“Hyorin!” Ken smiled brightly, rushing to grab the girl’s hand and lead her to wherever he wanted to go.

“What’s up?” Hyorin asked, following behind him without complaint.

“You’ll see,” Ken told her, “just come with me.”

“Where are you two going?” N asked, looking up from the book he was reading when he noticed the pair about to exit the boarding house.

“Secret,” Ken laughed, holding a finger to his lips, “I’ll tell you later, hyung.”

“Should someone go along with you?” N wondered, clearly concerned for the safety of his master and brother, “I mean, what if Jr and Mark show up?”

“We’ll be fine,” Ken assured him, smile fading into a serious expression, “I already asked Leo hyung to keep an eye out from the sky. He took Hongbin with him, too.”

“Alright,” N nodded, “have fun.”

“We will,” Ken grinned before pulling Hyorin outside.

“Do you think having both Leo and Hongbin is necessary?” she asked as the pair walked down the street side by side.

“Maybe not,” Ken admitted, “but I’m not about to take that risk. I mean, how bad a first date would it be if you got hurt by the bad guys.”

“Date?” Hyorin blinked, face heating up.

“Yeah,” Ken nodded, “I mean, you’re a girl. And I’m a guy. And we’re out alone together. Isn’t that a date?”

Smooth, his beast rolled it’s eyes, very smooth.

Well, Ken huffed, how would you do it?

I wouldn’t have used the word date for starters, the beast replied, I’d wait for her to use that word.

Oh, Ken blinked, that……that does actually sounds better.

Told you.

Shut up.

“Ken?”

“Huh?” Ken looked at Hyorin who was smiling slightly at him.

“Talking to your beast?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Ken nodded feeling a bit embarrassed, “was I doing that for very long?”

“No,” Hyorin shook her head, “just a few minutes. I’m just curious.”

“Because you can’t talk to your beasts like we can?” Ken asked, frowning slightly because he felt guilty reminding her about that.

He was sure that Hyorin would love to talk to her beasts whenever she wanted. However, she couldn’t and he knew that bugged her more then she let on. He would bet that it also bugged her beasts. Well, the ones that he’d met. Like the white and black wolves. They seemed to really like Hyorin and were probably very upset that they couldn’t talk to her whenever they wished like his beast could talk to him.

“Yeah,” Hyorin sighed, “I wished I could talk to them like you, but I guess I have to make do with what I have.” Her smile brightened, “and it could be worse, right? I could be completely unable to talk to them.”

“Right,” Ken nodded, “hey, have you managed to make friends with anymore of them? Last I checked, you had befriended the serpent, the unicorn, the bear, and the wolves.”

“I befriended the deer,” Hyorin said, clearly proud, “Luhan appa’s beast is really friendly and sweet, just like him.”

“That’s great,” Ken said, “what about the others?”

“The serpent said to leave the dragon and phoenix to him,” Hyorin explained, “and the wolves are trying to convince the panther to come talk to me. They think that I’m going to have go talk to the snow leopard, white tiger, and scorpion by myself. The unicorn said that those three will only respect me if I seek them out without help, without fear.”

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous to face them alone?” Ken asked, recalling all too well the meeting he’d had with Hyorin’s less then friendly beasts.

The idea of his beloved master meeting any like that with no one to help her scared him. He could still recall when the serpent had hurt her. That feeling of helplessness he’d felt was something he never wanted to experience again.

“I’ll be fine,” Hyorin promised, “the deer promised to come along as backup. And the serpent said that if I can make friends with the phoenix, he’d help me with the tiger and scorpion.”

“Good,” Ken sighed.

Don’t worry so much, his beast spoke up, the beats on her side……they would never let her be hurt. She’s their last tie to EXO, they aren’t going to let that slip through their fingers. I know that those twelve beasts loved their hosts deeply and they’ll love Hyorin just as much once they give her a chance.

I hope that you’re right, Ken thought before returning his attention to his master.

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” Hyorin said.

“Right” Ken laughed, pulling her along after him, “I guess I can tell you know. There’s this concert in the park today. I thought you might like it.”

“Seriously?” Hyorin smiled brightly, clearly happy with Ken’s idea, “that sounds awesome!”

“Then let’s get going,” Ken said, “or we’re going to be late.”

A/N: this turned out a little differently than my original plan, but I’m happy with it. Personally, I’m most happy with the parts where Ken’s talking to his beast.