*I hate this. I'm sure it's gonna be another round of world war.*

  "I heard both of you played truancy today. Any explanations? ~~~, you first." Yongguk raised an eyebrow at you, expecting you to answer his question. You stared at him and refused to answer. 

  "We skipped school together today." Daehyun stepped in front of you and answered on your behalf. 

  "Move aside, Daehyun, I'm talking to ~~~." Yongguk demanded without much emotions. 

  Daehyun stepped behind reluctantly. 

  "Now answer me, ~~~. I know both of you weren't together." Yongguk demanded again. 

  "I was with Daehyun oppa. How do you know that I wasn't with him?" Your rebellious self was appearing again. 

  "Because I saw you with someone else. The guy in EXO. Stop lying, ~~~." Jongup growled lowly. 

  "How do you know? And for your information, HE has a name, a really nice name to call, Kai." You paused for a moment to think about the reason Jongup said you were lying. 

  "Unless.. You stalked me?" Jongup remained quiet. "Like seriously? You stalked me?" You cried in outrage. You could tell that he was lost for words. *He must've stalked me.* 

  "And so what if I did?" Jongup questioned like he was in no wrong. 

  "You're asking me that question? Okay, I'll tell you then. If you know that I was with Kai, why did you even bother asking? I was with Kai all this while and so what if I did? What's the big deal? Why is it wrong to date someone who loves me and someone I love? Why is everyone going against us? I know oppa, you are just worried but come on, I'm a grown up. Can't you let me handle it myself? For the past few years, I've gave in. Anything and everything you all wanted me to do, I've done it. And now, I'm sick and tired of it already! For goodness sake, just let me go! I'm dating Kai. I don't give a damn what you all think because I'm not bothering even if you don't allow me to. I don't give a damn. None of you can stop me. NONE." Your eyes welled up with tears and a lump formed in your throat. 

  "We have reasons why we're stopping you from getting into relationships, ~~~." Yongguk explained softly but you could tell that he was angry, from his eyes. 

  "Yeah yeah, because you all care for me. That's what everyone says. Bull! If you cared for me, you would have let me go by now. It's not as if I'm eloping with Kai. All I want is just to get together with him and share my happiness, my unhappiness with him. Is that not allowed? And it's not as if I would leave you all. And even if I do, would you all bother?!" You screamed. You couldn't control your emotions anymore. Your tears were flowing continuously. 

  "You should know, ~~~ we really meant it well for you. Of course we care! What makes you think we don't? If we don't, you wouldn't be in this house! Stop raising your voice at us, Missy. Because you are the one in wrong, not us. I don't give a damn about what you say either. You're grounded for 2 weeks. 1 week for playing truancy and the other, for having a relationship. And get this in your head girl, you are living in this house, you better follow the rules here. You, and that guy, is over. You're not staying with him, understand?! Or you'll leave this house!" Yongguk shot up from the sofa, headed for his room an slammed the door. He was probably losing his temper already, if he stayed to hear your words, he wouldn't know what he might do to you out of anger. 

  "HE HAS A NAME! And I can get out of this house! I don't mind. Not at all.." You voice cracked. "Stop it, ~~~. It's enough for today." Himchan was about to take you to your room. He knew you couldn't handle it anymore when he saw your limbs trembling.  However, Jongup was faster than him. Jongup stood up and headed towards you. Yet he didn't bring you to your room. His hands flew towards your cheek. 

SLAP 

  He went over the boundary. 

  You stared at him in disbelief, your hands on your reddened cheek. Everyone was shocked, your brothers were shocked, even Jongup himself. 

  Your knees finally gave in, and your whole body went crashing on the floor. You smirked at Jongup, who was looking a little regretful for his actions. "Just let me die then. No one cares for me anyway." Your tears were still spilling out endlessly. 

  Jongup approached you slowly. "So-Sorry, ~~~." He held your arms and tried to help you up but you jerked away from him. "Get away from me! There's no point saying sorry now. So what if you said sorry, can it undo the fact that you just slapped me just now? Stay away from me, you.. Beast." You whispered softly the last word. 

  You pushed yourself up from the floor, still wobbling unsteadily like a drunkard. Jongup reached out to help you once again but you pushed him away harshly. "I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" By now, Jongup's eyes were filled with tears as well. He should have known better than to slap a girl. 

  You ran up the stairs falling here and there, bumping into the tables but you still made your way into your room. You locked the door and flung your bag on the floor before burying yourself under the blanket. 

  Your other brothers were lost for words, they were rooted to the sofa. They have never seen Jongup or you like that, before. And no one had ever laid a hand on you. Jongup was the first. 

  "You shouldn't have done that." Himchan shook his head and went into his room, which he shared with Yongguk. 

  "You went overboard." Daehyun and Youngjae glared daggers at Jongup. "You should have known not to ever lay a finger on a woman. Never. What a gentleman, Jongup." Youngjae spoke in sarcasm and left the living room. 

  Zelo was the last. Jongup was still lost. He couldn't believe his hand slapped your cheeks. "Hyung.. That was.." Zelo decided not to go on. All he did was, give Jongup an encouraging squeeze at his shoulders and he left the living room as well. 

  Now, the living room was dead silent. Jongup knelt on the ground and started slapping himself in his face. "~~~, I'm sorry.." He cried tears of remorse but he knew he had already done that and nothing could change the fact that he did. Forgive was the maximum you could do, forget was impossible. 

  The salty river ran down your face but you just couldn't stop crying. *Why do they have to stop us from getting into a relationship? There's nothing wrong getting in love, is there?* That whole night, you cried under your blanket and that was how you fell asleep, by crying yourself to sleep. 

-------------------- 

  For the next few days, you locked yourself up in your room and refused to talk to anyone. Your brothers only unlock your door when they brought you food. You wouldn't talk to them and they understood. All they would say was 'Your food is here.' or 'I'll leave this here.' or 'Do eat this later.' That was all. Because they knew that even if they wanted to talk to you, you wouldn't answer them. After they left your food on your table, they would leave and you would lock your door again. 

  Jongup would approach you and apologize to you but no matter what he did, you ignored him, like he was invisible. 

  Your brothers had told the school that you were sick and applied for you to stay at home to rest. 

  You didn't check your phone because you didn't want to. It was for sure that there would be many missed calls and unread messages from Kai but you didn't want to see it. It was going to hurt your heart even more. 

------------------- 

  It had already been 3 days. You were still lying on your bed, motionless. You survived the past three days eating a few mouth of the food your brother cooked and some water. You didn't have the appetite to eat, but you didn't want to die. Because, you know it would hurt Kai if you died. Kai was the reason you wanted to survive. 

  *Should I take a look at my phone?* You grabbed your phone, your head still under the blanket. 

  You got your phone and turned it on. *What if Kai didn't text me at all?* You started getting paranoid about it, waiting for the phone to be fully on, but it wasn't necessary. The moment your phone was , your phone started vibrating non-stop. 

  When it finally stopped vibrating, there were 20 missed calls and 30 over unread messages. It was ALL from Kai, no doubt. 

  '~~~-ah, are you alright? Why didn't you come to school?' 

  '~~~? What happened?' 

  '~~~, you need to reply me. It's worrying me.' 

  '~~~, what happened? Reply me. You're scaring me, baby.' 

  As you read his messages one by one, tears started flowing out again. *I wonder how I even survived these 3 days without you. I guess my motivation to live, is you and you only. And maybe my brothers. But my motivation to live right now, is definitely not them, but you. I'm sorry oppa, that's all I can say. I'm sorry I'm not going to reply you.*

  You stared at your wallpaper and memories of your first date with Kai came flowing back. And all that was brought back was those happy memories that you thought would last forever. *It was too good to be true, to have such a boyfriend like him.* 

  "Oppa, I'm sorry. You know I love you. But I guess we should just stay like that first. I'll get things settled soon, I hope? And we'll get back together. I hope." Tears escaped your eyes once again. 

  You turned off your phone, and left it somewhere on your bed, carelessly, and hid under the blanket again. 

------------------- 

  "~~~, can you get up and eat some?" You heard Zelo place a bowl on the table. It was probably porridge again. 

  "~~~? Please, just eat some."  You heard Zelo's voice starting to tremble. He probably saw your petite figure trembling. You were covered in your blanket from head to toe. You were shivering hard and feeling really cold. 

  "~~~?" Zelo called out again but you didn't reply. It wasn't because you wanted to ignore him but because you couldn't. You didn't have the energy to. You wanted to tell him you were feeling really cold and unwell. But you couldn't. 

  "~~~-ah?" Zelo came closer to you, to check on you. 

  "O-oppa.." You finally whispered, with all your energy. 

  "~~~! Are you alright?!" Zelo flipped your blanket to see a shivering figure there. "Oppa.." You whispered once again and reached out for Zelo's hand. 

  "Gosh! You're so hot!" Zelo gripped onto your hand tightly and felt your forehead with his other hand. "You're running a fever!" He exclaimed. "Hyung!" Zelo stood up to get your other brothers into the room but you pulled him back. "Oppa.. Don't go.. Stay with me. And I don't want to go to the hospital. No matter what.." Zelo nodded his head fervently and shouted for your other brothers. 

--------------------

  "~~~!" Your brothers came rushing in and crowded around your bed. 

  "What happened to you?" Daehyun rushed by your side and felt your forehead. "Ouch!" He pulled his hand away like he just touched a hot kettle. "You're burning! Come, I'll bring you to the hospital." He placed his hand under your body, wanting to carry you. 

  "No.. Oppa.." You pushed him away, with the maximum amount of energy you had which was not really strong. 

  He looked at you and gave you the 'are you kidding me' look and you read it and gave a weak nod to answer his question. He sighed and headed to the door reluctantly. "I'll get a basin of water and a towel." 

  "What are you doing, Daehyun? Get her up and we're going to the hospital!" Yongguk frowned. 

  "She doesn't want to." Daehyun answered. 

  "And you do as she says? That's how you spoil her! And that's why she's so rebellious!" Yongguk growled. 

  "DON'T TELL ME YOU DON'T SPOIL HER. AND THIS ISN'T HER FAULT. SHE DESERVES HER FREEDOM! THE ONE AT FAULT IS THERE!" Daehyun shot Jongup a glare before glaring at Yongguk. "AND YOU." He poked Yongguk's chest provokingly. 

  "YOU BASTARD!" Yongguk raised his fist, about to throw a punch at Daehyun anything when Youngjae came between them. "AND THAT'S ENOUGH! WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW! That issue or our precious girl? She's so sick right now and both of you are arguing, or even attempting to fight?!" 

  Both of them kept quiet and Yongguk dropped his fist. "Let's go. We need to get the medicine, the towel and a basin of water." Youngjae pulled Daehyun who was reluctant to leave, out of the room. 

  Yongguk was fuming angry but he couldn't do anything about it. Youngjae was right. You are more important right now. He gave the door a hard punch and left a dent there before leaving the room.

  Himchan kneeled down beside you. "I'm sorry, ~~~. For being such a failure. I could have done better as a brother. We'll talk about everything after you recover alright? We'll talk things out." He wiped a tear off your cheek. "Big girls don't cry. Get well soon baby girl." He kissed your forhead and left. Zelo did the same and left as well. 

  That meant that there was only one more person left in your room. Jongup. 

  Jongup approached you and reached for your hand but of course, you didn't allow him to. You were still angry about what he did that day. 

  "~~~.." He reached for your hand but you shifted your body away from him, pulled your hand closer to yourself and turned your whole body so that your back was facing him though you were still shivering. 

  Awhile later, the room was quiet. You turned your shivering body back and saw your room empty. Jongup probably left already. He probably figured that you still didn't want to talk to him. *I don't know if it is right by doing this but I have to do this. That was too much.* 

  Not long later, Youngjae and Daehyun came back with the medicine, a basin of water and a towel in their hands. 

  "I take my hat off you." Daehyun shook his head as he dipped the towel into the basin of water. You couldn't help but to chuckle, a weak one though. "Sorry oppa." 

  "I know that Jongup had gone too far. Everyone knows that too. But you do know that you're in the wrong as well, don't you?" Daehyun cleaned your face with the wet towel. You nodded slowly. You were in the wrong too, of course. And you know it. 

  "Glad you know it." He raised your hand up 45 degrees and cleaned your hand with the wet towel. "You know that we really do care for you. And that's why our reactions are like that. But i do agree, Jongup had gone too far." 

  Youngjae pulled the chair and placed it beside your bed. "Hey, does that guy-" You shot him a glare "I mean Kai love you so much? And do you love him so much?" He was asking the obvious, and he did know that he was asking the obvious but he wanted to hear it from you. 

  "Of course, oppa.. I love him so much. And he loves me so much. He sacrificed so much for me. Isn't it wonderful to have such a selfless boyfriend? You don't know how much I love him. You wouldn't understand." You explained softly to them. 

  "Who says I don't? Of course I do. That's how I feel for Heerin." Youngjae played with his fingers. Everytime someone talked about Heerin or Youngjae talked about Heerin, he would get nervous and excited. That's how you feel when people discussed about Kai too. Unless they were talking bad about him, you would blow up. Like how you did. 

  "You wouldn't, because you're not separated from Heerin." That one sentence from you, made Youngjae and Daehyun feel it. They felt bad, most of all, guilty. 

  "~~~, I'm sorry." Daehyun stood up and cleaned your legs with the towel. "I said I would help you but I didn't. I'm sorry. And it got worse now. I'll try convincing the others. Your job now, is just to get well, okay?" He smiled and you nodded. 

  "Wait, you know about it?!" Youngjae exclaimed. Daehyun looked at Youngjae then at you and kept a poker face. "What?! Really?! You know about it all along?!" He exclaimed. 

  "Shut up . Yes, I know okay? Happy?" Daehyun rolled his eyes. 

  "I've known it long ago as well." He gave both of you a meek smile and earned a not so soft punch from Daehyun. "Then why are you acting like a ?!" Daehyun gave Youngjae another punch. 

  "Oppa, language.." You reminded him softly. 

  Daehyun rolled his eyes again, causing Youngjae to laugh. "Anyway, I found out back when we were back at the camp. You know, it was so obvious. God. I wonder why the others can't tell. Anyway, I confronted him." 

  "What did you say to oppa? Did you say anything mean?" You asked him, a little too anxious. 

  "Is that all you can ask? Everything about Kai?" Youngjae cast a glare at you. You dodged his scrutinizing stare and kept quiet. You were too weak to argue anyway. You laid there silently and Daehyun finally finished cleaning. He left the towel in the basin and pulled another chair to sit down. 

  "Okay, I'll continue. I told him to stay away from you. I know he likes you. But you know we're all against it. I hope he could stay away from you. But now when we finally separated the both of you, I think.. It's not the best choice. I think we should start giving you the freedom. Especially when I see how Kai treated you. The way he treats you, is.. Really unique. And it's definitely in a good way. I know we should be against it but I think it's time for us to give in now.." Youngjae smiled when he finished explaining. 

  "Thank you, oppa. I hope you all can understand. I really love Kai a lot. And so does he. I just hope you all can give us the chance to be in love."

  Daehyun stood up and pulled the blanket higher up to your neck. "We'll talk about it when you get better, alright?" 

  Youngjae and Daehyun then left the room. 

  Though you felt better after finally telling them about your point of view, you were still feeling empty. It was like you forgot something. And that feeling, was horrible. You lifted the blanket up even higher and covered your whole body including your face. Your eyes remained open but soon, your eyes started getting wet again. Only then, you realized. No one can make you feel better, other than Kai. He was like a drug you were addicted to. A drug you couldn't leave without.

  *When would I be able to see you, my boy?* And the cycle repeats. 

  Song of the chapter: Sunggyu, 60 seconds