Home. I murmured to myself as I traced the familiar marble counter in my Seoul apartment. A quivering breath escaped my chapped lips. You were so immersed in thoughts; you have forgotten to pack your make-up bag, and even left your glasses’ case back at the hotel. You just wanted to escape, and leave as quickly as possible from Japan. Home. You tried to convince yourself. This was home. With or without Kevin; this is home. You exhaled and slumped on the stiff couch. Your eyelashes fluttered shut; and you finally fell asleep.

4 hours earlier…

“Are you serious?” You got scared by Kevin’s rough tone; you chose to ignore it as you looked around for the rest of your clothes in the hotel. “_____. Look at me.” His voice rang in your ears as clear as a bell, but you had to ignore it. You had to. You walked passed him, and checked the drawers once more for any other items. Before you could grab a hold of your make-up bag, Kevin grabbed your shoulder; forcing you to face him.

He called your name again in a more soothing tone, but you just looked away. I can’t look at him this way, it’ll only give everything away. “Baby girl, talk to me. Come on. Speak to me.” He pleaded. Your heart throbbed in pain, but you were surprisingly able to give him a cool ignorant shrug. “Don’t give me that.” He growled. “Don’t.” He pointed his index finger at your face and glared. You glared back, and walked passed him to your luggage. He sighed in frustration.

“I don’t get it. Are you mad at me? Are you upset with me? ____, if you’re still upset about that incident, and all that crap about how you can’t protect m—“

“Crap?” You scowled in disappointment. This time, it was your true feelings. How can he call what I felt ‘crap’? You stepped towards him angrily and frowned. “Crap?” You repeated. He shook his head in regret, but before he could protest, you zipped up your bag.

“No- Not crap. I mean… look. I can protect you. You mustn’t worry about me, alright?” You stopped in your tracks, and turned to look at him. His eyes squinted in pain, and his hand caressed his other hand, attempting to comfort himself.

“How can you ask me of such a thing? To not worry about you? You’re so selfish, you know that!” Your voice escalated. “Yeah, sure. You can protect me, whatever. But what will happen if you get hurt, WORST, you get killed? I’d be alone. I would have no one by my side, and will just be left with a broken heart. Kevin. Just.. I have to go.” You murmured.

“____..” He called out your name once more, this time, helplessly, pleading with all his heart. You heart broke into a million pieces, and your lower lip quivered as you tried to hold back your tears.

I hope you’re proud, Chen. You thought. I know you’re out there listening. Suddenly, there was a light growl of thunder.

Without a word, you walked out the door.

***

Few months later…

Your fingers fiddled with the golden pendant that Kevin gave you. Again, for the fourth time this month, you replied with the same answer to Chen’s question.

“No. I have not seen Ehrian, or anything suspicious.” You muttered, watching Chen look at Baekhyun. 

Once a week, either Chen or Baekhyun would come over to check up on you, and you had to report in if anything suspicious happened. Na-da. This time, the both of them had the pleasure to visit you and ask you the same, dull questions. You poured their cups with tea, and felt their eyes stare at you.

“We’re sorry.” Baekhyun apologized, gripping on the ceramic cup. He squeezed the cup, and looked back at you with saddened eyes. “We’re sorry about all of this…” This apology wasn’t new, every time, Baekhyun came over, he’d always apologize. As for Chen, he would only scoff and cross his arms. You smiled, and gave Baekhyun the same response as always:

“Stop saying ‘sorry’.” You sipped some of your tea, and sighed.

“I’m not going to stop. I mean… you haven’t seen.. Kevin in like, well, months because of us.” The magenta-coloured haired boy whispered.

Chen let out a loud sarcastic laugh, and growled at Baekhyun: “Stop it. She’s doing this for our survival. Think about all those children. Baekhyun, you have to stop thinking about her, but our society, our home.” Annoyed, you kicked Chen’s leg, causing him to yelp in pain. His eyes pierced through your soul as lightning would rip through the clouds. You laughed, and patted his hand. You were so used to Chen and his sudden anger. It barely scared you.  Chen calmed down, and let out a sigh.

“Has Kevin tried to come in contact with you?” The lightning-user asked as he sipped his tea. You nodded, and watched Baekhyun pout. You laughed, and told Baekhyun to stop feeling sorry about all of this. “Has he… tried speaking to you?” Baekhyun asked. Chen stared at the ground, and told Baekhyun that he was there.

Chen said weakly: “It…_____ was about to crack; I only did that to keep every covered.” I looked at Chen, and watched the guilt eat him alive. Your hand travelled to Chen’s hand, and lightly patted it in comfort. Chen smiled weakly, and pulled his hand away.

You sighed, and told Baekhyun about that one time at the store last month.

Flashback (One month earlier…)

 You pushed your way through the crowded street, and ran into your favorite clothing store.  I need new shorts… You thought to yourself. You walked by so many girls who stared at a necklace; the name of the beautiful piece caught your eye. Starioleum. You shook your head, and kept walking to the shorts section.  Kevin was still and always on your mind; it made you go crazy at times. I miss him terribly, you murmured.

You looked at the many shorts that were on the shelves. Red. Blue. White. Stripes. Polka Dots. More polka-dots… The shorts with the painted stars caught your eye, and it made you look for your own size.

“Aren’t those too short?” Your head shot up quickly. I know that voice. You thought to yourself. “I can’t read your thoughts anymore either; I guess… we have drifted apart, right?” You couldn’t bring yourself to face him. Your feet became stone, planted onto the red carpeted floors. A chuckle arose from his throat. “____?”

The sudden feeling of pain made you cringe; your nails dug onto your left wrist, trying to wake you up from this dream. It wasn’t a dream though. Your chest felt like a bomb about to explode; your ears began to ring as you felt lightheaded. Go away please, you pleaded in your mind. Please, you managed to squeak out.

“Hm?”  Kevin hummed quietly.

“What are you doing here?” You mustered up all the possible strength to let out an angry tone. Kevin chuckled, and replied:

“Isn’t it obvious?” He stepped closer towards you. You raised the shorts; creating some sort-of barrier between both of your bodies. But we both knew that it was useless. “_______...” He whispered your name, almost seductively. The hairs on the back of your neck rose, and you felt a sudden chill going down your spine as Kevin pinned you to the corner. Your eyes looked over; making sure no one could see you two. This seemed really inappropriate. His slender fingers pulled down your hands which destroyed the only barrier between the two of you. Don’t cry. You told yourself. Don’t you dare cry.  You tried squirming your way out of his grasp, but you couldn’t. Kevin only pressed harder against you. You held your breath, and felt your body suddenly go warm.

“Stop.” You let out a gasp when you felt his hands on your waist. Kevin lowered his head to the right side of your neck. You trembled as you felt his hot breath tickly your delicate, fragile skin. The lips you’ve missed and yearned for was now planting small kisses on your neck; you groaned in frustration, and felt your hands betray you as they held onto the hem of Kevin’s shirt. Your fingers curled and clutched on the hem of his shirt, trying to create a balance. “Kevin. That’s... that’s…”

Suddenly, a familiar voice exploded in the store. “What the hell are you doing?” Both you and Kevin looked at the direction of the husky voice. There was Chen, but Kevin didn’t recognize him. Chen was disguised as Nate once again. ‘Nate’ walked over rapidly and with the swift of his hand, he easily pushed Kevin away from me. “Back off, will you?” ‘Nate’ muttered angrily.

Kevin expressed so many emotions in the matter of seconds. Betrayal. Hurt. Sadness. Anger. Guilt. Jealousy. Your arms yearned to hold him, but you knew you couldn’t. Your breathing staggered as Kevin looked away and whispered: “So. Nate, huh?” His eyes furied, and his body lunged towards ‘Nate’.

“Kevin!” You yelled.

“Who the hell are you? What are you, huh?” Kevin growled. His hand squeezed around Nate’s neck, causing Nate to gag, and grasp at Kevin’s hand helplessly. “You’ve been tagging _____, haven’t you? What the hell do you wa—“

You watched Nate grasp at Kevin’s hands helplessly. Chen, just… just push him. Defend yourself. Why aren’t you… then you knew why Chen wouldn’t do anything. He was doing this to not blow his cover. His whole society depends on this. Pretending to be Nate, me faking my true feelings… Nate’s eyes stared at you almost helplessly, pleading for me to do something.

“Kevin…” You murmured weakly… Kevin still continued to squeeze at Nate’s  throat. “Kevin, STOP!”

“What does he have on you, _____? Is he threatening yo—“

“I love him.” You lied through your teeth with incomprehensible ease. Kevin’s hands loosened. Nate/Chen coughed, and kept coughing. Nate’s body slid to the ground, and his hand held onto his own neck. “I love him, Kevin. Do-don’t hurt him anymore, please. If you love me, you… you’ll stop hurting him. You’d… just give me some time.” Kevin backed away from Nate as if he were some disease.

Kevin whispered: “What does he have on you? _____, why are you doing this to me?” He approached you slowly. His eyes rimmed with tears. You diverted your eyes, and look the other way. Then, you felt strong arms around your waist. But, they didn’t belong to Kevin. You looked over your shoulder, and found Nate’s head resting in the crook of your neck.

“Kevin. I’m sorry.” Nate whispered. The sincerity in his voice was coming from Chen, Kevin’s elder and friend. You heard the real guilt in his voice. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. It’s all about the survival of the Starlites. “But… I love her just as much as you had.” That only angered Kevin.

“You don’t know what we have been through.” Kevin gritted his teeth. Kevin bolted out of the store, pushing his way roughly through the crowds of girls.

Your knees went to jelly, and you fell back into Chen’s arms. “I can’t do this…” You told Chen. Chen only shook his head and murmured: “Yes, you can, _____. You can. Just a bit longer.” You felt Chen’s hair brush against your neck. “I’m so sorry, I really am…” Wet drops fell on your bare shoulder. This was the first time that you ever saw Chen shed tears for someone else. He knew this kind of pain. He’s been through this before. He hated the thought of it happening to someone else. This time, it was Kevin and I that had the searing pain in our hearts.

You turned around, and hugged Chen. “It’s okay.” You soothed him. “It’s alright. It’ll… be over soon.” I hope. I hope so.

End of Flashback.

Baekhyun looked at Chen, who was slumped in his chair at the irking memory. Chen grabbed all three mugs, and brought them to the kitchen. Baekhyun looked back at me worriedly, and I followed Chen to the kitchen, leaving the dumbfounded boy in the dining area.

“Are you alright?” I asked the lightning-user who rested his two palms against the counter with his head lowered.

“I really am sorry… I—“ You heard Chen trying to sound brave, but you’ve known him long enough, to know that despite his tough demeanor, and his rough tone, there was an emotional and soft being in there, scarred by his past. “It would be an understatement if I said that I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I.. I understand completely. And, I hate seeing this happen to people. It scared me, and now…”

“We’re doing this for the rest of the Starlites, alright? Remember, what you told me when I visited you? This will end. This has to end. We must bring Ehrian down, then everything will become normal again.” You said. I hope everything will go back to normal…

“You do know… this could even take years.” Chen looked up, upset.

“Then... why don’t we bring the bait to the predator instead.” You murmured.

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying right now? You’re risking your own lif—“

“Every day, every month, I’ve been risking my life. Waiting for Ehrian to strike. It wouldn’t make a different, Chen. I heard you found some information on Ehrian’s location. Give it to me. Let me go there. Let me weaken him, catch him off-guard. Then strike.” You shook Chen. “This is our one-shot of opportunity.”

“Also, our possibility of failure. If he… if he tricks us, and finds out that we are tryingto get him. He will not hesitate to attack sooner.”

“We’ll be ready for that. We’ll have two plans in motion.” You explained. Chen chuckled, and murmured:

“Maybe you should become a commander of the Starlite army.” He joked. You rolled your eyes, and asked him if he agreed on the plan.

“I’ll need some time to talk with the other elders.” He said.

“Let me come with you.”

Chen nodded, and rushed back to Baekhyun. It was time to plan out our plan of attack. Also, a time for training. Something I would have never imagined happening to me.

Ehrian. We’re coming for you. This will be the last time.

---

Author's note: Sorry for not updating. (I think I've been saying that too often..) I'll be totally honest with you all. I have been very busy at home for personal reasons, and it just been decreasing my motivation on updating. Now, since things have cleared up, the clouds have goen away, I will update my other fics as well! I won't promise anything, but I will do my best. Stay shining, stay awesome. Love, Khay. (Oh! The Ehrian arc of the story will finally come to an end soon! Just a little heads-up, hinthint.)