Chapter 43

Kris winced in pain as his left arm paled from the sting of the red rose. Cheonsa’s eyes were beginning to get watery, but she knew better than bawl in front of Kris right now. She owed him a lot, and she shouldn’t add anything to his worries right now, including trying to calm her down. She bit her lip and ran her fingers through his injured arm. Kris had protected her when that one rose almost hit her cheek. And now Kris was suffering from the pain and the rose’ poison. They were now on equal footing with the offender. Kris was in pain when Cheonsa had instructed him to bring themselves down. Kris argued at first, saying that she was going to out his efforts to escape in waste, but Cheonsa had a hard resolve. She wanted to get to the bottom of everything.

The young woman chuckled once again, which annoyed Cheonsa so much. All she wanted to do right now was slap that smirk off of her face and bring Kris home with her so Lay could heal him.

“What do you want and who are you?”

Feisty. The young woman thought and gave Cheonsa another smirk.

“My bad. I should’ve minded my manners,” she stopped to give Kris, who was now on his knees as he held his left arm tightly and Cheonsa, who was also on her knees with her arms wrapped around the leader of EXO as if to protect him – a curtsy. She continued to introduce herself, “I am Taeyeon. I’m pretty sure young master Kris here knows who I am and where I come from”

Cheonsa turned to Kris with wide eyes. He felt her gaze piercing the side of his skull, so he sighed and answered her inquiring glances.

“She’s one of Planet Chrome’s warriors – the exact same warriors that destroyed EXO!” Kris gritted his teeth in utter hatred, as Taeyeon’s eyes sparkled with joy.

“What’s so amusing?” Cheonsa basically growled.

“Whoa~ Cool there. You wouldn’t want to make me mad,” Taeyeon held up another red rose and gave it a small kiss.

“How did you find us, warrior? And what do you want? Has it not yet satisfied you that your hatred has already crushed our home?” Kris tried to stand up, but he fell onto Cheonsa’s arms once again. The poison was taking effect, much to Taeyeon’s happiness.

“Do you really think we don’t know that you’re trying to restore EXO again? We won’t let our hard work go to waste, young master”

Taeyeon stopped to observe Cheonsa.

“A new friend of yours?”

Cheonsa shot her a look.

“It’s pathetic. I don’t know why you’re holding back, young master Kris. Is it because you’re afraid this lowly Earhtling will get dragged by your immense energy? You do know that I’m basically the least in the warriors in terms of power and ability, yet I managed to injure EXO’s finest warrior – the leader of the 12 Forces and basically the son of – ”

Kris lunged at her, Cheonsa stood motionless.

“Hot, aren’t we? Well, I just dropped by to give you a warning. We will find the seed first. Then crush it in front of you. So we won’t kill you – yet” Taeyeon dodged just in time. She turned to Cheonsa.

“Human. Take the young master home and have the healer heal him. Tell the others about what happened. I’m letting you go”

Cheonsa didn’t need to be told twice. Right now, nothing is more important than Kris’ safety.

And hers, too.

---

“Who are you? Insolent fool!” shouted Tao.

In front of both him and Kai stood a tall, skinny pretty boy with porcelain white skin. Though this stranger looked harmless and had an innocent face on, everyone in the room knew that he wasn’t good news. Or else, Lu Han’s crystal ball wouldn’t be blinking mad.

The Oracle had stopped thrashing when a new presence has entered the room. No one knew if it was because whatever Lu Han’s consciousness was at peace again or if the crystal ball halted his journey because it wanted to give the remaining EXO warriors a warning about something, someone who came to intrude.

“I believe my brother asked you a question,” Suho firmly stated, hoping to wipe off the fake angel-smile from the stranger’s face.

Kai was ready to lunge at the pretty boy, but he was held back when the object of everyone’s attention began to respond to their interrogation.

“Uhm, hello. My name is Taemin,” and much to everyone’s surprise, he gave them a polite bow.

“Rather than wanting to know your name, we actually wanted to know who exactly you are” Chanyeol growled in impatience.

Taemin gave another angel-smile and raised his right hand, extending his index finger. Everyone followed the direction he was pointing at and their eyes widened. That gesture was enough to tell them who exactly Taemin was.

“Him. I want him”

----

Cheonsa held on tight to Kris as they ventured through a forest. Kris had insisted to fly both of them, but Cheonsa’s stubbornness left him with no choice. He was too weak to even argue back. And now, they were lost at some place.

“You were stupid to get hit by that rose,” Cheonsa gritted her teeth. Not that she actually meant it, but she really felt bad that Kris had received the blow that was actually meant for her. She wasn’t mad at him, she was mad that he chose her than himself.

“I know. I was stupid to have actually let her throw those despicable weapons towards us”

“That’s not what I meant,” Cheonsa ran her fingers through her hair with her free, right hand. She said the words in a low, calm voice – as if wanting to burst out in tears any moment from now. She held herself back, she couldn’t always break down in front of Kris.

But somehow, it was always Kris who drew out her burdens from the depths of her heart.

Kris turned a little bit to check what was up with Cheonsa. His expression changed from dark, to soft and admiring.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but her expression remained courageous. That was enough for him to understand that she was trying her best to be strong, yet deep inside, she was full of concern for his well-being.

Somehow, Kris could now read Cheonsa like an open book.

But not quite yet.

Unbeknownst to him, something was hidden on her heart.