Warning before reading!!

This part is un-beta-ed. So please bare my bad English.

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

The morning had come as the sun rose and blessed the land with its light. The daily life of the six legends and Chunjie started as usual. Lay woke the earliest as he had the responsibility to prepare meals for his friends. He quickly came to the kitchen when he realized that he was late. His friends might wake up anytime soon.

 

When he reached his destination, he noticed that Xiumin and Tao had awakened. They were having their routine morning exercise on the yard. Lay just smiled to see them and returned to his original task to cook. He knew that those two always woke up early too as they trained their martial skill every morning without fail.

 

As Lay was preparing, Chen came to. The sound of his footsteps caused Lay to look up. He then walked toward the shelf.

 

“Morning,” he greeted Lay.

 

“Good morning,” Lay replied him as the younger guy took a glass and filled it with water to drink.

 

Chen drank the water as he turned and leaned his back on the table. “How’s Chunjie?” he asked.

 

“She’s sleeping well,” Lay said as he chopped the vegetables. “I don’t think she’s traveling anymore.”

 

Chen just nodded as he felt fine with it.

 

“Hey. Help me with the breakfast. They will wake up anytime soon,” Lay requested.

 

“Okay,” Chen said then put down his glass on the sink and helped his friend.

 

When the breakfast was almost ready, Luhan entered the room with Tao who was already dressed up in his school uniform. Lay raised his gaze and frowned to see that Chunjie wasn’t there. Usually, she came to breakfast along with Tao.

 

“Where’s Gongzhu?” he asked the two guys who just entered.

 

Luhan and Tao just looked at each other.

 

“She’s still sleeping,” Xiumin, who just entered the room, answered the question instead of the other two. He came to the dining table and took a glass of milk that Chen had prepared. He had changed his training clothes to a shirt and trousers. From the way he looked, he might have a shower before coming to the dining room.

 

“Aish,” Lay almost cursed as he slammed the cloth that he used to clean his hands. He looked at Luhan. “Luhan, please wake her up. She can’t be late for school.”

 

“Okay,” Luhan replied as he turned his body and walked away.

 

Meanwhile, Tao started towards the dining table. He put his school bag on the floor before taking out a chair to sit. Chen came and poured a glass of milk for him.

 

“Why don’t you ask him to wake Kris too?” Xiumin said with a naughty smirk on his face as he took a seat on one of the chairs.

 

Lay quickly shot a death glare at him. “Yah, do you want me to give you burnt food?”

 

Tao and Chen just chuckled to see the older guys bickering at each other. It was a well-known fact that Kris had trouble waking up early and he would have a bad mood if someone woke him up in the early morning. So most of the times, they just let Kris wake up on his own. But there were times when he could wake up early. And that’s because of Chunjie.

 

A few minutes later, Luhan returned to the dining room alone. He came to one of the chairs and pulled it out. Chen who sat across of him passed a glass of water to him.

 

"Thanks," he said.

 

"Is she awake?" Lay asked as he put a plate of toasts in the front of him.

 

"Yeah. She'll be coming soon," Luhan replied.

 

Tao who had finished his food looked at his watch and found that he had to go soon. He took his glass and drank it. "I’d better be going now," he said as he put down his glass. He bent down to get his bag as he slid back the chair and stood afterward.

 

"Okay," Lay replied him as he watched the youngest guy walked toward the sliding glass door that led to their yard. It was a shortcut to the gate from the dining room. “Be careful on your journey.”

 

Tao just gave a smile to the guy as he walked out the sliding door. He waved slightly before walking away without turning back.

 

Right after Tao left the mansion, Chunjie came out in a hurry. The sound of her footsteps made the guys look at her. She skidded to a stop on the dining table and tried to catch her breath. She already used her school uniform and her bag was carried behind her back. She ran her gaze through the table.

 

"Where's Tao?" she asked as she saw his absence from the dining table.

 

"He just left," Luhan replied as he pointed to the sliding glass door.

 

A pout came to her lips. “Aaahh. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? I can be late.” Her words came out fast like a bullet as she felt panicked and worried. Then she turned to the door as if she wanted to go out without having breakfast.

 

But Lay caught her bag and stopped her. "Wait a second, Gongzhu."

 

Chunjie turned to him.

 

"You know my principle about breakfast, right?"

 

She just gave him a Totoro's smile. She knew precisely that he wouldn't let her go away without any breakfast. "But I can be late," she said as if she was begging.

 

Lay took a glass of chocolate milk and handed it to her. “At least, drink this.”

 

She received the glass reluctantly but she still drank the milk as fast as she could.

 

Chen dropped his jaw as he saw that she managed to drink it without a break. “Drink it slowly. You can be choked.”

 

But she ignored him and took a big portion for the last gulp. She put down the empty glass on the table and took an apple.

 

“I’ll take this,” she said as she showed the fruit to Lay.

 

“Okay,” the guy said.

 

“Then, I’m going now.” Chunjie turned to the door and hurriedly walked there. “Bye bye, everyone.”

 

Suddenly, Xiumin remembered about something that he brought with him. He took it out. It was a headband with a soft pink ribbon. He found it when he walked around on the lunch break yesterday. He then turned to see her. “Chunjie.”

 

She quickly stopped by the door as she heard the call. She then turned around to see who it was.

 

Xiumin stood up from his chair and came to her. He stopped in front of her and put the headband on her head then moved a step backward to see her. A smile came to his face. “That’s better,” he patted her head.

 

Chunjie raised her hand and touched the headband. She smiled when she realized what he had done. “Thank you.”

 

“You’d better go now,” Xiumin made a gesture with his chin, pointing at the slide door. “I’m sure Tao is not too far by now.”

 

Chunjie seemed to realize about it as she gasped. “Ah, right,” she said then looked back to him. “Bye bye, Xiumin.” She waved then ran out from the room.

 

“Yah! Be careful! Or you’ll fall!” Lay yelled at her as he saw her running carelessly.

 

But the girl ignored his warning and turned to the corner of the building toward the gate. Lay just sighed to see her.

 

“That clumsy girl,” he sighed then turned to his friend. “I hope she won’t fall.”

 

Luhan and Chen just smiled to hear it. Chen looked at Lay.

 

“Don’t worry. She’s not a little girl anymore,” Chen said.

 

“Yeah…” Lay gazed down. He seemed to be reluctant. “But still…” He sighed afterward then collected the empty dishes that were left by Chunjie and Tao. He brought them back to the kitchen to be washed.

 

Chen just scoffed.

 

“But I guess we spoil her too much,” Luhan said, making Chen look at him.

 

“Yeah, I think so too,” Chen said as he smiled.

 

Xiumin walked back to his chair and finished the rest of his milk. “I’ll be going too, then.” He looked at Chen and Luhan. “I can’t be late for work. One of us needs to earn something regularly for living.”

 

“Okay,” Chen said. “See you later.”

 

Luhan just waved his hand to Xiumin because he was drinking his juice. Xiumin looked at Lay.

 

“Lay, I’m going,” Xiumin said.

 

Lay diverted his gaze from the sink to the guy. “Okay. Be careful,” he said then went back washing the dishes.

 

Xiumin went to his room afterward to prepare himself. He worked on a fashion design company. He might be the only one among the Legends who had a regular income, as Kris was taking his break from his activity as a Model and an Entertainer.

 

Kris was quite a famous entertainer actually. But he decided to take a long break just to fulfill his task as a Legend. It helped him take a close watch on Chun. Besides, an Entertainer who knew how to fly and often fought the strange creatures that appeared and threatened the people could put his career on risk.

 

As Xiumin went out from the dining room, he met Kris. “Morning, Kris,” he said as he passed by.

 

“Morning,” Kris replied in a grumpy voice.

 

The rest of the guys looked at the entrance as they heard the leader’s voice. They saw him walking toward the dining table. Kris seemed to be a little bit grumpy and sleepy as he wasn’t a morning person. He pulled out a chair beside Luhan and sat, leaning his back on the chair, stretching out his feet and crossing his arms across his chest. He raised his gaze to Lay.

 

“Breakfast?” Lay asked.

 

“Just coffee.”

 

Lay just nodded and prepared the requested drink. But he remembered something so he looked back at the leader. “Ah, Kris.”

 

Kris looked back to Lay.

 

“Your manager called earlier. He said that you have many offers for work.”

 

Kris groaned. “How many times do I have to tell him that I won’t be taking any job for now?” He grumbled to himself. “I’ll call him later.”

 

Lay nodded.

 

Luhan was observing Kris from behind the newspaper that he read ever since the leader entered the room. He found out that he was grumpier than usual. “You look annoyed. Something happen?”

 

Kris took a glance to him. “Nothing particular. I just feel annoyed.”

 

Smirking, Luhan returned his gaze to the newspaper. But Kris started to talk again.

 

“I heard Chunjie’s voice. She seemed panicked,” Kris then looked at him. “Did she wake up late?”

 

“Yeah,” the guy replied. But then, a lopsided smile came across his face. All of them knew so well that nothing could wake Kris up in the morning. But a single distress voice from Chunjie could wake him up immediately.

 

“She should have woken me up,” Kris said then exhaled and went silent for a while. He was a little worried about her.

 

But the other guys knew so well why Chunjie didn’t wake Kris for help. So, they just smiled when they heard Kris’ words. Even though Kris would sacrifice anything for Chunjie, she didn’t like to face his bad mood.

 

“I hope she won’t be late for school.”

 

 

Meanwhile, Tao was walking casually as he put his hands on his trousers’ pockets. He looked up to the trees on his left side. On the sloppy road to the bus stop, there were trees planted along the road to give some shades. He was enjoying the sound of the morning breeze as it touched the leaf and the gentle warm of the sun. Morning had never failed to relax and calm him. He really enjoyed the peaceful time like this among his life as a Legend.

 

But…

 

“Tao!”

 

He heard a familiar voice calling his name.

 

“Tao, wait for me!”

 

Actually, he didn’t need to turn to see who called him. He knew the owner of the voice very well. But he still stopped and turned. He saw Chunjie running toward him. Her long hair flowed behind her as she ran. She slowed her pace as she approached Tao. But she failed to stop because the road was sloped down. So she held onto him.

 

“Ah, thank goodness I managed to catch up with you,” Chunjie exhaled and caught her breath.

 

“Why the rush? You won’t be late even if you go five minutes later,” Tao said.

 

She straightened her body, displease written all over her face. “Five minutes later and I’ll be hearing Kris lecturing me again,” she said with pouted lips then walked.

 

It seemed that he surprised to hear Kris manage to wake up early. His brows rose and his jaw dropped as he gapped in awe. “He has woken up?” Tao walked along with her then smiled amuzingly. “That’s amazing.”

 

She nodded. “I guess he heard me panicking.”

 

He smirked, thinking that Kris was awesomely sensitive when it came to Chunjie’s matter. A sudden idea appeared in his mind. “Actually, I think you can take advantage of him waking up early. He can take you to school.” He flapped his hands on both sides of his body. “By flying.”

 

She turned her gaze on him with annoyed look as if she was saying, ‘are you kidding me?’

 

Seeing it, Tao broadly smiled. He understood that she was reluctant to ask help from the leader. Kris might treat her well. But he could be very annoying with his extremely protective attitude. “Okay, okay, I’m just kidding. But next time, don’t wake up late again.”

 

Chunjie just scoffed sarcastically as she looked at him before saying, “As if I always wake up late.”

 

She walked for a few steps before she stopped. She stood still for a few seconds as she sharpened her sense. She was sensing something a while ago. It felt like someone had called her. So she turned to look at the way where she came from. Her eyes widened as she saw vague figures of guys around her age running toward her. It seemed that they were trying to catch up on someone.

 

Both of the guys were clad in her school's uniform. They were tall, about Tao's height, probably give and take a few inches. One of them had light brown hair and appeared to be quite timid. A backpack was slung over his shoulder and his face was expressionless. Despite the distance between them, she felt a familiar wind-based power from him. She was willing to bet that he was the Legend of Wind, a wind user.

 

The other one, with darker hair and skin, looked aloof. He had a dancer's stance, sharp eyes and a distinct edge to his jaw. Again, she felt a strong aura from him; he was a Legend as well. Staring at him intently, her instincts confirmed that he was the Legend of Teleportation.

 

But as they came closer, she got clear view for their faces. Both of them had concern frown on their faces. But she also saw confusion written on their faces. They slowed their pace and stopped in the front of her. She almost took a step backward before she realized that it wasn’t her who standing in the front of them.

 

“Why are you such in a hurry?”

 

Chunjie could hear faint voice from the Legend of Teleportation. It was a little distorted but she caught a hint of displease look on his face before he turned his gaze to the light brown hair guy. Acknowledge look came to their faces as if they had known something. But they looked as if they were pitied and displeased. They seemed to wonder about something but knew that they wouldn’t get answers.

 

“Did you fight again with Suho hyung last night?” the Legend of Wind asked.

 

She frowned when she heard the name. Suho? Guardian? She felt the name was familiar. She had heard it somewhere before.

 

Then a pat on her shoulder made the scene vanished from her eyes. She blinked and saw a hand waving before her eyes. It was Tao’s. She recognized it since she saw his bracelet. She turned and saw him frowning in confusion while lowered his hands.

 

“Are you alright? You seemed off.”

 

Realizing that he would be acting overly protective like Kris if she told the truth, she smiled as she decided to keep it for herself. “I’m fine.”

 

“The bus will soon arrive. We can miss it if we don’t hurry.”

 

She gasped as she realized that he was right. “Ah, right.” She then walked in faster pace toward the road’s intersection ahead with Tao following her.

 

On the moment they reached the bus stop, the bus arrived. The bus was almost full. Tao found a seat and told her to sit there. But at the next stop, an elderly woman got in. So Chunjie decided to give her seat to her. Tao just smiled when she stood to his side.

 

“Stand here.” He pulled her to stand near the pole.

 

He knew that she would give up her seat to others, no matter if it was an elder or younger. He had seen the same thing happen almost every day. Chunjie could be stubborn and arrogant sometime because she had tremendous power within her. But she was very kind to the others and always treated them well. He had known her for a year by now. But it always amused him to see how different she was in the front of others. She always had soft spots for ordinary humans. The bus stopped again to get other passengers. A man with black suit got into the bus. And it was when Tao lost his smile.

 

Chunjie was deep in her own thought. She was thinking about what she had seen earlier. It had never occurred before. And judging to what she had seen, she realized that it wasn’t a memory of the world. She was looking at something that currently happened, probably in another world. Why she saw it, she didn’t know. But she had a feeling that something big was about to happen soon or later.

 

“Chunjie.”

 

She heard Tao called her under his breath. She was standing close enough to him so she could hear his breathe. She raised her gaze to him and realized that he had changed his position. Then, she saw an alert frown on his face. “Yes?”

 

“Do you think that the guy is weird?”

 

She slightly leaned forward, looking over his side as he was covering her protectively from people's sight as they stood on the back of the bus. Tao didn’t need to tell her which guy that he meant. She could tell through her instinct. Her gaze fell at a man with black suit that stood on the front side. He seemed like a normal working man with his neat appearance and black suit. But his eyes were fixing on them like a wild animal looking at its prey. Gasping, she realized what he was and his intention. But she also knew that she shouldn't make a ruckus on early morning. It was her last desire to confront an impure creature in the middle of bus with full passengers. It could cause many casualties even when the time was stopped. She turned her gaze to another place.

 

“He’s one of them, right?”

 

She slightly nodded.

 

Her answer raised his alert. He frowned. “What should we do?”

 

She gave a thought for a while as her gaze fell to a toddler boy who sat on his mother’s lap in front of her. He was looking at her while his cookie. He then lowered his cookie and offered it to her.

 

Chunjie smiled to see the naïve act of an innocent child. She had determined to protect the human kind at all cost. So harming them was the last on her list. She turned her gaze to Tao. Under her breath, she muttered, “We’ll arrive on our bus stop soon. Don’t make any ruckus.”

 

Tao turned his gaze and looked at the passengers. He understood that they were innocent human beings. If he stopped the time and initiated a fight with the man on the bus, there might be casualties. Even though Kris had told him to protect Chunjie at any cost, Tao knew that he shouldn’t get ordinary humans involved. So he respected her decision although he knew that he had to keep an eye on her. “Alright,” he whispered.

 

As the bus arrived at the school’s bus stop, Tao pulled Chunjie to walk before him. He still kept her close; unseen from the man’s sight. Along with them, few students got off from the bus. But he noticed that the man was following them. As they almost reached the school gate, Tao took one last look over his shoulder. He still saw him.

 

“He’s following us.” Tao told her as he turned back to the front.

 

“I know. I sense him.”

 

He looked at her. “Then should I stop the time now?”

 

The moment Tao asked, they had stepped within the school gate. And Chunjie suddenly stopped as she felt that the threatening feeling had subsided. She turned to look for the cause. But, to her surprise, the man had gone.

 

Tao immediately stopped as he saw her stopped. “What’s the matter?”

 

“He’s gone.” She frowned, looking around, trying to detect the presence of evil creature.

 

Tao did the same. But he didn’t have the same level of sense like Chunjie. Although he was supposed to be suspicious, if Chunjie told him that the man’s presence had gone, it meant that he was really gone. “Then where is he?”

 

She shook her head, frown still on her face. “I don’t know.” She looked up on him. “He just disappears.”

 

Tao looked at the street once again. He saw students of his school coming to the gate and people walking down the street. But the man was nowhere in sight. He heaved a sigh and grabbed her arm while turning his gaze.

 

“Let’s go,” he said as he pushed her to walk.

 

Although he worried about what would happen next, he was relieved that the threat had gone. At least for now…

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

Author's note:

To all the readers, I hope you enjoy reading the fic. A comment or subscribed will do, if you're willingly :)