~ Xia He's P.O.V.~

 

I was pulled up from the depths of slumber very suddenly one morning. My shoulders were being violently shaken by someone, and as I slowly opened my eyes, I saw it was my brother. I groaned and rolled over, "Leave me alone, Kris..."

 

"Xia He, come on," the shaking persisted, "Xiu Min wants a word with us." At the mention of Master's name, I sighed and rolled out of bed, knowing there was no choice otherwise. I tried to take a few steps and stumbled; my legs were not yet ready to bear my weight. Kris caught me just before I hit the floor. He moved in front of me and crouched down, so I climbed on his back and held on. He lifted me up and carried me out of my room. "Come on, let's go see what all the fuss is about."

 

He took us down the hall, to the left a few steps, and through the open door that appeared on our right. We entered the room cautiously and quietly, as Xiu Min was already speaking. I looked around and saw the rest of the group gathered as well: Luhan- Kris' best friend, who stood to his left, Lay and Chen, who stood beside Luhan, and Tao, who stood to our right. I was still on Kris' back so I looked down at Xiu Min as he spoke, which he hated, and he glared at me in the middle of his speech to prove it. Embarrassed, I slid down and took my place between Tao and Kris.

 

He looked away and finally finished talking, "Alright then. Any questions?"

 

Wait. What?! I didn't hear a single word he said! I looked around nervously, wishing for him to repeat himself, but realizing that to ask for such a thing would be a death wish. I decided to ask Luhan later.

 

"No? Good. We will prepare for battle later in the morning. So everyone, go back to bed." With that, he waved us out. We all bowed respectfully before exiting. I took Kris' hand and looked around for Luhan.

 

"So... Xiu Min wants us to fight them...?" my brother was saying. I peered around him and found who I was looking for.

 

Luhan nodded. "Yeah..."

 

"Luhannie, what's going on?" I questioned him.

 

He looked at me sadly and said, "Xiu Min is declaring war on Kumiho."

 

I gasped. "Why?!"

 

"Apparently, Suho pissed him off," my brother answered. "He didn't give him something he wanted or something."

 

I frowned. "But we can't fight against them; they're our-"

 

"-friends, I know," Luhan finished quietly, looking around to make sure no one heard. Then he sighed. He was probably thinking about Sehun and Jong In, his good friends. I remembered my friend Sang Hwa. I also remembered Jong In's wedding to that lovely Japanese girl, A-Ya.

 

I bit my lip. I could not fight against my friends; they had done nothing to me. But I couldn't just up and leave my country, either.

 

But then her face came into my mind: Marissa.

 

My best friend.

 

By now, we were back in Luhan's room. I sat, cross-legged, on his bed; Luhan nervously paced the floor; Kris leaned against the wall with his arms folded and eyes closed.

 

"So... What are we going to do?" Luhan finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

 

Kris sighed, opened his eyes, and straightened up. "Well, we can't just betray Xiu Min- it's not like he's bad or anything..."

 

"Yeah, just scary," I agreed, pulling my legs up to my chest and resting my chin on my knees.

 

"You're missing the point," Luhan said to us. "He's declaring war on Kumiho for no reason. He's declaring war on our friends!" He back-handed his left palm emphatically. "And they've done nothing wrong."

 

Kris nodded, finally realizing the truth. "You're right... And I won't stand for it."

 

"Me, either," Luhan and I concurred.

 

"So we're leaving Magu Country, then?" Kris asked.

 

Luhan nodded. He walked over to his desk and sat down, taking a piece of paper and writing something down on it. We silently watched him as he crumpled up the piece of paper and walked out to the balcony, throwing it out and sending it far away. After a couple minutes, he stepped back inside.

 

“There. I notified Suho. Now we should all pack, they should be here soon.” We nodded and left his room to start getting ready. As I walked past him, I barely heard him murmur: “I hope…”