T-ARA - Day and Night

»  Xiu Min flinched when he recognised the girl in front of him as the one whom he has just met earlier. Slowly, he took a step backwards before he immediately decided to walk away. But even before he could get a meter away from that place, Se Kyung already grabbed onto his arm from behind. “Why did you disappear to before? Where did you go? I wanted to introduce you to my friends but then -”

“Let go of my arm.” Xiu Min demanded harshly, cutting off her words of hope. He was back facing her but he knew that she was hurt by his cold act just now. It wasn’t his fault for this, since his spine started to have those spiky feelings at the moment she touched his arm. That phobia for females was attacking him again.

The bright smile which was plastered on Se Kyung’s face faded when she heard the sharp words that pierced her heart mercilessly. She stared at the back of the man with knitted eyebrows. “A-at least let me know your name.” She stuttered, afraid that he would roar at her if she ask for something wrong.

Xiu Min pried off his arm from her with a death glare. He gave Se Kyung the last warning stare before he stormed away from the forest. Don’t give sympathy, don’t give sympathy, don’t give sympathy. You might lose control over your power if you do give your pity to her. He repeated those words again and again until he heard a light groan from behind. Turning around in curiosity, Xiu Min found that the girl was crouching on the ground.

Se Kyung held her ankle that had bled without her realisation. It probably happened when Xiu Min threw her into the bushes. She shut her eyes to endure the pain, which led her to not taking a notice of Xiu Min, who was rushing towards her in anxiety.

“Are you okay?!” He asked as he eyed her reaction, trying to observe the pain that she felt. He knelt down and his gaze fell at her bleeding ankle. Was it my fault that she is bleeding like this?

Sighing softly, Se Kyung nodded. “I’m okay. It is just a small cut... I think.” She answered in hesitation although she wasn’t used to treat her own wound. She tried to stand up in a full effort, only fall down again with a groan. But this time, someone was there to catch her.

Xiu Min ducked slightly as he let Se Kyung fell onto his shoulders. He took her arms and wrapped them around his neck before he lifted her up effortlessly. “The cut is big. I’m taking you away for a treatment.” He stated coldly without gazing at her while she leaned on his back.

Se Kyung blinked in awe. How can he be cold yet warm at the same time? She smiled at the thought of it, unconsciously hugging Xiu Min’s neck tighter.

Widening his eyes in shock, Xiu Min glanced over his shoulder anxiously. Please don’t tighten your grip, I don’t want anything to happen now. At least not to this innocent girl. He could feel his heart trembling as he tried to control his own power. Please…

»  “Duizhang—Kris!! Lay!” A loud call from outside of the small house could be heard. Luhan's ears perked up before he rushed towards the door. “Xiu Min! Where did -” His voice trailed off when he saw a girl lying against Xiu Min’s back. Who is this? I swear that she looked like a angel when she's asleep like that. Luhan trailed off his gaze at her ankle and realised that the girl was bleeding. “Xiu Min! What have you done to her?” He asked a little too loudly with a pause before he turned his head around and searched for the others. “Duizhang! A sleepy girl is bleeding against Xiu Min’s back! You have to bring Lay with you!!” He shouted just like a child who reported every happenings to his parents.

“Can you be any louder than that, Luhan?” Xiu Min asked sarcastically as he gestured Luhan to look at Se Kyung behind, who had obviously driven off the dreamland.

Grinning nervously, Luhan nodded when both Kris and Lay appeared at the doorway. “Sorry.”

“Why did you let Xiu Min stand outside with an injured girl on his back?” Kris roared at Luhan before he helped Xiu Min with the girl.

“I was scared to let a female enter this house since Xiu Min will freeze everything again.” Luhan answered truthfully with a pout. He played with his fingers guiltily after Lay closed the door behind and leaded all of them to the living room.

Luhan sat on the couch across Se Kyung as she was laid down by Xiu Min and Kris whilst Lay stared at her ankle which was still bleeding. “What happened?”  Kris asked with furrowed brows at Xiu Min.

With a sigh of frustration, Xiu Min spoke up, “A werewolf chased after her. I just came to prevent it from hurting a human being again.”

“And where did you go when you weren’t supposed to be out there? You knew that it was dangerous.” Kris asked straight after Xiu Min answered the first question. Obtaining no answer from the latter, Kris averted his gaze towards Se Kyung with her injured leg. “Can you cure this, Lay?”

Pressing his lips into a firm line, Lay nodded curtly. It pained him to see another girl hurt like this, to know that his girlfriend will never heal even though Lay had tried to do everything that he could with his power. His dead girlfriend would remain lifeless in his glass wardrobe. His power was useless for the one that he loved. No matter how much power had he forced out to heal his girlfriend, she would still remain like a doll - a cold pretty doll.

Lay hung both of his palms in the mid-air on the top of Se Kyung’s ankle. He closed his eyes and a sprinkle of white, twinkling dust appeared from the tip of his fingers. In a matter of seconds, the cut on Se Kyung’s ankle disappeared, as if it never existed in the first place. He fluttered his eyes open and gave Kris a nod, signalling him that she had been healed.

“Is she going to stay here?” Luhan asked after a long silence passed by; it seemed like everyone was deep into their thoughts.

Xiu Min shook his head instantly. “No. She might find out -”

“Why did you save her if you want her to get out of this house in the middle of night, Xiu Min? A lot of dark creatures out there could harm her so I don't see the point of you to save her if you are going to put her into that risk again.” Kris cut off his words with his infamous lecture sternly. He stared at Xiu Min who looked annoyed by his never-ending commands.

“Kris, she is going to find out about our powers if we let her stay.” Xiu Min insisted harshly with a frown. He averted his gaze towards Se Kyung’s sleeping face. I really don’t want to hurt her.

Exhaling a sigh, Kris retorted. “I declare that this is a test for all of you. If you want to keep our secret save, then you need to be able to control your powers. If one of you fails, then we need to take the risk of being hunted by the authorities in the future.” His statement brought a loud gasp from the three of them. They stared at Kris in shock with a hope that the leader was joking around. But to see his strict face, that vague hope faded into the thin air of the night.

“Why do you need to take such a risky test like this, duizhang?” Chen appeared from nowhere along with Tao and his red puffy eyes. That maknae must have cried again for his failure to change the past of his girlfriend who was already dead. He had traveled to the past by his powers for a thousand of times, thus he had seen his girlfriend died in various kind of ways. And it was indeed painful to see his girlfriend died a lot of times in front of his eyes, even more painful than death itself.

Kris crossed his arms as he eyed Tao’s red eyes. “Chen, you are out of this since you are recovering. This test is just for Xiu Min, Lay and Luhan.” He paused while staring at Tao sharply—so sharp that his gaze could have pierced straight into Tao’s soul. “Including you, Tao. You need to stop traveling into the past. Nothing will change. The fate has been written for you. You couldn’t change anything and it would just pained you more.” He could felt that his voice was slightly trembling when he wore that façade in front of s. He knew that he was harsh. He knew how they felt for their ex-girlfriends. He had been on that stage before and indeed, it was so painful that he felt like dying. But what he was doing now was for their own sake. They just needed a little push to make them move on and to let everything out of their chests. They need to be tough. Kris had no one by his side when he received that power before. It was hard, yes. But he managed to get over it day by day. And this was what he tried to do to his beloved friends who were also like brothers to him. He needs to get them moved on and they need to let it go.

“Duizhang, this test is too dangerous. We will hardly be alive if she tells the public about our powers.” Chen exclaimed, trying to make Kris gives his fellow members an easier task.

Letting out a grunt, Kris stood up from the couch and turned to leave. “Then keep her away from knowing. That’s all that you need to do.”

»  Se Kyung fluttered her eyes open when the sun shone on her face. She squinted her eyes lightly to get a clearer view of the image around her. Where am I? Covering her sight from the sun that beamed through the thin curtain of the small room, Se Kyung got up from the bed and her legs touched the cold floor instantly. A frown could be seen on her forehead as she tried to remember the memories last night. I thought that my ankle was bleeding? She stared at her ankle, trying to see blood which could stain anywhere around her leg. But she saw nothing. Literally nothing. Even scars can’t be seen when she was sure that the cut was pretty deep last night.

“You are awake.” A familiar voice can be heard from the door frame of the small cold room. Xiu Min walked closer towards her before he sat on the marginal of the old bed. “A friend of mine treated your wound last night. You are certainly fine now.” He informed briefly with a slight glimpse at her ankle.

Nodding in hesitant, Se Kyung turned her head towards Xiu Min, examining his face carefully. Her eyes were trying to read the reaction that he had when he was staring into the space. He has a handsome wise look. She blinked before she shook his arms once, snapping him out of his endless thoughts.

Xiu Min averted his gaze at Se Kyung and her hand on his arm. He yanked it off with a glare at her. “What do you want?”

Slightly surprised by his harshness, Se Kyung brought her hands closer to her laps. “I-I just want to know, is this place far from my camping site? I don’t want to bother you again.” She squeaked at the last sentence of hers.

Looking away from her innocent act, Xiu Min answered. “I don’t want you to be here, but I can’t take you back to your place. You have to stay here.”

“Why is that? Why can’t you take me back to the camp site?” Se Kyung asked with a small frown. “Is it because I’ve been such burden for you?” She spoke as she gazed down at her cold feet. A long silence occupied the small room before she continued. “I-I can find my way back if you resist to tell me the way.”

Xiu Min closed his eyes momentarily, knowing the fact that it was hard to act cold around an innocent girl like her. “You won’t be able to go back because you aren’t familiar with the surrounding here yet.” He retorted before he stood up from the bed. “The breakfast is in the kitchen if you are hungry.” With that, Xiu Min dashed out of the room, leaving Se Kyung behind in curiosity.

Pouting to see his coldness, Se Kyung quickly stood up from the bed and walked towards the door. A loud creak can be heard as she pulled the door open. The door must’ve been in this house for a long time to hear a creak like that. Strolling out carelessly, Se Kyung decided to have a tour around the house before leading to the kitchen for breakfast. She tilted her head up slightly with a small skip in her steps. This house is not bad.

Placing her hands behind her back, Se Kyung stared at the antic clock in front of her which stood magnificently in the living room. gaped slightly in owe, never seen a clock as big as that. “This clock looks great! I’m going to ask umma and appa buy it for our house after I got out from here soon!” She beamed with a small clap.

“Hi there!” A cute voice suddenly appeared from behind. Se Kyung spun around and saw an adorable young man, waving his hand in front of her.

“Hi! Are you Mr M’s friend who healed my ankle before?” She asked with a smile. Her head was tilt slightly, a habit that she got whenever she tried to guess something.

“Mr M? Who’s that?” Luhan asked back with his doe eyes. He eyed the girl in front of him gently, feeling happy to know another creature in this planet instead of s.

Letting out a small chuckle, Se Kyung spoke up. “Mr M stands for Mr Mysterious. It is this guy who took me here when I was injured last night. I wonder where he is now.” Her eyes searched everywhere except Luhan, wanted to show him ‘Mr M’ by herself.

Luhan grinned as he patted Se Kyung’s head lightly. “M for Min Seok, you mean, Xiu Min?” He stated and saw the latter nodded in hesitation. Probably never heard the names that Luhan had just said. “He is at the forest with Tao to learn his powe -” He hung his words when he remembered Kris’s declaration yesterday.

“His what?” Se Kyung asked, blinking at Luhan’s unfinished words.

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, Luhan changed the topic in instant. “Should we go to the kitchen? I haven’t eat my breakfast yet and I bet that you haven’t too, right? Lay’s cooking is really good! He is the cooking umma in this house and the one who cured your ankle yesterday.” He informed in the friendly tone of his before he leaded both of them to the kitchen. Honestly, his stomach was full but in order to kept this girl away from confusion, a little sacrifice need to be done.

»  The pancake flipped in the mid-air by the silver spatula. A smile crept on Se Kyung’s lips when she heard the cheer from Luhan who was standing beside her, gaped to see her amazing skills.

“Whoa~ I didn’t know that you have the power of telekinesis!” Luhan joked with a chuckle. Inside, he mentally noted that he was going to do the same gesture as Se Kyung using his power whenever Lay cooks.

Laughing in the friendly manner of hers, Se Kyung spoke up. “What are you talking about, Luhan? There is no human who has the ability of telekinesis!” She answered, didn’t know the fact that the said creature was next to her.

Wrinkled his nose lightly, Luhan nudged her as another pancake was being flipped in the air again. “What about the power of flight?”

“Still, doesn’t exist.”

“Lightning?”

“Uh-uh. Never heard of it instead of the lightning which come from the grey clouds.”

“Umm... healing? Unicorn?”

“Unicorns exists in the world of fairy tales but the power of healing – nope!”

Scratching the back of his head, Luhan laughed as another power popped into his mind. “This one is cool — time control?”

The smile on Se Kyung’s face spread as she shook her head. “I hope that I have that power, so that I could control the past and the future. Unfortunately for us, it will never exists.” She stuck out her tongue towards Luhan playfully as she placed the pancakes onto the plates.

Pouting at Se Kyung’s childish manner, Luhan skipped behind her as both of them walked towards the old wooden table to serve the pancakes. “Last one! The power of frost? Ice? Cold?”

Se Kyung blinked before she took out a bottle of honey from the cabinet. “I bet that Xiu Min has the power of frost.” She paused when the corner of her eyes caught Luhan’s wide eyes in return of her bet. “I haven’t finish my sentence yet! What I meant was that Xiu Min is quite… cold. It wouldn't be a wonder if he actually has the power of frost.” She exclaimed, didn’t know why that statement sounded true to her own ears.

Luhan moved back in a teasing way although he was scared if she would actually find out about Xiu Min’s power. “No! He doesn’t have that power. It doesn’t exist after all, right?” An awkward laugh escaped his lips as he eyed Se Kyung who poured a reasonable quantity of honey onto the pancakes.

“Of course, it doesn’t! Why do you take it so seriously all of sudden?” She asked before she shoved a plate of pancake towards Luhan.

Clapping his hands in excitement with the thoughts of eating ‘the flying pancakes’, Luhan answered innocently. “I didn’t! I’m going to eat this first ~”

Chen shook his head with crossed arms on his chest as he eyed the childish acts of both Luhan and Se Kyung. He leaned against the door frame of the kitchen while judged the shine in Luhan’s eyes. It seems like duizhang chose the right person for their recovery. Hopefully they will heal as soon as possible. Hopefully.