BE WARNED!! THERE ARE POINTLESS FIGHTS AHEAD THAT I LAUGHED AT WHILE WRITING!!

Zelo couldn’t sleep. He was worried about the chance that Yongguk might refuse to join them in their rebellion against king Esror. Over the past weeks, Zelo had gotten attached to the older man. He liked how his hyung always cared about him and made him smile when he remembered his past. Zelo sat up in his bed. He slipped out from under the covers and out of the room that he shared with Daehyun and Youngjae, seeing as the dorm didn’t have enough rooms for everyone to have their own. Originally Zelo thought he’d share with Daehyun and Jongup, but Himchan had his ways to get what he wanted, even people. Especially people, as it seemed.

The TV in the living room was still on, but Yongguk was already asleep on the couch. Zelo smiled to himself and turned the machine off. He snuck under the covers and snuggled closer to his hyung.

“Can’t sleep, Jello?” Yongguk’s voice was tired and Zelo felt comforted by the older male’s deep voice.

“I’m worried, hyung,” he confessed.

“About?”

“About you staying here. I might seem selfish, but I don’t want you to leave me… us.”

Yongguk smiled at the other’s cuteness. “I’ll stay with you, Jello. I’m going to fight by your side and protect you from everything and everyone. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Zelo whispered. He felt Yongguk wipe away tears he didn’t even know he was crying. “Thanks for not leaving me like my siblings did after my parents died. You don’t know how much this means to me.” He giggled when he felt the older male tickling his sides.

“I should make you laugh more often, Zelo. It makes me happy to hear it.” The maknae let out a louder laugh.

“SHUT UP YOU TWO!” Himchan shouted from the room he shared with Jongup.

“I COULD’VE IGNORED THEIR LAUGHTER, BUT NOT YOUR YELLING, !” Minzy replied with the same volume.

“WELL I COULDN’T! I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP! AND BY THE WAY, SO DO YOU. LIKE SERIOUSLY.”

“AT LEAST I’M NOT SOME WANNABE DIVA WHO AROUND AND JUST WISHES HE HAD MY BODY.”

“DID YOU JUST CALL ME A , ?”

“I CAN HOGTIE AND CASTRATE YOU IN SIXTY SECONDS, DON’T ING MESS WITH ME!”

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE UP!” Daehyun screamed before anyone could get seriously injured. He wasn’t too worried about Minzy, but if she threatened someone she wouldn’t play around. Daehyun didn’t want Youngjae’s brother to get thrown in front of a train when he least expects it.

“I REFUSE!” Himchan yelled.

“Hyung, what…” Zelo whispered as Jongup appeared in front of him and Yongguk.

“I needed to get out of there.” Jongup smiled apologetically.

“JONGUPPIE-PUPPY WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Minzy couldn’t help it. “HE PROBABLY RAN AWAY FROM YOU!”

“SHUT THE UP I NEED MY JONGUPPIE-PUPPY!”

“I’M NOT YOUR PUPPY!! AND I’M HANGING WITH YONGGUK AND ZELO BECAUSE THEY’RE AWESOME AND NOW BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP OR I WILL GET YONGGUK PISSED AND THEN THE HOUSE WILL BURN DOWN DO YOU WANT THIS!!!”

“We’re coming with you as well,” was the first thing Youngjae said during breakfast the next morning.

Daehyun turned to him with a surprised expression. “What do you mean?”

“Himchan hyung and I decided that we’ll join you too. Sure, we might not have any powers, but we can still help. Right?”

“Of course!” Daehyun replied with a large smile on his face.

“, no.” Jongup banged his head on the table. “At least keep that diva away from me. Far away.”

“But my Jonguppie…”

Jongup threw his hands up in despair. “Minzy, help!”

The young woman smirked and shot up in the blink of an eye, knocking Himchan’s chair over. “Like I said, I can hogtie and castrate you in sixty seconds.”

“Go away.”

“Make me.”

“I hate you.”

“Good, then the feeling’s mutual.”

“Minzy, leave him alone. Himchan, stop bothering Jongup. Everyone else, don’t you dare let those two anywhere near each other,” CL ordered while calmly eating her breakfast. “Once we’re done eating we’ll leave to the forest. We’re going back to Isreínum today, it should be safe enough. And we’re going to need Zelo’s five hundred books to do some research on Yongguk and generally on Isreínum. I know we did that already, but we could’ve missed a lot. All right? Good.”

Himchan and Youngjae were looking around with wide eyes as Zelo led the way to his house. The Moon Door had already left them both speechless, and now actually being in another world was overwhelming. Yongguk felt a small pang of happiness at seeing the familiar landscape again. He remembered the spot where he passed out suddenly because of his back pain (CL explained that it was because of his hidden powers) before waking up in Daehyun’s tavern. He let his gaze wander over the others.

There was CL, the fearless leader. No matter what happened, she always seemed to have a plan of some sort. Despite being a bit suspicious at first, she warmed up to him pretty quickly and he appreciated that. Even though she might not be as great of a fighter as Minzy, she was definitely the best fit to lead this group.

Minzy was still a mystery to him. At first she had been cold and rude, but now she let her happier side shine through. Her constant quarreling with Himchan surprised Yongguk at first, but now he could only laugh at how different this girl was from what he originally thought. But never underestimate her strength in battle. Never.

Daehyun. He was probably the friendliest member of Veritas – except for Zelo. Yongguk was extremely grateful that the younger took care of Youngjae. Himchan wasn’t the most… caring person, and Yongguk himself doubted he could do anything to help his friend’s brother.

Jongup was the complete opposite of what he seemed to be. Yongguk remembered how surprised he was at Jongup’s first aegyo. The seemingly indifferent man showed how much he cared about everyone else multiple times. Yongguk also couldn’t help but notice the slight interest Jongup had towards Himchan.

Speaking of the diva. Yongguk hoped that Himchan wouldn’t go all -mode on the members of Veritas… wait, he already did. Despite everything, Himchan was loyal and would never do anything to hurt a person he cared for. Now it was only a matter of time before Minzy murdered him.

Himchan’s younger brother, the forever sweet Youngjae. He was similar to Daehyun, and perhaps that’s why they were so compatible. Shared giggles and whispered stories were only a few of the interactions Yongguk had seen between the two.

And then there was Zelo. Jello. The most adorable, perfect creature Yongguk had ever seen. He wasn’t sure what his feelings towards the maknae were, but he hoped it was more of a brotherly love than a… love love. He couldn’t imagine tainting the innocent boy or giving him false hopes. It wasn’t that Yongguk was worried about being gay, but the whole idea of a relationship just… frightened him, in a sense. Sure, he had girlfriends before, but the feeling he had back then wasn’t right.

“Yongguk hyung.” Zelo’s choked whisper brought him back from his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Look.” The maknae pointed ahead and everyone followed with his or her eyes. The house was a ruin. Windows were smashed, the door was broken down, but that was not the shocking part. The house had been burned down by someone.

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Dramatic ending is dramatic.

Relevant image is relevant.

I loved writing the fights between Minzy and Himchan too much. Much too much.

I love you, Pancakes! Sorry for not updating frequently ^^"