Luhan woke to the soft hand brushing his hair back rhythmically, a soft melodious lullaby filling the air. He yawned, feeling so sleepy that his eyes slid shut once again and he almost gave in to the temptation.

But there was something very wrong with the picture.

Who was brushing his hair back? Who was singing the lullaby? And most importantly, who had dared to trespass into his sacred territory?

He growled, unthinking, and let loose a kick that would've made coach proud. Then sat up to glare at the culprit.

Lay was on the floor, massaging his . 'I was just healing you…' he pouted, getting up with a groan.

'Never ever come near my bed again!' Luhan threatened him, baring his teeth.

'Fine.' Lay lifted his hands in a peace making gesture and sat on the floor next to the bed. 'Now, can I continue?' He stretched out his hand.

Luhan became aware that his hands seemed very light and lifted them up to find them completely healed, bandages gone and pins out of his knuckles. Also, his body felt great, none of the numerous, mostly unregistered aches bothering him.

'Why?' He asked, taking Lay's hand.

'Why not?' Lay smiled sweetly, then started humming again.

Luhan felt a bit bad for kicking him out of the bed like that, and got up to sit next to him.

Luhan could feel, already, the effects of Lay's work – despite all the ache he still felt inside him, he could feel that his heart was healing. Mei's loss was still a knife straight through his soul but it was much less painful. The overwhelming urge to finish his life to end the terrible pain had retreated.

After a while, he started feeling sleepy again. Then snapped his eyes open and shook his head.

'Should you be doing this?' He asked Lay, suppressing a yawn.

Physical healing was child's play for Lay but what he was doing right now – trying to heal the spirit, to sew the rift in his psyche – was terribly draining. Lay's face was looking a little weary now but he only smiled and studiously ignored his question. Luhan dozed off, leaning his head against Lay's shoulder.

Then straightened and adjusted him like a pillow, stretching his leg out so he could lay his head down. And turned this way and that, finding the most comfortable spot before closing his eyes again. Lay let go of his hand in favor of brushing his hair back once again and he was fast sinking back into sleep when there was a knock on the door.

Luhan pushed Lay away, his hackles rising as he sensed who was on the other side. He couldn't, unlike Kai, completely close off his link with his Shadow and right now, he was grateful for that. He had no intentions of meeting him.

Xiumin opened the door a crack and peeked inside, eyes landing on Lay. 'Oh, good. You're still alive.'

Lay gave him a thumbs up and a dazed smile. 'He only kicked my .'

Luhan sniffed. 'Why is he here?' He asked Xiumin, knowing his Shadow was listening. Kai replied. 'I want to talk to him.'

Xiumin poked his head back in. 'He says he wants to talk to you.'

'Tell him I don't want to talk to him.'

'Ha! Tell him the feeling's mutual.' Kai snorted, making Luhan grind his teeth.

Xiumin leaned his shoulder in the doorway so that he could relay the messages more easily. 'He says he doesn't want to talk to you either.' He translated.

'Tell him to go away.'

'He's asking you to go away.' Xiumin turned to look outside the door. It was a good thing Luhan couldn't see Kai or he'd probably attack him, the way he was feeling. And that was after all the work Lay had put in him to settle him down.

'Tell him I don't give a .' Kai's voice was deliberately rude.

'Ya!' Luhan almost got up, intent on teaching the cub a lesson, then sat back down. Kai was obviously trying to provoke him so they'd meet each other face to face. Well, he had no desire of seeing Kai's ugly mug face.

'Tell him to mind his language.' He told Xiumin instead.

'He's saying mind your language.' Xiumin relayed, looking amused by their exchange.

  'Tell him to stop being a coward and face me.' Kai's reply made him lose it. He sat up, jerking Lay's hand away.

'Coward??? Oh, I'll teach you a lesson, you rude cub!' He snarled, going to the door and opening it wide. Just because he'd gained powers…

Then blinked as the punch landed on his mouth, knocking his head to the side. He jerked his head back, snarling and would've attacked if Xiumin didn't push Kai behind him. 'No fighting. Kai, you promised!' He glared at Kai.

Kai smiled, not repentant at all. 'Sorry. Won't happen again.' He rubbed his wrist.

'Xiumin, get out of the way.' Luhan demanded, intent on landing his own punch. No one – but no one – decked him in the kisser without serious consequences. And Kai was already on his list.

'I mean it.' Xiumin stood firm in his position. 'You guys are not fighting.'

'He started it!' Luhan pointed at the culprit who was still smugly unrepentant.

'Tell him that was for making Mei cry.' Kai met his eyes. 'I won't hit him again.'

Luhan looked back at him, biting his tongue. There was nothing he could say to that statement – he had made Mei cry and it didn’t matter that seeing her like that had shredded his own heart. If it was for Mei, he'd take that punch and a lot more.

Thing was, none of that could help him get the one thing he really wanted – another chance.

'You're such an idiot.' Kai snorted, shaking his head. Luhan realized that he had, once again, failed to completely close off his link with his Shadow – who'd captured the gist of his thoughts. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated to pushing Kai back and away.

Kai narrowed his own eyes and then, Luhan felt him pushing right back. Instead of letting him close the link, he was forcing Luhan to widen it. And it was working.

He'd never been good at isolating himself and unlike Kai, who'd had months of practice controlling the link and the flow of power through their shared channel, Luhan was just a rookie with low success rate. He winced as he felt Kai invading him completely.

Their link flooded open again and the connection was reestablished. Luhan could sense Kai's power…

…power that was still at the same level as his own. His eyes expanded. 

'Do I still need to say anything?' Kai asked, seeing the shock on Luhan's face.

'Wha…' he cleared his throat. 'What does this mean?'

'What do you think it does?' Kai asked, a bitter smile on his face.

Luhan shook his head, disbelieving. This had to be a trick of some sort. Surely he would've noticed…

He had noticed, he realized. When he'd first come to after seeing Kai kissing Mei – it had bugged him then that Kai's power wasn't overflowing and leaking through their channel. But he'd gotten distracted.

And Mei's scent…

Crap, he thought, closing his eyes. It had been the same as before, unmarked by Kai's scent. No wonder it was so damn intoxicating and had affected him like that.

. He'd screwed up big time.

………………………

'I think it's safe to leave us now.' Kai told Xiumin, watching Luhan run a hand through his hair, shock evident on his face.

'You sure I won't come to find this room a rubble?' Xiumin asked.

'If I'd wanted to fight, I would've teleported right inside.' Kai pointed out.

'Guess you would have.' Xiumin muttered. Then, 'Lay, come on.'

Lay got up with a groan, then patted Luhan's back before coming out. He smiled at Kai, then looked around dazedly. 'Where are we?'

Kai smiled at Xiumin's 'never mind that' as he dragged him away. Lay waved over his shoulder and they vanished down the stairs. Kai waited until they were out of sight before turning back to look at his Shadow.

Who was looking like the most depressed person on earth.

'Ya,' Kai called, trying not to feel sympathetic. 'What's wrong now?'

Luhan looked at him wildly. 'You're not pulling my leg, are you?'

'I wish.' Kai replied, stepping inside. 'I wish that this was cruel joke I was playing on you but…' he stopped right in front of Luhan. 'I'm not.'

'.' Luhan squatted in the middle of the room, hands rubbing his face. ', , … argh!' He gripped his hair, ostensibly to pull it but Kai was in no mood for theatrics.

'Cut that crap.' He told Luhan, grabbing his hand and pulling him to a stand. 'I didn't come all the way here to see you have a nervous breakdown.'

Luhan jerked his hand away and backed up, looking suspicious. 'Why are you telling me this?'

Kai tilted his head. Why indeed. Because he was a masochist with a taste for terrible heartache? Or because he cared about Luhan, despite his recurrent and sometimes irresistible desire to hate his Shadow?

He opted for an honest answer. 'Because I care about her.'

Luhan had a pathetic mix of hope and misery on his face. Kai resisted the urge to punch him again. He may have made his peace with his place in Mei's life but that didn’t stop from questioning why. I love her too and I will never break her heart like you have. Why did she still choose you?

Luhan started as if he'd heard his thoughts. Kai shook his head. It didn't matter – you couldn't decide which side of the dice would face up and you couldn't pick who you gave your heart to. Mei hadn't done anything to lead him on and yet, he'd given his heart to her. She didn't have a choice either. It didn't matter how it hurt him or how much she wished otherwise. He'd decided to be satisfied with what she could give him – her friendship – and be happy in her happiness.

And his Shadow was the key to it.

He didn’t like it but he'd promised he'd talk sense into him.

'I hope you're aware how badly you've messed up.' Kai stated, somewhat relishing how Luhan's face fell. 'I know…' he muttered.

'I don't think you do.' Kai leaned his face close to Luhan's. 'After all the efforts your brothers put into it, after all the effort Mei put into it, you just up and dumped her. She doesn't even want to look at you and trust me, on this, everyone agrees with her.'

Luhan hung his head. 'I know…' he mumbled.

'Lucky for you, I talked to her…' Luhan looked up so quickly, his neck cricked. He ignored it in favor of glaring at Kai. Kai snapped. 'Get a grip. After all the crap I took for you, if you mess with me, I swear I won't care that you're my elder and I'll whoop your .'

Luhan let out a forceful breath. 'Fine.'

'That's not how you say it.' He was doing so much for him, the least Luhan could do was be thankful. Luhan cast him a sideways glance. 'Okay, okay…' he turned his face away, muttering. 'Thanks… I guess I owe you one.'

'You owe me a lot more than that.' Kai enjoyed the irritated expression on Luhan's face. 'And I'll make sure you pay me back.' Luhan bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to stop his tongue and forced a smile. 'Of course. Can you please tell me what you talked about? And what she said?'

'Gladly.' Kai smiled.

……………………….