I opened my eyes, the sun blinding me as I go to move. I feel stiff, my neck hurting as I look to my right and see Baekhyun with his head resting against my shoulder. I couldn’t help but this that this is probably the quietest I’ve ever seen him be. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I look down to see Sehun with a pillow over my legs, his head resting on it, with Baekhyun’s legs resting on his lower back. I groan, trying to shake right arm gently out of Baekhyun’s grasp.

“Stop moving,” I head Sehun’s muffled voice say before he opens an eye to glare.

“You both can stay in here, just let me up,” I mutter quietly, finally getting my arm back.

I quickly slip my legs out from under the pillow Sehun was using, carefully moving so that Baekhyun’s head rested against the pillows. Somehow I manage to maneuver out of my bed without waking Baekhyun, though Sehun continued to mutter complains.

“If it bothers you that much,” I starts as I gather clothes to change into, “Then go to your own damn room.” He glares, moving to take my place only to have Baekhyun latch onto him.

As I opened the door and was leaving, I hear Sehun complain some more, “I bet you don’t talk to Yixing like this…”

I laugh, making my way to the showers. Usually I shower during the night, but I thought that it could hopefully it will help with my stiff muscles. It didn’t take long to get clean, pulling my hair up into a bun. As I was going to the kitchen to get something to eat, I notice the lights were on in the control room.

Peeking in, I see Minseok and Junmyeon in chairs, looking over at a security camera they made make up most of the wall of screens.

“Oh,” Minseok says, spotting me, “Uh, good morning, Y/N!”

At the mention of my name, I see Junmyeon go to the computer, panic clicking, making the screens on the wall change.

I walk in, putting my hands on my hips, “What was that?”

“Nothing, just some weird internet things,” Junmyeon says with a smile. Minseok puts his hand over his face, shaking his head at how bad Junmyeon was a lying.

I sigh, “I wouldn’t need my power to tell you just lied. You’re truly awful at it.”

“We were watching to see if Yixing made progress on Junsoo,” Minseok answers, looking at me. Junmyeon says something under his breath, bringing the camera back up, with audio.

I glance at the wall, seeing from a corner of the room, Yixing crouched in front of Junsoo, who was strapped to the chair. I nod, glad to see his arms and legs individually tried to the chair this time. The image was completely clear and HD, being able to see every cut on his body. He looked worse for ware.

“I thought Baekhyun said the security cams here were not HD,” I comment, pulling up on of the other chairs Baekhyun keeps in here.

“This room didn’t have one,” Minseok corrects, “We had to put in in after we decided what this room would be used for. Thought it was best to get one in HD to watch them while someone wasn’t in there.”

I nod, watching the screen. I see Yixing stand up, turning, looking up at the camera. He silently mouths ‘he’s about to break’, before turning back to Junsoo, talking to him. His voice merciless, hard and full of calm hatred.

“You don’t have to watch this,” Junmyeon says, glancing at me.

“I’ve kind of already seen this before, remember?” I say, looking at him, nodding. I know what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to protect me from the cold truth of the things they do. But I’m in far too deep now. I know they all have a dangerous side, that they’ve killed and hurt people. That’s what it takes to do the good they do, saving other Inhumans. I’ve made peace with that.

I hear a scream, looking over to see Yixing standing to Junsoo’s side, letting go of one of his very dislocated fingers. He is screaming, calling Yixing every nasty thing he could, “Why?! What did I do to deserve this?!”

Yixing remains completely unfazed, “Just tell mewhat I want to know. Where are the other labs? You can end this if you just cooperate.”

“Why do you care,” He yells, before another one of his fingers are yanked back into an unnatural position. He screams, “ you! all of you!”

“It doesn’t matter why I care. What matters is that this is me asking you nicely,” Yixing growled, leaning down to glare at him face to face. “Tell me what I want to know now, and you won’t have to see me get mean.”

Junsoo smirks, “Do you think I’d am idiot? I know once you get that you want, you’re going to kill me.” He struggles against his restraints, “As long as I have information you want, then I live. Perhaps I’d tell you if you offer something to me in return.”

“You’re not exactly in the position to be making demands,” Yixing says, stepping away from him and walking over to the table of weapons. He looks over the table, finally settling on a small handheld culinary torch. He turns, pressing the button, watching as the bright blue flame come from the tip. “Make it easy for yourself and just tell me.”

He looks at Yixing, blood still coming from his busted lip. He smirks, “How about this. I’ll tell you, hell, I’ll be an informant for you all if you let me live.”

“Is that so,” Yixing says, crouching in front of the chair again.

“I have a feeling this isn’t going to be good,” Minseok comments, leaning back in his chair.

“I swear,” Junsoo says.

“Not going to happen,” Yixing says, turning the torch on and off in his hand over and over.

“Goddammit,” He laughs, looking up at the ceiling. “This is what I get, huh? I hire some and this is wh-” He lets out a scream of agony, shaking in the chair as he starts to sob in pain, screaming at Yixing to stop.

Yixing held the torch to his left foot, lighting it and running across the top slowly, doing it again, making an X. He stops, looking up at Junsoo again, trying to keep his face looking bored. “Just tell me what I want to know!”

Junsoo glares, “What, is she your sister, or something?”

“No,” Yixing says, keeping his bored expression, playing with the torch once again. “I don’t care about her. She doesn’t matter, what matters is that the more you refuse to tell me, the angrier I get. My patience is wearing thin.”

“Y/N,” Junmyeon says, looking at me. His face worried.

“I know he’s lying,” I say, very happy to feel that warm feeling after his words, though they still stung a bit to hear.

Before Junsoo could say anything else, Yixing started making an X on his other foot. A few minutes later and he was saying everything, completely offering the information. Addresses, security codes he knew, and people he knew they could get more information from. He even told that he kept all this information in a book in a safe hidden in his house.

Junmyeon smiled, turning to Minseok, “Looks like we’ve got a book to find.”

“We’ll go it tomorrow,” Minseok agrees, nodding. “What of his wife? Did Beakhyun get anything on him?”

“She’s fine,” He says, He kept her out of it. “All she does is shop, go clubbing and drink all hours of the day. They live in a huge house not far from here, actually. They only in Seoul because they were celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary.”

I hear a loud bang, turning my head to see Junsoo’s head back, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. I watch Yixing lower the gun, looking over the notes he’s taken as Junsoo spoke. My blood ran cold, making me freeze up. Suddenly, the screen was blank as I look over and see Minseok giving me a sad look.

“It’s fine,” I assure him, “I knew it was going to happen… I mean he was right. He was never going to leave alive. It’s not the first time I’ve watched someone die.”

“How did you see someone die before this,” Minseok asks, “Oh, surgeon. Right.” He looks at me, placing a hand over mine as he wheels his chair over, “But you’ve never seen someone kill someone else, right?”

I nod. I’ve always been on the other side, after the fact. I’ve tried to save the lives of people whom have been hurt by others. Sometimes I could, but often not. It would keep me up at night when I couldn’t help them.

Minseok gives my hand a gentle squeeze, “He’s still the same Yixing. We’re still the same people, you know that… right?”

“It’s just… it takes some time. I knew, but seeing it is different.” My voice was shaky and soft. I look at them, nodding, “I’ll be fine. I just need a moment… and some breakfast.”

“I think you mean lunch. By the way,” Junmyeon says, distracting from the tense moment, “Have you seen Sehun?”

“Um, yeah,” I nod, smiling a little. “He and Baekhyun surprised me with ice cream after my shower last night, and we all stayed up talking. They’re both passed out in my room. Why?”

Minseok laughs, “Sehunnie doesn’t like sleeping alone, so more often than not he crawls into bed with Junmyeon!”

“Really? Does he put a pillow and sleep on your legs too?” I smile at the leader, making him laugh. “My legs are sore and stiff because of him. My arm and neck are because of Beakhyun!”

“Beakhyun is like a puppy,” Minseok says, standing up, walking to me. “He’s excited and happy most of the time. He also loves to cuddle people.”

Junmyeon laughs, “Be thankful, sometimes I’ve wake up with his feet constantly kicking my back!”

They both go with me as we talk and laugh, attempting to distract myself from what I saw. For the most part, it works. I like seeing them all laughing and smiling, it makes me happy. Once we get into the kitchen, we look around and settle on some leftover take out, since none of us felt like cooking anyways. I see Sehun and Baekhyun stumble into the kitchen, both still sleepy and in the clothes from last night.

“Y/N”, Baekhyun says, latching onto my arm. He looks down at me, giving me a pouting face as I lean against the counter, attempting to eat my food. “You left us! I thought you were kidnapped!”

“I’m fairly certain that if I was, you would have been woken up and informed,” I say, looking at Sehun who hops up onto the counter next to Junmyeon, peeking at his food.

Junmyeon sighed, his mouth in a smile, before handing the container to Sehun. “Here, you can have the rest. You should be thankful I’m being nice to you since you made me worry.”

Sehun takes the food, smirking at his hyung. His black hair messy and all over the place. “I think I’ll just start staying with Y/N,” He says, not letting how tired he is remove any of the sass from his voice. “Way more comfortable anyways. She doesn’t move around all night like you.”

I roll my eyes, eating one last bite before giving the rest to Minseok, who was standing to my right. He smiles, nodding a thanks. I see Baekhyun perk up, hearing this conversation.

“Well,” Baekhyun says, a smirk growing on his face, “I agree! But Sehunnie, you and I both know one person who would be very upset at us if we did!” His voice was half saying the words, half singing them.

“Not this again,” I rolled my eyes, putting my hands in the pockets of the hoodie I was wearing, “Yes. Me.”

Sehun pretends to think for a second, “No, Y/N, I think Hyung means the sweet angel Yixing hyung.”

I groan, “Can we just not?”

“I mean… if Yixing were to find out that you’re hurt and sore because those two stayed with you at night, I’m fairly certain he’d be pretty upset,” Minseok chuckles, trying and failing to stop his face from growing into a grin.

I looked at him in the eyes, glaring. “Really? You too?”

“What’s going on,” Junmyeon asks, glancing between us all.

Sehun smiles, leaning against him. “We’ll, Baekhyun, Chen and sometimes Jongin and I have all be picking on our dear little Y/N. You see, it’s painfully obvious she has the hots for Yixing, so we pick on her for it.”

“You see,” I ask, pointing at Sehun, “It’s stupid, right?”

Junmyeon shrugs, giving me an apologetic look. “I mean, I think it would be stupid if it was one all one sided…”

“Yes,” Baekhyun says, jumping around excitedly, finally shaking off his grogginess. “Everyone is going to join in at this rate!”

Throwing my hands in the air, I shake my head, “You too?! Come on!”

“‘The lady doth protest too much’,” Junmyeon quotes, wagging his finger at me with a huge grin.

“I suddenly hate Hamlet now,” I say, pouting, only making Junmyeon laugh.

Beakhyun smiles, putting the hood of my hoodie up, “See? We all see it! Just make a move!” I pull away from him, rolling my eyes and drink some water, hopeful that my silence will make them stop.

“Perhaps Yixing will make the first move,” Minseok says, finishing off the food. “He’s not blind. He has to see how you feel. Just trust us, he won’t reject you.”

“Yeah,” Sehun says, mumbling with food in his mouth. He swallows it down, the smirk coming back to his face, “Hell, just already and save us all from having to live with the that surrounds you two.”

I cough, water painfully going down the wrong tube as I attempt to hide my cherry red blushing face. Everyone around me starts to laugh at that, Minseok patting my back in an attempt to help my coughing fit. It was like that for about a half a minute before the door opens, and I see Chanyeol and Yixing walk in.

Yixing looks to me, panic in is eyes as he walks over quickly, “Y/N, are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” I cough out, making everyone but myself, Yixing and Chanyeol laugh out in thunderous laughter. I look up, seeing Yixing standing in front of me, looking at me with worried eyes. His black hair was still dripping and he smelled of spearmint soap. I nod once my coughing has ended, and he smiles at me before going through the room trying to find something to eat. I look down, trying to hide my face, only making the room laugh more.

“What’s going on,” Chanyeol asks, looking at everyone. Sehun waves him over, leaning in and whispers in his ear all that happened. A few seconds later, Chanyeol laughs loudly, his arms slamming a few times on the counter as he grins. He clances at me, his red hair faded into a pink. “Just so you know,” He said, laughing some more, “I agree! Especially what Sehun said last!”

I shake my head, keeping my face hidden as I flip them off, only making them laugh more. I feel Minseok’s hand on my shoulder, “Come on,” He says, “Let’s go do some training.”

We exit the room, as I wave at all the men in the room, I turn to Minseok, and thank him for giving me an escape. He just grins, “Well, not exactly an escape. I just know them. I know if we would have stayed they would have kept it going, trying to be coy about it. Trying, being the key word. They’d say something and leave both you and Yixing in awkward positions.” He smiles at me, “I want Yixing to be happy. I want you to be happy.” He confesses. He looked to young, younger than the others at times. It’s moments like these that I’m reminded he’s the oldest. “If they would have kept going and made it awkward for the both of you… well, you and Yixing are both the types to shy away from awkward situations like those. You both are in a good place with one another. If that changed, it would take you both months to get back here again.”

We enter the gym, and he looks at me once again before we start to stretch, “I know it’s hard, and I know they can sometimes be frustrating, but also I know without a shadow of a doubt that they all just want you both happy like I do.” He smiles at me, giving me a hug before he turns to start to stretch. “But, honestly, hiding your feelings from yourself is the worst thing you could do.”

We stretch in silence. I think about his words. I know Yixing well, and I know that how I feel for him is beyond friendship. The thought of seeing him like a brother makes me feel weirdly ill. He makes me happy, and I can be completely relaxed around him. His smile makes me smile, his laugh makes me want to laugh and when he’s hurt, I feel like I’m going to shatter. Minseok and I spar, and soon after he throws me to the ground. I look up at the ceiling, thinking about his words. He stands over me, offering me a hand. I look him in the eyes, nodding.

“I really like Yixing,” I confess, not just to him but to myself as well. “As more than a friend.”

“Admitting you care about someone to yourself is the first step,” He says, as I give him my hand and he pulls me up. His smile was huge, “Now, you just have to decide if you want to pursue your feelings or not, and that’s a decision I cannot make for you.”

Training went fine. Sehun came into train after me, telling us we missed dinner. I glance out the window, noticing how it was completely dark. Sehun watched one last spar between Minseok and I, commenting I was a lot better than before. I stand, completely covered in sweat, by back sore as I waved at them. As I was leaving, I made a comment about how I was sore. Before I could reply, Sehun smirked, and started to play a song on his phone. My face immediately flushed as I heard the words to an old English song play.

“‘And when I get that feeling, I need ual healing,’” Sehun sang along as it played on a smartphone, using everything he had to hold back his laughter. Minseok snatched the phone from his hand, glaring at the younger man before pressing pause.

“Leave her be,” Minseok commands, pointing to the mat. I quickly escape the room, hearing Sehun try to bargain with Minseok to not treat him like a ragdoll over the prank. I sigh, quickly getting my things to shower. I was thankful that most of them left me alone as I showered, giving me a moment to myself. The water was hot as I try not to think over my revelation I had while training.

Part of me wondered if Mom knew I’d get feelings for one of them. If I’d fall for one of them. She always knew me better than myself, and she’d often knew things about me before I did. Perhaps that’s another reason as to why she didn’t introduce me to them. Though, from the letter she gave Yixing, I get the feeling that she really liked him. I finally finish my shower, just letting the water run down my body. I look up at the ceiling, “Would you approve of this?”

Yixing is kind, thoughtful, and honest with me. He makes me happy when I’m around him and he cares about my feelings. I can’t help but wonder if I’m reading too much into things. He’s like that with everyone, that’s why they call him an angel, after all. No one has ever loved me that way before, so perhaps I’m just being silly and hopeful that someone would now.

I dress in my pajama pants and a night shirt, throwing a hoodie on over it. I pile my wet hair on the top of my head in a messy bun, trying to keep my head away from negative thoughts. The door opens, I see Yixing peek in, looking. His eyes meet mine, and a smile lights up his face. I smile back, feeling my legs get a little weak and my stomach flutter.

“There you are,” He says, his hand taking mine. He was completely dressed in black, from his shirt to his shoes. I feel chills from where he touches me, though vastly different from the chills when he’s healed me. “You missed dinner!”

“Minseok also missed dinner,” I point out, following after him, trying to keep up with his large steps.

He notices and slows down, smiling at me, “I know that, I just… Minseok can take care of himself. Not to say you can’t, because you can. You’re great, I just… uh…” He glances forward, “I was worried, is all. Saved you some rice, some of the soup and some pork belly.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.”

“I know, I just do,” He says, opening the door to the kitchen, “It’s already heated up for you.”

“No wonder they call you an angel,” I remark, smiling to myself as I walk forward to get a plate of food.

I sat on the counter, eating food, listening to Yixing as he speaks. It was calm and nice, as we sat there even after I finished eating. Minseok came in, getting some of the left overs, speaking politely to Yixing and I. As he left, he winked at me. I smile, feeling my face become flushed.

“Um… Y/N?”

I look at Yixing, who was leaning against a stainless steel work station in the middle of the large kitchen that was across from me. He looked nervous, and I felt my heart race, “Yes?”

“They told me.”

My heart freezes and I immediately glance to the floor. “They did,” I ask, my mouth not wanting to form words. I spare a glance up at him, seeing his face full of regret and guilt. I look back down, glancing at my hands. I wring them together, trying to to cry. “I’m sorry,” I say, keeping my voice even, my throat feeling tight.

“I’m the one that should be sorry,” He says, walking close to me. The closer he gets the more upset I feel.

“I just feel so stupid,” I admit, my eyes filling with tears.

“You’re not stupid,” He says, trying to comfort me, “You can’t help how you feel. I just hope this doesn’t change how you see me.”

He puts his hands over mine, making me feel worse. “Why would this change how I see you? You can’t help it.”

“It’s not everyday you watch a friend murder someone, Y/N.”

I pause, looking up at him quickly. “Wait, what?”

“Junmyeon told me you saw what I did to Junsoo,” He says, nervously looking at our hands as he interlaced our fingers together. “He told me you seemed pretty upset by it. I was going to talk to you earlier, but you were busy training and I didn’t want to interrupt that.”

“You’re talking about Junsoo,” I ask, feeling a wave of relief flood over me. My voice back to normal as I let out a few laughs. I let go of his hands, pulling him close as I hug him tightly.

I feel him carefully hug me back, “Um… what did you think I was talking about?”

“Nothing,” I say with a laugh, “Nothing. I was just actually being stupid.” I let go of him, looking up. “But, to get back to the conversation at hand and not the one I thought we were having, I understand that there are things you all have to do. I know you don’t like doing them. I understand you just want to help other Inhumans. I get it. Sure, it’s hard to watch, but I’ll get use to it.”

“I don’t really want you to get use to it,” He says, hugging me again.

The rest of the conversation flows freely. He seemed suspicious, I could tell he really wanted to know what I was talking about. I yawn as he walks with me as we both leave the kitchen.

“We’re going to go get the book tomorrow,” Yixing explains, walking slowly next to me.

“Seems like the information that will come from it made my mission an absolute success,” I remark, smiling, “I’m glad I could help. But how is his wife fine?”

“Baekhyun is texting her from his phone. Talking about business trip he couldn’t avoid, and that he’ll make it up to her.” He stops as we reach my door, “She decided to take a vacation to Dubai in spite.”

I nod, smiling, “Thank you for saving me some dinner.”

“No… no problem,” He says, looking to his feet. He glances back at me, his eyes meeting mine and holding their gaze firmly, but he still looked nervous. “Y/N, by any chance, when we were speaking… did you think I was saying that I didn’t have feelings for you?”

I freeze, blinking quickly, my eyes leaving his, “Um… wellgoodnightthankyouforeverything.” I mumble quickly, about to turn to the door. I feel his hand on my shoulder, the other on the door near my head.

“Y/N,” He asks, his face a bit red, “I just wanted to say that if that is what you’re thinking, it really couldn’t be further from the truth.”

I stay silent, staring at him as he looks at me. I could see his blush becoming a deeper shade of red. Every second that passes by he gets more nervous as I stand there in stunned silence.

“Can you please say something,” He says, his voice soft.

“I like you, Yixing,” I blurt out, looking to the ground. “I was upset because I thought they told you because they all know how I feel about you. I thought you were rejecting my feelings for you.”

“Y/N,” I hear him say. I could hear the smile in his voice, “Can you look at me?”

I glance up, seeing him smile at me. It was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face, making my heart beat faster. He leans towards me, letting out one last laugh before he presses his lips against mine. His lips were soft, lightly moving with mine. He pulls away, looking me in the eyes. I smile, putting my hands around his neck, pulling him back to me. He places his hands on my waist, pulling me to him more. This time, the kiss got deeper, I couldn’t help but blushing even darker feeling his tongue glide against mine. It was passionate, but still slow as I try to pour my feelings for him into the kiss.

I feel him pull away, the both of us gasping for air. I smile, biting my lip, looking back at him. He wraps his arms around me, a small laugh coming from him. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” He whispers, looking at me once again. He looked at my door, before looks at me again, placing a small kiss to my lips once more, “Sleep. You’re already tired.”

I nod, not knowing what to say as I watch him turn, heading to his room. He passed by the corner as I lean back against my door, smiling to myself, living in the blissful moment a moment longer. I open my door, going inside as I smile to myself again, my face still very red.

“Well, this is awkward.”

I jump, turning back to face my bed, seeing Baekhyun and Sehun both on it. Baekhyun grins, springing off the bed before picking me up in a crunching hug, spinning in circles.

“You both heard that,” I ask, trying to keep my balance after Baekhyun lets me down. I stumble to the bed, trying to get the world to focus.

Sehun gives me a grin that could rival the Cheshire cat. He places a hand over his heart. “‘“I just wanted to say that if that is what you’re thinking, it really couldn’t be further from the truth,’” He mimics Yixing in a very unflattering voice, cackling as I hit his arm.

Not even two hours of them picking on me could dampen my mood. The whole time I would put my fingers to my lips, not believing that it actually happened. That night, I feel asleep after successfully kicking them out. My dreams bright, positive, and full of something that could very well be love.