“How goes the training?” Chanyeol asked, dropping down beside Baekhyun.

“Good,” Baekhyun sighed, “but not nearly good enough.”

“Well what do you expect?” Chanyeol grinned, “You’re working alone and way longer then you should. Naturally the results of your training will take a hit from that.”

“Can’t really afford to take it easy,” Baekhyun replied, “not when the next attack could come at any time.”

“You’re so…….,” Chanyeol frowned, unsure of what exactly to say.

“You aren’t used to me being so serious, right?” Baekhyun flashed Chanyeol a knowing grin.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded, “you….you don’t joke around anymore. Ever since that mission…….”

 “I’ve realized how bad things are,” Baekhyun scowled, “joking around like normal……not a smart move.”

“But being this serious,” Chanyeol countered, “that’s not smart either.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Baekhyun sighed, “we don’t have time to rest and do things the ‘right’ way.”

“You don’t know that,” Chanyeol sighed, “for all we know, we do have time. Lots of it.”

“And you don’t know that,” Baekhyun hissed, “we might have to battle tomorrow for all you know.”

“And we might not,” Chanyeol scoffed.

“Whatever,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes, getting up and spreading his wings and taking off into the sky.

“Dang it,” Chanyeol hissed, mentally berating himself for being so stupid.

“It’s not your fault,” Lina spoke up, dropping to the ground beside him.

“Yes it is,” Chanyeol sighed, leaning over so that he could rest his head on her shoulder, “I made him mad.”

“You’re just trying to help,” she smiled sadly, “you can’t be blamed for one of your attempts failing.”

“I can for this one,” he pouted, shifting to wrap his arms around Lina.

“Everything will work out,” she assured him, “just wait for him to calm down a little, then try talking to him again. I’m sure he’ll listen. You are best friends after all.”

“You’re right,” he managed a small smile, “how are you always so smart?”

“It’s because I’m older,” Lina smiled, laughing a little bit, “wisdom comes with age.”

“Right,” Chanyeol nodded, “just another reason I can’t wait to get a little bit older.”

“Doesn’t hurt that I’m an observer,” she shrugged, “it’s always easier to give advice on things you aren’t a part of.”

“Hmm,” Chanyeol hummed.

The pair fell silent before Chanyeol recalled something he’s been meaning to ask Lina.

“So Sori is really dating Ravi?”

“Yes,” Lina giggled, “they’re cute together.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded, “they’re more then just cute together. They’re good together.”

“I thought you shipped Sori with Kris?” Lina raised an eyebrow, recalling all the times Chanyeol had said how Kris and Sori were absolutely perfect for each other.

“Times change,” he shrugged, “and that was before I saw Ravi with her. If Ravi didn’t exist, then I’d say Kris was perfect for her. But he does exist and he gets her even better then Kris so……”

“I agree,” she nodded after a moment.

“Has she told you anything?” Chanyeol asked, “like, gossiped about dates or whatever?”

“Not really,” Lina looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed to be talking to Chanyeol about this, “you know how Sori is. Sharing something that relates to feelings………”

“Not her area of expertise,” Chanyeol nodded.

“Exactly.”

“But has she mentioned anything? Like what kind of dates he’s taken her on?”

Chanyeol wasn’t trying to pry into Sori and Ravi’s personal life. It sounded like it, even to his own ears, but that wasn’t why he wanted to know about their relationship. He wanted to know specifically about what kind of dates they had gone on so he could have some idea of what to do when he eventually asked Lina out.

Eventually being the key word.

“She said he took her for a walk along the lake side,” Lina said after a moment, “it sounds pretty romantic, even though she tried to down play the whole thing.”

Chanyeol nodded, deciding that if that was something Lina would like to do……..he’d do that for her.

“OH!” Lina said, looking down and blushing slightly, “I have news.”

“What kind of news?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow and sat up straight, waiting for her to explained what had happened.

“A boy in my class asked me out on a date,” Lina explained, “Yuri said that his intentions are pure, that he really likes me.”

“Oh,” was all Chanyeol said.

“I don’t know if I should accept, though,” she was quick to point out, “I don’t know much about him. We’ve barely even spoken before.”

“So,” he frowned slightly, “are you going to turn him down? I mean, if you don’t have even the slightest of feelings for him……it’s best if you turn him down now so he can find someone who will like him.”

“But what if I start to like him?” Lina questioned, “then I’ll have lost my chance.”

“And if you never start to like him,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “then you’ll have lead him on and he could get angry with you.”

“Or he’ll get mad at me for not even trying,” Lina frowned, “he’ll be hurt and I’ll feel horrible for not even trying.”

“Well you shouldn’t feel bad,” Chanyeol scoffed, “and who cares if he’s hurt. He should be prepared to be turned down when he asks someone he doesn’t know out.”

“That’s cold,” Lina scowled, getting up and starting to walk away.

“Lina!” Chanyeol yelled, rushing to catch her arm, “I’m just trying to look after you.”

“I’m not completely helpless,” she told him, “and if I want to say yes to this guy…..that’s none of your concern. I only told you because you’re my brother.”

“I’m not your brother,” Chanyeol sighed, “not biologically anyway.”

“What are you saying?”

Chanyeol saw the hurt flashing in Lina’s eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking. That he didn’t want her in the family, that he was rejecting her. He could not allow for her to think that for even a minute.

So he kissed her.

“Wha-?”

And then Chanyeol took off into the sky, unable to face Lina now that he had kissed her. Now that he had revealed his feelings for her.

“Lina?” Heesun asked a few minutes later when she arrived, “what’s up?”

“Chanyeol,” Lina said, struggling to form words, “he…….kissed me.”

“What?” Heesun gasped before rushing to drag the female fallen to their dorm, “we need to talk about this with Jessica and Sori. Oh my god, we need to talk about this now.”

A/N: this isn’t what I originally planned for this chapter, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Hope you all are too. So so so sorry this came out so late, it's been a really busy day and I only just got online, like, 10 minutes go. Sorry again!!