Warm bubbles tickled at your skin as they rose, massaging your body with delicate pats. Your hands were kept afloat by the jets of water as you sunk in lower—the water rising up over your ears. You listened to the vibrating bubbles as they relaxed your muscles and calmed your mind. All thoughts momentarily vacated your head, replaced with a comforting serenity.

Chanyeol had suggested that the warriors and you should hit the hot springs before dinner that evening. You thought the spa’s back home were great, but they were nothing compared to the natural spring you were currently basking in.

Ears still submerged under the water, you heard the muffled sounds of laughter coming from Sehun and Baekhyun. The two seemed to not understand the idea of being in a hot spring was to relax, not play. They were playing a game of ‘who could push the other’s head into the water first’.

Fluorescent colour ran down Sehun’s face as the dye from his rainbow hair started to slowly wash out. Despite the obvious fade in the colour, the boy still seemed to hold a grudge against Baekhyun for his little hair colour prank. He held Baekhyun’s head under water for longer than he should have, a proud smile plastered on his face as he watched his friend kick his way out. The smaller boy spluttered his way back to the surface, hitting the taller for trying to drown him.

“Yah! Sehun-ah, I could’ve died!”

Sehun stuck out his tongue before being tackled again by Baekhyun.

You sat back up, the water level now sitting just at your chest. Your silk dress clung to your figure in the water, exposing a little more curve than you would have liked. To your right was a red faced Chanyeol whose stare was on you. When he realized he was caught staring, his head snapped away and he seemed to develop a strong interest in the boulder beside him. You blushed as you sunk a little further into the water so your chest was fully covered. Kyungsoo saw the embarrassed look on Chanyeol’s face and hit him over the head, knocking that sly little smile off his face.

“Show some respect.” He muttered to the taller. Kyungsoo smiled apologetically at you, albeit a similar red blush appearing on his face.

You sighed as you stared at your hands. It had been a few days since your last encounter with EXO-M. You hadn’t had the opportunity to sneak out of EXO-K’s watch to visit them again. Elder Soo had arranged for someone to be with you at all times so as you wouldn’t go missing again. Sehun had made up some story about how you both got separated in the forest and you’d spent the whole day looking for each other. He left out the part about you venturing off into the enemy lands, which you were very thankful for.

“Angel,” You were pulled out of your thoughts by Kyungsoo’s voice. You looked at him and his blush deepened, his eyes looking back down to the water. “I...uh...” He stuttered, not really have anything to say. He looked at his pruning hands as if he was going to find a topic to talk about between the forming wrinkles.

“Our day of worship is coming up soon.” He finally said, content with his choice of topic. “You’ll finally get to see The Tree of Life. “ Kyungsoo saw how your face lit up and smiled.

“I’ve heard from the others that you’ve taken quite a bit of an interest in The Tree...they said you keep asking them questions.” Kyungsoo stated and you let out a nervous chuckle. “May I ask why you’re so intrigued?”

You weren’t sure how to answer that question to be honest, because you simply did not know. Why were you so interested in that tree? You’d never taken a liking to nature before and never had any interest in botany. There was just this tightness in your gut whenever you thought about the tree. Was it the same one you kept seeing in your dreams?

When Kyungsoo saw that you weren’t going to answer he sighed, deciding to let it go.

“You know...we used to hold the ceremony every full moon night—this was before the war. But ever since the war started, we’ve had to...change that tradition...”

“...why is that?” You asked, scooting closer to Kyungsoo as your interest peaked. The boy blushed at the close contact but continued.

“It became dangerous for us to go into the sacred area during the full moon nights...”

You stared at the boy waiting for him to elaborate but when he didn’t, you nudged him, the boy jumping slightly at the warmth of your skin.

“So you gonna tell me why it was dangerous or you just going to make me wait in suspense forever?”

Kyungsoo kept his eyes on his now much pruned hands, unsure if it were wise to tell you everything. After what felt was the longest pause ever, he looked up at you, his eyes full of doubt.

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you—“

“—CANONBAALLLLLLL!”  Chanyeol jumped into the deeper end of the Spring, causing a Chanyeol sized tidal wave to engulf you all. You hadn’t even noticed that Chanyeol had left the Spring to begin with. You laughed as Kyungsoo angrily thrashed towards Chanyeol, grabbing him in a tight headlock. Although you were a little disappointed that your conversation with Kyungsoo was interrupted, you couldn’t keep the smile off your face as you watched everyone gang up on Chanyeol.

A slight spin of the world and you realized how light headed you were feeling. The heat from the spring had started to get to you. You held on to the side of the Spring and squeezed your eyes shut.

“Guys, where did you put the drinks?” You asked as you pulled yourself out of the Spring, attempting to rub the dizzy from your eyes. You needed something cold to drink before you passed out. Sehun pointed to a bush where you saw the makeshift bag sticking out from within the foliage. You nodded a quick thank you and scurried towards the bush. You took out a coconut shell and pulled off the top that was already pre-cut. You let the cold, refreshing liquid trickle down your throat, slowly feeling the hydration come back to you.

It had not long ago turned dark and you were sure the group had to head back to village soon for dinner. Finishing your beverage, you put the empty coconut shell back in the bag and began to head back to the group when a loud thump caught your attention. You peered back into the darkness from where the sound came, your eyes searching for any movement. The boys were still playing in the water, had they not heard the sound?

You walked behind the bush and looked around the corner. Something shiny sparkled from behind a tree, metres away from you and like Dory from finding Nemo, you dumbly took further steps towards it. You got to the foot of the tree and looked up at the shiny yellow orb that hovered between the tall branches. You squinted into the dark, waiting for your eyes to adjust, until a second yellow orb appeared beside the first.

...eyes?

Your heart ran cold when you heard the sound of deep breathing. The yellow orbs blinked twice before a strong gust of wind blew you to your feet.

The silhouette of a large unidentifiable creature jumped from the tree, the sounds of wings beating against the branches. Within seconds the creature took off into the sky, the moonlight hitting against its wings for a second before it disappeared into the night. You stared up at the dark sky, your heart beating in your throat.

What the hell was that?!

You heard small footsteps from around the corner, a worried Baekhyun appearing.

“There you are.” He let out a sigh and held his hand out for you. “You shouldn’t walk away from us like that. What are you doing here—and on the ground?”

You looked to the sky again where the giant creature had flown off. It puzzled you as to why such a large creature didn’t attack you—it just...flew away like it was scared.

“I just...I was just startled by...a bird. That’s all.”

You weren’t sure why you lied about what you’d actually seen. Bird? That was no bird—so why had you said it was?

“A bird?”

“Yeah. A bird.”

Baekhyun laughed light-heartedly and dragged you back to the group. You opened your mouth to say something but the words were stuck under your tongue.

You weren’t exactly sure what it was that you had seen, but you knew for a fact that it wasn’t a bird. Birds did not have webbed wings.

---

The cool night’s air was filled with cheers and laughter. Suho had found a forest horse while on his duties and everyone was indulging in something you would never thought one could indulge in. Apparently when a horse’s milk ferments, it becomes alcoholic. Yeah—weird.

Suho his new pet’s mane as he tried to keep the drunken Baekhyun away from her.

“Baek, stop pulling Lucky’s hair.  You’re annoying her.” Suho named the horse Lucky because supposably forest horses went extinct years ago. To find one still alive and well was very unlikely—and very lucky.

“Buuut Shuuho. Seees so pwetty~” Baekhyun slurred as he tugged at the mare’s mane again. The horse let out a displeased grunt and spat at the boy causing him to let out a series of whiny disgusted yelps. He wiped the horse phlegm on Suho’s arm and bolted off clumsily before falling over face first into someone’s plate of food.

You chuckled and shook your head. As if Baekhyun wasn’t hyper enough when he was sober, the last thing anyone needed was a hyper Baekhyun high on alcoholic milk.

You your fingers clean of the juices of the bear meat you just ate—it was surprisingly tasty. You got up and made your way to the fire to get a second serving when you saw Kai squatting by the food, placing more bear meat on his leaf plate. You took a deep breath and walked over to him, kneeling beside him and helped yourself to another serving. Your hands bumped each others’ as you reached for the same piece of meat.

“S-sorry...” Kai muttered as he retracted his hand.

“Oh...no, no. You have it.” You picked up the meat and handed it to him only to have him knock it out your hand. You stared at the food lying in the dirt.

“Hah. Deja vu. You know you really gotta stop doing that, Jerk.”

Kai got up and walked away, sitting against a tree away from the party of drunk villagers. You frowned as you watched the boy eat by himself, every now and then looking up to see what drunken shenanigans the towns people were up to. You couldn’t help but wonder if he ever felt lonely or if he just liked his solitude.

You grabbed a few more pieces of meat and headed towards the trees. Kai watched you carefully as you walked towards him and sat against the opposite side of the tree he was leaning on. You both ignored each others’ presence while you finished your dinner in silence. Putting aside your now empty plate, you sighed. You looked over to Kai who was playing with a blade of grass.

“Not gonna join the party?” You asked lazily.

“Nope.” He answered, an equally bored tone in his voice.

“Why the hell not?” You countered.

“Why do I need a reason?”

“I dunno. Just wondering.”

“Well, why aren’t you?” Kai broke the blade of grass in half and threw it at nothing in particular. He turned his head and looked at you, your eyes silently dismissing the question.

You broke eye contact when you saw a wobbly Sehun running towards you with a cup of horse milk in hand. He wore a big dopey smile on his red face and kneeling down beside you, he shoved the cup in your face. Your face scrunched at the strong smell of alcohol and you pushed the cup away. You heard Kai let out a small—but noticeable—snort of amusement.

“Ah...no thank you Sehun. Not for me.”

You didn’t have to tell Sehun twice before he downed the cup of fermented horse milk in one shot and with a burp and a roll of his eyes, he collapsed head first in your lap.

“Sehun!!” You yelled as you tried to roll the unconscious boy on his back. Kai hurried over and helped you flip Sehun. The same dopey smile was still plastered on the boys face as he began to snore. Kai let out a relieved sigh. He chuckled, ruffling the faded rainbow head of hair.

“He’s okay. Only sleeping.” Kai sat back down against the tree next to you, laughing with you when Sehun’s snoring got really loud. “Poor kid. Can’t handle his horse milk.” You looked up at Kai and watched as he smiled down at the sleeping boy on your lap. You thought you felt your heart flutter slightly but brushed it off as indigestion.

I just ate too much bear.

“DEEEE OHHHHH!”

You watched as Chanyeol wobbled over to where Kyungsoo was sitting. The small boy downed yet another drink for the night; face scrunching up in disgust, clearly not liking the bitter taste that filled his mouth. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and clumsily lifted him off the ground.

“Deeeee Ohhhhhh! Sing for Yeolieee~”  Chanyeol jiggled up and down with a grumpy Kyungsoo screaming at him to put him down. After a few more shakes, Chanyeol dropped the boy to the ground and tackled him with a typical Chanyeol hug. “Sing, sing, sing, sing, siiiiiiinnnngggg~!”

Kyungsoo shoved the giant head out of his face and crawled away from him, only to be dragged back, Chanyeol dead weighting himself on top of the boy.

“Ugh! Get off of me you drunken loon!”

“I’M NOT DRUNK, YOU’RE DRUNK!”

“Oh please, I haven’t nearly had as much as you! Now get off me before my ribs break!”

“PROMISE TO SING AND YEOLIE WILL GET OFF.”

Kyungsoo flapped his arms around like a turtle on its back before he let out a loud, pained sigh.

“Fine! I will sing but get off of me—you’re crushing me, you big head!”

Everyone cheered at hearing the announcement from Kyungsoo and rushed around him—it was like story time at a pre-school. Someone handed him what looked like what was meant to be a guitar. It was made of part of half a hollow tree, with fine vines tied tightly between the hollow.

You Sehun’s sleeping head and turned to Kai.

“D.O. can sing?” You asked.

He nodded and watched Kyungsoo with anticipation. As the singer began his performance, Kai shut his eyes, a smile forming on his face for the second time that night. The orange light from the fire danced on his face, the white of the moonlight highlighting his features. He swayed ever so slightly to the melody of Kyungsoo’s voice, creases in his forehead disappearing, his head resting back on the tree behind him.

[[You shower in the pouring moonlight...I’ve never seen such an entrancing expression]]

You smiled at the sight. You too, closed your eyes as you heard a suddenly sober Baekhyun harmonize with Kyungsoo. The two of them sang a beautiful song—of love, of sorrow.

[[...a place where I can’t touch you and can’t even hold you. The reflection on the surface is not her...it’s my sad story that cannot come true...]]

You didn’t know how long the two were singing for, nor did you remember falling asleep. You subconsciously nuzzled in to the warm pillow that had appeared beneath you, not noticing when it moved slightly; not noticing when it tensed.

[[ ...the closer you get, the more you’ll hurt...]]

Kai looked down at your sleeping face. He nudged his shoulder, trying to shake you awake but you only buried your nose deeper into his neck. He blushed a deep shade of crimson and shivered as he felt your breath travel down his neck. He looked around to see that everyone was lost in their drunken Zen to notice his slight distress. He looked back down at your peaceful face and noted how your long eyelashes brushed your pink cheeks; how your hair framed your delicate face perfectly; how your lips slightly parted in a cute pout. Your breathing was steady as you relaxed into his warmth.

[[...so, that love, stop, stop, stop, stop, yeah....that love, stop, stop, stop, stop, yeah...]]

Just for a little bit, he thought. You could sleep on his shoulder—just for a little bit. 

A/N: Just incase some of you didn't pick it up, the bold italics at the end there were the translated lyrics from Moonlight, sung by D.O. and Baekhyun. But I'm sure all you smart cookies figured it out XD 

I know it's been a while since I've updated but with my graduation celebrations (yay Bachelor Degree in Fashion Design woo~!) and Christmas and New Year, I haven't really been home enough to finish this chapter. But it's finally up~ Hope it wasn't a disappointment after all that waiting >< 

Thank you guys so much for all your comments and upvotes! I'm seriously still so shocked that this story has gained so many subscribers O_O

Until next time, Saranghae Angels~! ^_^