***

“Mr. Tabi?! Running away?! What were you thinking, Jae?!”

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when Kris and I decided to tell the others about what happened after they left my house, but I suppose I should have expected Suho to go lose his marbles over this. I sat close to the fireplace as he scolded me, feeling very much as though I was being reprimanded by my father, which wasn’t necessarily a pleasant feeling. 

My real dad would probably be wondering where I was right now. Would they be looking for me? To be honest, I turned off my cellphone because I was sure I wouldn’t be able to deal if I saw that they tried to call me. I’d probably cave and pick up the phone, asking me to come get me - which is really not what I want them to do at the moment. I could only imagine how furious they were and concerned. I left a note, but that was the only comforting thought I had. If they called the police and they’d look for me, I’d be found before we could solve this ‘saving-the-world’ thing and then, technically, I’d be further away from home. 

Of course, the brilliant mastermind leader of the pack had this figured out way before I even stopped to think about the consequences. Guess that’s why Suho worried so much, and I guess that’s why he’s the leader. 

Doesn’t make him less annoying though…

“Why didn’t you contact us? “ Suho continued looking for answers. 

“I did,” I argued, pointing at Kris just to irk him, and Suho shook his head profusely.  “You know that’s not what I mean! We’re a pack, Jae, and you went and made important decisions behind our backs!” 

“Behind your backs?” I repeated, my fatigue not helping in improving my current mood - which was bad, in case no one noticed yet. “What I decide to do to keep my family safe is my business. I don’t need your permission to run away if that’s the only option I had left, Suho.” My tone was scathing, I know, but hearing him talk like this while I was fully aware how desperate and reckless my actions were, made me feel even more like crap. 

“Suho-hyung just meant that we didn’t want you to feel like running away was the only option for you. We could’ve tried to see if there was another solution that didn’t revolve around you suffering more,” D.O. explained, but I only sighed. 

“If I stayed, my mother would have made me give the dagger back to my father. He would give it back to Mr. Yok. Are you telling me that I should’ve let that happen? You were there when I tried telling my mother the truth. She didn’t believe me. She tried to understand, but she still doesn’t believe me,” I said. 

“But where are you going to stay now, noona?” Tao asked in concern. “And your parents? They’re probably already looking for you as we speak,” he added. 

“I left them a note,” I replied flatly. “It’ll be alright once we solve this, so let’s focus on that, okay?” I then stated, looking at Suho, who still looked like he was fuming. 

“I admit that it was reckless to tell Mr. Tabi about everything, okay? I’m sorry,” I added softly, since I still didn’t know how it was possible that I managed to tell him about the dagger so openly. “He doesn’t know about the wolf-thing or magic-thing, but he does know about the dagger. He says that he’s going to help us, so that has to count for something, right?” I tried as Suho took a deep breath to recollect himself. 

“Does it, though? What if he told you he was going to help but is calling the authorities right now?” he shot back, sighing deeply while running his hand through his hair. “I mean, at the end of the day, we did steal the dagger.” 

“If that was the case, wouldn’t the police be swarming the town now? I mean, everyone knows everyone in this place. If Mr. Tabi ratted on us, then we’d be in jail right now,” Kris reminded him, but Suho wasn’t convinced. I guess I couldn’t blame him for that. To be honest, I replayed the conversation I had with the teacher over and over in my mind, and I still didn’t really know how he got me so far to spill the beans. Was it because I was being emotional? Then again, it was Mr. Tabi we were talking about. 

“Besides, we’ve known Mr. Tabi for years. He’s the last person that would betray us like that,” D.O. added for good measure. “And he works at E.T. Corp, so maybe he really does know how to help- by all means, we don’t know what the next step is, right?” 

I gave D.O. a small smile when I saw that he had my back, but the tension was still obvious in the room. 

Suho sighed and looked displeased. “I need to think,” he suddenly announced. 

“I think the time for thinking is over, Suho,” Luhan spoke up. “We can continue scolding Jae for making rash decisions, but in the end, all of us would probably have done the same thing if we were continuously driven into a corner. What’s important now is figuring out what we’re going to do. What we need to do to fix this mess we’re in,” he stated gently, though firmly as Suho rubbed the side of his temple. He gave me another long look which I didn’t shy away from and I saw him soften up right before my eyes. 

His tense shoulders relaxed somewhat and he pursed his lips. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You’re right. We need to focus,” he nodded, heaving another sigh. “Let’s recap. The dagger unlocked most of our memories, but not all of it has returned,” he started to sum up. 

“The black Imoogi is responsible for all the weird things that are happening on the island,” Baekhyun added, drinking from his tea. “Even though we thought we took care of it before,” he muttered in exhaustion. 

“Miss Kumiho works for Mr. Yok but was epically knocked out cold by Mrs. Miyano,” Chen added and I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw the grin on his face. Where was the lie in that statement, really? My mom did know her way around a frying pan.

“But we shouldn’t count her out yet. We’ve witnessed how tenacious she can be,” Kai warned with a snarl as I automatically glanced to his side to see that the wound had healed, but the wound to his ego was still open. 

“The dagger was what the Tree wanted us to save, meaning that it’s important. You think it has something to do with what we saw in the research facility?” Kris then suggested. “Something with leylines?”

I replayed the conversation I had with Mr. Tabi so often now that the mention of the word immediately clicked in my head. “Yeah, Mr. Tabi mentioned the use of leylines,” I said, grabbing the dagger from my backpack. “He said that they were doing experiments at the lab. He told me that the dagger is comprised of living organisms, but its DNA is unstable. Here, look,” I pointed out the corrosions on the hilt and the blade had lost its former shine. 

“Whoa, okay, that does not look good,” Chanyeol’s fingers hovered over the weapon before he rubbed his own fingers. “The energy is very faint. It’s not nearly as strong as it was before,” he noted. 

“Mr. Tabi mentioned something about replenishing the dagger’s energy by using leylines. He thinks the dagger is responsible for disrupting nature’s balance, or something, I don’t know, he seemed very excited, either way,” I tried to explain. 

“And he think he knows how to solve the problem?” Sehun wondered, a trickle of hope weaved in his tone of voice. 

“He told me that he had an idea, yeah,” I nodded. “He said that he’d be in touch once he’s figured out what to do, and to be honest, without the ghost wolf showing up and me not waking up anytime soon, I appreciate his help. It’s better than nothing,” I shrugged, feeling only a little hopeless. 

“Hm, perhaps,” Suho said thoughtfully. “Mr. Tabi is a good guy, but all of this doesn’t feel right. We’re supposed to be guardians. It’s our task to guard, to save this world. It feels wrong to have someone else solve our problem- it just doesn’t add up,” he elaborated, starting to pace around the parlor. As much as I despised having to admit it, I could fully understand what Suho meant. If Mr. Tabi held the answers to saving the world all this time and was in possession of the dagger, then why didn’t the dagger just reach out to him? 

Xiumin quietly stood up from his seat near the window to approach me and gently grabbed the dagger from my hands without saying a word. Our fingers touched, his warmth still lingering on my skin after he moved away to inspect the dagger. Luhan watched his best friend intently while Xiumin twisted and turned the weapon. 

“What are you thinking about, Baozi-ge?” Luhan asked. 

“Just trying to make sense of everything,” the older teen mused. “This world did relatively fine on its own before the dagger came to play, so what’s changed? How is it possible that it suddenly became the key to maintain nature’s balance?” Xiumin clacked his tongue out of frustration. “Ah, I don’t understand this!” he exclaimed. 

“Balance…” Lay mused this time, a spaced out look on his face that signaled that he was in deep thought. He squeezed his bottom lip with his thumb and index finger, and I startled when he suddenly stirred. 

“Back in the day, didn’t our teachers mention how Exo planet was created?” he suddenly piped up, waiting for his other brothers to react. 

“Uh, hyung, I know we’ve gotten most of our memories back, but I don’t think mine go that far back,” Baekhyun commented as he scratched his head. 

“What are you saying, Lay?” Luhan asked, while I curiously waited for him to answer. 

“Don’t you remember?” Lay asked, looking sincerely astonished. “Before Exo planet was born, the world was filled with chaos and darkness. No life could be sustained there because of it. Because the universe revolves around harmony, light was created, order came, to even things out. In other words, black Imoogi-nim needed to be counterbalanced by a white Imoogi-nim to save the world from its chaos,” he diligently explained, while I was amused at hearing him use honorifics whilst describing the black and white snakes. Leave it to Lay to stay polite, no matter the circumstances. However, his story did ring a bell. The ghost wolf showed me the story about the black snake and the white snake. One was good, the other evil. One destroyed, while the other protected, and, by reasoning, I guess that meant that the one wouldn’t be able to exist without the other without severe consequences. 

My eyes widened as I caught on to what Lay was trying to say. “You think that Mr. Yok’s presence in this world disrupted its natural order,” I stated, rather than asked and Lay nodded at me. 

“It could explain why dagger-nim suddenly became so important. There’s no white Imoogi-nim to balance his darkness out in this world. I think that he did that on purpose to obtain the yeouiju, which is what it was after for so long,” Lay said, looking at his brothers in mild confusion when they were gawking at him. He scratched his neck out of mild embarrassment. “What is it? Did I say something wrong?” he asked worriedly. 

Chen chuckled and patted the older teen on the back. “Not at all, Lay-hyungie. We just forget sometimes how awesome you are,” he replied on behalf of everyone else as Lay smiled happily in response but it was evident on the familiar blank look in his eyes that he was still a bit confused. 

“Yeouiju…” Luhan mused, taking hold of the dagger from Xiumin’s hands, when his eyes suddenly darted straight towards me. “A Tree of Power and Fire… Do you remember, Jae?” he then asked and I blinked at him before letting out a deep breath. 

“Let’s assume that I had a really, really, long day, Lu, and that I’m about to pass out due to exhaustion any minute now. You’re gonna need to remind me,” I replied, fighting the cozy warmth of the fireplace that could lull me to sleep if I lost focus for a moment. 

Luhan cracked a sympathetic smile before directing his attention to everyone else in the room. “I think Lay may have a point. When Jae and I connected to see what else the dagger had to tell us, it showed us Mr. Yok, talking to it,” he gestured with the weapon in his hand. “He spoke of wanting to rule the world, to grow a new Tree of Life that would bring about darkness to this world, so that he may finally obtain the power he’s lusted after all these years,” he explained. “But he can’t do it if this dagger has no energy left. This,” he held up the weapon and I watched the green heart on the hilt glow weakly, “is the source of power. That has to be the reason why the former Tree of Life wanted us to protect it at all costs.” 

“But if that’s the case wouldn’t connecting it with the leylines at E.T. Corp help the black snake instead of stopping him?” Suho inquired. 

“Not necessarily. If the black snake is able to make a new Tree of Life using the energy of the leylines, who’s to say that we can’t do the exact same thing, using only good energy so that he can’t touch it? Recreate the Tree of Life as we knew it back in Exo,” Luhan replied. 

“But how, hyung?” asked Chanyeol, nervously playing with his snapback. 

Luhan, who had looked determined and fiery, ready to go, suddenly drooped his shoulders and crunched his face out of frustration. “I don’t know,” he breathed with a huff. “Maybe Mr. Tabi really knows the answer to that…”

The silence swelled in the room, the crackling of fire being the only thing that dared disrupt the silence.

 “Hold on,” I blatantly broke through the silence, “Isn’t the dagger missing something?” I recalled vaguely. “Even Mr. Yok didn’t know what it was, so how could we? Mr. Tabi said that the dagger was unstable, hence it was losing energy. I don’t know much about science or anything, but if it’s unstable, wouldn’t that mean that it can in all the energy from leylines if it wants, but still lose the energy afterwards if it’s not stable enough to sustain it? Does that even make sense what I just said?” I remarked, shaking my head a bit. Wow. I must be more tired than I thought. 

“No, you’re right,” said Luhan, nodding his head in assent. “More is needed to recreate a Tree of Life,” he confirmed as another silence threatened to fall. 

“What if it’s us?” Kai suddenly interjected, his face absolutely serious when he said it. 

“That is disturbing, dude,” Sehun complained, smacking his friend on the arm, but Kai didn’t even flinch. 

“I’m not kidding. Didn’t that woman,” - he growled when he mentioned her - “- say something about Mr. Yok having an interest in us? That he’s kept close tabs on us all these years? Why would he do so?” Kai’s reasoning seemed sound, but it gave me the creeps. 

“Maybe he did so to keep us in check? We’re guardians, after all, that must’ve made him a little nervous considering our history with him,” Suho answered. 

“If he was so worried about that, then why not just kill us when we still didn’t have our memories?” Kai retorted. 

“Because he needs us alive,” D.O. muttered as his eyes widened at the realization. “Maybe he doesn’t know exactly how, but he needs us.” 

“I’m I the only one who finds that thought really creepy?” Tao asked in a small voice, hugging a pillow tightly to his chest. 

“How would it even work?” Sehun piped up with a frown. “He’s gonna make the dagger in all of our energy and discard us like empty juice-boxes, or dried up mummies?”

“Yah, Hun-ah, don’t say stuff like that! That’s creepy!” Tao protested. 

“I don’t know how he plans on doing this, but all I’m concerned about is that we won’t let it happen,” Suho then interrupted. “Whatever the dagger needs, as guardians, we should try and provide. We can’t let Mr. Yok create a Tree of Death. Whatever the cost, it is our duty to regrow a Tree of Life to cancel out the darkness and destruction he plans to send out over this earth,” he said calmly, proving once again that he was a true leader. “If Mr. Tabi can somehow help us figure out the specifics on how to grow such a Tree, then I suppose having him on our side is for the better,” he smiled at me and I weakly returned the favor, feeling the fatigue truly kick in. It was like my body was holding on all this time, but now that we had a plan, now that we knew what we had to do, my relief was translated into utter exhaustion. You know what to do now. This mess can be fixed. So, go to sleep already!, was what my body was screaming at me. 

“So, basically, we got promoted to guardians of the world and then got demoted to gardeners all in one day?” Baekhyun quipped, ducking when Suho threw a pillow at his head. 

“This is good, though,” D.O. looked around the room. “Now we know what to do, we can give it our all to prevent the black snake from winning. We can’t let it destroy this world like Exo planet. I refuse to lose another home because of him,” he stated resolutely, his brothers agreeing. 

“We won’t let that happen. Not this time,” Suho vowed. 

“Hear, hear! Besides, things are gonna be different this time. We’ve got a wildcard in our midst now!” Chen grinned at me and I chuckled. 

“Well, I don’t know how useful I’ll be, but I’ll definitely help you as best as I can to avoid this asshat from destroying the world,” I promised, feeling a great sense of admiration for this group of young men, who so willingly and without a hint of hesitation, were ready to face grave danger all for the sake of protecting this earth. I doubted I had their courage and confidence, but damn it, I was gonna try to play my part- come what may. 

Laughter rang through the air when they caught me yawning, even though I thought I was being subtle about it. 

“Wow, noona is hardcore! The prospect of great peril to save the entire world is too boring for you, huh?” Chanyeol teased as I managed to chuckle. 

“Sorry. I’m absolutely thrilled at risking my life to stop a megalomaniac serpent from destroying the world, really, I’m titillated,” I said with mild sarcasm, “But do you think we can save the world after some sleep? I’m sure heroic guardians need rest too, right?” I asked, suppressing another yawn. 

The boys chuckled, and hearing their laughter vaguely made me feel happy and reassured for some reason, though maybe the sleep was already clouding my mind. 

“Yeah, it’s getting late. We should all head home- oh,” Kris abruptly stopped talking as he looked at me putting the dagger back into my bag after I got to my feet, fighting off sleep. 

“What is it?” I asked, seeing him stare at me. 

“Uh, well… Where are you going to stay for the night?” he asked and I nearly jumped at seeing eleven other pairs of eyes shoot towards me. 

“Oh, uh, it’s no big deal, I’ll think of something,” I quickly answered, feeling my cheeks heat up all of a sudden. 

“Why? I thought it was silently agreed that you can stay here, Jae,” Suho piped up. “We’ve plenty of guest rooms that you can stay in, it’s really no trouble at all!” he chuckled and away went charismatic leader Suho to make way for dorky Joonmyeon who beamed gummy smiles and looked like a shy schoolboy each time we made eye contact. 

“What?! No way, that’s not fair! Jae-noona is coming with me,” Sehun argued, discretely trying to approach me as though he wanted to snatch me away before anyone else had a chance to do so. I appreciated what the boys were trying to do, really, but why did they make it so awkward?

“Ha! And where was she going to sleep? On that itty bitty couch in your living room?” Chanyeol mocked. 

“Of course not. Jae-noona can sleep in my room. I’ve a big bed,” Sehun retaliated under protest of his brothers, starting an argument between them. 

“Guys? Uh, guys- ugh…” I couldn’t get a word in even if I shouted out loud. I sighed as I watched them argue, slightly amused at the sight. Important, hoighty toighty guardians or not, deep down inside…they were still dorks. 

“Rock, paper, scissors!” Chen then piped up and I rolled my eyes, deciding that this was where I drew the line. It was flattering that they were all willing to take me in for the night, but I wasn’t some prize that they could win over a game of rock, paper, scissors. 

“Guys, enough, really. It’s no trouble. I’m sure I can stay over at Lili’s place or something, don’t worry about it,” I assured them, though I wasn’t at all sure whether that was the case. 

“No way, noona. Lili-noona is probably already sleeping and you don’t want to bother her, do you? Besides, what if her parents decided to call your parents?” Chen argued and I had to admit that I hadn’t thought about that before. 

“Then I’ll ask Minho,” I piped up. “His parents were staying with his grandfather for a few days because his house got hit by the recent storms, so Minho is housesitting by himself. I’m sure he’s got plenty of room to spare,” I smiled, hoping that they wouldn’t have to worry about me now. 

I was wrong. 

“Minho?!” Luhan nearly yelled in disbelief. 

“Peasant-hyung?!” Sehun called out in shock, shaking his head. “No, no, no, no! Forget it, noona, I won’t give you permission!” he stated defiantly. 

“Neither will I! Minho’s shady, you know, beady eyes,” Suho added as I suddenly found myself listening to twelve guys disapproving Minho in the most ridiculous ways. 

“I heard he sleeps in his underwear and sleepwalks in them,” Chen stated.

“Yeah, and he not only snores, he sings in his sleep too- off key, might I add,” Chanyeol said. 

“He’s too tall,” said D.O. out of the blue without further explanation. 

“He doesn’t like panda bears! Can’t trust anyone who doesn’t like panda bears!” Tao added fiercely, Sehun nodding along as though his brother made the most valid argument of the year. 

“Minho-ssi said that unicorns don’t exist,” Lay elaborated with a pout of the lips. 

“They don’t though, hyung,” Baekhyun answered, to which Lay gasped in shock. 

“You too, Baekhyun-ah? Don’t go to Baekhyun-ah either, Jae-yah,” he stated. 

“Yah! What’s that about, hyung?” Baekhyun protested. 

A chuckle escaped my lips, but I quickly regained myself by shaking my head at them. “Do you guys realize how stupid you sound?” I asked them. 

“We’re just looking out for you, Jae,” Kris explained. “You can’t trust a guy like Minho- I mean, he’s a cool guy, really, but he’s a guy,” he stressed, to which I amusedly crossed my arms over my chest. 

“So are all of you,” I retaliated, trying not to burst out in laughter at seeing their stupefied faces. 

“Well, that’s different,” Luhan immediately answered, though the nervousness was audible. “We’re good, trustworthy guys that want you to be safe and protected, that’s all. Besides, you’re one of the pack, and we always look out for those who are part of the pack, because it’s the pack- y-you know, one for all, all for one…eh…” he stammered, looking to his brothers to save him out of a tight spot. To my surprise, and the others’ as well so it seemed, it was Kai that came to Luhan’s rescue.

“Minho-hyung is a good choice, but he can’t protect you like we can,” he said gravely. “You’re safer with us,” he concluded, allowing me to see the warmth in his eyes for just a second before he put up his stoic mask once more. “So, just hurry up and pick a place where you want to stay for the night. You’re not the only one who’s had a long day, noona.” 

I looked at Kai in surprise for putting me on the spot like that, but then I softened up, since he made a point in his own way. I looked at the expecting faces around me and let out a soft sigh. 

“Well, I guess, out of practical purposes…if you don’t mind me staying for the night, Suho, I’d like to take you up on that offer,” I answered, cringing a little when I saw the great leader do a little victory dance while the others groaned in protest. 

Only Kai was smirking. “Good. Now that’s settled, I’ll call my mom,” he said, confusing all of us. 

“Why?” asked a sulky Sehun. 

Kai bore a playful grin on his face, one that I hardly had the privilege to see often. 

“What, didn’t you hear what I said?” he asked his fellow maknae. “Jae-noona is safer with us. She chose the location, and now we’re having a sleepover,” he smirked. “Thanks for opening your home to us, Suho-hyung,” he added as a jab to the leader, who lost his previous excitement upon learning that Kai set him up.

“You’re all going to stay over?” he asked, still in disbelief as his brothers made phone calls to their homes. 

“Absolutely! As if we’re going to let Jae-noona stay here by herself! You’re even worse than Minho-hyung!” Baekhyun answered jokingly as Suho’s face signaled defeat. 

“Fine,” the gracious leader eventually conceded. “I’ll have the big guest room prepared,” he breathed, lighting up only briefly when I gave him a thankful smile. 

“Awesome! Slumber party!” Chen exclaimed happily, high-fiving Chanyeol. 

“Hey, you’re not gonna be loud, are you? I’m actually planning to sleep,” I warned them all for good measure. 

“Of course! No worries, noona, you can sleep peacefully. I’ll be watching over you,” Sehun vowed. 

“Oh boy, I bet that’s comforting for her to know,” Baekhyun commented sarcastically, making fun of Sehun when the maknae started blushing heavily. 

“It’s too late to call Minho instead, huh?” I asked Xiumin who was standing close by, quietly watching his brothers make fools of themselves. He laughed briefly. 

“‘Fraid so. Hope you’re not a light sleeper,” he joked. 

I was thankful that I was exhausted. Once Suho told us that the room was ready, my feet automatically guided me towards the bed and I fell down. I can’t remember much, but I distinctly remembered quickly falling asleep listening to the lighthearted ruckus the boys were making. It was the most pleasant way of drifting off into comforting unconsciousness that I had experienced so far. I secretly hoped that this sense of security would never wane away.