The next day, Taecyeon bought a packet of cinnamon rolls and munched away while traveling to the restaurant. He strolled towards the park and wrapped his scarf more tightly around his neck, when the wind blew against his face. He minimized his steps, pausing to take a look at the cherry blossom tree. The flowers began to wither and leaves were turning brown. He sighed, knowing that winter's coming soon. He turned his body and continued walking until...

"Long time no see, Taecyeon-ssi." 

Taecyeon halted in his tracks, swallowing the food in his mouth. His ears couldn't trick him since he definitely knew whom the voice belonged to. He turned back, stunned to see Sooman in front of him. 

"Sooman-ssi..."

The old man smiled and bowed his head. 

"Hello Taecyeon. Nice meeting you again. I believe you didn't expect me appearing today, didn't you?" 

"I've always expected you to come back, but I'm dumbfounded that I wasn't expecting you today." 

"Well here I am. They've been missing you dearly." 

"I miss them as well," he said, taking a few steps nearer to Sooman. 

"So, I have come to take you back to our kingdom."

"Why Sooman-ssi? Is there anything wrong in the Solitaire?" 

"Unfortunately there is and you have another mission to complete with the rest, so you have to come back." 

"Mission? What kind? Bad news again huh..." 

"Yes. I'm afraid you'll have to know the mission yourself as I cannot explain further." 

"But...I have work today. I just can't leave them without knowing that I disappeared." 

"I'll take care of that Taecyeon. No need to worry about your fellow colleagues." 

"Are you sure? I need to inform my mom about this."

"I'll take care of that as well. Now, now. Let's not waste time." 

Sooman handed over the spade necklace to Taecyeon, while he wore it around his neck swiftly. As soon as he knew it, the harsh wind blew and the leaves were spinning continuously. Taecyeon couldn't see his surroundings as he felt himself spinning. He felt dizzy and out. 

"That's weird, Taecyeon has never been this late." 

Yoona stared outside the restaurant's glass windows and glanced at her watch. 

"Oh, Yoona who are you looking for?" asked Tiffany.

"Taecyeon isn't here yet." 

"Didn't you know about his news?" 

She shook her head, "No I haven't." 

"He's actually working at a prestigious company in Seoul. His so called 'manager' dropped by and left a note saying that he'll need to attend an overseas project." 

"Really?! I wonder why didn't he tell me about any of these." 

"Must've been keeping a lot of secrets. Anyway, come on it's about opening time." 

Yoona pouted and felt disheartened about the fact that her working buddy won't be here during the winter break. 

Taecyeon's eyes fluttered. He stood up quickly. He searched his surroundings and found himself in the familiar isolated forest. Finally back here in this place. He remembered the path where Wooyoung guided him, the very first time he landed in the Solitaire. Of all times, Nichkhun isn't here to guide me through this forest. He smiled to himself as he marched forward. 

"Are you excited Yoona? Taecyeon's coming back soon~" 

"I bet you have been waiting for this day since ages, I should say!" 

Yuri and Tiffany teased Yoona about his return, while she pondered about the thought. 

Wah~ Taecyeon's finally coming back. I think I have been waiting for over a year, I guess. To be honest, I felt really lonely without his pair of warm arms around my waist and the sense of protection that he gives to me. Basically I missed everything about him. His smile, his laugh, his eyes, his hug, his kiss and I can even say that I miss his abnormally large ears and his set of white teeth! Throughout the year, the girls have always been accompanying me that they could even ignore their fiances just for me. I find them ridiculous though but I feel grateful for having 8 loving sisters. I'd still feel jealous since the girls would go on dates sometimes and I'd probably lock myself up in my room, thinking about Taecyeon. Yes, that's how much I miss him. The guys have been supporting me as well, as they would communicate with me often if I was alone at times. I just love all of my sisters and soon-to-be brothers! So now, I'm just waiting for my knight and shining armor to be back. 

"He won't get lost in the forest right? I mean, does he still know the direction?" 

Yoona asked the two of them. Tiffany and Yuri shrugged their shoulders. 

"Want me to teleport to him?" 

Yoona playfully smacked Tiffany's shoulder.

"Aigoo, Fany ah. Yoong will get jealous since you get to see him first and not his princess!" 

"Aww, my apologies Yoona ah. We know you're missing him like crazy~" 

"Yah, yah cut it out. I shall just fix my hair now." 

Yuri and Tiffany chuckled to themselves when Yoona started to doll herself up, for the sake of Taecyeon. She started putting on make-up, spraying on perfume and curled the tips of her hair. 

"Yoong! Don't overdo it! Taecyeon might get frightened." 

Yoona rolled her eyes out of annoyance while the two were laughing hilariously by the bed. With a final touch, she smiled at her own reflection in the mirror. All of a sudden, Jessica flung the door open and squealed. 

"YOONA! HE'S COMING! HE'S AT THE GATES!" 

"OH MY GOD. LET'S GO!" 

The four ladies scrammed out of the room and dashed towards the living room where everyone was waiting at. 

"Holy crap, I SEE TAECYEON HYUNG!" 

Wooyoung peered out of the glass windows and spotted a familiar figure entering the Palace. Taeyeon shook her head as she took a glance at the amusing view in front of her. She noticed the guys sticking their faces onto the window and the girls squealing behind them, wanting to take a peak at the big guy. She spotted Yoona sitting by the sofas, anxiously biting her fingernails. Taeyeon went over to her sister and patted her back gently 

"Relax Yoona, you'll faint anytime soon at this rate." 

"He's finally here..." 

"Hey guys! Keep calm and quieten down! We need to surprise him remember!" 

All of them stood by staircase where it was near the front doors. Their hearts were beating rapidly as if they were going to explode anytime soon. They heard the doorknob click and turned silent immediately. 

Taecyeon heaved another sigh deeply before he opening the door. Okay, Taecyeon. You're back. 1...2...3. As the door flung open, his whole body almost collapsed. 

"WELCOME BACK TAECYEON AH~!" all of them yelled in unison. 

Taecyeon felt his soul taken away by the sudden surprise. All of the guys huddled over him as they made a group hug. 

"LALALALALALALA~ TAECYEON HYUNG'S BACK~" all of them chanted amusingly. 

"Ahem. I think there's someone else that's missing him more desperately than all of us." 

Taeyeon grinned as she stepped away and pointed at Yoona's direction. The girls smiled as all of them stood behind Yoona. The guys  blushed and backed away from Taecyeon, allowing him to approach her. He took a few steps forward and stopped, smiling back at her.  Words couldn't even explain what he was feeling right at that exact moment. Yoona looked up and admired the face that was smiling back at her. She remained quiet until he decided to break the silence. 

"You look beautiful." 

The guys and girls giggled as well as Yoona. 

"And you look handsome yourself." 

"Umm..." 

Taecyeon couldn't express his feelings to her, with all those eyes focusing on them. 

"Oh god damn it, Taecyeon. I MISSED YOU!" 

Yoona threw her arms around his shoulders, and hugged him tightly. Taecyeon responded by encircling his arms around her waist and hugged her back. The group cheered and clapped for the two. 

"I missed you too..." he whispered in her ear, while releasing himself from her. 

Tears were trickling down her face while Taecyeon wiped it with his thumb. He planted a kiss on her forehead and hugged her once more. 

"Aww~" they said, watching the two lovebirds hugging each other. 

After a few minutes, Wooyoung coughed and joked, "Are you two...done missing each other?"

The guys groaned, swatting Wooyoung on his arm. 

"Don't ruin their moment!" 

Taecyeon and Yoona chuckled together, their cheeks flushing red. 

"Welcome back Taecyeon. Now, let's have breakfast altogether~" 

Taeyeon clasped her hands together and made her way towards the dining room with the rest following behind her.

"Missed having breakfast with you guys," Taecyeon muttered to Yoona while leaning closer to her, smelling the fragrance of her hair. 

"You don't know how much I missed doing things with you." 

"I'll make it up to you. I promise," he said winking at her. 

"Keep your promise then!" 

All of them settled fast, taking their seats by the dining table. As usual, they would start eating together once Taeyeon allowed them to. It's more like of a daily routine every morning, making it a habit among them. Taecyeon questioned Taeyeon about the mission, while eating in between chats. 

"So, what's the mission all about?" 

"It's about another mystery of the immortals who are killing our people, again." 

"Leeteuk's the mastermind?" 

"I'm afraid so. He has been leaving notes about himself as said by the huntsmen."

"Huntsmen?" 

"We assigned huntsmen in the woods ever since the war. They've been keeping lookouts for the immortals." 

"Which means, there are immortals present here in our area?" 

"Yes. I heard that there are three immortals in each district of the Solitaire." 

"District? The Solitaire's divided into districts?" 

"Oh right. I believe no one hasn't spoken to you about the places in the Solitaire." 

"What are the districts?" 

Taeyeon gulped down on her orange juice and wiped with the serviette. 

"In the Solitaire, it is a kingdom made up of four main districts. They are, the Northern Clubs, the Eastern Diamonds, the Southern Hearts and the Western Spades. We're located at the west of course, since the Spades is preferred as the capital of the Solitaire." 

Taecyeon nodded his head, listening curiously to what Taeyeon was saying. 

"Don't worry Taec, I'll explain further later on about our mission and you'll get to have an opportunity to visit the districts." 

Taeyeon stood up and reminded a message to all of them. 

"Meeting in the conference room, at noon." 

Taecyeon leaned closer to Yoona's ear and whispered, "Is it me, or have I really missed a lot of things here in the Palace?" 

She giggled, "I'm guessing that you have." 

"Tell me everything then." 

"It'd be my pleasure Mr Ok~" 

At noon, Taeyeon laid out the map of the Solitaire across the spade table. It was described in that way since the table resembles the shape of a spade. Everyone gathered into their seats and waited for her instructions. 

"As you may know, Leeteuk's still alive and could be hiding somewhere in the Solitaire. Recently, we have heard some reports from the huntsmen that have been looking out in the forest and they've witnessed Solitarians lying dead on the forest bed. They seem to figure out that there were strangers invading the forests, hunting for people to target on. Since they are creations of Leeteuk, we already know that his immortals are warming up in the preparation of confronting us because we are their main targets. So now, we are planning our own strategies to eliminate each and every one of them. We will be divided into groups and be assigned to different districts, so that the searching process would be faster. Questions?" 

She looked up and noticed everyone with the same placid expressions. 

"Basically, our task is to capture all of them and deal with Leeteuk about this whole commotion?" Jay asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Precisely Jay. Now, just give me 5 minutes to reconsider your locations." 

Taeyeon jotted down some sketches and notes on the side of the map, marking the places that were focused on. She decided on who to assign where and pondered seriously over her precision. 

"Alright! I have the plans all sorted out. Nichkhun, Jay, Yuri and Jessica will head south and guard the Hearts' district. Chansung, Minjun, Sooyoung and Tiffany will head east to guard the Diamonds' district. Yonghwa, Junho, Seohyun and Hyoyeon will head to the north to guard the Club's district. Now, I'd like to ask Sungmin and Sunny of which district would you like to keep a lookout at." 

Sunny faced Sungmin, waiting for his answer. 

"We'll stay here in Spades. The Palace and the Solitarians here need to be protected as well. Who knows, my brother might be roaming around here while you guys head out to other districts." 

"I'll agree to your decision then. For Wooyoung, Taecyeon, Yoona and I, we will be visiting district by district since Taecyeon here is curious to know about all of them. So, we'll be taking him to a tour around the land's circumstances. The rest of you will stay in the district until the immortals have been captured. Our mission might take a while, due to obstacles along the way. The Queens will handle people that you may have not met before, so no worries about that. If there aren't any questions well, pack your personal equipment needed for the mission. Everyone is to assemble at the main gates by 2pm." 

Taeyeon dismissed their meeting as everyone sighed, heading to their own rooms for preparation. 

"Of all tasks, this would be one of the most difficult homework given." Wooyoung mumbled to Nichkhun. 

"At least we haven't had one for a long time." 

"But still, it's a pain in the neck." 

"Have to be a badass all over again." 

Wooyoung snickered, "Although I yearn for battles lately." 

"I'm totally gonna have my hands on those immortals. My knuckles have been stiff long enough." 

"You bet!" 

While Taecyeon was packing his equipment in his strap bag, Wooyoung and Nichkhun came into his room. 

"What's up Taec! Ready to go?" asked Wooyoung. 

"Yeah, hold on. I just need to zip this up." 

"Man, Taec. You still look good in your training suit." Nichkhun scratched his head, complimenting him. 

"Aren't all of us looking good in it?" 

"Taeyeon does." 

Taecyeon and Nichkhun face-palmed themselves. 

"Yeah, right loverboy. As well as, Yuri then!" 

"Pfft. My goddess has already beaten you guys." 

Wooyoung and Nichkhun punched Taecyeon's arm lightly, still arguing childishly about whose partner look best in the training suits. 

"Let's go already, they're waiting for us!" 

Taecyeon carried his strap bag and hung it around his shoulder. He tightened his training gloves around his wrist and the three of them left his room quietly. As they strolled toward the gates, they observed the group of people who were all dressed in black training suits. 

"It's funny how we look like spies," blurted Nichkhun. 

"We are spies for this mission though," said Taecyeon. 

"True enough." 

"Tae, the guys are here," Tiffany reminded. 

"Let's go guys. Time's precious~" 

Sungmin and Sunny waved their hands, while watching them going off. 

"Good luck guys!" Sunny managed to yell at them. 

"We'll keep the Palace safe." 

Both of them held hands together and went back inside the Palace. 

___________________________________________

'Sup guys~ ;) and so, they are ready to set off to a new adventure! Muahahaha~ Oh right, I read all of your comments and it's as if you guys are reading my mind about creating another Taecyeon LOL~ I will! ^^ and just you wait for that chapter to come! :D Look forward to the other districts since...there might be some brief idol cameos appearing x) HEHE~ And by the way, the part where Taecyeon is working for a prestigious company, it was just a cover-up for his visit in the Solitaire ;) 

P.S. I love you my dear readers LOL okay bye xD ~