know. The words just came into my mind.” Sujeong mumbled, shrugging her shoulders.

Just when Kyungsoo could think of a comeback, he heard laughter coming from the shortest girl in the room. Turning towards her, he saw that she had her hands over , as if it was to stifle her laughter, but it was apparently not working. Her laughter brought a smile to his face.

Sujeong watched the way they looked at each other. Sehun was right that it had been a long time since Kyungsoo was this.. happy. Sure, there were times when the trio had fun together. But ever since Jiae had joined them, Kyungsoo’s happiness was not in the form of excitement, but serenity. There was this calmness coming from her best friend, yet she could see that this form of happiness would last longer than she thought.

And Sehun was wrong about Chaemin. Sujeong and Jiae were not close, but Sujeong could already tell that they were different. Jiae would do more good to Kyungsoo than Chaemin ever did.

“You’re staring.” Jiae spoke, breaking Sujeong’s train of thoughts. Sujeong looked at the both of them and took a sip of her coffee.

“I was just wondering how this ugly guy can make you laugh. It reminded me of a fairy tale called ‘Beauty and the Beast.”

Kyungsoo wanted to throw the spatula in his hand at Sujeong but she had already fled the kitchen.

Jiae could not help but to smile at the interactions between Kyungsoo and Sujeong. She could tell how much they mean to each other. And it reminded her of herself and Jiwoo.

Jiae saw Sehun still standing just outside the kitchen and she gave him a small smile. Sehun bowed a little instead and headed to where Kyungsoo was.

“Sire, I have information about the boy and his wolf.”

Kyungsoo nodded and stacked the pancakes on a plate. “We’ll talk about it over breakfast.”

Jongin picked up another dry tree branch. Four days had passed since the incident with Jiae. He had not heard from her since and he never returned to their house.

A tree branch rolled to his direction and he looked up to see Kai with a stick in its mouth. Kai threw the branch towards its owner and let out a huff before trotting away. Jongin looked at the wolf in disbelief. Was it throwing a tantrum?

“Hey,” Jongin called out but the wolf just ignored him as it rummaged through a bush with its paw. “Look, it’s not my fault that Jiae is not here.”

Kai’s ears perked up at the mention of Jiae and gave Jongin a sideway glance. “You didn’t bother to try going there again.”

“They don’t like us.” Jongin muttered as he gathered the branches and headed towards the cave. Kai rolled its eyes and followed Jongin. However, before the two could reach their temporary home, a loud crash was heard. The boy immediately dropped the branches he was carrying and the wolf was already dashing into the cave.

“Father!” Jongin searched for the older male when he entered the cave. Kai was fighting one of the guys that were hunting them down. There was another man standing beside his father, holding onto the handle of a sword, while its long blade was embedded deep into the old man’s chest. “No!” Jongin shouted in horror.

The man who hurt his father removed the sword and faced Jongin. Jongin’s eyes kept darting to his father and back to the man. He needed to save the older male quick, but there was someone blocking him. Before the enemy could make a move, Kai had tackled him down and Jongin used that opportunity to check on the injured man.

“Father,” Jongin gasped as he tried to stop the bleeding but blood just kept pouring out. Jongin’s father weakly opened his eyes and for a moment, hope flashed through the younger male’s mind. “It will be okay. I’ll make sure you will be okay.”

Jongin’s father reached out towards his son, and patted the boy’s hand. “Survive.” He said but Jongin shook his head vigorously.

“You should be telling that to yourself.”

His father gave a weak smile. “My time is up, but yours had just started. From now on, you are the leader of our clan.”

“Father-”

“Take the symbol and leave before they take you down.” His father ripped out the chain around his neck and passed it to Jongin.

“Please, don’t leave me.” Jongin wailed. His mother had died due to a difficult birth and his father was his only family. He could not imagine life without a family.

“Everyone has to leave one day. But our legacy has to continue. And I know you will do us proud. Now go, before they hunt you down next.” The older male instructed but saw that his son had no intentions on leaving. Looking at Kai, he saw the wolf had already killed their enemies and it was looking at them with tears in its eyes. Even Kai knew it was time. “Take your young master away. Bring him to the girl. They would be able to protect him.”

“Don’t worry, Alpha. I swear to protect him with my life.” Kai bit onto Jongin’s shirt and dragged him out the cave. Jongin was still sobbing as he looked at his father. “We got to move. They are more people coming.”

Jongin could heard the sound of bushes rustling and quickly wiped his tears. He was the new leader now, and he had the burden of hundreds on his shoulders. He had to carry on their legacy and not let his father down.

“I’m okay now.” Jongin murmured and Kai finally let go of his shirt. Just then, more enemies appeared and Jongin mentally cursed when he realised he was unarmed. Kai immediately pounced on one of them while Jongin braced himself.

“Your father is dead. Now it’s your turn.” One of them swung his sword forward but Jongin rolled to his side and picked up a tree branch on the ground. It was no weapon, but it was better than nothing. Jongin got up and hit the side of the enemy with the branch. The man stumbled backwards due to the impact but there was one more enemy behind Jongin. Jongin saw that the man already had his sword in the air, and he would not be able to block that blow.

The enemy froze his actions and noticed that there was an arrow through his left chest. Before he could even register what was going on, he fell to the ground, dead. Jongin watched the man fall before looking up.

That’s the girl the other day. He realised as he watched her take another arrow from her quiver. She skilfully shot another enemy down and she put down her bow. Her eyes met his and he saw pride and seriousness in her eyes. Standing beside her was the man who took Jiae into the house. A nudge from his back from Kai made him realised that there were currently out of danger.

Jongin and Kai headed to where the other two were. Just as Jongin opened his mouth, Sehun spoke. “Don’t get too friendly with us now. We are only here because our Sire wants a word with you.” Sehun was still unsure whether Jongin was a friend or foe.

Jongin nodded and followed them back to their house. He did not know what their Sire wanted with him, but at least he was safe for now.

Author's Note

I know, it has been a long while since I updated. Sorry about that. 

So as you can see, Jongin can really communicate with Kai. And Chaemin is a new character.