‘Come on, give them some space…’ I recognised the voice to be Daehyun’s as the sound of footsteps echoed away, all that was left was Zelo and I, staring face to face, his body shaking as tears ruined his angelic face.

‘Why… why after all this time did you come back? I know it can’t be for me, you feel nothing for me, you made that clear the night you l-left…’ rage and anger filled his voice and resonated through the cries that emanated from his body, these emotions, they were wrong, they shouldn’t have been coming from him because he was too nice, too sweet, and too kind to have a single drop of these torturous feelings infiltrate his being. I had to stop this and now, I was tired of seeing how much hurt and anguish I had caused everyone. The same crystals that had fallen from Himchan’s eyes fell now, but bigger and pooled at the maknae’s feet, with a soundly thud his legs gave out beneath him and his knees collided with the floor, his tall frame hunched over at my feet whilst his breathing became ragged and his long nimble fingers clenched at his shirts material over his heart. Falling to my knees I glided my arms around him and lifted his crumpled body against me.

‘Shh…’ I hummed into his bubblegum pink hair, his hands fumbled to grip my shirt as he buried his damp face against my neck, running my hand along his back soothingly I continued to hum as his breathing evened out. ‘Zelo, I came back because… W-Well I missed you, all of you, I missed my f-family…’ nodding softly he mumbled against my neck.

‘Do you still l-love him…? He asked, hope clearly lacing his voice, my heart clenched in its chest, what was I meant to say? I’d caused Zelo enough pain, would saying anything more benefit him? Before I had the chance to speak he had placed a hand on my cheek whilst the other worked on wiping away the freefalling tears from my skin, ‘Serena, If you could grab my hand again like nothing happened… I want to heal all the deep wounds in your heart, I-I can’t let go Serena, I let you go too easily, I don’t think I’ll be able to be without you…’ he whispered the last part sadly.

‘Zelo-ah, please… I don’t know for certain myself why I came back, e-everything is a blur…’ sighing he nodded and accepted my answer, for now.

‘I won’t give up, I can’t, as long as you know that…’ he murmured in my hair before planting a kiss upon my forehead, closing my eyes when he did so I felt myself relax slightly and hugged him gently, a small chuckle formed in his chest before being released between his soft lips and against my skin. ‘Thank you, Serena…’ he mumbled before letting go of me and standing up, hoisting me up as well he brushed the few stray strands away from my face and led me into the kitchen, filling a cold glass with water to the brim he held it out to me and watched as I drank the surprisingly calming liquid. The sound of the front door opening sounded again and Zelo tensed a little, a small breeze infiltrated the kitchen and I recognised the smell, it was him.

‘Yah, is anyone home? It’s so damned quiet around here these days…’ he muttered under his breath, that same low voice, the same growl when he was annoyed or frustrated, the same stomping of his boots, the same soft padding of his feet against the floor, the same dark orbs I remembered looking into countless times. There was however one difference, the silken blonde hair I’d come to love had indeed changed colour to a brilliant purple with a patch of black on the top, the training bag he carried in his right hand crashed to the floor as his wide eyes took in my being. His mouth hung open slightly but soon shut as his lips formed a thin line whilst his eyes darted back and forth between Zelo and I.

‘I’ll go tell the other hyungs you’re home…’ Zelo mumbled with a bowed head, quickly brushing past the eldest male and away to a haven, leaving Bang and I to just stare at each other, I was the first to give and looked away as my resolve buckled under his intense and disbelieving stare. A warm sensation wrapped around my left wrist as another swept over my neck, cupping the back of it.

‘Look at me.’ He whispered tightening his hold on me slightly, inhaling deeply I tilted my head up and found his face mere inches from mine, confusion and anger mixed together and played with his features, contorting them slightly into a frown. ‘What… are you doing here?’ he asked as his eyes roamed over my face, as if trying to take in everything at once, the hand he had at the back of my neck slid around so his thumb could brush over my skin making his breath hitch slightly. ‘You look the same, feel the same… Like you never left…’ he murmured gazing as his thumb continued to glide over my heating skin. His eyes glistened as his lips trembled before dragging his gaze back to my own, I had only ever seen him cry once before, not even on the night I had run away from all of this, from him.

‘Y-Yongguk, I’m sorry, I… I never meant for any of what happened to happen, never had I dreamed it would come to that, I didn’t want it to and… I couldn’t face you,’ looking down I felt fresh tears start to spring from my tired and sore eyes, ‘I can barely face you now…’ I mumbled beneath my breath, his warm hands clamped down on my biceps tilting my body back slightly, forcing me to look back up at him, yet he didn’t say another word. ‘Yongguk please, I know you’re angry, f-forgive me… please…’ I whispered helplessly as cold streams ran down my cheeks, all I wanted now was his forgiveness, if I was granted it I wouldn’t ask for another single thing in my entire life, not even his love, after all, I didn’t deserve it.

‘I thought you’d never come back, and now, now I find you in my kitchen looking like a single day hasn’t passed…’ he said tilting his head to the side like he almost couldn’t understand what he was seeing let alone acknowled what I had confessed, he leaned his face closer to me as if examining every detail and committing it to his memory, like I would disappear from his grasp once more, only this time he feared I really wouldn’t return. His full and still slightly trembling lips ghosted against mine gently as if he was still unsure if I would disappear, I stayed completely still trying to reassure him I wouldn’t vanish. Even with the small meeting of our lips I had felt the same spark that my body had ached for each moment we had been apart, I needed more and so did he, he pressed his lips to mine once more but this time with more pressure and heat, his perfect lips moulded with mine as if they were made for each other and his grip on my arms slid from their position to rest on my hip and the small of my back. My own hands moved with a mind of their own, my left hand s upwards and tangled in his purple locks whilst my right hand rested over his heart which beat profoundly, this kiss was something I needed and had been craving for months, this kiss meant so much more than it looked like from the outside, this kiss had been the ruining of us both but was now mending the turmoil and chaos.

‘I couldn’t stay away, I didn’t have it in me…’ I mumbled against his lips after pulling back a little, his lips pulled back over his teeth to reveal that gummy smile I so loved, it set every fibre of my being ablaze and it was my turn to study him intently and commit everything to memory, a y chuckle escaped his lips and ghosted across my skin sending thrills throughout me. I could feel my heart sewing back together with each moment.

‘You came back,’ he murmured against the crook of my neck whilst a hand feathered across my neck slowly, ‘it’s enough for me but I won’t forgive you,’ my breath hitched as I felt the stitches in my heart start to fray and snap, ‘because there’s nothing to forgive. It’s me who should be asking for forgiveness, I made a huge mistake and was blind not to notice Zelo’s feelings for you…’ he sighed against my skin sending an involuntary shiver to cascade down my body, he released yet another chuckle at my reaction to his touches and continued to speak against my skin with his comforting deep voice. ‘I am glad however to see my touches have the same effects on you.’ Sighing I smiled at the joke and his hair which I was glad to find was still silky smooth, ‘Promise not to leave me, no, us, again.’ I nodded and kissed his jaw softly once, like the way I used to and he relaxed quite visibly.

‘I won’t leave, and no more hurt, I promise not to cause any more hurt and pain.’ I promised against his lips, exhaling deeply his hold on me tightened before he pulled back slightly to look me in my eyes again.

‘Come, one good thing did come out of this whole mess.’ He said quietly before leading me away, we headed in the direction of the recording room and when we stepped inside, it was reassuring to find nothing in here had changed either. ‘I wrote this… for you, I was hoping you’d hear it no matter where you were when we released it.’ He said after finding a crumpled piece of paper with scrawled letters across it, I could see from where I was the stains in the shape of droplets that decorated the piece of paper and my heart tugged slightly. Parting his lips he sang the lyrics softly, ‘Honestly, I am not a good person, I am really a jerk, me who couldn’t be a real man, I am like this only now babe, like a fool like a coward I couldn’t tell you I loved you, I now feel like I know about your love, the words “come back to me”.’ His hands trembled slightly and I knew the words he had written had been born out of the pain I had seared inside of him on the night I left, ‘The words “everything is a lie, I can forget”, I know you the best, I know you well, I know you better than anyone else, we loved each other…’ I could see there were more lyrics written on the paper but they didn’t have the chance to be spoken or sung before Bang broke down into tears again, cradling him against me I hummed soothingly into the taller being’s hair and rubbed calming circles over his back. ‘I love you, I know now I will forever, no matter what, my heart belongs solely to you. If I’m not good enough for you in the future, please, understand my heart won’t love anyone else, it c-can’t…’ I nodded kissing the top of his head, ‘I need to ask you one more thing though,’ I froze slightly waiting for him to continue, ‘face the others with me, I can’t go in there on my own with Himchan there, he nearly killed me after he found out from Rose how she’d found you…’ he muttered chewing on his bottom lip, this time a chuckle flowed from between my own lips as I simply nodded and followed Yongguk out of the room and into the supposed lion’s den, better known as Himchan’s lair. 

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