Chapter 26 - Yoonmi and her legendary dinner invitations  

When I next woke up, it was only to see myself lying flat in the snow covered ground. I felt light and airy for some reason. The view above me was beautiful. The skyline has turned dark, revealing a bunch of bright, shiny stars, twinkling at me from above. But something else caught my attention. The snow. The little snow flakes descending down on me and the ground around me. It felt quiet. It’s felt nice. It felt beautiful. 

Until... a burst of fire covered my view. I sprung up suddenly, finding a large explosion happening on my right side. The heat of the explosion penetrated through my skin. When the bright view cleared, I found a fierce chanyeol standing over me. His body was lit up in a wild fire. It his limbs like candy, seemingly portraying him as the man on fire.

But what surprised me was his wings. Or Phoenix wings to be exact. They were made out of fire, stationed on both of his sides. They were huge, beautiful and enticing. But they only lasted for few seconds, before they vanished like a candle has been diminished by a wave of hand. 

I stared at them in shock. 

“W-what the—” I began to speak but was cut off by a loud thump. 

Snapping my eyes from his burning figure, they landed on the giant tree that was being used as a pillar earlier. Xiumin who was using it lean up his body weight is now somewhere few feet away from it, lying in a poodle of cold water. The tree itself was burning, being eaten inside out by chanyeol’s power. 

The expression on the cold brother seemed serious. He looked shocked and his eyes weren’t glowing anymore. Instead, there was a deep frown set upon his features. 

“This is impossible.” He said aloud, looking at me and then at a grinning chanyeol. “No-one’s powerful enough to break Luhan’s spell!” 

Luhan. Hmmm.. so that’s what the idiot brother is called. I’ll make sure to give him the best welcome of his life for putting chanyeol’s life in danger, that is... if I ever find him. 

“I didn’t break it.” Chanyeol spoke, stepping closer to his elder brother. “I overpowered it. With the right person and the right motivation—” this is where he looked at me with glistening eyes “—we can overpower anything. We can find the ray of hope even in the darkest of time.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at his cheekiness but something stopped me. It was the sudden pull on my arm that made me stumble into chanyeol’s chest as his flaming arms wrapped around me for a back hug. I thought I was gonna be burned by his flames, but I didn’t. The fire just sat there, my skin but not burning me or causing me any kind of pain. 

“I guess I finally mastered the trick.” He whispered into my ears, making my face turn red. The heat coming from his body was causing a new sensation to build up inside me. I felt all mushy in his grip. Especially when his front fingers prodded my neck, tracing the soft skin behind my neck, sending chills down my back. It felt so different. His touch... his back hug. It feels so different. 

Biting my lips, I looked back at the colder brother who was still slumped on the wet ground of the forest. The snow around him was melted. He was still staring at us with wide eyes. 

I lightly shook out of chanyeol’s grip and walked closer to the elder boy.

“Peace?” I asked, sticking my hand out to help him. His jeans were definitely soaked. 

He looked at my outstretched hand in suspicion before slapping it away. 

“I don’t need your help.” He retorted, standing up on his feet abruptly. But the slippery ground caused him to loose balance. I caught him just before he could hit the ground again. 

I gasped as soon as his figure came in contact with my arms. His whole body was freezing. He was so cold. I couldn’t feel an ounce of warmth inside him. It’s like he’s made of ice. His skin was cold and mushy. It felt like the inside material of an ice pack. I swear I didn’t feel this earlier with him. When I had grabbed him earlier in anger, I only felt his clothes, I don’t think I felt his real skin. Was I too focused on my problems to notice this? 

“You’re so cold.” I said in shock, grasping his neck which seemed to be made of ice. It’s like hard rock. The ones you find in Antartica. 

“I’m aware.” He answered, shrugging my grip off him. But I brushed his hands away and gripped his face instead, cupping his chubby cheeks in my hands. 

“Wow... you feel exactly like an ice pack.” I murmured, squashing and squishing his face around. He seemed bothered by my touch. 

“Let go of me!” He exclaimed, trying to get away from my grip. I tried to hold him tighter but he managed to get away. “!” He yelled at me.

I glared at him. “Mind your language mister.” I scolded him as he scoffed at my beautiful face. Aish... this old man. 

“You act like a little baby, minseok.” I said, referring to him by his real name. Xiumin seems so foreign on my tongue.

The man glared at me. I moved back towards chanyeol with an innocent smile. I can’t believe I got so close to the older brother without being freezed to death. I felt chanyeol’s arm snake around my waist as he pulled me back, right into his broad chest. I could smell his divine scent. It reminded me of bananas and lemons. 

Weird. He has never smelt like this before.

“Just give up, hyung.” I heard my warrior exclaim. “You know you lost.” 

A sudden anger flickered in Xiumin’s eyes. He pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought his arms up in the air as wisps of cold smoke filtered out of his body. His hands glowed and his eyes turned white. Any traces of fire around us diminished as the cold air settled around us once again. 

“Great, you just pissed him off.” I muttered to chanyeol who gulped at the immense power. 

Suddenly, the older boy ed his arms forward in their direction. A burst of blue, icy beam came driving towards us. I panicked. It was too fast for me to do anything. Just when I thought I was going to die today, a large hand came into my view. It erupted a giant flame of fire that pulverised the beam into fine droplets of water. They landed on my feet, making me cringe at the soggy feeling in my socks. 

“Ugh...” I grunted, shaking my feet in disgust. 

“Sorry.” I heard my warrior say sheepishly. I glared at him. 

Another beam of power was shot at us. Chanyeol reacted by pushing me behind his body and this time using both of his hands to defend himself. 

“Is this the best you could do, hyung?” My warrior retorted, blowing the small fire off his fingers like a candle. I hit him on the head. 

“You’re making him angry!” I whisper-yelled, pointing to the enraged brother of his. He gulped again, loosing all his cockiness. 

“I’ll show you what I can do, chan-chan.” 

Yup... we’re screwed. 

The next few minutes were a little blurry to me. The only thing I remember is being forced to duck down on the ground as a colourful spectator occurred above my head. I could hear my warrior’s roaring fire burning through the ice as more and more attacks were thrown at us. Minseok, or Xiumin to be exact, was in his primal state. His hair had completely turned white due to the ice surrounding them, and his eyes were glazed with an unknown energy. It made him look possessed and controlled, which he was if you consider the ritual he went through. 

“Yoonmi, go!” Chanyeol screamed at me when I refused to move from my spot. The battle was getting intense as each second passed. My warrior wanted me to hide behind a tree so I wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire. But I refused to move. After seeing them battle relentlessly, I thought about how envious and angry they are at each other. None of them wanted to back down. And that didn’t sit well with me. 

“No! You guys need to stop! This isn’t how we do things.” I tried to scream out but had to roll out of the way as chanyeol’s fire erupted too close for my liking. Sure, he can now control it to not burn me, but it seems when he’s over his head, his control loosens, therefore forcing anything in his path to burn. 

“Ahhh!” I whimpered when the fire touched my hand. It didn’t burn it too much but I could feel blisters forming. 

“Yoonmi, I’m sorry. I-I couldn’t control it.” The red head apologised, with tears filling his eyes. I waved him off, motioning at the pointy ice spikes coming our way. 

“Watch out!” A giant shield of fire enveloped us, melting the attack. 

“That’s it! I’m done playing nice.” Chanyeol screamed beside me as he pushed me away roughly before stalking forward towards his older brother with burning fire bouncing in his eyes. 

“Aww... did I finally get little chan-chan to get angry?.” The older boy mocked, noticing my warrior’s angry figure. 

“You bet you did, you little popsicle!” 

Xiumin’s white eyes glowed at the insult. 

“Wanna repeat that again, ?!” He threatened, conjuring up ice all around him. 

I groaned. Now they are degrading each other with mindless, stupid words like little kids. 

“YA! You stupid hoard of ugly horse faces!” I screamed, grabbing their attention and pushing myself in between them. “You both know that you have opposite elements, right? Which means no matter how much you do this little Elsa dance of yours, you will still be tied on the same place.” 

“What?” They both said to me in confusion, not understanding my words. I could still see their hands raised up like some mighty gods on a trip to destroy the world. 

I sighed in defeat. Quickly and swiftly, I slapped both of them on the back of their heads, making sure to be extra careful around the ice brother but being extremely painful on the red head. They both looked at me with narrowed eyes. 

“You!” I turned to chanyeol first. “I just saved you from a death sentence and you’re already here prancing around like a little fire ball. Go sit down on that rock!” I ordered, pointing at the wide rock near the tree.

“B-but he...” I cut him off by pinching his s. He yelped, holding his chest in shock.

“Now!” I glared. He gulped before shuffling to the said place. 

Satisfied, I twirled around on my feet to face the older brother. The boy seemed surprised at the look I was giving him. 

“And you!” I yelled, stomping to his frozen stance. Hopefully he doesn’t freeze me when I’m done with him. “Why are you being such a baby? Do you like throwing baby tantrums? Cause if you do, let me know so I can whip your to hell for making this mama so angry.” I growled, doing hand gestures of hitting his bum. His mouth hung open at me, both of his cheeks forming into red, puffy steamed buns. “Now, be a man and admit that you lost. It won’t hurt your pride to accept defeat once in a while. Go down there and apologise to your brother.” I ordered him, pointing towards chanyeol. He looked scandalous at my request. “Didn’t you hear me, popsicle? Apologise to your brother for nearly killing him.” 

When he didn’t reply, I looked back at chanyeol who was avoiding my eyes. I motioned for him to come forth. And he did, very slowly. 

“Both of you apologise to each other now.” I ordered. They both looked at me with wide eyes. “Now means now, boys.” I threatened. When none of them moved, I placed two well-aimed kicks on both of their buttocks. If it was any other situation, I would have laughed at their shocked faces and loud squeaks, but I was pissed and kinda felt confident to do this. “Apologise.” I gritted out. 

Chanyeol was the first one to break. He looked at his older brother with a scared look. 

“I’m sorry, hyung.” 

I looked at the older warrior who was still frozen. 

“Do you want to open that fat mouth of yours or do I need to whip your again?” I warned. 

Instantly, his face morphed into anger. 

“You wielder! How dare—” Before he could utter out anymore of his words, I placed a another well aimed kick to his chubby buttocks. He flinched at the rough contact. 

“You wanna test me?” I growled. I’m through with his . 

“You better listen to her, hyung. She can get pretty scary.” My warrior squeaked out. I looked at him in annoyance. He instantly yelped and looked away. 

“I’m sorry for trying to kill you.” Xiumin gritted out when I re-traced my eyes back onto him. He was rubbing his bum. His expressions were similar to an angry, defeated child who was in denial. 

Good. 

“Now, let’s get down to business.” I started, staring him down. His eyes flew over my face in tiny slits. “Do you accept defeat?” 

“No.” He replied with an obvious growl. “I will never accept defeat to you, wielder.” 

I huffed in frustration.

“My name is Yoonmi, not wielder.” I corrected him. “And for your kind information, you just tried to kill your brother.” 

“So?” His voice seemed indifferent but his eyes said otherwise. They weren't glowing so I could clearly see the emotion behind them. 

“Don’t you want to be with your brothers again?” I asked him quietly when I saw something flicker in his eyes. It was there for a second before chanyeol’s loud scoff made it disappear. 

“He’s not my brother.” The red head growled beside me. “He hasn’t been my real hyung for a very long time.” 

I looked at my warrior with raised eye-brows. 

“And yet, you continue to address him by ‘hyung’.” I retorted. His eyes instantly looked away, a small hue of red appearing on his cheeks. I shook my head in disappointment. This is stupid boy pride that I’m seeing here. In both of them. None of them will bow down unless the other does. 

Ughh... I hope the others don’t share the same thing. 

I looked back at Xiumin. The boy was walking away. 

“Hey!” I screamed, running after him. “Where do you think you are going? I’m not done with you yet.” 

He ignored my calls. I sped forward and grounded myself right infront of him. I saw him huff at my figure. 

“Move.” He growled. I gulped. 

“No!” I’m gonna be a stubborn , mister. “You can’t go anywhere