You covered your mouth, though a scream escaped through your fingers. Two beat up boys stood at the doorway. They panted heavily and their shirts were ripped in various places, exposing their toned bodies. One boy had short black hair, and the other had brown hair in a fauxhawk style. They were bleeding in many areas. The brown-haired boy looked up at you, and you nearly gasped. The glare on his face terrified you to your bones. The other boy groaned loudly in pain. You stood there completely frozen, tightly gripping the railing of the stairs. 

 

 “Himchan?! Yongguk?!” Daehyun stuttered, his eyes darting up and down the boys wildly. “What in the world happened! I’ll go beat up the ones who did this to you!”

 

“It’s… not their fault..” the brown-haired boy called Yongguk wheezed. “We accidentally… crossed into this gang’s territory coming here.. I… should have.. been more careful.”

 

The other boy, Himchan, lifted his head and looked at you with bloodshot eyes. “We… felt this pull… couldn’t stop it… Haven’t rested since… Just kept running…” He suddenly collapsed at the door.

 

“Himchan!” Yongguk cried, catching his friend. He tried to lift him up, but his strength betrayed him, and they both went crashing to the ground. They lay on the ground, panting and wheezing.

 

Your heart tightened and tears sprang to your eyes. You felt horrible. You knew that this was the result of your “emotion magnet”. Because of your selfish desires to meet the others, you had ended up troubling all six boys. You slowly made your way to the entrance and knelt down beside them. You had to help them. Daehyun helped you lift Yongguk up, and the brown haired boy leaned on you heavily, still panting. Daehyun pulled Himchan up and placed the black-haired boy’s arm over his shoulder.

 

You looked at Daehyun and the two of you nodded. There was no time to discuss what had happened. For now, you two had to save them. You and Daehyun walked slowly in the house, not even bothering to close the door. Ria saw the sight and her eyes widened. “Mr. Jung! Mrs. Lee!” Ria called as she shut the front door.

 

Daehyun’s parents appeared, and immediately acted in the same way that Ria had. “What happened to these boys?” Mr. Jung asked.

 

“Is that… Himchan and Yongguk?” Mrs. Lee gasped. “Oh my goodness. Is this because of the magnet?”

 

“I think so,” you answered, more tears gathering at the corners of your eyes. Your tear ducts continued to release more water, and eventually they began to spill over the edge. “Where.. where can we put them?”

 

“Take them to the guest rooms, over here,” Mrs. Lee rushed through the hall and opened two doors. You and Daehyun each went into a room. You set Yongguk down as gently as you could. He groaned as you did so, and you felt your heart pang with guilt.

 

“I’m sorry,” you murmured, his bloodstained face. “I’m so so sorry… This is all my fault again. All I ever do is cause problems...”

 

He opened his eyes slowly and lifted his hand to his cheek. He placed his hand on yours and smiled weakly. “I-It’s okay,” he whispered. “Himchan and I are here now. We’re finally here. That journey.. that was nothing.” His eyes closed again as his face scrunched up in agony. He began to pant again.

 

You hurriedly placed your other hand on his forehead. It was burning! You raced out of the room and grabbed a towel. Then, you went to the kitchen and snatched up a large bowl. You filled it with water and returned to the guest room. You soaked the towel and gently set it on Yongguk’s head. His face slowly relaxed, and he went unconscious.

 

You readjusted the towel and watched his chest rise and fall. Though his face looked calm, his breathing completely revealed his true state. He breathed unevenly, as if it was difficult for him to inhale and exhale. He began to tremble from head to toe as well, indicating that he was cold. You gave his hand a small squeeze, and then gently slid the blankets out from underneath him. You stood up to spread the covers over Yongguk’s limp body. His shivering continued, but it seemed to subside quite a bit.

 

“I’m sorry,” you whimpered. You walked outside and called for Daehyun’s parents. They appeared with Ria at their side. Grandpa Xi came out of the hall as well, trailing behind his son.

 

“C-Can we get another blanket for Yongguk? He’s shivering so violently… And would it be possible to get one of those breathing masks for him? It looks like he’s having trouble breathing..”

 

“Sure, Hana, I’ll go grab more blankets,” Mrs. Lee said gently. “We don’t have any of those respirator-type items though… I think we should call the doctor first, though, before we do anything rash or spend our money blindly.” 

 

“Okay,” you nodded slowly. Your eyebrows were bunched together in worry. How far had the boys traveled to come here? What kind of trouble had they run into on the way here?

 

You remembered the other boy, and you suddenly lifted your head. You had to go check if he was alright as well. Daehyun was probably with him, but you wanted to check on him as well. This was, after all, your fault.

 

“I’ll go see how Himchan’s doing,” you said.

 

Daehyun’s mother nodded. “I’ll call for the doctor.”

 

“Thank you,” you said, bowing. “I have to fix this. This was my doing. But I admit that I do not have enough knowledge to heal them myself. A doctor would definitely be their best hope.”

 

“Then I will call him right now,” Mrs. Lee said. She left the hall and went to her room to make a phone call.

 

“I will visit the lad when he is better,” Grandpa Xi commented. His son nodded. “Same here. Right now, though, I have to make a trip to town. Business errands, you know.”

 

“I’ll be going first then,” you said, bowing again. You ran to the other guest room, stumbling on your feet as you sprinted. You flew inside the room and your heart fell even further as you saw Himchan’s pained state. Daehyun had pulled the blankets over Himchan, but now he was pacing back and forth, chewing on his fingernails.

 

“I don’t know what to do!” Daehyun panicked, though he kept his voice soft, trying not to bother the black haired boy. “I’ve never dealt with situations like this!”

 

“We can start by fetching a towel for Himchan,” you said. “And a tub of water, please. I think both boys have a fever… They must have come from really far…”

 

“Yeah,” Daehyun nodded his head sadly. He stopped to look at you. “They live nearly a hundred miles away.”

 

“A hundred?!” Your eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “And they ran into trouble on the way here too… Oh my god, this is all my fault. They must’ve sprinted here..” Fresh tears replaced your dried out tears, blurring your vision.

 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they did. They probably also—Ah, me and my stupid mouth. I didn’t mean to make you even more upset. Sorry.” Daehyun saw your teary face and poked your cheek. “Hey, it’ll be alright. The important thing is that they got here alive. They’re not in too bad condition, they just have fevers. Let’s take care of them, and they’ll be recovered in no time, alright?”

 

“Mmkay,” you bobbed your head up and down.

 

He smiled softly at you. “Be strong for them, hmm? Don’t cry.. I know you’re feeling guilty, but crying won’t do any good right now.” He wiped away the wetness from your cheek gently with his thumb.

 

“Thank you.”  You gave Daehyun a watery smile. “Let’s help Himchan now, okay? I’ll go fetch the towel and the tub. You go get more blankets.”

 

“No, you stay here and keep him company, Hana. I’ll go get the items. Look, he’s awake. Get to know him a little better.” 

 

“Alright…” you nodded, not wanting to protest over something as silly as grabbing towels when Himchan was in such a state. You pulled a chair over to the edge of his bed and sat down.

 

“Hello….” He whispered weakly. “Hana-sshi.. right?”

 

“Yeah, but just call me Hana,” you smiled, relieved that he was strong enough to speak. He seemed to be in better shape than Yongguk. “Hi Himchan. How are you feeling?”

 

“Everything hurts..” he groaned. “But better now that I’m not moving around. I’ll be fully healed in a couple of days, I think.”

 

“That’s good to hear,” you tried being optimistic.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It could have been a lot worse. What about you? Are you okay? We felt a really strong pull.. were you by any chance in some kind of trouble?  We didn’t know we were part of the chosen six from the prophecy until we felt that tugging sensation. We somehow both knew that something was horribly wrong. I’ve never felt anything like it before. .”

 

“Ah.. I went skydiving.. and I freaked out,” you shook your head. “I’ll tell you the story when you and Yongguk are healed.”

 

“Okay,” he nodded slightly, but winced in pain when his head rubbed against the pillow. “By the way.. How is Yongguk doing? Who is taking care of him? Is there a doctor here?”

 

“There’s no one at the moment, I think,” you replied. “I was there a few minutes ago. I covered him with blankets and put a wet towel on his head. I’ll go back and re-soak the towel later once Daehyun and I have fixed you up.”

 

“No,” Himchan argued. “You need to go to Yongguk. He.. He is in worse condition than I am. I can manage on my own… and plus, Daehyun will be here to help me. Go to Yongguk. He.. He’s a good guy. He protected me from most of the blows when we were attacked.. And he nearly carried me here the whole way after that.. Go help him. I’m okay. I just need.. to rest for a bit. My wounds are nothing compared to his…”

 

You bit your lip in uncertainty. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah,” he croaked. “Go help Yongguk. Please..”

 

“Alright..” you agreed hesitantly. You didn’t want to leave Himchan, but you knew that he was right. Daehyun was perfectly capable of taking care of Himchan, and there was nobody to take care of Yongguk.

 

“Try to get some sleep,” you urged. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”

 

He nodded, and you stood up and exited the room, quietly closing the door behind you. As you turned around, you noticed multiple silhouettes from the corner of your eye. There was a sudden tap on your shoulder, and you jumped back a foot, shrieking. “Ah!” you shouted, putting a hand to your heart. “You guys scared me! What’s going on?”

 

“Ah.. sorry for scaring you,” Youngjae said sheepishly. “We heard sounds upstairs earlier.”

 

“Mrs. Lee told us about the two new boys,” Zelo announced. “We came to see them. But we didn’t know which room they were in…” he rubbed his neck awkwardly. “So we were waiting for you.”   

 

“She also told us to tell you that she called the doctor. He’ll be here in an hour or so.” Jongup added.

 

“Oh, okay,” you nodded. Your heart was beginning to calm down. “Himchan’s in this room, but I just told him to go to sleep. I don’t think you guys should bother him right now. I was on my way to the other boy’s room. His name is Yongguk. Do you guys want to come with me?”

 

“Where’s Daehyun, though?” Youngjae asked.

 

“Oh, Daehyun’s fetching water, towels, and blankets. He should be back soon. He’ll be taking care of Himchan.”

 

“I’ll help him, then,” Youngjae said. He ran off into the direction of the kitchen. “I’ll come visit Yongguk later!” he shouted. You heard the sound of metal hitting the ground followed by a sharp girly cry.

 

“Ah! Youngjae! Don't do that! You made me drop the bowl!” Daehyun scolded loudly. Youngjae muttered his sorry and the two boys began to chat.

 

You cracked a smile and turned back to the boys. “So, are you two coming with me? Or are you gonna stick with Daehyun?”

 

“I’ll come with you and help, Hana,” Zelo offered.

 

“M-Me too,” Jongup said.

 

“Great,” you answered. “Let’s go then!” You crossed over to Yongguk’s room, carefully twisting the knob open. You noticed that an extra blanket was spread on top of him. Mrs. Lee must've brought it when you were at Himchan's room. He appeared to be asleep. You tiptoed to his bed, signaling to the boys to do the same. The three of you silently made your way to the bed. You peeled the towel, which was beginning to dry out, off of Yongguk’s head and dunked it into the tub of water sitting on the desk.

 

Yongguk’s eyes opened slowly. “Hello,” he whispered. Though he was weak, he had a fierce look on his face, probably from the pain. Though you did not dare admit it, his facial expression scared you terribly. “How is Himchan?”

 

“Himchan is fine,” you answered. “Daehyun and Youngjae are taking care of him. Youngjae is another one of the six.

 

“Oh? So.. How many are here now?”

 

“All six,” you responded. “You and Himchan were the final two.” You turned around and looked at the two boys standing behind you, waiting for them to introduce themselves to Yongguk.

 

“Ah. I’m Zelo…” Zelo mumbled, obviously intimidated by Yongguk.

 

Jongup gulped and stepped forward. He appeared to be frightened a well. “A-And I’m.. Jongup..”

 

Yongguk nodded. “Hello. Are you two also part of the six chosen ones?”

 

Zelo and Jongup both nodded.

 

“Well I guess I’ll be in your care then… Sorry for being such a burden.”

 

“No, it was my fault,” You replied, replacing the cold towel back on Yongguk’s head.

 

“Are you still going on about that? It wasn’t your fault. It was mine for accidentally entering Infinite’s turf. They’re a vicious gang of seven dudes. Himchan and I didn’t want any trouble… but they didn’t care; we had crossed the border line. We were beat up pretty badly..” Yongguk spoke bitterly. “If I had powers I would have used them, except that they were human. Too bad. If they weren’t from Earth I would have attacked.”

 

Zelo gasped. “Wow.. that’s tough. How long were you two traveling?”

 

“I don’t know.. we lost track of time. We left the house on March 17^th…What date is it today?”

 

“Today’s the 19^th,” Jongup responded.

 

Yongguk closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them. “Wow. We were traveling for nearly two days then. We barely stopped to rest, we just kept running.”

 

“I’m sorry..” you whimpered again. “I shouldn’t have gone skydiving!”

 

“I told you, it’s okay. As long as nothing bad happened to you, I’ll be fine. Although.. you might have to baby me for a couple of days. I can’t even move my legs right now, much less feel them.”

 

Your eyes nearly watered again, but you managed to hold back your tears. Daehyun had told you to be strong for the boys. Crying wouldn’t do anything for you, so you might as well keep your eyes dry.

 

“I’ll do whatever you ask of me,” you said confidently.

 

“Anything?” his lips twitched upwards. Suddenly, he didn’t look so frightening anymore. You realized that he had never even been scary to begin with. Yongguk had been nothing but polite from the start. He had greeted you and the boys. He had forgiven you for making him and Himchan run over a hundred miles to get to the house. He hadn’t even gotten angry a single time, even though his body must’ve been hurting everywhere. You had been so busy judging him by his face that you didn’t even realize how kind he really was.

 

“Anything,” you repeated.

 

He thought for a while, then laughed. His lips opened to reveal an adorable gummy smile. “Then.. I want you to make me some ramen! I’ve been craving it ever since I stepped foot out of the house.”

 

You cocked your head to the side. “Of all things, you want ramen?”

 

“Well, how long does this deal thing last for? Are you going to do everything I ask until I get better? Or is it just once? Cuz if I only get one request, I’m definitely not going to use it on ramen. I’d rather make you do something hilarious or embarrassing!”

 

“It’s until you get better, of course!” Your eyes widened. How stingy did he think you were?

 

“That’s awesome. Just making sure,” he laughed. “Yeah, I want ramen really bad. Please?” He tried to lift his arms to plead, but a wave of pain overcame him.

 

“Aish, this is stupid,” he growled. “I can’t move anything. I guess the only thing I can do is just lay here like a lazyass.”

 

“At least Hana is gonna do whatever you want her to do,” Jongup pointed out, a smile creeping onto his face. “It’s kind of like playing King and Servant, don’t you think? You should feel honored, Yongguk hyung.”

 

“Hmm. When you word it that way, it doesn’t sound too bad,” Yongguk replied, pondering over Jongup’s words. “Okay, Hana. You must call me ‘Your Highness’ from now on, okay?”

 

“What?” you asked incredulously.

 

“You heard me! Call me Your Highness!”

 

“I- But. No,” you replied, crossing your arms and pouting. “I don’t want to call you that! It’s embarrassing.”

 

“Ah!” Yongguk suddenly cried. “Ouch… My body… I can’t move it… It hurts so much.. All I wanted was for Hana to call me ‘Your Highness’… and she can’t even do that… Oh my god it hurts so much!” He pursed his lips and took a quick glance at you. When you did not budge, he continued whining and complaining about his wounds.

 

“Oh, alright! I’ll call you Your Highness…” you gave in. You wagged your finger at him. “But only because I’m responsible for your current state. I’ll stop the honorifics the moment you’re fully healed, okay?”

 

He grinned. “That was easy.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Jongup and Zelo snickered. “Hana, you have a weak spot for pouty guys, don’t you?” Zelo asked.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied, faking an irritated look.

 

They laughed again and Zelo poked your stomach. “Awww. Little baby Hana is angryyyy.”

 

“Hey! You’re the baby here! You’re sixteen! Everyone else is at least eighteen! We’re all adults. You’re the only child here,” you stuck your tongue at him.

 

“Whoa! You’re sixteen?” the boys chorused.

 

“Ah.. yeah..” Zelo said, scratching his head nervously. “Is that bad..?”

 

“Wow. You’re so young,” Yongguk said. “I’m already nearly twenty three.” 

 

Suddenly, you heard the growling of a stomach. “Sooo… about that ramen,” Yongguk said casually.

 

“Oh, right,” you said. “Can’t keep the wonderful Yongguk waiting, can we? I’ll go make it now then, I guess.”

 

“You forgot the title~”

 

“Your Highness…” you mumbled. You managed to stifle your laughter. Though he was probably the oldest among all the boys, he was so silly! It was absolutely adorable, watching him smile like a child.

 

"Hey, are you sure you can even eat ramen in your state? I thought sick people were only supposed to have liquids or something!" you said, confused.

 

"I don't know. But it's not like I'm dying or anything. I'm just a little sore from the journey here. It's nothing bad. My head feels a lot better now, anyway. It wasn't really a fever, just exhaustion. Too much blood pumping I guess. I just felt lightheaded. I'm a lot better now."

 

"Oh," you nodded. "I see. But if you fall ill or something from eating this ramen just know it's not my fault!" 

 

Yongguk snorted. "Ramen would never do that to me!" 

 

You giggled softly at his incredulous tone. "Alright, if you say so. I'll go cook it right now." 

 

“No need, noona,” Zelo said. I’ll go make the ramen. Stay here and keep Yongguk hyung company. I can call you hyung, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Yongguk smiled at the younger boy. “No problem.” Zelo waved to everyone and left the room to make Yongguk’s ramen.

 

“Are you two going to just stand all day? Sit down!” Yongguk said as he gestured to a nearby chair with his head. You dragged the chair over to the bed and sat.

 

“There’s a chair over there, Jongup,” you said, pointing. "Bring it over here and sit!" 

 

“E-er.. It’s okay. I’ll um. I’ll go help Zelo make the ramen! You two have fun chatting!” he bolted out the door.

 

You raised your eyebrows. “What just happened?”

 

“I think he’s shy around you,” Yongguk said, slightly amused.  “Or maybe he’s intimidated by me.”  

 

“Probably the latter,” you snorted. “Jongup and I aren’t awkward anymore. You probably scared him off with your scary face!” You smiled at him, indicating that you were just joking, and picked the towel off of his head again. “Do you mind if I use this to wash your body? You must feel really uncomfortable and sticky.”

 

“Go ahead,” he said. “Just avoid the deeper wounds, will you?”

 

“Sure,” you said brightly. You dipped the towel in the water, wrung some water out, and began to gently wipe the grime off of his face. You skipped over his temple, where he had been cut. You cleaned off the blood as best as you could and dunked the towel back in the bowl. The water began to turn a watery pink shade. You wrung the towel again and continued to wipe Yongguk’s body.

 

“Um, what about your shirt?” you asked slowly. “And.. your jeans?”

 

“I can’t sit up and take my shirt off right now.. but it’s already pretty ripped. Feel free to cut it off. Don’t you dare touch my jeans though. You’re a girl. There’s no need for that.” He clucked his tongue and grinned. “Why? You want to take them off?”

 

“No!” you protested, waving your hands quickly at him. “I didn’t mean it like that!” The towel flew out of your grasp as you shook your hands, and you fell off the chair diving for it. “Yah! Look what you made me do! The towel’s dirty now!”

 

He laughed heartily. “I was just teasing you. Go fetch some scissors and cut this thing off of me, servant.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness,” you rolled your eyes playfully at him and stood up. “I’ll also go change the water and grab more towels .” You dropped the dirty towel in the bowl and lifted it off the table.

 

“Ookays,” Yongguk responded as you left the room. You walked over to the kitchen, and you saw Jongup and Zelo.

 

“The ramen is almost done!” Zelo announced proudly.

 

“Do you want some too? We’ll make you some,” Jongup said, his cheeks tinted with a bit of color.

 

“No, that’s alright, I’m not very hungry,” you replied. “Thanks, though.” He nodded and smiled at you.

 

You dumped the pink water in the sink and refilled the bowl. After grabbing two extra sets of small towels, you returned to the guest bedroom. Zelo and Jongup were already there, holding a large bowl of ramen.

 

“Hyung! Open wide ~” Zelo sang.

 

“Aish, this is so embarrassing! Why do you have to feed me?”

 

“Well it’s not like you can eat it by yourself…”

 

“I can! I can’t sit up but I can move my arms a bit!”

 

“No you can’t. Now open wide~” Jongup pushed the bowl closer to Yongguk’s face, so that he could smell the delicious aroma.

 

Yongguk’s face scrunched up into a pout, and he stared at you with puppy eyes. “Hanaaa. Can you feed me instead?”

 

“Nope,” you laughed. “Zelo’s the youngest, so it’s his job to feed you.”

 

He frowned at you miserably. “This is so embarrassing, aish..” He opened his mouth obediently, and Zelo pushed a mouthful of ramen past his lips.

 

“This is so delicious! Oh my god. Ramen is a gift from the gods…” Yongguk sighed in content. “More, more!”

 

“Whatever happened to that resistance from earlier?” Zelo asked in surprise.

 

“What?” Yongguk smiled innocently. “Just feed me more ramen, please.”

 

Zelo scoffed and shoved more noodles into his hyung’s open mouth.

 

“Can I have some of the soup too..?” Yongguk begged.

 

Jongup snorted at Yongguk’s pleading face and took the bowl from Zelo’s hands. Very carefully, he tilted the bowl until a trickle of soup spilled over the edges and fell into Yongguk’s waiting mouth.

 

“Ahhh! So delicious!” he shouted, grinning like an idiot.   

 

You, Jongup, and Zelo shook your heads in wonder. One moment this guy looked intimidating, and the next he was acting like a whiny five year old.

 

The three of you continued to alternate feeding the bedridden man until the ramen was all gone.

 

“Ah~ I’m so full now,” Yongguk let out a loud burp. “Excuse me,” he grinned. Zelo playfully pushed his hyung’s arm, though not too hard, in case it would cause pain. “Mind your manners! We have a girl in the room.”

 

“I already said ‘excuse me’! Isn’t that enough?”

 

“It’s fine,” you smiled. “I don’t mind. Oh, by the way, I brought the scissors.”

 

“Scissors?” Jongup raised his eyebrows in confusion. “What for?”

 

“Uhm. He can’t take his shirt off.. and it’s all torn, so we figured we might as well cut it off. Plus, that way I can wash his body with the wet towel.” You pointed at the towels as you explained.

 

“Oh yeah, huh. Hyung can’t move,” Zelo nodded.

 

“Wait,” Jongup suddenly said. “He can’t move….”

 

“Which means…. He won’t be able to stop us if we do anything…” Zelo finished.  

 

The two boys looked at each other, and then they suddenly grinned evilly.