With the arrival of winter, the biting cold wind knocked at the door, inviting in the unwelcome but unavoidable flu season.

Johnny had been the first one to receive the visit, and because he lived by himself, Taeyong visited him on a daily basis until he fully recovered. Unfortunately for the younger male, he was not immune to the flu and ended up being bed-ridden for a good week as a result. Jaehyun then unavoidably fell victim to the unwanted visitor too and made it clear to send Taeyong accusatory glares whenever he was within sight.

Nari had tried her best to avoid them and did a good job at remaining unaffected. However as luck would have it, she ended up catching the flu from some other unknown source days after Jaehyun had recovered. Thus, the poor girl was now holed up in her studio flat, buried under her blankets as she struggled to breathe through her blocked nose, with the world around her in a constant haze.

When Taeyong, Johnny and Jaehyun dropped by to visit equipped with groceries — since Taeyong knew full well that Nari was not feeding herself properly — they found her lying stomach down by the side of her bed with one arm extended out towards the ground where a sketch book laid. With her chin resting on a pillow, Nari was absentmindedly transferring the imageries in her mind through her moving hand and into the sketchbook. The sketchbook itself was an alcove of treasures, holding designs for all sorts of sculptures.

“Stop drawing and rest your brain,” Taeyong chided Nari as he moved around the kitchen with great familiarity. “You’ll never get better at this rate.”

“Then I might as well welcome death whilst engaged in a dance of artistic delirium,” Nari mumbled into her pillow.

“Your brain is clearly fried since you're sprouting nonsense,” Taeyong replied, rolling up his sleeves as he prepared to make vegetable congee for the sick girl.

Jaehyun who was supposed to help prepare the food was instead propped on the kitchen counter — actively ignoring Taeyong’s judgmental stares — and deliberately distanced himself from Nari and her germs. Johnny on the other hand was standing frozen while staring at the ceiling, awe and fascination pouring out of his eyes.

“So that’s the famed Excalibur?” Johnny stated in astonishment at the pair of kitchen scissors stuck in the ceiling above him.

“The one and only.” Jaehyun nodded.

“What’s the story behind it?” Johnny asked, in the hopes that Nari would spill while knowing full well how much Taeyong wanted to keep the story buried.

Ears perking at the question, Nari’s hand stopped moving and Taeyong felt panic rising inside of him in fear that she was going to reveal the origins of Excalibur. Slamming the lid on the pot of congee with slightly too much force, Taeyong dived towards Nari with flailing arms in the hopes of distracting her and diverting everyone’s attention. Taeyong looked ridiculous doing that and he knew it, however that did not matter.

In his uncoordinated attempt to block out Johnny’s question from Nari’s mind, Taeyong ended up tripping on his own feet and slammed into the bookshelf next to Nari’s bed. The impact caused Nari’s middle school yearbook to fall down onto the ground and upon seeing the school emblem on the cover, Taeyong and Johnny’s eyes flickered in recognition.

“You went to Jamsil Middle School?” Johnny asked while pointing at the yearbook.

Seeing Nari nod, Johnny and Taeyong exchanged a look of disbelief.

“Seriously? So did we,” Taeyong stated in a surprised tone. “How come I never knew?”

“Cause yo