The remainder of the week passed in the blink of an eye, and it wasn’t long before the boys realized that the day of their departure had finally arrived.

Breakfast was eaten in silence that morning, not even Sehun or Chanyeol were willing to make the atmosphere a little brighter.

"Baekhyun and I will do the dishes," Suho announced as he began gathering the almost untouched plates of pancakes.

Baekhyun glanced up at his name and clambered to his feet, "Yeah."

"Today's the day," Suho said softly as he patted Baekhyun on the back. He scraped the leftover food into the trash bin as he eyed Baekhyun from over his shoulder. He carefully began to wash the dishes in a tub of soapy water. “The week flew by pretty quickly, didn’t it?”

Baekhyun stared down at the dishes he was drying and shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I guess."

"I'm going to miss her," Suho announced. He glanced knowingly over at Baekhyun and raised his eyebrow suggestively, "Wouldn't you agree?"

Baekhyun turned to him with a flat expression, "Are you trying to sneakily get me to say that I'll miss her too? Because I mean, I'll admit that she wasn't as bad as I initially expected, but to say that I'd miss her is pushing it."

Suho pursed his lips and chuckled lightly, "You're no fun Baekhyun."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and shoved the dish drying towel over to him, "Just for that, you can do the dishes on your own Old man."

"Y-yah Baekhyun! Come back, I was just playing around! Baekhyun come on there are so many dis-" His voice became muted after Baekhyun closed the front door behind him.

"I thought you were helping Suho with the dishes?" Kyungsoo asked Baekhyun with a cocked eyebrow when the other came to sit next to him.

"He tried to pull something funny, so this is his punishment," Baekhyun shrugged.

Kyungsoo nodded his head and patted him on the back sympathetically, "Don't worry Baek, he only has a couple of years left in him."

Baekhyun chuckled before turning his attention to Mira and Jongin who were sparring in the middle of the clearing. He had been just the slightest, teensiest bit jealous when Mira had presented Jongin with her handcrafted sword yesterday evening. He watched enviously as the shining metal clashed with Mira's visibly older one.

So maybe he hasn't been completely honest with the elder. He had to admit that although he and the Ultimate weren't as close as she and Sehun might be, he did develop just the slightest bit of fondness for her over the course of the week. She hadn't earned his trust completely, but he did feel himself progressive relax around the girl.

"I don't understand," Jongin stopped suddenly, his chest heaving from the strenuous workout. Mira had hardly broken a sweat. "How could you be this good at sword fighting? You didn't have a trainer or something, right?"

Mira cocked an eyebrow, "Spend 8 years living on an abandoned island and see how well you end up sharpening all your skills."

Jongin paused for a second before nodding his head accordingly, "Very true."

"Mira?" Sehun asked suddenly. He had been standing underneath the shade of a tree, and had remained relatively quiet during the duration of their spar. He glanced at her shyly as he rocked slightly on the balls of his feet.

Mira glanced at him as she tightened her loosening pony tail, "Yeah?"

"When we finish our mission... Can I come visit you on this island again?" Sehun asked slowly, peeking sheepishly at her to gauge her reaction.

Baekhyun held his breath; he did it. They had all been thinking it - some earlier than others - but it had crossed all of their minds at least once. The thought that they would come back again. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to visit the island of Irasle once more - and maybe possibly the Ultimate living on it.

Mira froze, clearly not expecting such a question to ever be asked. She glanced at him cautiously out of the corner of her eye, "You... You would want to come back here again?"

"Yeah," Sehun answered without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

Mira stared down at the ground, awkwardly swishing her sword back and forth. She found the idea that somebody would willingly come back to her to be completely ridiculous. She wasn't exactly a bundle of sunshine to be with; quite the opposite, literally. "I... I g-guess."

Sehun's eyes widened in delight and he pumped his fist into the air, "Seriously, right?! You said it!"

Mira shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, hoping she didn't appear too flustered on the outside, "Y-yeah whatever, do what you want."

Sehun held out a peace sign as a symbol of his victory, "Asa!"

"Wait Mira, that invite is extended to all of us right?" Chanyeol demanded with folded arms.

Mira shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "I don't know, maybe not you."

"Mira!" Chanyeol cried incredulously as he flailed his limbs in the air.

Mira resisted the urge to dishevel his hair, and chuckled lightly under her breath, "I guess you can be invited too, Channie."

Before Chanyeol could cheer in celebration, a bright red light shot into the air near the western border of the island. All heads turned to gaze at the signal, knowing exactly what the light meant. Their time together was finally coming to an end.

“It’s time to go,” Suho murmured quietly as he stepped out of the house. He had seen the flash of light through the window, and had almost dropped a plate when he did.

The boys all exchanged looks with one another before wordlessly heading inside to gather their belongings. When they were all packed and ready to go, they silently made their journey through the forest to reach the ship that had dropped them off at the beginning of the week. Haiku and Mira joined them.

 The food stock in Mira’s home had dropped dangerously low due to the six unexpected visitors, so Haiku would be joining the boys on the ship back to the mainland. Haiku had refused the suggestion at first, not wanting to leave Mira by herself so abruptly, but Mira had stood her ground. She knew how exhausted Haiku always was from having to fly carrying such heavy groceries, so she knew they should take advantage of the opportunity given to them.

They eight of them finally came to a stop once they neared the ship waiting for them a few hundred feet from shore.

“Well, this is it,” Suho nodded as he and the boys turned around to bid Mira their final goodbyes. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us? We're still willing to take you if you change your mind," Suho smiled hopefully.

Mira offered him a small smile but firmly shook her head. She gestured to the trees around her, "This is where I belong."

"I'll miss you," Sehun's bottom lip trembled as he turned his head away; he wasn't about to give his Hyungs another opportunity for being the baby of the group. The others weren't paying him any attention, however. Instead they were immersed in their own thoughts and emotions on leaving the girl. Only a week had been spent on the island, but to them it felt like so much longer.

"I'll mi- yeah..." Mira nodded her head slowly. She offered them a small smile and nodded up to the ship, "You shouldn't make them wait any longer."

"Y-yeah," Baekhyun stared at the ground. 

"I really hope you find a solution to your problems," Mira added in a detached voice, "If the chaos ever does stop happening I’ll think of you guys."

Sehun raised his arms to engulf Mira in a hug, but dropped his arms when Mira immediately stepped back. She cringed at his downcast expression and bit down on her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured quietly as she averted her gaze from his eyes.

Sehun shook his head and offered her a sad smile, “No, I should have known better.” He slowly raised a hand to give her a smile wave goodbye. “Bye, Mira”.

Mira swallowed her saliva and waved them a goodbye, forcing a smile to stretch across her face. “I wish you all the best