For a brief second, lightning streaked across the heavens, thunder clapped in the distance. Then, the sky cleared and everything returned to normal. Or did it?

Three boys were temporary blinded by the flashes of lightning and when sight returned to them, all seemed the same or so they thought...

"Sungmin-ah~" A voice called out. Without even needing to turn around to see who called him, Sungmin was already grinning widely, as he instantly recognised that that sweet voice belonged to Sunny, the lady who never failed to make his heart flutter.

With his smile still plastered on his face, he turned around to greet Sunny. "Hey, Sun-" His words were cut off as Sunny crashed her lips into his, her arms wrapped around his neck. Sungmin's mind went blank and his eyes were widened in shock, but soon after, lust took over and he slowly returned the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Sunny's waist.

Reason returned to Sungmin a little later and he realised with a start that he should not be hugging and kissing someone else's wife, no matter how much he liked the feeling. Sungmin gently pulled away and lightly pushed Sunny back when she leaned in to continue the kiss. "Sunny noona... This is wrong... You are married to Taeyeon noona, the kiss should have never happened" Sungmin whispered, looking away from Sunny, his face red with embarrassment.

"Taeyeon? Who's Taeyeon? I'm not married to any Taeyeon, I'm married to you, you pabo!" Sunny replied with a giggle, as she ruffled Sungmin's hair. Sungmin, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused. Before he could ask any other questions, Sunny had already intertwined her hand with his and happily dragged him to a house.

"Sungmin honey~ Look! We're home!" Sunny exclaimed happily as she unlocked the door and stepped into the house, with the bewildered Sungmin following after. Sungmin gasped and his eyes widened even more as he saw the wedding photo hanging on the door above the fireplace. Instead of Taeyeon and Sunny, it was a wedding photo of Sunny and him. "What in the world is going on?" Sungmin thought to himself.

"So do you believe me now?" Sunny asked as she smiled angelically.

"I'm not sure what to believe anymore..." Sungmin mumbled, still in a state of shock as he tried to process the information overload that he had just received. Sungmin knew this was wrong, but this was like a dream come true for him, so he decided just to play along for the moment, until he figured out what was going on.

"Hmm? What did you say darling?" Sunny asked again, unable to catch Sungmin's reply.

His mind made up, Sungmin smiled and cupped Sunny's face before he planted a kiss on her forehead and told her: "I believe you now, Sunny noona"

Sunny smiled and punched Sungmin playfully, as she said: "About time you did. Anyways, stop calling me noona, makes me feel old..." Sunny pouted cutely at the end of her sentence.

"Okay, Sunny-ah~" Sungmin replied as he pinched her cute cheeks lightly. Sunny blushed slightly at the action, her lips curved up in a bright smile. Following, she led him to the kitchen where she whipped up an amazing dinner for the two of them.

After dinner, the two of them returned to the living room and made themselves comfortable on the cosy sofa. To be exact, Sungmin made himself cosy on the sofa, while Sunny plopped herself down on his lap, leaned back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sungmin's heartbeat increased significantly at the sheer amount of skinship the two of them were having, but as much as he enjoyed it, he just could not help but think about how wrong it was...

“A blissful illusion for eternity or the tragic reality… Which would you choose?" A sinister voice echoed in Sungmin's mind. Sungmin realised with a start that he was trapped in a illusion, most probably created by Z. "Looks like the second trial has started... And I knew this was too good to be true..." Sungmin thought to himself, feeling slightly disappointed. His disappointment was then replaced by guilt, as he knew he should not have hoped that he could have a future with Sunny as his wife when she was Taeyeon's.

"Looks like you've figured it out." Sunny stated, in a voice that belonged to Z. "What's your choice?" Sunny asked, her voice returning back to normal.

Sungmin took a deep breath and replied: "The reality. If I choose to remain in the illusion, I'll be letting down Taeyeon noona  and I'll fail your trial."

Sunny sighed and smiled sadly, as she stood up and faced Sungmin. "If that is your choice, you'll have to kill me. Z has already possessed me and the only way to break her illusion is to kill her by killing me." Sunny told Sungmin.

Sungmin's eyes widened in shock and he jumped to his feet before asking: "There has to be some other way to break the illusion! How can I kill you? Taeyeon noona will be devastated. I can't live without you either..."

"Z's too powerful... There's no other way. Quickly kill me before she takes over me again! I'll try to hold out against her for as long as I can. I won't blame you and I'm sure my Byuntaeng won't either." Sunny answered, before she clutched her head in pain as Z exerted her soul, to overcome Sunny's soul.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Sunny. I love you." Sungmin muttered, before he closed his eyes and transformed his right arm into a scythe blade, which pierced straight through Sunny's heart. Sunny smiled, as she felt herself being released from the control of Z and welcomed her death with no regrets.

Sungmin, on the other hand, felt his heart break into a million pieces, as he saw Sunny fall to the ground, her blood pooled around her body. With her final breath, she whispered: "Thanks, Sungmin." Following,  her body turned into a short sword, her weapon form.

The floodgates to Sungmin's tear opened, as he crumpled to the floor and cried. "Sungmin... How could you..." A voice whispered and when Sungmin looked up, he saw a very distraught Taeyeon. Taeyeon fell to her knees and coughed out blood. Taeyeon's blood splattered across Sungmin's face and to Sungmin's horror, Taeyeon fell to the ground and breathed her last as well.

"This is the tragic reality you chose for yourself. The blood of the one you love and her lover forever stained on your hands." Z's voice echoed in Sungmin's mind.

"NO!!! This can't be true! I refuse to believe. T-This must be another of your illusions! I swear that I'll find a way to break it!" Sungmin shouted in anger and despair. All he could hear in return was the laughter of Z. It was then that he saw the wedding photo once again... It was a photo of Taeyeon and Sunny...

Elsewhere, right after the flashes of lightning...

Jo Kwon felt a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and a soft kiss planted on his left cheek. He squealed in shock and instinctively summoned the winds to blow away the person who had just surprised him. Turning around, Jo Kwon was even more surprised when he saw the person who  had landed on her , a few metres away.

"OUCH!!! Is that how you treat hot and y angel who gives you a hug and a kiss?!!" The angel screamed at Jo Kwon, as she got up from the ground, rubbing her to ease the pain.

"Ga-Gain noona? Are you really Gain noona?" Jo Kwon asked, still in shock.

"Of course I am! Who else do you think would even bother to go near a weirdo like you." Gain replied as she flipped her hair and rolled her eyes at Jo Kwon.

"I AM NOT A WEIRDO!!!" Jo Kwon shouted back in annoyance, but was nevertheless happy to see his ex-girlfriend after such a long time. "I thought you dumped me for that other guy? Why are you still acting like this to me..." Jo Kwon questioned quietly, puzzled by the sudden change in attitude of Gain towards him.

"What other guy?" Gain answered, equally puzzled. She then smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss on lips before continuing: "There isn't any other guy. It's just you and me... We got married, remember?"

Jo Kwon's eyes widened in shock and his heartbeat shot up after the kiss. He was even more confused by Gain's words, but like Sungmin, he decided to play along for the moment. After all, it was a dream come true for him as well. Gain giggled sweetly at his reaction and he in turn managed to compose himself and slapped her lightly on her arm. "YAH! What's so funny? Of course I remember! I was just testing you." Jo Kwon retorted, in a desperate attempt to recover his dignity.

Gain just shook her head and linked her arms with his, before leading him back to 'their' house. Upon entering, the couple immediately crashed onto the sofa, with Gain leaning her head on Jo Kwon's shoulder, while hugging his arm tightly. Jo Kwon had a ridiculously wide smile plastered on his face, while he patted Gain's head with his free hand he thought: "This is too good to be true... But I sure hope it does not end soon."

"Darling, I'm feeling sleepy... Shall we head to bed now?" Gain cooed and winked at Jo Kwon.

"You naughty girl, don't think I don't know what you want to do... But, I like it!" Jo Kwon replied as he carried Gain bridal style and headed for the bedroom. The moment he stepped into the bedroom, his smile grew even wider, for that was when he saw it hanging over the queen sized bed. The wedding photo of Gain and him.

However, at the exact moment after he saw the photo, a sinister voice echoed out: “A blissful illusion for eternity or the tragic reality… Which would you choose?"

Jo Kwon stopped in his tracks and sighed. He knew it was too good to be true, but it was fun when it lasted. As he put Gain down back on the feet, he said: "The reality of course, I am not about to fail your stupid trial, Z." Hearing that, Z's manic laugh could be heard echoing throughout the house.

"What if I told you the way to break the illusion is to kill Gain?" the sinister voice questioned.

"NO! There has to be some other way!" Jo Kwon shouted in defiance and continued: "If I don't believe in the illusion it will naturally break! Yes, that's what I will DO!" He closed his eyes and summoned all his willpower and soul energy to break the illusion and it almost worked. Almost.

"You're powerful, I give you that. And slightly smarter than your brother who has already killed Sunny in a vain attempt to escape the illusion. But it'll take much more than that to break out of my illusion." Z stated, this time possessing Gain and speaking through her.

"LET HER GO! THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME! LEAVE GAIN NOONA OUT OF IT!!!" Jo Kwon retaliated.

Hearing this, Z sniggered and said: "Well, since you chose the tragic reality... If you won't kill her, I'll just make her KILL HERSELF!" Giving Jo Kwon no time to react, she materialized a knife out of the air and made Gain stab herself in the heart with it. And all Jo Kwon could do was look on in shock as the love of his life crumpled to the ground and breathed her last.

As Z's evil laughter echoed out again, fading away slowly, Jo Kwon managed to tear his sight away from his dead ex, he looked up and saw the wedding photo again once again... It was a photo of Gain and the other guy...

As for Onew...

"I hope it isn't going to rain... I forgot to bring my umbrella..." Onew thought as he saw the flashes of lightning that blinded him momentarily. And for some reason, he felt that something was not quite right. Nevertheless, he continued walking down Romantic Street, to reach Jessica's and Tiffany's house. Jessica had asked him to do grocery shopping for Tiffany and her, since Tiffany was busy with work and she was busy sleeping.

Thankfully for him, it did not rain and he managed to reach JeTi's house without geting soaked. Once he went in, however, he got the shock of his life. For the wedding photo that hung over the fireplace was of Jessica and him, instead of Tiffany. He was even more shocked to see Jessica awake and sweeping the floor of the living room.

"Oh hi darling~" Jessica cooed as she waved cutely at the stunned Onew, who had since dropped all the groceries on the floor. She giggled as she saw his facial expression and that made his heart skip more than just a beat.

A few seconds later, he finally recovered and proceeded to pick up the groceries, before heading to the kitchen to place them in the fridge. Several thoughts were running through his mind at that point in time and the most prominent one was that he was trapped in a illusion. "That would explain the feeling that something was not right that I have been feeling since the lightning flashes... But who and why? Most importantly, how to break it?" Onew thought.

His train of thought was promptly derailed when Jessica managed to sneak up behind him and engulf him in a warm embrace. His cheeks reddened drastically and he froze in the spot once again as he tried to calm his heartbeat and breathing back to a more normal pace. Jessica just giggled at his reaction and whispered: "You pabo~ We have been married for so long and you still get butterflies in your stomach every single time I hug or kiss you?" With that, she gave him a light peck on the cheek which ew's legs into jelly.

But even through all that, Onew was steadfast in his belief that he was in an illusion and Jessica's actions further cemented this belief. No matter how much he wanted this to be true, he just knew it was not and he did what he was taught. He closed his eyes and let his heart show him the truth. The truth that all this was a trick of the mind and that he lived up to the title that Taeyeon gave him. The title of  being the Master of Illusions. It became clear to him that this was the second trial and the illusion was by Z. His choice was clear as well, he chose the tragic reality for he knew that without tragedy, people would not appreciate the meaning of bliss.

He opened his eyes and saw Jessica dead on the floor with various icicles jutting out of her body. He walked on to the living room and smiled sadly when he saw the wedding photo was of Jessica and Tiffany, just like it should have been. His sad smile turned into a happy one as he knew that there was no way Jessica, Screech of the Chilling Spear, would get killed by ice.

However, he knew his brothers may not be as good at breaking illusions as he is. He let out a slight chuckle and closed his eyes one more time, gathered all his soul energy and radiated it out to reach his brothers. They were engulfed by his comforting melody, his innate power healing their emotional wounds and they to saw the truth. The truth that it was all just a trial and they had just passed it. This time when Onew opened his eyes, everyone was once again gathered in the throne room, with X, Y and Z sitting on the goddesses' throne, much to the distaste of the three goddesses.

Z stood up and spoke: "I'm extremely impressed with Onew. He was the only one who didn't let his personal desire cloud his judgment at all. He is the maknae and if he can do that, Sungmin and  Jo Kwon have a lot of reflecting to do." At this, the two older brothers hung their head in shame, as they knew they had let their lust take control of them and fell in into Z's trap.

Z continued on: "I hate to admit this but Onew's mastery of illusions might even rival that of mine, since he could already detect that something was off, right from the start. Even his innate power evolved to heal emotional wounds, in addition to physical injuries. Good job Onew." Onew blushed slightly at the commendation he had just received and thanked Z for the compliments.

Following, Z sat back down and X stood up to proclaim: "The time has finally come... The time for the..." X paused awhile to add some sort of dramatic suspense. Y and Z just rolled their eyes at their leader's absurd desire for drama. Sooyoung cringed, Taeyeon sniggered, Tiffany rolled her eyes, Seohyun shook her head, and the rest had similar reactions. A little embarrassed, X continued in a loud booming voice: "...FINAL TRIAL!!! And this time... DEATH IS IMMINENT!!!"

And with that, Y teleported them away in a fancy display of black flames.

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Finally found time and got my lazy self to finish of this chapter~ XD I'll try my best to get the next update up much faster... >.< So what do you guys think about this chapter? Leave your comments below and have a nice day~ ^^