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Time check: 11:38 p.m.

"Tao?" Kris knocked softly as he waited outside the youngest brothers' room. "Are you still awake, Zitao? Hello?" he continued to call out, hoping to receive even the slightest reply. 

Seconds passed and someone finally opened the door, and thankfully, it was this particular yellow-haired brother. "What is it this time, gege?" Tao groggily asked, yawning a bit even. "Do you have any idea what time it is already?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I need to speak with you for a while." Kris said and grabbed his arm. "Well, we."

"We?"

"Just follow me, alright?"

"... Okay?"

A few wobbling to the living room, Tao squinted his eyes just to find Suho and Xiumin waiting outside. To his surprise, they weren't asleep yet! It's already late and mostly, at this time, they're either sleeping or sleeping. It's always sleeping! With the elder brother's command, he sat down beside Kris and rubbed his eyes before yawning. "Kris-gege told me that you called me?" Tao asked as he met Suho and Xiumin's eyes.

"Ah, yes." Xiumin nodded. "Well, we are just quite concerned of something out of the blue?"

"If it's about me protecting Minjee, again, I can do it. I mean, hey, so what if I become weak because of my love or what? I can keep it up! I can protect her and even if it costs my life, I will continue-"

"That's not what we meant, Tao." Suho cuts, eyeing the younger intensely. "We trust you with Minjee, but that's not what we are gonna discuss today."

"Then what?"

"Oh, you know about it, Tao." Kris said. With a few moments staring at each other's eyes, Tao's eyes grew wide and he gasped deeply and nearly fell off the couch. "No! No, you are not bringing this up!' Tao screamed.

"But we have to." the three said.

"No!" he hissed.

"You need to decide sooner or later... on which ever is better for you."

".... this." he cursed softly as he hung his head low, rubbing his nape. 

BAM!

"Baekhyun-oppa! Chanyeol-oppa! Quit playing around! No-! Chen-oppa, don't you dare spill water on the floor!" Minjee continued on shouting, trying to stop everyone from playing around. Without Kris or Suho around, everything is a complete hell! Everyone ran here and there and made the whole place a big, big mess. And with her instincts telling her to rule over, Minjee is completely cramming on how to calm everyone down.

And to her disappointment, she isn't succeeding even a bit.

D.O had already given up and locked himself in his room, sleeping instead. Lay simply kept quiet while Xiumin sat beside the dimpled brother, blinking like an innocent child.

Luhan played with Sehun and soon, Kai joined in. The three were too noisy that Minjee felt her ears burst anytime! Plus, the three were making a big mess! Luhan is one of the eldest yet the way his actions showed it, he doesn't seem so...

Then, there's the beagle trio, who were busy playing as well. Baekhyun and Chanyeol began chasing each other after Chen "spilled" water on Chanyeol, saying that Baekhyun did it while he was sleeping and on Baekhyun, saying that Chanyeol did it behind his back. This time, Chen was targetting Xiumin. 

"Guys, please stop! Geez, oppa!" Minjee yelled as she saw everyone in a complete mess. Seeing that she won't handle things, she tried getting D.O, but eventually failed.

"Hard to control them, eh?" Tao smiled as he came out of their room.

"Oh, you don't even know! This is a complete mess!" Minjee heavily sighed as she fell on a corner, putting her black hair up in a neat ponytail-style.

"You good?" he asked, kneeling beside his mate with a worried tone.

"Yup. Don't worry." Minjee smiled sweetly, giggling softly along the words.

"... My brothers can be quite a handful without the leaders around. This is the real them without Kris-gege nor Suho-gege." the yellow headed male laughed as he saw how troublesome his beloved brothers were. "I don't even know what Kris-gege or Suho-gege do to tame them!"

"Charms? Potions?"

"Hah, those have no effects on us."

"... Fair point. Maybe it's Kris-oppa's fearful image or Suho-oppa's bribery?"

"Possible theory! You're a genius!"

"Eh, am not! Just a wild guess." 

A few moments later, the two helped each other in taming the others. Minjee continued to stop Chen from spilling water on Xiumin and starting a wild goose chase between Xiumin and Lay! Tao tried to stop Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Luhan, Sehun and Kai from running around wild inside their home. Alas, the two both failed. "This is just impossible!" Minjee stated out in annoyance.

"Try shouting. It always works in Suho-gege's case." Tao suggested in between pants. Without hesitation, Minjee nodded and yelled in a rather high pitched voice, making everyone jolt up in shock and froze, all eyes on her. With such scene, Minjee turned bright red and buried her face on Tao's chest. "What was that?!" D.O cried in astonishment as he came out of his room, eyes widened.

"Minjee just screamed. Nothing to worry." Tao smiled. "She was just trying to calm everyone down, D.O."

"Goodness! You are one surprising lassie! You'll give me one bad heart attack soon!" D.O cried as he looked at Minjee, who was still burning red. Afterwards, he went back in his room, resuming his slumber. 

"My go- you're voice is pretty ear-splitting!" Lay laughed as he removed his hands from his ears. "Thank goodness I covered my ears half way! I might've been deaf by then!"

"At least she was able to stop the hell!" Xiumin laughed as he looked behind, seeing that Chen held a bottle of water above his head. Sending a death glare, Chen ran away from the eldest brother, snickering softly. Glad, Minjee smiled and giggled. "At least everyone's done." she laughed. 

Everyone smiled and looked at each other.

Something told them that it wasn't the scream that stopped them but Minjee's eyes. 

Xiumin had a worried expression, which Luhan notices soon. "Something wrong, Minseok?" he asked worriedly, eyeing his brother. "Oh, no. Just thought of something." Xiumin answered with a faint smile. 

"Seriously, something's bothering you. Tell me."

"It's Tao and Minjee."

"What about 'em?"

"You know..." Xiumin said, gesturing to Luhan. "Oh, that. It is kind of worrying. I worry for the poor guy too." Luhan frowned as he eyed the yellow headed brother.

"I know right? It's his choice, what can we even do?"

".... Convince him?'

"... That won't work, for sure. You know how Tao is, Lu. He won't be convinced that easily once he makes a choice." Xiumin stated out as he faced the doe-eyed male. "Let's just hope he knows what he is doing."

"... Yeah." Luhan nodded in defeat as he stood up and walked towards Sehun yet again, playing games with the youngest.

The day passed quicker than anyone thought. It was dark before the group noticed, and the city was filled with various colors of bright lights. The once busy city simmered down and became a rather quiet place, nothing but lights covering it. EXO had simmered along with this, and along with that, had their stomachs rumbling along.

It has been quite some time since they had meat.

"Oh, can't we walk outside, hyung?" Sehun continued pleading as he flashed his "cute" face to Luhan. "Please? Just for a few minutes? The weather's really nice!"

"No is no, Sehun." Luhan stated out as he glared at the younger. "Kris said no and we've got to obey that!"

"Like we have a choice." Kai snickered, earning a deadly glare from D.O, who was sitting across him. "Alright, I get it. Sorry." the reddish brown headed brother laughed as he noticed D.O's eyes. 

"Please? Just for a minute-"

"Sehun, stop it." Suho stated out as he looked at the silver headed brother. "A no is a no, stop pushing your wants. It's enough." he seriously said.

"But-"

"No."

"Fine!" he pouted and plopped just beside Lay, who was simply busy reading a book Kris had bought him earlier this day. Minjee stood beside the window, eyes up on the sky. She pitied EXO. 

It was a full moon today. She knows what happens to wolves on full moons. They can't control their beasts and it's unpredictable when'll the come out. Probably the reason Kris-oppa locks them in during these times. she sighed as she looked up at the bright moon. "Pity that they fear something so beautiful." she mumbled.

"Minjee." Chanyeol called out as he noticed the younger staring into space. "Something bothering you?"

"Hm?" she blinked. "Oh, no, it's nothing, oppa. I just... w-want to go out." she giggled.

"Eh? That's so not like you!" he smiled. "But sadly, you can't. Without anyone of us, it's dangerous if you go out alone! Who knows what's out there."

"I understand." she smiled. "Oppa, why do you hate the full moon so much?" she asked.

"Not like we hate it, it's like... a weakness." Chanyeol explained.

"But... isn't love you weakness?"

"Aside from love, it kinda weakens us too. The moon, I mean. Out of the blue, our beastly sides might come out without our consciousness knowing! It can kill anyone, even a fellow brother of ours." he sighed. "We're pretty unstable, if you say, during a full moon."

"Have you even ever tried conquering such?" she asked in a curious voice.

"Well, no. Kris-hyung never let us. He's too worried." he laughed.

"Then let's try it!" she exclaimed, clearly audible to everyone in the room, even to Kris. "What do you want to try, Minjee?" Kris asked, raising a brow at the female.

"Let's go out!" she smiled brightly. "Let's walk under the moon!"

"You're nuts, Kang Minjee." Chen smiled. "Do you seriously want us to break all living hell without us knowing?" 

"You wouldn't know if you can conquer that weakness if you don't try! I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Actually, it can." Baekhyun stated out as he pouted and crossed his arms. "It can hurt us, and others... and you." he said, pointing at the female.

"I won't let that happen, I promise." she smiled brightly, impressing the males with her optimistic side and great will. "... You're not letting him, are you?" Luhan worriedly asked as he eyed Kris.

"It'll be a big risk, Yifan." Xiumin added.

"Let her see what her choice is." Kris smiled and stood up. "Alright. Everyone, dress up. We'll have dinner outside." he announced, earning surprised looks from everyone, mostly. "Are you serious?!" Suho screamed. "You're nuts, Kris! Nuts I say!" he yelled.

"Calm your down, Joonmyeon." Kris smirked. "It'll be okay."

"Fine. But! If anything happens, it's all your responsibility! And Minjee's too!"

"Eh?! Why me?!"

"You're the one who suggested this nonsense!" 

"... Oh. Alright~"

"Sheesh, kids these days."

"Woah! It's cold!" Tao shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself as he walked along with Minjee and his brothers. The night wind brushed through everyone, giving them shivers and chills. Maybe it was a bad idea to actually go out in such a freezing night like this.

"I take back what I said, hyung." Sehun shivered. "I don't wanna go out and walk today!" he whined.

"Ah, shut your babbling, you stupid silver headed jerk!" Luhan cried as he glared at the youngest. 

Minjee continued to shiver as she stayed as close to the boys, hoping to find a small source of heat. Upon noticing such, Tao wrapped his arm around Minjee and made the female tuck in his jacket, making the female blush. Their little, budding romance made his brothers smile and adore their sweetness in secret, well, mostly. Not all of his brothers were convinced, rather, worried.

Kris, Suho, Xiumin and Luhan.

The four watched the two giggle as the cold wind continued kissing them. Their sprining romance was rather worrying for them instead of being cute in their eyes. In Tao's condition, it isn't something to be fond of. It was worrying... and dangerous. 

"Hyung!" Kai called out. "Where are we going to eat?" he asked.

"... What?" Kris blinked.

"You suggested we're having dinner outside! Where are we eating?"

"... Um-"

"Don't tell us you have no idea where." D.O frowned as he crossed his arms on his chest. 

"Well-"

"Ugh, as expected of Wu Yifan!" D.O grumbled as he stomped his foot. "Geez."

"Calm yourself, Kyungsoo." Chen laughed as he patted the younger's back. "We can find somewhere to eat! I mean-"

"We barely get out of the house, Chen-hyung. Where do you expect us to eat if we have no idea of this place?" D.O glared as he scowled.

"Well, only a few of us get out of the house once in a while." Baekhyun stated out.

"Yeah! There's Tao, Sehun, Kai and Kris-hyung!" Chanyeol smiled. "And Minjee too!"

"Alright." he nodded in a convinced matter before averting his eyes to the said five. "So, where are the best places to eat, hm?" he asked. "If I don't receive an answer within five seconds, we're going back home and I'm cooking."

"I know a place!" Minjee cried. "On the fourth block to the right! There's a famous meat store there, and they serve the best ones too!" she giggled.

"Alright." Kris nodded. "Let's go there then!" 

"I'll lead the way!" she volunteered and walked in front of the pack, enjoying the cold with Tao beside her. 

Upon arriving there, the group picked the best seat and warmed themselves up. They began to order and in a few minutes, food was served. Everyone ate happily and chatted in joy. A moment of being a true family emerged yet again. The place was filled with laughter and teases, and a few squeals and giggles too. They were too happy to think of anything else.

A few hours passed and the group found themselves walking in a park together. Everyone played freely. The eldest simply watched their younger brothers in joy, seeing them run free and play happily. Kris and Suho watched them in case of trouble. Tao and Minjee sat together, talking about this and that... well, actually, about nonsense.

Unknown to the two, they were eyed by the same four people: Kris, Suho, Luhan and Xiumin. The four watched carefully on how the two acted together. By the way they got closer and closer, it was harder to convince Tao.

They hated it.

"Zitao." Kris called out, grabbing Tao's attention. 

"Yes?" the younger answered back. With Kris' gesture of "come here right now or you'll have your kicked", Tao didn't hestiate to obey and stand up. Once he came closer to Kris, the older grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him somewhere away from the other's eyes. Minjee, thankfully, was too busy admiring a white flower nearby. 

"What is it, gege? You gripped to hard!" Tao whined as he tried rubbing the pain around his wrist he got from Kris gripping too hard on it. "Is it something important."

"Oh, hell yes it is." Kris nodded in a serious matter. "Look, you've got to decide now, Huang Zitao." he stated out, making the younger frown.

"But, gege. I did! I won't leave Minjee!" he cried.

"If I were you, I won't pick that choice. She'll make you weaker and weaker as days pass until you just find yourself unable to even stand up!"

"That won't happen-"

"You can barely protect yourself!" 

"I can fix that, gege. Trust me-"

"I can't just trust you like that. You've got to separate yourself from her or she'll be the cause of your darn death!"

"I am not letting her go! I vowed to her."

"Ah, screw those darn vows! She isn't for you."

"Maybe that's what you see... but now what I see." Tao glared. "Kris-gege, she's the one. She's who my heart beats for and you can't decide who my heart should want or not want."

"It's not like a choice you have, Tao." Kris sighed, placing his hands on his head. "It's what's destined to happen."

"You don't understand a thing-"

"I do. Break up with Minjee and go back." he glared.

"Noona! What're you looking at?" Sehun cried as he skipped towards Minjee, who was busy admiring the white flower in front of her. "Oh, just looking at this thing." she smiled.

"Oh, is that a rose?" the youngest asked?

"What? No, roses are way different than this one. It's probably a daisy." she smiled. "Any flower but not a rose, surely."

"Oh! It's pretty! Can we pick it up?"

"No. Let it live here."

"But... it's alone. It makes me sad." Sehun pouted. "Please?"

"Aigoo, what makes you feel sad for the lil' flower? It'll live, don't worry." she smiled.

"But it reminds me of noona." Sehun frowned.

"Oh, why me of all people?"

"You're alone. No one beside you, it's just you. A fair flower left alone in the dangers of the world. It's just sad for me... and I don't want you to be alone." the younger stated, frowning. "If everyone leaves you, Sehun will stay by noona's side!"

As if tears wanted to pool down her eyes, Minjee smiled. She gave the younger one tight hug, shocking the silver headed male. Minjee held back her tears as much as she can but some just escaped. "Geez, you're too sweet, you know that, Sehun? I sure am lucky to have you stay by my side." she giggled and tightened her hug to the younger.

"I'll do anything for Minjee-noona!" he laughed and hugged back. "Say, where'd Tao-hyung go?"

"Kris-oppa called him." she answered.

"I think Kris-hyung looks like he's gonna scold him! Can you look if he is? I hate it if my brothers are fighting." he frowned.

"Of course, Sehun. Stay here." she smiled and stood up, walking to the diraction Tao and Kris headed to earlier. her moves were calm but when she saw the two talking and having their voices raised up a bit, she hid behind a rather tall tree. The words were very clear to her and without her noticing, she was already listening.

"For the last time, break up with her." Kris hissed.

"No." Tao answered, his voice quiverring and his eyes seemingly filled with tears already.

"Break up with Minjee."

"No."

"Huang Zitao!"

"I am not breaking up with her!"

"Darn it, it's not only for your own, Tao! The choice is for the whole pack. If you make that female wolf back then your mate, everyone's saved. We'll have no connections over humans again and we'll live in peace!"

"No!"

"Your mate is that female from before! You loved her, yes? She was the reason of you having that nonsense infatuation back then and you vowed to her that you'll come back for her!-"

Crack!

"Who goes there?" Kris cried as the faint sound was picked up. To his surprise, Minjee came out of the tree, tears flowing down her cheeks. She had her fists curled up into a ball as she glared at the two.

"Minjee?" Tao gasped. "H-how long were you there?"

"The whole time." she sobbed. "Tao, you never told me-"

"It's nothing for us to deal anymore. I said no and a no is a no. I am not going back to that female wolf back then for there is you-"

"But you lied. You told me that I was... the only one. Yet Kris-oppa said that there was someone else before me! You lied to me, Huang Zitao!"

"I was still very young for me to notice those emotions, Minjee! I swear, I ain't lying-"

"Liar! You're all liars! You're all the same!" she cried and ran off. 

"Just go back to your darn mate then!" her last words echoed. "You're better off with her if it's about benefits!"