Angel was really sad.

And not because Suho wouldn't be coming to pick her today. Or the day after. Or the entire week.

But because Lay had been playing sad songs on the piano over the past hour and she was feeling downright depressed.

Neither was she the only one, going by the tears that dripped from Lay's eyes. He finished on a mournful note and Angel surreptitiously wiped her eyes. 'T…that was beautiful.' She complimented.

'Thank you.' He gave her the gloomiest smile.

They were late for the class, again, but she was too sad to care. Lay's song was making her miss Suho even more. She took out her cell phone and her fingers hovered. He'd told her to call him whenever she felt like it but what if he was really busy and she interrupted him? In the end, she put it back again and wished she had a picture of him to look at.

It was funny, wasn't it? She didn't have a single photo of her boyfriend – maybe she'd ask him for one when he called. That cheered her up a lot and she was a lot more animated in class than usual.

Maybe that's why she attracted his attention.

She didn't notice, of course, because she was too busy thinking about how she'd pose the question – and what sort of picture she'd ask for. Just the thought of it was making her cheeks burn. She'd put him in the background… maybe even transfer it to her laptop so she could look at him. Happy, she all but sailed through the day – replying without stuttering to anyone who asked her anything, commenting on things she knew during lectures. Her class fellows were surprised and her teachers happy. And of course, he was eyeing her.

She looked prettier when she was so animated instead of shying away and it was hard to miss the bounce in her walk – it made her look utterly delectable. He'd noticed that before, of course, but having a boyfriend was really putting it in the spotlight.

He noticed her boyfriend, a preppy, rich guy – a jerk no doubt – who was always waiting for her at the gates, wasn't there today. So, he followed her and saw her take the bus. He smiled, wondering if she took the same path everyday… he could see plenty of ways he could use that to his advantage. Whistling at the happy prospect, he walked away.

…………………

'Not again!' Xiumin groaned, looking at the wall and the cracks that were fast increasing. Luhan needed to stop doing that if he wanted to have a room – the rate he was going, though, it would soon be a rubble. He climbed upstairs to find him sitting on his bed, staring straight ahead.

'Ya, you need to stop doing that.' Xiumin told him, barging in and checking the condition of his room. The cracks were worse here and the wall behind the bed… he closed his eyes in frustration. Nothing he'd said over the past two days had made any difference in Luhan's state – he was alternating between feral rage and utter depression and the mood swings were completely unpredictable.

He wasn't even listening to anyone else. Lay had come to visit faithfully every day after school but Luhan refused to let him heal his hands. They were in terrible condition due to the intermittent bashings but Luhan was being completely stubborn, not letting anyone touch him and completely losing it when they tried to forcefully heal him. He'd all but flattened them down the last time so Lay had finally given up on convincing him – instead, he tried to talk to him through the door. Because Luhan refused to let anyone in since they bugged him about the condition it was in.

In fact, Xiumin was surprised he hadn't been blasted away already. Was Luhan finally settling down?

'I won't.' He sounded about as alive as a wooden plank. 'So don’t worry.'

Well, plank or not, he was talking – in words, not snarls. That was progress. 'Just be careful – this room can't take much more.'

Luhan nodded, then looked at him. 'I'll go to college tomorrow.'

'Really?' Xiumin raised a brow.

'Yeah – there's a match coming up. I can't miss that.' All of that said with the enthusiasm of a wooden plank as well.

'Oh, okay. Cool.' He looked at Luhan suspiciously. He was being too calm.

'I'm fine.' A wooden smile that was so forced, it hurt to look at it. 'See?'

'Yeah.' He nodded.

'And I'll do the night duty.'

'I don’t think so.' Xiumin told him, noticing how his eyes flashed at the refusal. But he pushed it back and swallowed.

'I have to.' His whisper was ragged like his face, pain evident. 'I have to do something before I completely lose it.'

Xiumin bit his lip. At present, no one was doing the night patrol – Sehun and Tao were still cubs and all the elders except him were healing. But he could understand where Luhan was coming from. He nodded. 'Okay. We'll chart out a plan.'

Luhan nodded, then rubbed his eyes, not even wincing at curling his broken fingers. His cellphone beeped and he glanced at it – he flinched and Xiumin understood – Mei. She'd come to the shop more than once but he'd diverted her, not telling her where Luhan was.

For some reason, Kai was avoiding her too – maybe because, given she'd been with Luhan all this time, he wanted to give her time to adjust before he made a move. That sounded like a Kai thing to do. Well, whatever his reasoning, it was hard for Luhan because Mei was a headstrong girl and she had her sights set on him.

Xiumin sighed, leaving Luhan to his misery and shut the door behind him.

…………………

Luhan stared at the message that blinked cheerily – completely out of place – on his phone. She'd been calling him constantly, texting him, bugging Sehun and Tao to tell him to talk to her – hell, she'd even barged in the shop, telling Xiumin to let her see him.

One thing was clear, at least – a very tiny consolation but it was the only one he had so he grabbed at it with both hands – she hadn't kissed Kai willingly. Why would she bother with him if she'd chosen Kai as her mate? She was human, so she obviously didn't get what the kiss meant. It might've been just a little thing to her, just an accident, completely unintentional… but for the beast, it was everything. So it was up to him to avoid her.  

Luhan was trying – and so far, failing – to reconcile himself to the fact that his Shadow had won and that there was no way he could have Mei now. He cursed his stupid desire to fall in love – why had he insisted to go on and learn more about her so he could fall for her heart and soul? How stupid of him – it was that much more painful now.

But whether he loved her or not didn’t mean anything – not when Kai was the one she belonged to. He didn’t like it and he didn't try to like it – it was driving him crazy and he was hating Kai more with every minute that passed but he was a Legend and his duty was more to his pack than anything – anyone – else.

They'd agreed – not in words, of course but it was understood – that whoever claimed her, the other would back off. Whether he hated Kai's guts or not, they were Shadows and they needed to be at full power and prepare for Evil. Kai was at full power now and he tried to focus on only that it was beneficial for the pack.

Something bothered him though. If Kai was at full power, how come he didn't feel anything? There was no way Kai could block that kind of energy from flowing through…

Just then, the phone beeped again and his train of thought broke. He eyed it with a sort of fearful anticipation. Mei again. She really was determined, wasn't she? He smiled sadly, tears filling his eyes. That’s my girl…

No, she's not…

Not anymore. Kai's taunt rang inside his head and it felt it would explode. He tried to push the rage back… the room will collapse… but there was only so much of the wild beast he could control.

With a scream, he attacked the wall. His fingers bled but he didn't feel anything except rage and the ache of his broken heart.

……………………..

Their search here was turning out to be fruitless. There weren't any mysterious disappearings, no strange sounds heard in the middle of night, no one behaving suspiciously and things were pretty normal. It was making Suho suspicious.

Xiumin had been right – they had used enough power to attract his attention, why wasn't Evil showing his ugly face? There should've been a hint at least, right? Why was he just sitting back, not doing anything?

'He must have something planned.' D.O. suggested as they gathered for lunch – he and Chanyeol were with Suho, covering the --- city while Kris, Chen and Baekhyun were in ---, the areas surrounding their home. That way, they could cover more ground.

'So he's not interrupting his schedule? Is that it' Suho frowned.

'Well… he got caught the last time he tried to jump us.' They'd ambushed him instead and sent him packing to the Abyss. 'Maybe he's finally getting smart.'

'Ya, you guys won't believe this!' Chanyeol exclaimed. Suho and D.O. hurried over to his side. 'What is it?'

'Baekhyun says Chen saw the girls from…'

Gossip. He sighed, relieved and frustrated at the same time that it wasn't news about Evil. Relax, he told himself, no news is good news. Yeah, that's what he should focus on – he had other things to worry about.

Like Kai who, according to Tao, wasn't in a good condition, always enclosed in his room and only talking to Lay. That was worrisome – he should be happy, not depressed. And how was he even staying away from her? Suho knew how hard it was to keep away from the mate – hell, he was going through it right now – so what was he doing? And why? For Mei's consideration?

Luhan was worse, with his rage and mood swings and attacks on helpful people. But Xiumin had told him last night that he was finally talking about going back to college and was asking for night duty. Suho had talked to Kris and he thought it was a good idea as well – routine activities would distract his focus from Mei and Kai.

The Kai/Mei/Luhan drama was so messed up, Suho couldn't even pretend he understood what was going on.  

And if that wasn’t enough, Sehun was being a brat again, skipping classes now that the results for the tryouts had been displayed. He, along with Kai and Tao, had been selected, so the pressure to study and keep up grades was, momentarily, over. Suho was sure Sehun had convinced Tao to skip classes along with him – they were always together in mischief.

And they had to move the headquarters to a different place. Xiumin was talking about moving the shop as well – so he'd have to keep that in mind while selecting the new house.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling suddenly tired. There was so much to do.

And it had been three days since he'd last seen Angel. Three days of only hearing her voice and looking at her picture. Three days since he'd last touched her.  Suho was going a little crazy – why aren't you with her, Kai? This is what happens when you stay away, he thought dejectedly.

He wished he could call her right now but she would be in class and he didn't want to disturb her. Instead, he took out his cell phone and stared at her picture in his background, sighing like a sappy idiot. It was a good thing she'd suggested they exchange photos otherwise he would've been completely lost.

He stood up suddenly, surprising the other two. 'Let's go, we have lots of ground to cover.' He told them, taking out his card and pulling D.O. up.

'But I didn’t eat…' Chanyeol whined, not budging when Suho tried to lift him as well.

'Hurry up, then.' Suho stood tapping his foot impatiently.

The sooner they could finish their search here, the sooner he could go back. The funfair was on Friday, so she wouldn’t be expecting him back early. It would make the best surprise – he could just imagine the happiness on her face when she saw him, waiting for her in his usual spot.

He rushed out of the shop, anticipation of seeing her again already burning his blood.

……………………

A/N

Happy Chanyeol Day!!! Our happy virus turned twenty three, eh? The boys are growing up fast, I feel so proud of them all *sniffs* anyway, enjoy this double update as a giveaway for the #HappyVirusDay and have fun.

Do comment and let me know what you think and... well, it feels kinda weird saying this but can I get some upvotes? Show us some love, eh? Pretty please with cherries on top of Sehun? For the Maknae? and Chanyeol, the birthday boy? haha, kidding but do think about it - it'll mean a lot <3 okay now, have some Yeol spam and enjoy ^^ 

 (<---check out my new dp!!!)

*sighs* cutie pie >w<