POV: JR

And I thought things were bad before...

The tension makes everything crumble. In a moment of anger – surely as the result of exhaustion and stress – Minhyun accuses Ren of being useless, hitting him in a weak spot. And Ren responds by hurting Minhyun in the worst way he can, by putting Aron against him.

"You kissed JR."

I don't even remember it, but it's enough to darken Aron's eyes.

"I knew it, I knew I was right..."

He doesn't wait for any answers, doesn't wait for an explanation behind this supposed kiss that I can't manage to remember. He gets to his feet, with his body bristling with rage, and runs, disappearing into the darkness.

Minhyun can't even follow after him. He falls to his knees like he's been hit by a bullet. He wails in anger, in helplessness, hurt by the rage, anguished that, in the end, his relationship is so fragile as to be broken by something like this. No matter how much I tell him that his relationship doesn't seem at all weak, he continues in his doubts, like with everything. Maybe it'd be fixed faster by talking with Aron instead.

I hug Minhyun for a second, giving him encouragement, and follow Aron into the dark with a lantern in my hand.

Before I go, I can't help by send a glare Ren's way, although I know he's not at fault...

            POV: Aron

I knew it. I knew it, I knew it. I knew it! I knew there was something between them, that if Min's been getting over me it's because of him. That he doesn't love me anymore, that he prefers him. Why? What have I done wrong? Why him?

I go running from this place, trying to hold back the tears threatening to escape my eyes. They won't see me cry. I have to get away from here, from them, I don't want to see anyone, nor hear them. Right now, I want to disappear.

I run as quickly as I can until I think I'm far enough away so they won't hear me. And then I scream as hard as I can, with rage, desperation, frustration, pain. I let the tears flow from my eyes. I need this. And no one can see me.

The anger runs through my whole body. It makes my muscles tense. I need to relieve it somehow, so I grab a shelve full of boxes. I shower it in punches, using my powers. The boxes explode in my hands, the shelf's metal legs break and crumble before me. It's not enough. I've lost what most matters to me in this world, the person I love the most. I don't see a point in anything without him. I feel like I'm no one without him...

I send a kick at a wall and it cracks. I hit it again, and again. I vent. My knuckles bleed but I can't bring myself to care. I just need to hit something to relieve myself.

Until I hear something. Footsteps behind me. I turn. It's dark; I can't see anything. It can't be. It's not guards, right? RIGHT?!

            POV: Ren

Minhyun hugs his knees as he sobs, not speaking to nor looking at us.

, I've ed up bad this time... I take a few steps towards him but I don't know what to do. Okay, I have a big mouth but it's not completely my fault... Although, to Min, it wouldn't matter at this moment.

, he must hate me. I don't think an 'I'm sorry' will help much but... it's the truth. I didn't want to hurt him nor ruin his relationship with Aron, I didn't want to imply that there's something between Minhyun and JR, I didn't want to make him cry.

            POV: Minhyun

I can't stop crying. Aron is going to leave me, he hates me. What am I going to do without him?

"Min..."

Ren calls to me with a hesitant voice. I lift my head and glare at him with rage. This is all his fault.

"WHAT? You have something more to say?!"

He opens his mouth to say something, hesitates, closes it again. He lowers his head in shame.

"I'm sorry... I... didn't want to..."

He finishes his sentence with a sob of his own, and breaks into tears. Well I feel no sympathy. I'm the one who's about to lose my man!

"And you think you can fix everything with an apology?! Aron hates me! And it's because of you!"

"I know that! I'm sorry, okay?! What do you want me to do?! To say 'hey, I lied, he didn't actually kiss him'!? Besides, I doubt he's like this just because of this. You know perfectly well that he's been down for days and it's not my fault."

What?! He blames me on top of everything? I didn't want that. I didn't want to hurt him. It hurt me to see him sad, but everything I've done has been behind the thought of us. Because I don't want to lose him. Because I love him.

"Shut up! You have no idea what's going on between him and me! Why the hell are you meddling?!"

"Because whether you like it or not, Aron is my friend and I  hate to see him suffering!"

I'm about to yell another less-than-kind something when Baekho interrupts.

            POV: Baekho

No, please, leave it already...

This is going from bad to worse, and I can't handle this bad mood. Yes, I fought with Aron, but it's all been a joke. When everyone starts crying it gets to be too much and I can't stand it.

"Guys... come on..." They don't even look at me, lost in their own self-destructive depression. Screaming, insulting one another, blaming each other, making themselves cry. Enough.

"Enough! What are you – children?! What do you fix by putting the blame on one another? You're friends, aren't you? Well then help each other as friends and stop fighting like idiots."

            POV: Ren

The both of us fall silent in an instant. I stare at the floor, ashamed, because Baekho is right. We're acting like a couple of kids. I turn towards him to apologize by Min seems to have had the same idea and we end up saying 'I'm sorry' at the same time. It's not particularly funny in this situation, but, at the moment, we can only chuckle, and the tension breaks.

I kneel beside this dummy that is Minhyun to hug him and he returns the embrace right as he starts to cry again.

"Forgive me, blondie, I didn't want to yell... I know I've been behaving badly with Aron these days, I know this isn't all your fault... I don't know what to do..." His sobs interrupt him and I hold him tighter. It hurts me to see him so broken, so defenseless, knowing that I'm partly to blame.

"No, you're right, this is your business and I shouldn't have meddled where I'm not involved... I know he's not the only one suffering..." I his hair gently, trying to calm him and, gradually, his sobs soften to sniffles. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to fix it, okay?"

"But if... he must hate me... How am I supposed to fix this?"

"He doesn't hate you. It's because he loves you so much that he's hurting and he's scared of losing you. He can't hate you, I know it."

"Do you really think so?" He gives me a hopeful look, probably wishing with his very soul that he could believe my words but afraid to do so at the same time.

"Of course, you dummy!" I grin encouragingly, and it's not a lie. I really do believe so. I know they love one another a lot, I know their relationship is stronger than they think. It might not be as unbreakable as mine and Baekho's, but well, it's pretty close. "Come on, don't worry and later you two can talk calmly, alright?"

"I'm scared... What do I tell him? How do I do this?"

"Just tell him the truth. Everything will be okay..."

He nods, much calmer now, and we simply stay there, hugging, waiting for Aron to return.

            POV: Baekho

They're hugging while they both cry, asking for forgiveness and encouraging each other. I know that we haven't fixed much. The real problem still lays between Minhyun and the dwarf, but right now any change is a good improvement in this situation.

They look so cute right now that I can't fight off a smile, a bit jealous at the same time. Take your hands off my blond, Minhyun...

I lift my gaze and find Lime. She stares at them intently, a frown on her face. My alarms go off, although I can't pinpoint the reason why. She seems really concentrated on something, as if something is bothering her, like she's found a major problem she doesn't know the solution to.

And that look scares me.

            POV: JR

I search through the dark with the light beam from the lantern in front of me. With how fast Aron runs, if he really wants to hide who knows where he is. This place is huge and dark... Ah, why is everything so difficult for me? As if we don't have enough problems already.

Suddenly, I hear a loud crash, the sound of a bunch of boxes falling. I think I know where to look now.

I find him hitting a wall with his bare fists like he's possessed. He's red from the effort and from holding his breath while he screams in frustration. His knuckles are torn, his hands are bloody. I don't know what impresses me more – that or the hole he's made in the wall.

"If what you want is to kill us, there are many faster ways than bringing the roof down over our heads..."

He stops and glares at me. I lower the light from the lantern down from his eyes to his chest. I don't want to piss him off any more than he already is.

"What are you doing here? Get lost. You're the last person I want to talk to."

"You don't need to talk, just listening to me is enough." I say with a smile. Why am I smiling? I suppose it's to hide the fear I feel. I know he can split my face in two with minimal effort, and I know he's not lacking the desire to...

He continues to glare with murderous eyes. He really does want to kill me.

I hold his stare, not knowing how to react. If he looks at me like that, I can't talk. I'm honestly scared... Until he lowers his gaze, sighing, putting aside that mask of hate. And suddenly I can see how much he's suffering, how much I've hurt him without even knowing it. I see the suffering in his red eyes, the havoc in his bloody fists. I see pain in his lips, split from having been bitten. And I feel horrible for being the cause of it all without having the intention to be. How can jealousy have driven him to this extremity? How can it be that – in only five days of having met him – that his sentiments are so deep as to have taken him to this?

Minhyun, you don't know how lucky you are to have someone love you like he does.

I have to fix this. They can't be fighting like this when they love each other like they do. Even if it bothers the others...

"Aron..." I start, "We have to talk. I know you don't want to even see me right now, but I have a lot of things to tell you so I need you to hear me out."

"If you want to tell me that you're with Minhyun... don't bother, I've already  noticed."

There's so much pain in his voice when he says his name... I try to remember if he's ever called him that before. 'Min', 'my boy'. Never 'Minhyun'. He's giving him up, and it hurts him.

"No, Aron, I'm here to tell you that no matter how much it seems like it, there's nothing going on between us."

"Yeah, sure..."

"Min is my friend. I'm sorry if it has seemed like anything more. We're close, yes, but nothing more than friends."

He doesn't believe me, obviously not. He's blinded by jealousy, confused by Minhyun's behavior. Troubled, refusing to believe something so happy after so much time of suffering.

"You still don't believe me, do you?"

"How could I? You two spend the whole day together, he ignores me, he kissed you. How could I believe you?!"

"It wasn't a kiss!" I insist, desperate now, "I barely even remember it. It was when I was delirious from fever. He gave me a pill mouth to mouth. I wouldn't have been able to swallow it on my own – he saved my life. Would you prefer that I have died?" And now is when he tells me that he does and I go running.

"No, I suppose not..."

Good, he supposes not at least, we're good...

            POV: Aron

No, of course I wouldn't have preferred that he die. Looking at it that way, I guess Minhyun did what he should have...

JR gives me a look of doubt. It looks like he's going to start running at any moment. He must think that I'm going to punch him in the face. Honestly, it doesn't seem too unappealing at the moment...

"We really are just friends. Nothing more is possible – he loves you too much."

Yes, of course. He's showed as much these days. Ignoring me. A wonderful way to show how much you love someone. And even if he feels something for me, it's clear that JR is more important to him. How is this lunatic expecting me to fall for that?

"Just me?" I stare at him with challenging eyes.

"Yes." He keeps my gaze, albeit shakily. "Even if you don't believe me. Only you, and you'll have to see until what point." He tries to convince me with a look, his eyes appear sincere but I don't believe his words. Why should I? Simple words can't make up for everything I've seen throughout these days. "Min is very much in love with you. Seriously. He loves you so much that his own feelings frighten him. Maybe that's why he's behaving so strangely—"

"How can his own feelings 'frighten' him?" Now he's just making stuff up. How could that be true? How stupid. When you love someone, you love them and done. Why would you be scared of that?

"He'll have to be the one to explain that to you. He hasn't told me and I can't comprehend it." That's not an answer.

"Don't try it; you won't convince me. I've see how he looks at you and I recognize the expression he makes when he's in love."

"I very much doubt that Min looks at me like he's in love..."

"Of course he does! I know him! He made those eyes when you talked with him! The same eyes he looked at me with when I said 'I love you'..."

"I think... I think I know what you're talking about..." He chuckles. He finds this funny! Just what I needed. "And he only has that smile when he talks about you."

"What... seriously?"

An idiotic grin escapes me, but I hurry to erase it from my face. No, that can't be true. I doubt it. I can't let him trick me so easily. Surely he's lying.

But on the other hand... I don't understand what JR's trying to accomplish. What reason does he have to convince me of this? I mean, if he's in love with Minhyun, he wouldn't try to give him to me. He'd be trying to take him away, right? The normal thing would be to tell me that they're together and that Min loves him and not me. And he'd ask me to get out of the way so they can be together, or something like that... But trying to convince me that he loves me doesn't make sense. What's the point of all this if they're really together? What is he trying to do?

What if he's telling the truth? Maybe he's right, maybe Min loves me... Is it possible? My boy... is still my boy? Maybe he does have a good reason for ignoring me these days, for having been acting to strangely. Maybe I should just ask him about it, talk to him. Trust in him. And in JR, who might only be here to help.

Okay, I'll give him a chance. I speak in a more relaxed tone.

"Sit down, don't just stand there like that." He's surprised by my tone of voice. He hesitates. He continues to stand there, prepared to flee as he looks at me with distrust. "Seriously, I'm not going to do anything to you." He still doesn't believe me. Am I that scary? I suppose that breaking walls doesn't make me seem very peaceful... What more can I say to convince him? "What are you, a frightened kitten?"

"Meow?"

We fall silent for a second and then explode into loud laughter. For the first time, we laugh. I can't remember laughing like this anymore. This makes me feel a little better.

At last, JR sits at my side and we continue talking. He talks about Min, about the things he told him about me, about their chats over philosophical theories. About how they discovered that they share that interest. And I believe him, he seems sincere. Now I feel bad for having hated him so much.

            POV: JR

No, we're not talking in a friendly way, we're not friends, this isn't 'relaxed', but it's less tense.

Really, it's a large step. I'm still scared of him, I'm still cautious of my every word, I'm still keeping a reasonable distance. But even so, being able to talk to him is a great improvement.

I talk to him of Min, of the long hours he spent talking to me of how much he loves him. I tell him about the love struck eyes he makes, the way they shine each time he talks about him. And this way, bit by bit, I manage to convince him of something so obvious - of the love they have for each other.

Regardless, I'm still nervous. Because of Aron? Not exactly. Because of his hands. He doesn't seem to notice, but his knuckles are skinned raw. His hands are bleeding and... the blood... to me...

I try not to look, but I know it's there and I'm scared that I'll lose my head at any given moment.

"Aron... I... Would you mind if..."

"What?"

"It's just... can I... your hands are bleeding..."

He looks down like he hadn't realized it.

"Oh, you're right."

"How could you not have noticed?"

"I'm so used to being injured that I don't feel the pain anymore. I mean, I do feel it, but it's such a normal thing now..."

"Would you let me bandage that up? I don't want to keep seeing it..."

He nods, and I realize that I have no bandages. They're all back at the camp. Without even thinking about it, I rip a piece of my own shirt off. I really don't want to see that anymore. I prefer to walk around than to see that red blood trickling between his fingers...

I shake my head, clean his hands and sloppily wrap them with the fabric. We'll bandage it up properly later. Clean his cuts. Right now, this is just to put them out of sight and so they won't bleed out...

            POV: Ren

Minutes pass in a restless silence, without sign of Aron or JR. Luckily it seems like the guards haven't heard our screams either. It'd be very careless on our part. When I'm really starting to worry about those two, approaching footsteps are heard. I hope the two of them are returning and not Aron dragging JR's corpse...

They finally appear, both safe and sound and with an attitude that is more or less amiable. Or so it seems. Looking closer, I notice that Aron's hands are wrapped in what looks like a piece of a shirt and there are streaks of blood. What the hell happened? It doesn't look like he hit JR. I guess a wall or some poor shelving received the punches then.

Even with these small details, the relief is obvious in our atmosphere. I don't think I'm the only one who was starting to worry for the wholeness of our lunatic. Well, minus that woman, of course. She must be disappointed that we haven't saved her the trouble by killing one another.

I get up to look for proper bandages before his whole hand is infected but it seems like the topic doesn't interest Aron much right now. He stops in front of Minhyun and holds out a hand.

"Come, we need to talk."

Oh, it's that damn line, the feared 'we have to talk' that never promises anything good.

Minhyun grabs his hand timidly, giving me a look that says he's unsure while he lets himself be dragged along by his... boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend?

Let's go, druggie! Fighting!

            POV: Minhyun

Blondie! You better be cheering me on!

            POV: Ren

You'll see, everything will go well!

Well, I hope so anyway...

            POV: Minhyun

Don't worry, I'll make it! I'll do whatever it takes to get back my man!

            POV: Ren

You can do it!

            POV: Baekho

They leave. They take a lantern and disappear into the darkness, holding hands. Well, it's more like Aron is dragging Minhyun... Will they be able to fix everything? In the end? Will they fight again? Will they return more torn than before?

I hope not...

Just in case, I open my mind and follow them for a while, just to make sure they don't kill one another. The dwarf continues pulling him along, even further away. They walk in silence.

A gentle brush wakes me. The light but electrifying touch on my lips. Ren's lips.

I open my eyes instantly and he pulls away, much too quickly. He stares at me and grins, smirking like a cat, bright like sunlight, equally as warm, just as sweet.

"Don't spy!" He scolds, emphasizing each syllable. I smile, but I lose myself in the movement of his perfect heart-shaped lips...

            POV: JR

Before I can even sit down, Minhyun and Aron have disappeared into the dark and Ren and Baekho are lost in their own sugary world of hugs and kisses. I think I need a girlfriend. Or a pet...

I sit next to Lime, who seems to be the only one actually worried about getting out of here. How ironic. Sitting on the floor, she tests the batteries we've found on batons and lanterns, to see which one goes with what and which ones work. Yesterday we spent a long while on that.

I grab a lantern as well to help her. The first battery doesn't work. I'm about to set it down but I pause. I hold it in my hand, giving it an intent look.

Fixedly... I empty my mind, search for my power and channel it towards my palm. The small cylinder turns to dust. Come on. Come on, react. I visualize it, with my eyes open then closed, but the tiny flecks of metal don't reunite.

After a while, I give up. I throw away the dust and grab another battery from the pile of useless ones. I disintegrate it and concentrate on rejoining the particles again. I feel the force between them, the force that keeps them together. Growing weaker... and weaker... until it disappears completely. That's it! I have to do it before it disappears.

I try it a third time, a fourth. Now the particles move, but it returns to a destroyed state an instant after. A sixth try seems to work, and at last I succeed with the seventh.

I grin and place it in my pocket, to remind myself of my strength. To remind myself that I can do it, that I don't only destroy, I create as well.

            POV: Minhyun

Aron drags me through the darkness of the storehouse and I allow him to. I don't dare to say anything, not even to complain of how tightly he's squeezing my hand and how much it hurts. The air is too tense. It makes me want to run away. But I want to talk to him, I have to do it, to convince him that there's nothing between Jonghyun and I.

He doesn't seem as pissed as he did when he left. I don't know what Jonghyun told him, but he at least seems a little calmer. I hope so anyway.

And what am I going to tell him? How do I explain it to him?

'We have to talk'. Those words scare me. Maybe he wants to leave me. No, I wouldn't be able to survive that! He won't do it, right? Blondie told me he wouldn't leave me, that he loves me too much to do so, but... I don't know. I've hurt him so much...

We halt abruptly. I don't even know where he's taken me. He releases my hand and sets the lantern on the floor, between the two of us. It paints a dim circle of light around us.

I look at his face. He's serious, thinking hard. I have to say something. I have to convince him that this has all been a misunderstanding, but what do I say? Think, come on, you have to say something...

"Min—"

"Aron, listen to me!" I cut him off. "There's nothing going on between Jonghyun and me! We're just friends, honestly! We've been talking a lot these days because we discovered that we both like philosophy and we've been comparing opinions and commenting on this or that philosopher and—"

"Min."

"About the kiss – that was a misunderstanding! I gave him a pill, mouth to mouth. Jonghyun had a fever and he was dying and I couldn't—"

"Min! Be quiet for a moment! And listen to me, alright?"

His voice is grave and strong. It makes me shiver. Now is when he tells me that he doesn't want me to tell him stories, that he doesn't want anything to do with me, that he hates me, that he's leaving me, that... Okay, I have to calm down and listen to him. What has to be will be.

            POV: Aron

"Tell me." He says with a thread of a voice. Finally, he doesn't seem quite as hysteric.

"JR told me about the pill, and of your discussions. I'm not angry about that. I just want to know why you've been avoiding me all these days. Do you not love me anymore? If that's it, I prefer to know it, because I feel like I'm making a fool of myself."

Don't tell me that that's it, don't tell me it's that, don't tell me it's that...

"NO! It's not that! I do love you!"

Now he looks like he's desperate. That calms me a little, but doesn't fix the problem.

"Then what is it? First you come closer to me, then you ignore me, then come back again... You slap me because I kiss you and then you're the one who kisses me... Well I don't understand anything! Do you want to drive me insane?"

"No... I'm sorry... forgive me."

"I didn't ask for an apology. I want an answer." He doesn't respond. Come on, Min, tell me the truth. What the hell is going on with you? I need to know. "Min... please..."

"I'm sorry... it's just that... I didn't want to lose you... Everything has happened so quickly..."

He sighs heavily and hesitates.

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth. When I met you, I immediately liked you. I never thought I was capable of feeling something so strong for someone I just met. It scared me, but I decided to let it happen. You seemed to feel the same, and I liked to feel your affection, your warmth... I thought that, surely, what I liked about you was how attentive you were of me. My parents never wanted me and I had just spent two years encaged, unable to move and constantly abused. I thought I had grown fond of you because you were the first person in my life who appeared to want me, who cared for me... And I thought you felt the same way for me, that you also needed affection like I did... So the situation was convenient for both of us. I supposed that, when we escaped from here, we'd each go our own way..."

What? No! He plans to leave me when we get out? No, please, he can't do this to me. I need him!

"But I don't—"

"I was wrong. When we fought with the guards and you disappeared, the possibility of not seeing you again, that you had died, entered my mind. Then I realized how important you are to me, how much I had come to love you."

I think my heart just jumped from hearing that. Did he notice?

"I was scared of facing a life without you. I understood that I didn't want you at my side because I needed to have someone there, but because I really loved you. And the intensity of that feeling frightened me. As did yours. Not knowing exactly what you felt for me... You told me you loved me, but until what point? Everything was going so quickly. The day you kissed me, when Ren interrupted us... I wanted to feel you so much that I don't doubt for even a second that I would have went all the way with you. You make me crazy. But then the fear returned. That everything was going too fast, that you couldn't have fallen in love with me so soon. Then I started thinking that maybe you just wanted me for my body, my affection... That, later, you'd leave me."

JR was right; Min is scared of his own feelings. Something that seems so dumb to me, something with little sense to it. But it's true. It's not stupid and it makes total sense to my boy. Now I feel horrible for not noticing. This has made him suffer, and I've been so selfish for thinking that I was the only one feeling badly. I haven't given him what he's needed to feel safe at my side. He hasn't made it easy for me to notice it, but he's my boy; I should have realized it. I should have been able to understand his sentiments better.

"Min, no—"

"Let me finish, please. I couldn't stand the idea of losing you. So I decided to distance myself. I thought that, if we went slower, we'd last longer. I tried to distance myself, but I was scared that I'd push you away too much and I needed you, so I'd come back... And I think all I accomplished was to make us both dizzy... When I hit you, I did it because I knew that if I didn't then I wouldn't be able to stop you, because my body wants you too much. I love you, Aron, and that's why I'm scared... I don't want to lose you..."

He's my boy. The boy I love, the boy I'm hopelessly in love with. The boy I want to share the rest of my life with. He thinks too much and he drives me crazy but he does it for me, for us. He's terribly lovely, and I like him just as he is.

I move closer to him and, with the light, I realize that his eyes are glassy with tears. My poor Min, he's been torturing himself with his own fears.

            POV: Minhyun

Aron steps closer with gentle eyes, his smile full of endearment. He touches my cheeks with his fingers to dry the tears that have managed to escape my eyes.

"Min, you'll never lose me. I'm serious about you..."

"How can I be sure of that?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"My parents did. They also told me they loved me. And they sold me! I can't trust in anyone."

"I'm not them! I love you!"

"No one has ever loved me. Why would you? It's difficult to believe that someone could come to love me..."

It hurts to say these words, but it's the truth. I've never been loved, and I've grown accustomed to the idea of not mattering to anyone.

"You have no idea how much it hurts me to hear that you've had it so rough... I... right now, I can't prove that what I say is true. I don't have any way to show you how much I love you. But look me in the eyes. I love you. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. I promise to never leave you. I can't prove that I'm not lying right now, but if you give me the chance, over time you'll realize I'm not trying to trick you. Believe in me, please..."

"Aron..."

"Min, I love you more than anything else in the world. I'd give my life for you if I ever needed to... and I'm not just saying that. In our situation, I'm more than sure that I'd do it. I don't just want your affection, you're not just a fling. I love you with all my heart, and I've known that since the first time I saw you. Do you believe me?"

I believe him. Yes, I believe him. He's not lying, I know he's not. I can see it in his eyes. Aron loves me. He loves me! He won't leave me, we're together again. And, this time, there are no doubts on my part. I trust him blindly. I feel relieved, very safe. So happy.

"I believe you!"

I jump into his arms and kiss him desperately. I needed to feel his lips on mine again, his taste, his tongue touching mine. I've missed him so much.

At last we separate and he whispers into my ear. "I'm so happy to know you feel the same..."

"Aron, I love you."

"I love you too."

We sit on the floor and continue holding one another, our bodies pressed together. We touch gently, silently, and randomly meet for a kiss.

I don't want to leave this spot. I want to stay here with him forever. With my man.

            POV: JR

I continue practicing my new ability. The majority of the time, I don't manage it but I know I can do it and I'm starting to understand how.

And, meanwhile, I remember. I remember my mom, the mother I lost and who – I start to assume – I will never see again. I try to evoke her memory, her smiling face, her sweet words, her hugs. The smell of her cooking, of the soap she used to wash our clothes, of her shampoo. The shine of her eyes, of her always impeccably white teeth, of her lips when she dolled herself up for dad with makeup... And the whole time, the same image is all that comes up. The same dark and bloody scene. Her scream when she tried to protect me, her last words, trying to get me away from danger. The blood flowing from her lips and from her chest. The dark stain growing larger, redder, darker... The blood...

            POV: Ren

The sudden voice of that woman grabs our attention, breaking me out of my bubble of happiness, the bubble only occupied by my boyfriend, by his lips, his voice...

"JR? Are you okay?"

We turn immediately, alarmed by her worried tone.

JR is trembling. . Is he having another attack? Lime watches from beside him. Sadly, it seems like she's aware that touching him right now is a bad idea and moves away slightly. How unfortunate.

Baekho reacts quickly. He stands and goes running to, without touching him, sing just like the other times. His song without lyrics. Soft, warm... and in minutes, our lunatic comes to. He stops trembling and looks around him. Tsk, what would we do without my Baekho.

"I'm sorry..." He apologizes with a small voice.

"Don't worry." I smile, sitting again, now relaxed. "It's been a long time since it's happened. Besides, since we have my incredible boyfriend, it's not a big problem, right?"

Baekho blushes with a dazed face and, suddenly, giggles like a schoolgirl. Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who seems like a love struck adolescent at times...

God, he's so cute. Has my compliment brought such a reaction from him, or was it because I called him 'my boyfriend'? Because if it's the latter, I'm going to call him that much more often. I love it.

            POV: Baekho

'My boyfriend' heheh, he said 'my boyfriend' heheheheh. It sounds so nice... heheheheh.

            POV: Ren

"Ahem..." JR interrupts. , what a mood ruiner. "Those two are taking quite a while, aren't they?"

The truth is he's right. I don't know how much time has passed since they left. It's gone by very quickly for me but, well, I was occupied so...

They're not screaming and fighting out there somewhere, are they? Or maybe Aron has left him and Minhyun is roaming around, depressed, and the guards will find him and...

Okay, Ren, control yourself. Don't be so dramatic.

"You're right... Hey, Baekho, darling... Could you check up on them? Just to see if we have to go look for their corpses or something..."

He nods. Luckily he doesn't bring up the fact that I was the one telling him not to spy a few moments ago... He closes his eyes, concentrating, serious, but he opens them wide an instant later with a frightened expression.

"What? What's wrong? Are they okay?"

He takes a few seconds to reply and, when he does, he doesn't seem scared as much as... embarrassed?

"... I would have preferred not to have seen that..."

"That...?" What does he mean? Judging by his tone, he doesn't seem to be talking of blood or fights... Then... if they're not fighting... "Oh, god, THAT? Don't tell me they're having a 'passionate reconciliation'."

He nods slightly and we all break into laughter. My god. Minhyun was complaining about going too far too fast... It looks like his hormones have won over his common sense after all.