Lay, Luhan, and Baekhyun rushed over to Jinah, who lost control over her breathing and passive face. Luhan gently cradled her head and laid her down. Jinah opened and let out a noise that was crossed between a moan and a groan. Her hand held her upper stomach, the other one at the hem of her shirt. “Damn, that kinda hurts,” Jinah said in a strained voice as Luhan took her hand away from her upper stomach so that Lay could do his healing. She gripped his hand, without even considering the possibility that she might be inflicting him pain. She breathed in uneven intervals. It was hard to inhale, and exhaling was excruciating. Her shoulders and back were tense from her difficult and episodic breathing. Her bruised stomach pulsed painfully and she had nowhere else to vent out the agony. She was tempted to hold her stomach because without her hand’s weight and pressure, the pain was intensified and open, but Luhan didn’t let go. He held her hand tighter.

         “Of course it does, Sehun smashed your rib cage,” Lay mumbled in answer, feeling everywhere between her chest and hip.

         “How did he use so much force, anyway?” Jinah rasped through gritted teeth. “I mean, I get that he’s strong, but – ouch…” Lay put his palms gently over her upper stomach and Jinah winced. There was a line of sweat on her forehead.

         Baekhyun sighed, rubbing the side of Jinah’s hand in an attempt to comfort her. Jinah’s hand was grasping onto the hem of her shirt as if her life depended on it. “He isn’t the demon of our gang for no reason,” Baekhyun said, glancing up to check where Sehun was. Sehun had gone over to the rest of the gang and was watching them carefully.

         Lay strengthened the healing circle, hovering over her rib cage, mending them. Jinah smiled grimly, biting on her lower lip. “Damn, I feel bad for Sehun’s opponents…”

         “He was going easy,” Luhan said blatantly.

         “I know,” Jinah whispered through her twisted mouth. She coughed violently and rolled to her side. Baekhyun jumped back, startled, and blood spluttered out. Jinah’s eyes squeezed shut as she wheezed.

         “J-Jinah!” Baekhyun exclaimed as Luhan’s eyes widened.

         Lay pushed him back and grabbed Jinah’s shoulders. “Jinah, Jinah, breathe. Breathe. The fact that you just bled means that it’s working, okay? You’re not going to die.”

         Jinah opened an eye. “I choked up blood?!”

         “No!” Baekhyun lied, panic rising in his chest.

         “Yes,” Lay answered honestly. “And, for once, it’s a good thing. Relax, come on…”

         Jinah growled in the way Miss Kim hated. “Damn-jacking-,” she swore as she tried going back to her previous position, and Lay couldn’t be more thankful for her bravery and quaint personality. Whereas most girls would have started sobbing, Jinah was being obedient. Ironic, how she was being obedient at a time other females wouldn’t be. Reluctantly, Jinah let Luhan grab her hand again, although she didn’t know why she let him. “Can’t you do something about –” she began coughing again, and when her hand went up to , she saw her own blood on her palm, thick and scarlet.

         Baekhyun’s jaw dropped and he covered his mouth, his slender fingers hiding the lower half of his face, but his dramatic eyes showed how he felt. Luhan’s eyes rounded as he went closer to Jinah. The rest felt a rush of panic. Spitting blood out wasn’t that big of a thing when you experience it a few times, but for Jinah it was her first, and she was a female. She was going to scream, go insane, tear their base down, she – laughed?

         Jinah did. She laughed. “This is crazy,” she said. “This is so, so crazy. Spitting out blood is a good thing? Jeez, Lay, this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I’m spitting out blood, holy crap…” she laughed again, and for a second, Lay was worried that the shock of everything had tipped Jinah’s mental balance, but her tight smile showed the pain she was enduring and her stiff face was the window to her feelings – a bit scared, yet fascinated at the same time. Worried about what was happening to her, but slightly relieved that she could bear with the pain. “Well?” Jinah breathed. “Heal up, Lay.”

         “R-Right.” Lay resumed his healing, but it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t stunned by her reaction.

         Baekhyun went on his knees, and clenched his fists on top of them. The look on Lay’s face clearly told Baekhyun not to get close. Luhan was an exception. The blonde leader always got his way, one way or another. Luhan held Jinah’s hand a bit tighter, and wiped , shaking the blood off of his hand by flicking it to the side. Luhan was never the one to show affection like this, and it triggered different reactions. Chanyeol was slapping Kris’s arm with an open mouth, Baekhyun’s and Chen’s eyes enlarged, and others stared in incredulity. They shared one thought – what the happened to Luhan?

         Jinah’s chest heaved up and down, struggling to maintain balanced breathing. Holding Luhan’s hand – a male’s hand – went against everything that Jinah had repeatedly told and reminded herself for her entire life. It went against her morals and her beliefs. Affectionate gestures such as holding hands were reserved for her one love – wherever and whoever he was, but her usual collected self wasn’t really in control at this time. In the heat of the moment, with things just naturally unfolding, this was the result. Holding Luhan’s hand. In a matter of a few seconds, her lifelong morals collapsed, but before she could ponder further and even mold up enough courage to let go of his hand, she felt another jolt in her stomach, and her eyes shut again.

         Luhan had a silly question in mind – are you okay? – but he didn’t ask it. He knew the answer. Of course she’s not. Sehun destroyed her rib cage. But, he thought with a bit of refreshing amusement. She will be. Mending bones wasn’t that hard for a skilled healer like Lay, but it was painful for the patient, and Luhan knew that. He had experienced it first-hand. Unconsciously, Luhan gripped Jinah’s hand tighter, but Jinah didn’t feel it – all her focus was on her stomach. Her other hand was still holding onto the hem of her shirt for her dear life.

         “Should we… go over to them?” Chanyeol asked cautiously. Seeing their strong Prix in a state like that, wearing a twisted expression like that – to be honest, it was unsettling. Not as unsettling as how worried Luhan seemed, but unsettling nonetheless. “I think we should.”

         “No. You know that Lay likes space when he does his healing,” Suho reminded him calmly, being strangely mature. “See, even Baek can’t approach him. If that nosy prick can’t even touch Jinah, do you think Lay would let us take a step forward? Let him be concentrated.”

         Chen sighed. “I feel like the devil himself standing over here and watching her squirm like that. Damn it, Oh Sehun, ‘mercy’ really isn’t registered in your brain, hey?”

         Sehun didn’t answer. His face was blank as ever; uncaring, unfeeling, unsympathetic.

         “It’s better this way. Now she’ll be aware about what’s in store for her,” Kris said. “And besides… you saw the way she fought against Sehun.”

         Sure, it wasn’t absolutely mind-blowing, but it was way more than what they expected. They thought she would either tremble in fear or pass out from the impact. Chanyeol and Chen predicted that she would blow the base up in anger, but obviously that didn’t happen either. She used the last bit of strength to give Sehun one last punch before she gave in to her injuries, which were pretty severe, considering that she probably had never broken a bone before.

         “She’s so bitterly strong,” D.O murmured. The ends of his lips were slightly drooped, out of humane concern. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Didn’t the sixth generation tell us that girls were fragile? I mean, okay, we didn’t meet that many girls, but Aheun’s fragile…”

         “You’re right,” Tao said.

         “Wait, which one’s right?” Chanyeol asked. “That Jinah’s bitterly strong, or that Aheun’s fragile?”

         “Both,” Tao said. “Both statements are right. I… I hope Jinah heals soon, I guess.” He turned away and went over to the staircase and made his way up the steps. The other members looked at him a tad weirdly. They had expected him to follow Xiumin when the miserable bat first left, but they also knew that Tao was a reasonable person. Most of the time, anyway, if he wasn’t feeling too biased.

         Maybe… Jinah isn’t that bad, Tao thought to himself. When he reached the top, he looked down. Lay’s face was slowly becoming more relaxed, which meant that the healing was going well. What Tao had said about Jinah healing soon – those were empty words, he really didn’t care, but for some reason, he felt compelled to say it. The rest of Wolf were muttering things amongst themselves. Baekhyun was saying something – most likely soothing words, to Jinah, and Luhan… Tao turned away again and left the training grounds. Does he really like her? Why, all the sudden? Why, at this time? Tao shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked by himself in silence down the aisle. Why not Aheun?