Angel leaned against Suho's chest, sighing tiredly. He massaged her neck, placing a soft kiss on her temple.

'I'm sorry.' He sounded contrite.

'It's okay,' she smiled up at him, 'I don’t mind.'

  She'd come over to visit and he'd shown her around the house – it was a huge place, with separate rooms for his eleven brothers. There were certain burn marks and other stains on the walls and the floor in the living room that he'd vaguely explained, 'They get too excited at times.'

She'd enjoyed her tour, especially the unexpected collection of cute plushies that didn’t entirely go with the masculine tone of this bachelors’ den. But it was Suho's room that had surprised the most.

It was just so messy.

No wonder he was so unwilling to show it to her but she'd been insistent and he'd finally opened the door, blushing profusely. She'd been shocked, then had burst out laughing. It was just so… contradictory – he was so particular about everything he did, she hadn't expected that.

Not that she had any room to talk – her room was just as messy because she was too busy either writing songs or reading, occasionally playing around with the guitar her father had given her, seeing her interest in music.

He'd started picking up the clothes piling on the floor and she'd offered to help. He'd been reluctant but she knew, from experience, that he couldn't say no to her.

So, they'd gotten busy and her tour around the house had turned into a cleaning mission instead. And now, she was exhausted but his room was tidy.

And his fingers felt extremely good, squeezing the knots out of her muscles, his chest warm against her back. Then he started playing with the chain of her necklace – the one he'd given last time he'd taken her out. She closed her eyes, resisting the urge to melt into is arms. She had to do something…

'Let's take a picture!' She suddenly whipped up her cellphone, leaning against him. 'Smile!'

'I'm messy…' he grouched but looked up nevertheless, smiling. 'So are you.'

'Exactly.' She fumbled her fingers, unable to get them high enough; he took it from her and angled it instead. 'Smile.'

She did and the camera clicked. They looked messy, faces smudged in places and hair all over the place.

It was perfect.

'What are you doing?' He peeked curiously over her shoulder but she bent over, hiding the cellphone. 'No peeking.'

Rolling his eyes, he backed off, playing with her hair instead. She'd tied it up in a loose braid so it wouldn't fall into her face as she worked and now, his fingers began loosening it, trailing through the silken strands.

'Done!' She straightened triumphantly, then yelped when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. 'Care to share?' He asked, leaning against the bed, stretching his legs out on the floor.

She shook her head, smiling. 'It's a surprise.'

'Oh?'

She didn't reply and he didn't ask again – he would find out soon enough, he supposed. Instead, he brought up something else – something he'd wanted to talk about before they'd gotten busy with his room.

'Angel?'

'Hmm?'

'What do you plan to do when you finish your studies?' His fingers played over hers, twining and intertwining.

'Mmm, I haven't actually thought about that…' she muttered, her voice barely audible.

He laughed. 'Really?'

'Well, I would like to write an amazing opera or something along those lines but…'

'Do you want to work?'

She blinked, wondering. She wasn't really interested in doing that – except, once she was done, she would have to, wouldn't she? Move out of her parents' house, get a job and something along those lines. That was the practical thing to do.

She had no interest in it – given a choice, she'd rather just write music, money be damned.

'I… don’t know.' She bit her lip, wondering what he would think of her answer. She would be graduating college soon, she should be more clear about her life plan, shouldn't she? Would he think less of her because of this?

'You're thinking too much!' He nipped her ear, making her straighten in a hurry. 'I just wanted to know so we could plan together.'

'Wh…' she cleared , looking up at him. 'Excuse me?'

He pouted. 'You want to leave me after you graduate and get a job?'

She stared at him for a moment, then a smile bloomed on her face. 'Of course not.'

'Good.' He smiled, pulling her back against his chest. 'So… what's the surprise?'

'Not saying.' She pushed away from him and stood up.

'Aw come on!' He whined, making her smile again.

Teasing him, for a change, was fun.

……………………

Mei had decided. She wasn't sleeping with Luhan just yet – they were both too busy right now and it felt too rushed – but sometime in the near future.

Like, during the winter break.

'Sounds good to me.' Tiffany shrugged, focusing on whatever she was doing.

Mei gulped. Even though she had decided, the thought was giving her a severe case of butterflies and she didn't know how she would face Luhan now.

'Then it’s a good thing that he's busy, no?' Tiffany straightened, cracking her neck and sighing in relief. 'Gives you time to reconcile yourself with the idea, right?'

'His timing .' Mei pouted at her laptop. 'I'm supposed to focus on my studies right now and all I can think about is…'

'How about you relieve yourself, hm?' Tiffany stretched casually. 'Get rid of all that frustration.'

'Hmm?'

'You know…' she winked, wiggling her brows. 'I'll leave the room to give you some…'

'Ew, no!' Mei threw her pillow at Tiffany's guffawing face, then jumped on her, pretending to choke her. 'Stop suggesting weird things, stop putting dirty thoughts in my head!!!'

'Okay, how about phone se...mmph!!'

'Not another word!' Mei threatened her, not taking her hand off . 'You're not helping at all.'

Tiffany nodded, then rolled over, holding her tummy as she laughed. Mei frowned at her and waited for her to gain some control. 'How do I tell him?'

Tiffany bit her lip thoughtfully, then snapped her fingers. 'Overnight trip!'

'Excuse me?'

'That's euphemism for 'I want to sleep with you' in couple language.'

Mei stared at her intensely to see wasn't pulling her leg; Tiffany smiled back, the epitome of innocence.

'I…will think about it.'

'Cool.'

'Now, let's talk about you and Kai.'

'What about us?' Tiffany feigned ignorance, though Mei didn't miss the grimace that flashed quickly across her face.

'You know what I'm talking about.' She'd rather not state it bluntly for it would be hurtful.

'No, I don't.' Tiffany went back to browsing the internet, focusing like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

'You know he's not…'

'I know, alright? I know.' Tiffany straightened, looking a little pissed and a whole lot hurt. 'But you know what, I think it's about damn time I had a guy who wasn't a jackass.'

'Listen…'

'No, you listen. I know what you're going to say – that it's all rebound and that he doesn't have any feelings for me but I'm not giving up, alright? If I can go after the likes of that drugstore guy, Kai's definitely worth chasing after!'

'I don't want you getting hurt again.'

'I won't.' She stared unseeingly at the screen. 'And even if I do, I'll have no regrets.'

Mei stared at her for some time, wondering if she could say anything but in the end, it was Tiffany's choice. And she was right, Kai was worth chasing after.

So was she but try as she might, Mei could never get Tiffany to see that. She deserved a guy who could love her back with all his heart – like she loved with all of hers, not chasing after someone who couldn't reciprocate her feelings. And Kai, at present, was that someone.  

She sighed and went back to her own studies.  

………………………

Angel's surprise to Suho was that messy picture, a memory of the first time she'd visited his room, in a gorgeous picture frame music box that played a song that she had especially written for him.

It was, a sentimental Suho assured her, the most wonderful gift anyone had ever given him. He put it on his bedside table, the only place in the room that didn't get buried under his clothes and listened to it every night before he went to sleep.

Xiumin was busy setting up his coffee shop and was really grateful for Lily's help – she supervised the renovations when he wasn't around, which was more and more often as Luhan insisted – and Kai simply teleported him away – so he could help them practice.

Luhan's control over the link still wavered a lot but he could now close it down, not letting anything through and hold it for a few minutes. Also, given the amount of workload he had these days, it wasn't all that hard to avoid Mei.

Not that she'd sought him out either. It wasn't that she didn't meet with him or didn’t reply when he texted but she was holding herself back. Her thoughts were more reserved and he had no idea what was going through her head. And she'd stopped trying to steal kisses from him, which bothered him more than he cared to admit but, given the circumstances, he supposed it was a good thing.

All of them were extremely busy, with studies and preparing to leave their home base and whatnot. Then exams took over and they had barely gotten to their senses when Evil struck.

It was another anomaly. There were the signature kills by Killer in Jaz, obviously perpetrated by Evil but that wasn't the end of it – he'd struck in two more places, one near Heifercourt, the place where D.O and Chanyeol had gone exploring and one other area, the Cabalix.

It was this last one that was the cause of most concern because it was even closer to their territory, Oulphesden, than before and it was obvious that Evil was behind it but they couldn't find any sign of him, no matter how much they explored. Suho and Kris had gone to reconnoiter it personally but even they turned up empty and it was worrisome.

So, Suho sped up their plans of leaving – even though he wasn't following his usual patterns, they knew how to drive Evil out of his hideouts and given how he was hiding himself, it was time they took action. If he got any closer to Oulphesden, their mates would be in danger.

Which was why he also gave the order that Luhan, Kai and Xiumin will not seek out Mei, Tiffany or Lily when once their duties started.

'I don't want you getting distracted. There is also the chance that he will target them if he finds out who they are – even if they aren't our mates…' the sentence was directed at Kai who'd opened his mouth to protest, 'He'll still use them to get to us.'

There was nothing he could say to that. So, it was decided and before they knew it, the last day was on them.  

……………………

A/N

First of all, I am so so so sorry for not updating but I was really, really busy with my final exams. I'm free now (for a week, at least) and I'm updating, mere minutes after sending in my final report :/ ah well.

Okay, so on to the second important thing - this story, if you haven't figured it out yet, is about to end. Yes, I know there is a lot that needs to be tackled, which is why I am writing (and almost finishing, yaay!) the sequel. If you want to know what happens to all that I left unexplained, please do read that.I hope you'll anticipate it :3 I'll put it up immediately after I'm done with this story and the bonus scenes! I hope you'll like it. Please do comment and if you really like my story, do upvote :3

Thanks