Groan.

 

Kira opened one fluttering eye to try and gauge her current situation. She could only assume Hyeju wasn’t in any danger but it was a bit difficult to tell with her brain pounding into her skull.

 

“Kira…”

 

She moaned in pain, “I feel like...I just got run over by a Mammuthus.”

 

“That, my dear, stupid guardian, is what is called a hangover,” Hyeju informed.

 

“You mean that thing Younghyun does after a festival where he just rolls around in bed whining all day?”

 

“That would be a hangover.”

 

Kira blinked a few times, trying to process the definition of a hangover. “When did I have alcohol?”

 

Hyeju stared at Kira in disbelief. “Sorry, I’m just trying to decide if you’re really that thick or just playing dumb at the moment.”

 

“I should be offended...but everything just hurts.”

 

“Literally all night. You had alcohol ALL NIGHT AT THE CLUB,” she yelled before grumbling profanities under her breath.

 

“Was that the place with the unbearable, ear-destroying noises?”

 

“Are you still drunk? Because I’m having a hard time believing you’re this dense.”

 

“More hurtful words, almost as hurtful as the pounding in my head. I’m still trying to get my bearings, princess.” The formal address was clearly sarcastic. “Are you okay, Hyeju?”

 

“I am really about to slap you.”

 

“That would probably give me brain damage at this point. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

 

“Sorry?! Seriously?! What were you thinking?! You know you can’t have alcohol! It’s literally poison!” Kira winced at the loudness in her voice, causing ringing in her ears. She put her hands up in defense.

 

“Poison is a little extreme. Truthfully I don’t remember much. I get the feeling the rodent face has something to do with it. The sound was really piercing my ear drums so Hoseok went to get me something to protect my ears. I was thirsty, and then it was all downhill from there,” Kira shrugged.

 

“Okay, but didn’t you think the drink tasted funny when rodent face offered you the drink?”

 

“I just assumed that’s what drinks tasted like on this planet.”

 

“You clearly felt funny after the drink so what’s your excuse there?”

 

“I just assumed that’s what drinks on this planet do to you.”

 

“Can I assume you’re dumb as well? I’m literally going to strangle you.”

 

“Such violence. I’m shocked.”

 

“Rich coming from you.”

 

A knock on the door ceased their bantering. Hyeju verbally allowed entry into the room. Kihyun peeked his head in with a bowl of steaming liquid. Kira scrunched her nose at the smell wafting in her direction as he placed the soup on the bed in front of the Vulpes.

 

“Hangover soup,” Kihyun explained. “Might help to make you feel better.”

 

“Smells fishy…” Kira grumbled, “I don’t like fish.”

 

Hyeju smiled, “Thank you, Kihyun. I’ll be sure she drinks it even if I have to feed it to her through a funnel.”

 

That earned her a nervous chuckle from Kihyun. “Can I ask you a favor, Hyeju?”

 

She nodded. He bit his lip apprehensively, “I talked with the magnae and he said it really wasn’t Hoseokie-hyung’s fault...last night...Minhyuk was the one that gave Kira her first drink and then Jooheon and Changkyun were...pressured with their masculinities at stake for additional drinks. Apparently when all of this was happening, Hyung was trying to convince the DJ to let him borrow some headphones for Kira’s ears. So...I was hoping you could forgive Hoseokie-hyung…since he really just took responsibility for the younger kids’ mistakes.”

 

“Forgive?” Kira asked in confusion. “Why does he need to be forgiven for something he didn’t do? You believed him when he said he was responsible?”

 

“I figured as much that he was not directly responsible for what happened. But I left him in charge of you and clearly that was a mistake,” Hyeju stated bluntly.

 

“Go forgive him.”

 

Kihyun flinched at the glare Hyeju shot Kira. “Excuse me?”

 

“What? You’re going to give him grief because I got blackout drunk?” Kira laughed, angering Hyeju further.

 

“You could have died!”

 

Kira spat, laughing harder before holding her head in pain as the action worsened the throbbing. “Seriously. You’re blowing this way out of proportion. I’m intolerant to alcohol. It’s not going to kill me.”

 

“How would you know if you’ve never had it?!”

 

“I just assume-”

 

“One more word of assumptions out of you and I’m putting you in a bubble again.”

 

Kira grabbed Hyeju’s hands with a smile, “I’m fine. Hoseok took care of me yesterday. Look.”

 

She got up from the bed and grabbed the gray hoodie that she had taken off last night when the alcohol made her feel too hot. She pulled a small box out of the pocket and placed it on the bed. Pushing the button on top of the box triggered the palm-size box to enlarge to the size of a dress. Kira opened the box revealing a short sleeve A-line style dress that was peach in color with a slit on the side revealing an array of beautiful pastel colors underneath. There was a pair of long, smooth light brown boots with black leggings to keep her legs warm. 

 

“...are you trying to bribe me with clothes? Because that is very pretty and I adore it but that is not making me less mad!”

 

Kira pouted, “I picked it out for you…Hoseok paid for it because you know....I don’t get paid. Also I don’t have any money in this world.”

 

Hyeju finally grabbed Kira’s face, squishing her cheeks between her hands so she was forced into direct eye contact. She shook Kira’s head back and forth slightly with each sentence. “Kira. I don’t care about clothes. I care about what happens to you. Not you as my guardian. You. I hate that you think yourself so replaceable.”

 

“Well I mean if I-”

 

“Oooooh no. Don’t you ing dare.” Hyeju pointed threateningly at Kira to shut . “You are not leaving me on my own to deal with my family!”

 

Kira turned silent at the look of dread in Hyeju’s eyes at the thought of the Vulpes not being there. Kira grabbed Hyeju’s face, mirroring her previous action. “I will not leave you.”

 

With that simple statement, Hyeju finally visibly relaxed. She jumped Kira with a bear hug, which Kira returned with a gentle one.

 

“Now go apologize to Hoseok.”

 

“How did it go from forgive to apologize?” Hyeju scoffed.

 

“I decided you were being overly dramatic and need to apologize for your actions,” Kira demanded with a smirk. “Admit it. You know alcohol isn’t actually poisonous to me.”

 

“YOU NEVER KNOW! I’ve heard horror stories of Vulpes dying from alcohol poisoning!”

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

“Shht you,” Hyeju gently shoved Kira’s smirking face away. “I’ll admit I got a little overeager to punish someone for your state. HOWEVER,” she shushed Kira as she was about to interject something. “If I have to go and make amends, YOU need to keep out of trouble and for heaven’s sake be a little nicer to our hosts. Deal?”

 

While not an outright agreement, Kira did give a little half nod, grumbling something Hyeju was pretty certain was an agreement. Probably as good as she was going to get for now.

 

“Good. Now rest up. I may know a way for us to go find their missing friend.”

 

“Fine, fine. We can discuss it later. First, go apologize. Shoo.” Hyeju patted Kira on the head and left the room. A brief calm enveloped the room until Kira realized Kihyun had never left. He waved tentatively at her with a strained smile. “Were you here this whole time?”

 

“It…felt weird to leave and now I feel like it might have been weird to stay,” he responded, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling very awkward.

 

She pointed at the bowl in front of her with a pout. “Do I really have to drink this?”

 

He smiled warmly at her, “There's no fish in it, I promise. It’s good for you to rehydrate after drinking so much. Helps with the headache.”

 

She continued to pout for a little longer while picking up a small spoonful to sample the flavor. Her eyes lit up in awe. “It’s delicious.”

 

Kihyun’s smile widened so much, his eyes disappeared. “I’m glad you like it. There’s more if you want.”

 

She looked down at the bowl before offering a quiet, shameful thanks (feeling bad for judging his soup) with just a brief side glance at Kihyun before devouring her bowl of soup. He decided to take his leave to get her another bowl. Once outside, he celebrated with a soft “Yes!” and a double fist pump before patting himself on the back while going to the kitchen.

 

~

 

Hyeju made her way into the family room area where Hoseok was on the couch watching TV with a towel draped over his head. He must have just gotten out of the shower. 

 

“Hey…” She greeted softly, but somehow still startled him. “Can we talk?”

 

Hoseok nodded his head and turned the TV off. He moved over and grabbed the pillow out of the way so Hyeju could sit next to him. Rather than putting the pillow down, he wrapped his arms around it while giving her his undivided attention. 

 

“I…have to apologize for my behavior last night. I knew it wasn’t your fault but I still took it out on you and that wasn’t fair. I maaay have overreacted when I said she could die. It’s just I heard some rumor that Vulpes don’t handle alcohol well and it’s poisonous to them so I assumed that meant all Vulpes would die from alcohol. Turns out she’s just very intolerant so she’ll be fine but I think we’re gonna keep alcohol out of her system in the future and-are you crying?” Hyeju’s word-vomit was interrupted at the quiet sniffles from Hoseok, who was hiding his face in the pillow. 

 

“I’m just so glad she’s okay.” Sniff. “I was so worried we had really hurt her…” Sniff. “...and I just wouldn’t be able to bear the thought that our stupid decision took your very important friend away.” Sniff. 

 

He wasn’t bawling or anything but Hyeju noticed when he finally lifted his head that his eyes were a bit swollen, probably from crying so much. Hyeju bit her lip anxiously. She had never had a grown man cry in front of her like this before. She wasn’t really sure what to do and now she felt terribly awful for even considering that Hoseok had been involved in Kira’s alcohol fiasco. 

 

She gave him a gentle hug, rubbing his back in comfort. “Oh I’m so sorry. I feel so mean now for cornering you like that yesterday. I have to say I don’t exactly think straight at the thought that Kira may be taken away from me. And she really will be okay.”

 

His sniffling slowed down as she hugged him, which he returned just as gently despite the fact that the size of his biceps could probably crush her spine if he wanted to.

 

“Your boys were stupid though for getting her blackout drunk,” Hyeju chided as she pulled away from the hug. 

 

“Oh, Hyunwoo gave them an earful after we left. They’ll be coming by later today to apologize for the action.” Hoseok smiled softly, “I’m really thankful that you can forgive me. I’m their hyung so it really was my fault this all happened. Especially since you trusted me to take care of her.” 

 

Hyeju smiled back. She respected his sense of responsibility as well as admired his compassion for strangers that were literally responsible for the disappearance of his friend. 

 

“Oh, when your friends get here and after they’ve apologized, I’ll discuss my plan for looking for your friend,” Hyeju informed. Hoseok’s face lit up. 

 

“I’ll call them up right now!” He charged into Kihyun’s room to reveal the good news.

 

“Oh, Hoseok!” 

 

“Neh?” He stopped just at Kihyun’s door frame, turning around to face Hyeju. 

 

“Thank you for the clothes,” she smiled in appreciation. He giggled back with a wide grin before continuing into Kihyun’s room. Hyeju decided to check on how Kira was doing while waiting for the rest of the boys. She also wanted to try on that new outfit because it was a cute dress.