EXO’s POV

Just as EXO had split up to look for Hyeri, a loud explosion shook the entire place, throwing the boys off balance. As they steadied themselves, dozens of Minhyuk’s men appeared from the many rooms. They were probably heading towards the source of the explosion but once they spotted EXO out in the hallways, their motives changed as they surrounded the boys. Kai unconsciously bit his tongue in annoyance at the interference.

Minhyuk’s men and EXO were soon engaged in a huge brawl which was slightly disadvantageous for the boys of EXO when it came to numbers. However, their fighting skills managed to keep them standing.

“They just keep on coming! I’m getting tired. If this keeps on going, we won’t make it out in one piece!” D.O complained to Kai and Sehun who were in the same group as him. Kai and Sehun silently agreed to what D.O was saying but they continued to fight on with their remaining strength.

*I’ve got to save Hyeri!* Kai desperately thought as he threw another punch.

“Don’t worry, boys! We’ve come to save you!” A loud voice hollered as a group of men in matching black outfits ran into their fight and tackled Minhyuk’s men.

“C-Changmin hyungnim!” Sehun stammered at the appearance of one of the DBSK members.

“Hello boys! We’ll take it from here! Go find Hyeri!” Changmin instructed as he waved them off with a small grin.

Upon hearing that, Kai took off running in no particular direction and relied only on his instincts. Sehun followed closely behind. D.O was the last of them to go off and he caught a glimpse of Changmin’s carefree expression turn into one of malicious intent.

“Those who hurt my princess will pay the price. A heavy price.” Changmin growled as he cracked his knuckles.

D.O felt a shiver run up his spine at the murderous aura that Changmin was giving off. He knew from rumours that when any of the DBSK members were pissed off, no enemy gets out alive. He then thought about how Yunho would react and the thought only frightened him even more. Not wanting to stick around any longer to witness the demise of Minhuk’s men, D.O scrambled after Kai and Sehun.

The other groups, Xiumin, Chen and Luhan, Tao, Kris and Suho, Lay, Chanyeol and Baekhyun, also received help from the other DBSK members. Some of them helped with fighting off Minhyuk’s men while some went to help search for Hyeri. They didn’t care what methods they used, as long as they brought down their enemies. Changmin, Yoochun and Junsu even resorted to using guns.

By the time that all of Minhyuk’s men were defeated by DBSK and EXO, Hyeri was still missing.

On the other hand, Kai, D.O and Sehun had found their way to the basement. They frowned when they saw the floor covered by unconscious bodies in pools of blood. They tried to avoid walking on any bodies when they found two members of ZE:A leaning against the wall, panting and covered in blood. They were badly injured but still alive and conscious. Both of them spotted the EXO members almost immediately.

“If you’re looking for Hyeri, she’d gone after Minhyuk. She might be in his office which is the room with double doors. If she isn’t there, you might want to check the exit.” Hyungsik wheezed out.

At this point, Kai was already desperate and any information that he got on Hyeri, he was willing to trust it. So, he dashed off without questioning it, leaving Sehun to call after him but he merely ignored the younger and didn’t stop running. Without much choice, Sehun went after him.

“And why should we trust you?” D.O interrogated the ZE:A members even after Kai and Sehun had left, doubting the information that was given to him by a member of his long-time rival group.

“’Cause this dude’s girlfriend made us help you and she also set you free.” Heechul replied hoarsely while pointing to Hyungsik.

“Yerin?”

“Yeah, her. Now get going before it’s too late.” Heechul urged.

Instead of running to catch up with Kai and Sehun, D.O did the unthinkable. He simply sighed and crouched down in front of them.

“Kai and Sehun are going to find her anyway.” D.O muttered under his breath, believing in s.

“On the other hand, you guys look like you’re about to collapse at any moment. Can you at least stand?” D.O asked the two boys who seemed surprised at his question. Heechul recovered first and let out a soft chuckle before bursting into a fit of coughs.

“Barely.” Hyungsik replied instead after shaking his head at his friend’s behaviour.

D.O decided that Hyungsik was in a worse shape than Heechul and so he took the former’s arm and slung it around his shoulder. D.O had one hand on Hyungsik’s arm and the other on his waist before slowly supporting him up.

“D.O!”

“Suho hyung! Glad you’re here. Can you help Heechul?”

“What?! Are you out of your mind? Why help him?!” Suho shouted in disbelief.

“Just do it, hyung. I’ll tell you along the way.” D.O calmly responded.

Suho stood frozen for a few seconds, his brows furrowed in thought before finally giving in and going over to Heechul to help him up. He knew that D.O wouldn’t ask him to do something without a good reason so he trusted and did what he was asked to without another word.

While the two members of ZE:A were carried off to where the rest of EXO were, Kai and Sehun were still finding their way around. Sehun had gone off to find Minhyuk’s office while Kai headed towards the exit. They had thought it would be better for them to split and so they did.

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Kai’s POV

*Please be there. Please be there.* Kai chanted the sentence again and again like a mantra. He prayed so hard that Hyeri would be safe.

Just up ahead, he could see the darkening sky through an open door. He forced his legs to run even faster and when he reached the opened door, he was panting and huffing away. A flood of emotions ran through him when he finally took notice of all the dead bodies lying across the place. There were obvious bullet wounds on most of them and he knew that no one else except Hyeri could have done this. It seemed to be further proven after he caught sight of Minhyuk lying in the middle of all the corpses.

Kai had heard of what K was capable of doing of but still he found it hard to believe that K and Hyeri were one and the same. And that Hyeri had created this mess. But he pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind because his first priority was making sure Hyeri was safe.

“Where the hell can she be!” Kai screamed in frustration as he pulled at his hair. Then a thought hit him.

“Why the didn’t I think of that earlier?” He cursed himself at being so slow.

He took out his phone from his pants’ pocket and clicked on the GPS tracker. He was glad that he had gotten to install one in Hyeri’s phone when he had visited her the other day. He kept his fingers crossed that Hyeri’s phone was still with her when he clicked on her name. A red dot blinked on the screen but it was unmoving. Kai tapped on it and the address of the place popped out.

“Cemetery…”

Kai dialled Suho and quickly informed him of Hyeri’s location while running to the front entrance where the rest were gathered. EXO and DBSK piled into 3 parked black vans and sped off, ignoring any red lights and breaking every traffic law there ever was. The passengers held on tight as the vehicles skidded several times due to the slippery road. Yunho, Kris and Suho, the designated drivers for the three vans silently cursed as the pouring rain beat down mercilessly at a fast rate on the window shields, thus, blocking their view of the road. It was one hell of a dangerous drive.

In record time, they were able to get to the cemetery. Kai jumped out of the van even before it was brought to a halt. He knew exactly where she would be – in front of her family’s grave.

His feet came to a stop when he was a distance away from the Kim’s family grave. Hyeri was there on her knees with her head drooping low, completely soaked to the bones. She was surrounded by a pool of blood. Kai slowly approached her from behind but he bolted into a run when Hyeri fell limply onto the soft ground.

“Hyeri!” Kai carefully held Hyeri’s unconscious body in his arms, cursing softly when he saw the wounds she had obtained and how fragile she looked at the moment.

The rest of the group came running not long after but Kai was already carrying Hyeri in his arms and met them halfway. Without a single word, they headed to the hospital, knowing that that was the most reasonable action to take.

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Hyeri’s / Your POV

You woke up to a brightly lit room. The pounding in your head was unbearable, especially with the lights shining in your eyes. You squeezed your eyes shut for a few moments before slowly opening them. It took you several blinks before your eyes were adjusted to the brightness. Your whole body felt numb and you couldn’t barely move your fingers let alone move from your current position.  The most you could do was turn your head to take in the surroundings. From the looks of it, you were in the hospital. Sighing, you tried lifting your left arm to cover your eyes when you felt a heavy load on it. Looking down at your arm, your eyes widened after seeing Kai’s peacefully sleeping face.

*What happened?* You let your mind wander as you continued to stare at Kai.

*Ah, Minhyuk...* Your mind flashed the images of all the fighting and how it has come to an end.

You didn’t even notice when Kai had stirred awake as you were too lost in thought. You were only aware of him when his face was directly in front of you. His forehead on yours.

“You’re finally awake.” He whispered, loud enough for you to hear in his half-asleep state. At the close proximity between the two of you, your cheeks slowly turned into a tint of pink due to embarrassment.

“Yeah… Ummm…”

“What the hell are you doing to my princess?!” Changmin came barging into the room and forcefully yanked Kai away from you.

“What happened?” Junsu came in right after and asked on behalf of everyone else who came piling into the room.

“This ert over here was all up in Hyeri’s face. My poor innocent princess. Are you hurt? He didn’t do anything weird to you did he?” Changmin cried out in exaggeration as he examined Hyeri who was red in the face.

“Shut up, you’re too noisy.” You reprimanded as you swatted Changmin’s hands away only to wince right after when a sharp pain shot through your abdomen.

“Tch, stop being noisy.” Yoochun smacked Changmin’s head and carefully helped Hyeri into a comfortable sitting position.

“I’m glad you’re safe, princess. We were all so worried about you. Please, I beg you, don’t ever pull another stunt like that ever again.” Yunho let out a sigh of relief as he softly patted your head. Recalling the whole event and how you fell into unconsciousness, you solemnly nodded your head in agreement.

Nobody brought up about the incident with Minhyuk. Everyone seemed to have reached a silent agreement that this matter was not to be spoken of for now. It was a matter to be discussed at a later time. What mattered now was everyone’s well-being or more specifically, mine.

Remorseful expressions painted the faces of the members of Exo. They were probably beating themselves up for not taking your side when you needed it the most but you were already past that. You gave them a grateful smile instead. Deep inside, you knew that it wasn’t exactly their fault. Looking at them now all bandaged up and covered in scratches, you knew that they had fought to save you and that was all the assurance you needed to know that they still deeply cared for you.

“Thank you for coming after me. For not giving up on me. And for always ending up staying by my side.” You voiced out with much effort. You weren’t exactly the best at expressing your emotions. The grateful smile never leaving your lips as you looked at everyone in the room.

Most of the boys seemed taken aback, most probably thinking that you would’ve been angry at them instead. Nevertheless, they hesitantly smiled back albeit sheepishly. No words needed to be exchanged to reach to an understanding. On the other hand, your samchons grinned back at you, proud of how strong you’ve gotten over the years both physically and mentally. Their fragile princess no longer fragile.

As your eyes settled on the last person standing in the corner, you averted your gaze but even then you could still feel the heated stare that the tanned male was giving you. A new and unexplainable feeling began to bubble up throughout your whole body and you promptly distracted yourself by getting a glass of water.

While you were drinking water, Kai had pushed himself off the wall and walked towards you. Right as you placed your glass away, he took your hands in his and your head swivelled to face him at the sudden action. He then took this opportunity to swiftly plant a kiss right on your lips. He gave you a boyish grin and winked.

"That was for scaring me half to death. It's the least you could do. " He breathily whispered into your ear but even then, everyone in the room could hear him clearly.

Loud gasps and shouts of disapproval filled the room. Kai was speedily yanked away from you by your samchons who began threatening him.

“What… the hell… was that? Did he just…? Hyeri and…? Am I dreaming?” Chanyeol incoherently blurted out with bulging eyes and confusion written on his face as he kept pointing between you and Kai. The rest of the members were also in the same state of confusion as they just watched on as Kai was getting bullied in the corner by the DBSK members.

You, on the other hand, were blushing a bright red all over your face till the tips of your ears. Your mouth was slightly agape and eyes wide open in complete shock. You didn’t expect that to happen. No one did. When the boys snapped out of their trance, some of them immediately joined in to corner Kai while some went over to your bed either to whine or tease you about the kiss and the rest were left hanging around watching everything unfold. Everything was back to normal. It was as if the incident with Minhyuk never happened. They probably must have forgotten that they were in a hospital as well.

*It feels good to be back with everyone.* You thought with a content sigh as you watched over everyone chatting and arguing away.

That was when realisation hit you like a ton of bricks. It was all over now. There was nothing left for you to do. Your family’s death has finally been avenged. You can at last leave your past self behind and live a normal life. Or you hope so as you looked around the room and smiled fondly at the people who had entered your life and whom you can proudly call your family. Your heart swelled with happiness at that thought. Somehow, you felt complete. As if everything was in their rightful place. You felt that you could get used to this.

“What are you smiling about?” Sehun curiously asked when he found his noona smiling to herself.

“Nah, it’s nothing.” You grinned at him as you ruffled his hair, causing him to whine.

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The broken girl behind her built up wall had finally broken through her façade with the help of 12 boys who came into her life unexpectedly. What showed on her face now were her true genuine feelings that can only be evoked when being around her newfound family. She wasn’t going to give this up for anything in the world. She finally found where she belongs and where she can be happy and she wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible.

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Heyo~ An update! Is this the end? I don't know. See how there's no 'The End' at bottom? I'm thinking of writing an epilogue but I'm not too sure about how you readers feel about it so I posted a poll below. Please vote! ^^

Thank you for reading, subscribing, upvoting, commenting and loving this story! ^^