Taec held my hand as we walked up the driveway to the house together, in the light drizzle. They must have seen us coming from a mile away, because we were no less than 8 feet from the front door when it was thrown open and the Jun brothers, Woo, and Chan sang out “Welcome home honeeey~~~!” I laughed as they all jazz handed their way to different spaces in the threshold. Nick and Jay appeared in the mix. “Welcome back Taec-ni and Taren-unni, wait-“ Nick gently brushed away the barbershop quartet and looked into my face. “What happened, Taren?” I looked down. “Can we talk about this inside, please?” I looked up at him, he nodded back.

As soon as the others moved back Jay led me into the living room, with everyone closely following behind. The rain started to come down harder, and in no time at all there was an impending monsoon on our doorstep. There was a flurry of well organized movement; as soon as I sat down on the couch someone took my shoes, someone else put a blanket around me, and someone else handed me a hot mug with something delicious smelling inside. I took a sip to discover it was dark chocolate, and I smiled. “Thanks guys.”

The boys scattered close by me, each of them with concern on their faces and I closed my eyes and trembled again. Taec put his blanket over mine and came underneath my blanket so that he could be in physical contact with me, keeping me warm. Nick knelt in front of me, holding my chin gently so that I would look at him. “Tell us what happened, Taren.” I gestured for my bag, and Chan passed it to me without hesitation. With trembling fingers, I found the note and showed it to Nick, who read it aloud...

 …..The reactions were instantaneous- Wooyoung flinched and almost dropped the mug he was holding, Junho snatched the paper and reread it for himself while he turned pale, Junsu’s jaw clenched and his arm clutching the couch’s armrest almost snapped it clean off, Chansung exhaled sharply while his foot started to twitch, Jaybeom’s expression got dark and his body froze, Nichkhun’s face turned stone, and a slow but steady rumble started from deep within Taecyeon’s torso next to mine, and he kept his eyes closed, but he put his arm around me and brought me into his warmth again.

“What kind of bull is this?!” Junho threw the note, with Woo snatching it before it could drift down into someone’s cup and looking at it for himself. Junsu shuddered. “It is true that we have had less than, pleasant fans, but this M character likes to around.” At my questioning eyebrow, Chan continued, “We’ve had to deal with M and his crew of haters for roughly 4 years, but they’ve gone too far with their bull this time.” Woo snorted, “Yeah, we’ve dealt with him before, but this time…this time, he attacked our counselor…” I suddenly noticed that I was now the center of attention-everyone was looking at me with looks of deep concern on their faces.

Nick leaned in and took both of my hands with his own. “Are you alright? Say something, dear unni.” I squeezed his hands carefully and threw him a weak smile. “I’ll be fine you guys- it just caught me off-guard is all,” Jay sat next to me, leaning into my other side and taking a look of his own into my face. I shivered inwardly from the intensity of his gaze. “All the while, I apologize for this-they took it too far and sent it to you. I will-we will,” he corrected, looking at everyone’s nodding heads, “do what we can to resolve this….problem.” Taec’s rumbling grew loudly, and his eyes opened to reveal a serious black. “Most definitely…”

I stood up suddenly, startling the two next to me and the prince kneeling at my feet. “Come on guys, it’s just a note- let’s worry about it another day; aren’t we a little hungry yet? We haven’t eaten since breakfast!” Chan-bless him for picking up social cues- stood up and rubbed his belly. “She’s right- we can’t plot revenge on an empty stomach,” his light hearted tone earned him a chuckle and a clap on the back from Woo, who said to him jokingly, “We can always count on you to eat, even in emergencies-right, maknae?”  Junho dropped to a knee, and said, in all seriousness, “I will not stop defending your honor, my dear yoona Taren-saranghae forever!!” To everyone’s surprise, Jay’s face crumbled into a smile as he said, “Not if I claim it for myself,” and then kissed my neck before standing up and pulling me to my feet. Everyone laughed, including me as Jay narrowly avoided a hook from Junho and we joined everyone in the kitchen, where Chan had started the process of making Pongae Churion for everyone…