[A/N: Is it normal that I teared up when I read this chapter, considering I was the one who wrote it? Huhuhu my poor heart. ;A; 

DRAMA AHEAD. AND TURNING POINT. ]

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Chapter 44

Kai hissed as he dodged another blow from Taemin. His energy was running low after teleporting the other boy away from the room where Lu Han’s physical body laid. Although teleporting just one person with him required little to no effort, it wasn’t easy to use his powers on someone whose will did not allow him to. And whose power was completely contradicting his.

My power is space. I control space. Taemin’s words repeated on Kai’s mind. He growled in annoyance. Surely he cannot be defeated.

Now, they were on a clearing which Kai and Tao discovered a few hours ago. A few mnutes have passed and both boys now had marks of their duel. But Kai was more dishevelled than Taemin. Whenever Kai would try to land a punch on his pretty face, Taemin would distort space and Kai’s body and have him spewed out by a vortex to some other place: so Kai had to teleport back to the clearing. Most of the time, though, the vortex would appear in front of Taemin, giving him a chance to land a hit on Kai’s face perfectly. Kai’s only way was to teleport as soon as the space distorts, running for his life before he gets by a vortex. It was very exhausting on his part, while Taemin had to just stand there and watch him struggle. But Kai wasn’t a pushover. He trained with bandits, so he knew ‘stealth’ better than anyone else among the 12 forces.

“Listen. You are wasting my time, kid. I just wanted to warn you. I have no intentions of killing the Oracle, yet. Send the message to all your companions – that Chrome is gonna rise, and while we’re at it, we’ll make sure EXO remains as just some dirt floating off in space,” Taemin smirked and it made Kai’s blood boil higher than the boiling point.

“How dare you speak of EXO with your dirty mouth?!” Kai completely lost it.

“EXO is just ashes, so I can speak of it like the dirt that it is already,” Taemin shot back.

This time, Kai wasn’t going to let him go without a big bruise on his face. But before he could lunge again, petals of red roses fell from the sky – blurring his vision. When they all disappeared, a young lady was now standing next to Taemin, holding up a red rose on her right hand and on her other, something that made Kai’s heart increase in beat.

Taeyeon managed to rip a piece of Kris’ sleeve when one of her roses grazed again his arm, leaving the poison. Of course, Kai knew very well it belonged to his duizhang. After all, they were connected.

Taeyeon knew which one Kai was eyeing, “Hey, boy!”

Kai snapped out of his reverie and met eyes with the young lady.

“I didn’t kill them. They’re out there, somewhere. After all, it’s impossible for young master Kris to still be able to fly. And that Earth girl with him is too weak to even help him,” Taeyeon chuckled. Taemin stood there with a blank expression.

That was it. Kai disappeared. Taemin and Taeyeon stood there, amused.

Kai knew he was backing off from a fight right now, teleporting back to Lu Han’s room to meet with the others. But to find Kris and Cheonsa was more important right now.

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Cheonsa hit the trunk of the nearest tree, frustrated that they were getting nowhere.

“This cannot be happening,” this time, her tears were already like waterfalls. Kris did not speak a word; he hasn’t actually, for the past 10 minutes. He was deadly pale, limp and weak.

“Kris, don’t die on me,” Cheonsa basically pleaded, as she sat down on mud, cradling EXO’s leader’s face in between her cold, trembling hands. His back rested on her lap and his eyes were closed.

Kris wasn’t asleep. He was just too weak to even open his eyes, but he could feel Cheonsa’s soft, warm tears falling on his face. He wanted to hold his hand up so much and wipe them, but even that he could not do.

He was weak, and also, he was confused. Even in this state, his mind was filled of thoughts. He had so many questions.

One, why did he block Cheonsa when the rose was about to hit her? Of course, he had to save her – it was his responsibility and the promise he made together with his brothers when they dragged her into this mess. But why? After all, he could have drawn his weapons and fight Taeyeon head on, crushing every plant she had. He would have saved Cheonsa, and even hurt Taeyeon. So why?

Second, why did he let Cheonsa decide not to let him fly them both back to safety? Why did he let her stubbornness take over?

Third, why does his heart feel suffocated right now, hearing Cheonsa’s stifled cries?

Why, Kris, why?

No answers came. Instead , the rain came pouring on them.

Fourth question, what was going to happen to them now?

His eyes opened for a bit when Cheonsa spoke.

“I hate getting wet. I get sick easily when rain hits me… and also…”

Kris tried his best to look at her straight. Suddenly, her hands roamed near the sides of his eyes, wiping the rain that settled there.

“I just noticed, water doesn’t belong with your eyes,” she smiled as beautifully as she could.

Just then, Kris decided to summon all the energy he had and spoke.

“I’m slowly getting the answers, now” he smiled a weak smile, which made Cheonsa’s heart cold.

As much as she wanted to enjoy the smile he gave her, she couldn’t. Not when the smile emphasized how purple Kris’ lips have become, now.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we’ll just talk about it when we get to safety, ok? For now, let’s move. We have no time to waste,” Cheonsa motioned to get up and slowly, lifting Kris up also in the process. But she was surprised when instead of helping himself out a bit, he slid his body down, now laying his head on Cheonsa’s lap.

“I won’t die easily. It’ll be better if we just rest here for a while. And besides, you’re not in the condition to think right now, am I right?”

Cheonsa raised an eyebrow.

“MY CONDITION ISN’T WHAT MATTERS NOW, FOR WHAT’S SAKE. I’M NOT GOING TO SIT HERE AND WAIT FOR MY MIND TO CLEAR WHILE I WATCH YOU LOSE YOUR COLORS, KRIS!”

Instead of getting annoyed with Cheonsa’s hysterical remarks, he gave her another weak smile.

“No, don’t do this to me, Kris. Why is it that whenever I’m with you, I cry?”

Kris held a blank expression.

“You always manage to remove the burdens I hold in my heart. Yet I couldn’t remove yours. What should I do, Kris?”

Kris understood.

“You…” Kris began.

“You couldn’t, because I didn’t let you. But now…”

“I will let you inside my heart”