Your heartbeat accelerated as the water’s surface hugged you, your body shivering as you lowered yourself. A strong helping hand held your back up for support, not allowing it to dip back under.

“Good, good. You’re doing well, Angel,” Suho cooed as he heard your breath tremble. “I got you. Now I need you to lift your legs up and push your stomach up towards the sky so you can float. Remember what I told you, if your stomach folds inwards, your body will be inclined to sink.”

It was Suho’s time slot to watch over you for the day. The two of you had originally been stumped on what activity you could do to pass the time. You’d juggled between a few mundane activities before Suho decided he wanted to teach you how to swim. The leader couldn’t stress enough how dangerous it was for a young girl like you being unable to swim whilst living on an island with many rivers and ponds. You had lacked this skill since birth and were initially pumped to learn such an important feat—but now? Now that you were being forced to take your feet off the ground and float, you regretted not insisting on one of the other options Suho had thrown at you; like weeding the veggie patch or doing laundry.

You let out a small, apprehensive sob. Suho chuckled lightly, finding your anxiety cute. “We’re in the shallow end, no need to be scared. Now come on, legs up. Once you learn to trust your body and can float freely, we can move on to more thrilling things like backstroke or freestyle!”

Easier said than done, you thought. You lifted one leg off the ground and let it bob on the surface but just as you lifted your second leg, panic took over, your body naturally recoiling in fear. Letting out an ear piercing shriek, you clung onto Suho’s shoulders, pulling yourself up and wrapping your arms around his neck.

Suho let out a sigh and patted your head which had been buried into his neck. “It’s okay. We’ll just...try again.” You opened your eyes to apologise to the young leader and noticed Suho was carrying you—bridal style. You flushed a pale shade of red, fidgeting in his hold.

“I told you I got you.” He smiled and let you back on your feet gently. Letting out a sigh, Suho rested his hand on your head. “Maybe before you can learn to trust yourself with floating, you need to first learn to trust me...”

You shook your head, trying to give the most convincing smile you could muster.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Suho, it’s just—“

“No, it’s okay. I understand. Out of all the warriors, due to my busy schedule, you’ve spent the littlest time with me so it’s expected.” You tried to tell him he was misunderstood but he simply hushed you with a finger on your lips. “How about we end our lesson here and instead I’ll take you for a ride?”

Before you could react to such a lewd sounding statement, Suho manoeuvred himself in front of you and pulled your arms over his shoulders so you were being piggy backed by the leader.

“Hold on tight; don’t worry, I’ll go slow.”

“Wait—what...hold on a sec what are you—“

With a swift kick, Suho torpedoed through the water with you clinging to his shoulders for life. You let out a strangled scream but your ride had his ears full of water. Suho waded down the river before he kicked off into a brisk—but much slower—glide. His movements reminded you that of a mermaid; or in this case—merman. Your legs found their way around Suho’s abdomen, his swimming not being hindered despite the awkward positioning.

Your eyes darted below you, a shudder rippling through your body as you realised how deep the water ran. Your stomach was knotted with a clenching hindrance but you knew and trusted that Suho would never let anything happen to you.

A large school of tiny fish swimming below brought your ride to a halt. Suho turned around to hold on to you while he treaded water for the both of you. He nodded towards the fish and smiled.

“They’re called Meok-meol.” Suho explained as the tiny fish swarmed towards you. You flinched away from the fishes, clinging to Suho even tighter than before.

“What are they doing?! Are they—ah! No, no, no, no; not cool, Suho! They—AH! They’re touching me.” You tried to climb Suho like a tree to get away from the school. Suho just laughed and pulled you back down.

“It’s okay, they’re harmless. They feed on dead skin cells so not only are you giving them a meal, but you’re also going to get a very thorough exfoliation.”

You tried to kick the fish away from you but they just came straight back.

“Ugh, we have similar fish back home but I’ve never gone for the treatment because the thought of little slimy creatures eating my skin grosses me out.”

You made a disgusted face and wail as the fish nibbled at your legs.

“Suho! I didn’t sign up for this , dude.” You said, glaring at your slimy personal skin therapists.  Suho grunted and pinched your nose.

“Again with the swearing.”

You snorted and stuck out your tongue.

“Sorry, grandpa.”

“I—hey! Grandpa?” You laughed at the offended look on Suho’s face and eventually he joined you. “You’ve been spending too much time with Baekhyun, Angel.”

You giggled and pinched Suho’s nose in retaliation. He smiled fondly at you.

“Anyway, shall we continue?” You slung you arm around Suho’s shoulder, motioning him to turn around. Suho helped you climb atop his back before he proceeded with his water ride.

 

Looking up ahead, a very familiar cave caught your eye. It looked like that the same cave that the K-warriors kept Tao in during his capture. Standing in front of it was Sehun who was looking over at you and waving. Suho clicked his tongue.

“What’s the boy doing out here? He’s meant to be on guard at the village.” he mentioned before making his way towards the younger. As you got closer, you saw the wooden sign labelled ‘dungeon’; which confirmed that it was in fact the cave Tao was locked in.

Once Suho was finally able touch the ground, he stood up and placed you down slowly so you could stretch out your legs. Relief of finally standing on land washed over you.

Sehun smiled and bowed to you with respect before turning to Suho. He made several hand gestures to the leader to which he responded. You couldn’t tell what was going on, as listening to just one side a story wasn’t helpful. Sehun’s sign language was still a mystery to you. 

The boys seemed to be conversing about something of importance so you decided to leave them be. You waded around the shallow water, skipping your hands across the top to create ripples in the still river. A bed of white—almost translucent, flowers caught your eye behind one of the large boulders bordering the river;  sunflowers. They looked like the same kind of sunflowers that Tao had given to you in M-land—the same ones that had changed colour before your eyes. Midnight blue when Tao held it, a dusty pink when you held it.

A fond smile draped your face as you remembered your M-warrior friend. You wondered if he was okay. Was his arm fully healed yet? How often had he come to the border to meet you? You had been unable to get away from the K-warriors to go meet Tao and you felt guilty knowing that he had probably thought you had abandoned him.

Reaching out to one of the white sunflowers, you held its stem in your hands, waiting for the magical change in colour. A frown soon replaced your smile, the translucent flower remaining its pale white colour. Had your favourite colour changed since the last time you held the enchanting flower?

“Sorry Angel. Elder Soo requested my presence so I have to go back to the village.” You frowned once more before letting the flower go. Suho noticed your change in mood and smiled apologetically. “I promise next time our swimming session will go twice as long okay?”

“It’s a pretty flower.” You stated sadly, unable to stop wondering why the flower didn’t change colour like it should have. “I would have liked to see it in pink though.”

Suho and Sehun looked at each other, both confused and curious as to your random response. Why were you suddenly so upset over a flower?

You laughed and waved it off, smiling at the leader. “I’ll see you later, Suho. Thanks for taking me swimming today. It was fun.”

Suho grinned, bowing before rushing off towards the village. Sehun walked towards the flowers and pulled one towards him to smell it. He looked up at you and saw you staring back, the confusion returning to your eyes. He tilted his head to the side, a question in his gaze.

“Sehun, do you believe in magic?” Your question caught Sehun off guard. He blinked a few times and nodded, barely even needing to think about his answer. He made a gesture as if returning the same question. You smiled.

“Once upon a time, I would have said no, no I don’t believe in magic.” You got out of the river and walked over to the boy, grabbing his hand, pulling him along so he would walk with you. “But recently, my views have changed. I—“

Ba-boom.

Your heart let out a single loud thump, its hum burning in your ears.  You froze in your step, Sehun stopping along with you, his face full of concern. You looked to your right where the cave dungeon was. Taking a step towards it your heart pounded against your ribcage once again.

Ba-boom.

Visions of your previous venture into that cave flashed before your eyes. It’s dark walls, it’s sticky corridor, the eerie fork in the road; one that lead to the dungeon where Tao was kept and the other—unknown. Your heart pounded in your chest at the thought of venturing into the second passage way. What was down there and why were you feeling this urge to explore all of a sudden.

Sehun tried to pull you away from the cave but you stood your ground, staring into the abyss. The energy coming from the cave was like a magnetic pull, wanting you, calling you into its pit.

“Sehun, what’s in there?”

The tall boy pointed to the sign above the cave entrance that read ‘Dungeon’. You nodded knowingly.

“Is anyone in there right now?” You asked.

Sehun shook his head. You took another step towards the cave but Sehun stepped in front of you, shaking his head again.

“Something’s calling me, Sehun. I can feel something. It’s coming from inside...”

 

Sehun gripped your hand tightly as he followed you down the ominous cave passage. He watched warily at your almost trance-like expression. He wasn’t sure what had gotten over you, but far be it from him to question the Angel’s gut feeling. He swallowed nervously, wondering what the others would say if they knew he brought you in here. But since you insisted, he agreed to take you to the dungeon to show you that there was no one there and then take you straight out.

The two of you finally arrived at the fork of the cave. The left tunnel lead to the dungeons, you knew that for sure. But this right one—there was a strong energy coming from within it—an energy that you could not quite explain.

You took a step forward in the direction of the unknown tunnel when Sehun stopped you. He pulled you towards the left tunnel but you shook his hand free and walked towards the right tunnel. Again, Sehun jumped in front of you, preventing you from continuing. He made a series of frantic hand gestures, his face fear stricken.

Your brow knotted, taking in every movement Sehun made, trying to decipher what he was saying. Annoyance hit you when you struggled to understand the mute boy’s sign language. You cursed under your breath, frustrated with yourself for not taking proper time to learn how to communicate with the young warrior.

“Sehun, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is there something in there that you’re hiding from me?!”

Sehun shook his head.

“Is there something living in there that could kill me?”

Sehun shook his head a second time.

“Then I don’t see what the problem is—“ Sehun interrupted you with another string of confusing hand movements. You ruffled your own hair in aggravation and let out a low growl. This was frustrating; absolutely frustrating.

“For Mama’s sake, I can’t ing understand you, what are you saying?!”

Sehun jumped at your sudden outburst, his eyes saddening. You flinched at your peaked temper, surprised with yourself for cursing at Sehun—of all people. You let out a regretful sigh, you hadn’t meant to yell.

“Sehun...I’m sorry. I—“

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”  Sehun mimed with his hands. “It’s just...dangerous to go down there.”

“Yeah but why is it dangerous? Ugh, I wish I could understand your sign language so you could—wait. Hold on. What...?” Your eyes widened in disbelief as you stared at Sehun’s hands.

Sehun raised his hands again with another chain of hand gestures.

“I said it’s dangerous—“ Sehun paused in realization. “...do you understand me? “

Your eyes widened into saucers. You nodded slowly, your lips opening and closing like a fish. A few seconds ago you couldn’t understand a word he was trying to say but all of a sudden, you were following every gesture he made. It was like the words were forming in your mind as he was forming them with his hands.

“But how—“

“Mama. You expressed your anger using Mama’s name...she must have—“ Sehun’s eyes brightened with awe, his lips spreading into an open mouthed grin. “—it’s a miracle. You’ve been blessed. Mama has granted your wish.”

“...to be able to understand sign language?” You raised your eyebrow, finding it to be a pretty ridiculous miracle to perform. Of all the things Mama could have done for EXO-K, she’s given you the gift of sign language? Talk about getting your priorities messed up.

Nonetheless; you were grateful.

 

 

“You wanted to see me, Elder Soo?” Suho asked, bowing in respect to the town elder.

The wise old man the grey tangles of his chin before hobbling over the dusty table on the far side of his hut. Suho followed obediently as he watched the elder unroll a map of EXO Island.

The EXO-K half of the island was heavily detailed; showing the town, utility sheds, hideouts, shortcuts and hunting areas. It labelled lookout points, traps and secret passages; all of which were used for defence and sometimes, offence.

The EXO-M part of the map however, was very scarce with its detail. Enemy lookout points were noted here and there and the main M-village whereabouts was labelled. But other than those few coordinates, the rest was left unknown.

“Half a moon cycle has passed since that dirty M-warrior escaped the dungeon and we have yet to receive any form of retaliation. The warrior we had captured was the youngest of the group. I’ve heard rumblings that this boy is quite close and special to the M-leader, so the fact that we have not yet seen or heard from them is very...suspicious.”

Suho nodded stoically, taking in all that Elder Soo had said.

“There is no doubt that the boy has told all of EXO-M about the Angel who is in our care—which means, Angel is at high risk. With such circumstances I have made a decision for our next move.” Elder Soo placed his hands on the table and leaned toward Suho. “Tomorrow, we call the troops together and plan a pre-emptive strike against EXO-M village.”

 

 

With your newly found gift for reading sign language, Sehun explained to you that the right tunnel lead to a large series of cave systems. No one had ever explored the caves properly before because those systems were very prone to cave-ins. Many had died in those caves during exploration trips, only few made it out alive with minor injuries.

You had insisted to venture in but Sehun would not allow you to put yourself in danger. You complied in the end and allowed yourself to be dragged out of the cave by the tall boy.

But something from within was definitely calling to you.

You guys can’t watch me forever. I’ll get away eventually and go exploring on my own.

 

---

 

It was almost too easy.

The next morning, the EXO-K warriors were called in to Elder Soo’s office for an emergency meeting. You were kept with one of the sweet old village ladies to do some laundry but when the time was right, you managed to sneak away. You prided yourself with how ninja you had become since living here.

 

---

 

The little voice in your head wouldn’t stop telling you to turn around and go back to the village. Over and over, the part of you that knew this was a bad idea kept hounding you and throwing ‘what-ifs’ at you. Your heart and your gut, however, kept your legs moving forward. The further you walked into the cave the stronger the hum of energy became.

And the stronger the energy became, the louder your conscience yelled at you to turn around.

You wrapped your free arm around yourself, the other clutched your torch which shone a bright beam of light ahead of you. So far the cold unknown tunnel had been one long, windy road and you wondered when it was going to split. You hoped that when it did split, you would remember all the landmarks to find your way back; like the pointy rock by the corner or the round rock by the wall.  Or the long crack in the ground by the grey stony wall.

Yeah, your conscience was definitely screaming a chain of profanity at you for being so idiotic. 

You finally came to a crossroad. The safe option (according to your logic) would be to continue straight. But you thought maybe if you turned right or left, you might find what you are looking for. Unsure which road to take, you pondered aloud.

“Eenie, meenie, miney, moe...”

You pointed to each tunnel as you sang the childhood rhyme.

“...catch a fella by the toe...”

You thought you heard a sound behind you but brushed it off as wind.

“...if he screams, let him go...”

You heard the sound again. It was faint, but there—like light footsteps.

“...eenie...meenie...miney...”

“Moe.”

A hand reached from behind you and slapped your mouth closed, muffling the scream that you almost let out.

“Shut up, stupid girl!” The voice whispered angrily. “Do you want to cause a cave-in?!”

You spun around to meet with a very irritated pair of deep brown eyes.

“Kai?!” You whispered in shock. “What are you doing here?”

Kai looked around the cave, slight fear in his eye.

“Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing. We cannot be here.” The tanned boy grabbed your arm and pulled you back towards the exit. “I saw you sneak away. Don’t think you can get away so easily without someone noticing. What were you thinking?! These systems are prone to cave-in’s, you .”

You yanked your arm away from Kai, earning you a very agitated glare.

“Leave me alone, Kai. Something is in here, I can feel its energy. I know I might sound insane but I need to go in. You can’t stop me.”

Kai scoffed. “Heh. Like hell I can’t.” 

He grabbed you by the hips and tried to throw you over his shoulder but you kicked your way free, scoring a great shot in between the boy’s legs. Kai doubled over, holding his crotch. You took this time to sprint down the right tunnel of the cross road, mentally apologising to Kai for possibly ruining his chances of having babies in the future. Not that anyone would even fall for an like him to begin with.

You picked up your speed, dashing into random directions when you came to more tunnel openings. You made mental note of which ones you entered so as you could remember how to get out later. You started to panic when you heard the sound of quick footsteps echoing behind you.

. He caught up.

Kai grabbed you, wrapping his arms around you tight to prevent you from running off again. His warm breath was on your ear, his voice low and angry.

“We need to get out. NOW. You’re not safe in here, especially with me here.”

You elbowed him in the chest but your arm simply bounced off his rock hard pecs.

“Then get out! Leave me alone if you’re so worried about yourself!”

“I can’t!” Kai growled. “If I leave you, I might as well have sent you to your death.”

“Why do you care?!” You scream, not bothering to keep your volume down anymore. “If you leave me alone, I’d be less likely to die, right?!”

“Hey--!”

“DON’T PRETEND YOU CARE AND JUST LET ME GO!”

“STOP YELLING, YOU’LL CAUSE A—“

The ground rumbled. You grabbed on to Kai’s arm instinctively and looked around you as you saw the walls tremor.

“.”

Before either of you could react, the floor gave way and you both fell deep into the dark underground of the cold cave system.

 

 

 

“She wasn’t there again...” Tao said dejectedly as he pulled himself up the tree with his good arm. Kris reached down to Tao to help him up safely. “She said she would come meet me again when the sun is up and the arrow on this round thingi points towards the 12. I’ve gone to the meeting place every day at that exact time but...”

Tao snuggled up to Kris who was perched on one of the thickest branches on the tree. Kris patted the young boy’s head and sighed.

“She’s been busy. They’re guarding her.” Kris explained. “I went to see her again yesterday. She was playing in the river with that blasted K-leader.” He scoffed. “He thinks he’s so impressive with his aquatic moves. Please. He’s got nothing on me when it comes to being impressive.”

“You went to see her again?!” Tao whined. “Aw, Duizhang...why can’t you tell me when you’re going? I want to see her again too...” Tao pouted. Kris pinched his puffed cheek and smiled.

“Tao. You know just as well as I do that you’re too scared to come with me.” Kris chuckled as Tao’s pout deepened.

“Why can’t we just walk? You don’t have to take your stupid freaky ride—ouch! Duizhaaaang!”

Tao rubbed his nose where Kris gave him a hard flick.

“What did I tell you about dissing my baby?” Kris jumped down from the tree and looked up at Tao, arms open. Tao jumped from where he was sitting and Kris caught him. “We can’t visit her in K-land by foot, we’ll get caught. Don’t worry, she’s safe with them for now.

One thing is for sure though—her permanent place is not with them; it’s here. With us. By my side. Give it a few more days...then we’ll make our move.”

 

---

 

A/N:  I hope you liked this chapter. You and Kai, trapped in a cave system together. And no one knows of your little predicament. XD I wonder what can happen! If there is any particular thing you would like to see in the next chapter, please do let me know in the comments section below. I'm more than happy to incorporate anything you guys want into the story if it works well with what I already have planned!

Thank you to all the people who commented so far, every single one of you are beautiful and keep me motivated. And to all the new readers, hello! Welcome to the island! (hahaha XD) Thank you for subscribing! Saranghae, Angels.