[CONTENTID1]Choice: MX5 Ending[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Upon being reunited, Minhyuk invited Haera to walk with him. But first, she excused herself for a minute to fetch the stuff she left outside the cafe. Jogging up the short steps, she quickly inserted a bookmark on the page she left off then placed the book inside her purse. Afterwards she rejoined Minhyuk, reciprocating the smile that adorned his face. Haera may not have remembered everything yet, but deep inside, something in her knew that this man could be trusted.

“So,” Minhyuk began when they started to follow where their legs took them. He stood on the outer side of the sidewalk and gently guided Haera to walk on the inner side. “You remember my name. What else do you remember?”

“Just bits and pieces,” she admitted. “But first, I knew that you were the one who erased my memories of Monerosia. Why did you do that?”

“Protocol, unfortunately,” Minhyuk clicked his tongue, eyes glancing at the side in guilt. His face resembled a child who got caught doing something wrong and had to explain his actions.

“Even if the person doesn’t mean any harm?”

“Yes,” he sadly replied. “The cancelling of memories is more than just to protect the humans. It's actually meant to protect our kind to make sure that humans will not find or hunt us down.”

“Hmm, understandable. Can I ask for a favor though?” Her eyes narrowed at the taller man then softened into a pleading gaze. “Do you mind restoring the other parts of my memories that I don’t recall?”

“Oh,” he gave her a wink coupled with a smirk. “Of course.” 

Minhyuk looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on a bench that was lodged in between two trees. The slightly swaying leaves created a nice shadow which in turn created patches of sun on whatever encompassed underneath them. Minhyuk brushed a hand on Haera’s elbow and directed her towards the wooden seat.

“You may want to sit down for this,” he said in response to her wordless and confused glance. 

Now standing in front of her seated form, Minhyuk brought his right hand in front of her face. His deep set blue eyes radiated a certain glow at the same time the silver band wrapped around his pinky did the same. A few seconds later, Haera’s body swayed. She managed to keep herself from falling over by placing a hand on the slightly warm wooden bench. 

With a little groan escaping her lips, she shook her head a bit before she blinked a few times. After a while, she finally felt ready to open her eyes again. “What the heck?”

“I’m afraid that’s a side effect whenever we erase or restore a human’s memory.” Minhyuk sat beside her, eyeing her every move. He delicately placed a hand on her shoulder worriedly. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m curious though,” Haera looked at the man beside her, “why didn’t you erase all of my memories instead?”

“It’s not advisable to eradicate one’s memories all at once. If we really wish, we could come back to face the human again after a while and finish what we started. But!” Minhyuk grinned at her as a sigh escaped his lips. “I personally hate erasing long and deep memories. It can affect humans in ways we can’t restore and some side effects are irreversible.”

“I guess I should thank you for that,” Haera chuckled. “Really, Minhyuk, thank you for thinking of my well-being.”

“It’s my pleasure, love,” he placed a hand on his chest, his back bending a bit into a curt bow. “It doesn’t really matter though, because if there’s no catalyst, it would be impossible for the person to even start to pick up the pieces themselves.”

“A catalyst?”

“The vampire decides which parts to erase, retain, and what the catalyst could be. For yours, I decided to let you retain most of what happened that night to not mess with the deeper parts of your memories. As for the catalyst, I believe my blonde hair is quite memorable.” 

He placed the back of his palm by his mouth to stifle a laugh. “That’s why when you saw my blonde head, you started to remember pieces. To be honest,” Minhyuk now chuckled, “I was pretty surprised to hear my name. It was quite random, really, but,” his gaze held a mischievous glint as his eyes bore into hers. “My name sounded beautiful when I heard your voice say it.”

Haera giggled, her eyes turning up at the sides. “Were you always this flirty?”

“Only on occasion,” he smoothly replied. “Anyway,” he brought up the plastic bag he held to give Haera a better view. “I have to get this to Hyungwon. Would you like to accompany me?”

“Sure, why not?” Haera stood up when Minhyuk did the same. Then she added playfully, “You still have to erase my memories again anyway so might as well make the most out of it while I can still remember you.”

“Excellent,” he lit up like a child who was given the permission to play with his friend for a day. “Though I got to say, you’re quite the peculiar human. I’ve never come across one who became ecstatic when being told to hang out with a vampire, much less when told that their memories could be erased in the end.”

“What can I say?” Haera confidently responded. “I’m an exception to most things.”

The two of them strolled through the area exchanging conversations like long lost buddies. They have already passed dozens of other little shops, looking through the windows to expand their topics of interest on things that they saw. Minhyuk still held the plastic bag that contained Hyungwon’s coffee in one hand, though by this time, it was more like he was used to the weight to mind that he actually carried something in his hands.

Haera, however, took notice of the white to-go bag after a while when they crossed another block.

“I don’t think that drink is going to be the same temperature when it reaches Hyungwon,” she side glanced downward as the sounds of crinkling mingled with the air. “How much further are we walking anyway?”

“I honestly think Hyungwon takes pleasure in people’s suffering first before anything else,” Minhyuk grimaced with a scoff. “He didn’t want me to take any form of transportation whatsoever when he sent me to specifically get coffee from that cafe.”

“And where exactly did you start?”

“We’re currently staying at a hotel called From Zero.”

Haera paused in her tracks which made Minhyuk turn around to see why she stopped. “Are you serious? Isn’t that grand hotel like ten miles away from the cafe?”

“Nine point five miles, actually,” he corrected. There was a flicker in his eyes when he added with concern, “Oh, you must be tired by now or have some other more important things to do. I should have realized that earlier. Apologies.”

“I’m still fine for now, but man, you guys have such high endurance. You don’t look like you even broke a sweat.”

Minhyuk proudly shrugged. “Genetics, love.”

As they continued their stroll, Minhyuk suddenly tensed, his body becoming more rigid than before. He also shifted closer to Haera as his elbow brushed past her bare skin. Haera didn't seem to mind the close proximity judging from the fact that she continued to reply to what the man previously said rather than take notice of his current actions.

“Haera,” Minhyuk uttered in a hushed and alert tone. “Stay close to me, okay?”

The sudden warning made the woman’s heart drop followed by the feeling that the organ would pop out of her chest any minute now from the strong pumping that she could hear beating in her head.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Just stay calm, love,” he expressed calmly in her ear just as he led her into a secluded alley. “Trust me, okay?”

With a single nod, Haera let Minhyuk her before he released the hold on her shoulders. Then he turned around with a deadly gaze accompanied by a slow tilt of his head to the side.

“Reveal yourselves,” he practically growled.

“Mingling with a human?” A sinister voice echoed with mirth. “Didn’t they ever tell you not to play with your food?”

“We do not drink to kill, brother. That has been the law.”

“Not for us,” a pair of ruby red eyes coupled with a wide menacing smile emerged from the entrance of the alleyway. Minhyuk instinctively stepped back to make sure Haera was still safe behind him. Haera lightly clutched on to his shirt from behind as if she was afraid to be left behind.

“Rogues like you aren’t supposed to be here.”