***

“Jae, I’m sorry.” 

Mom? 

“You shouldn’t say that. It’s not your fault, love.” 

Dad? Where are you?

“We’ve tried so hard, and nothing worked…” 

“That’s why we’re here, to ask. Ask and you shall receive. Don’t lose hope yet.” 

“We’ve come here every day. I don’t think anyone is listening.” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Dad was smiling at me. “Right?” he winked. 

Dad… Wait!

A faint light shimmered through my closed eyelids, stirring me awake. I thought that I would see my parents, the dream being so vivid I thought it real, until all the troubles from my waking life came flooding back and I knew that I wasn’t home. I think it was morning, but the light was dim and gray, the sun was nowhere to be found. It felt cold, but I wasn’t cold. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and moved slightly, only to startle once I realized that there was someone sleeping behind me. Now that I thought about it, I did find it rather odd that a third arm had managed to snake around my waist. 

I calmed down when I remembered that I had fallen asleep on the couch with Baekhyun, though I have to admit that I couldn’t remember us being this close when we fell asleep. This made things rather awkward though, since I had no idea how I could get off the couch without rudely waking him up. I startled a second time when a shadow blocked the faint light, but being stuck in my position, I couldn’ t look behind me. 

“Ah!” I gasped when out of nowhere, Sehun appeared in front of me, a sulking look on his face. 

“Oh, noona, you’re awake,” he whispered quietly. I nodded and blushed when I saw the look of disapproval on his face as he sneered at a sleeping Baekhyun behind me. I was about to explain that this wasn’t how it looked like, when I heard more voices in the room. 

“Yah, what’s this?!” Chen piped up in a whisper. 

“Shh, you’ll wake the little traitor,” Luhan warned, his voice just as soft. 

“Jae-noona, are you okay?” Tao asked as if he pitied me greatly. I shook my head mostly out of embarrassment, trying to bury my face somewhere, which they took the wrong way. 

“Don’t worry, noona, we’ll rescue you,” Sehun said determinedly. 

“Yeah, we’ll teach him a lesson,” Chanyeol rubbed his hands, sparks already flying. 

“No, guys, you misunderstand, I don’t want you to punish him-,” I started, but of course my words fell on deaf ears as I noticed Baekhyun’s arm lifting without him actually doing anything, while Sehun and Chen ushered me from the couch. 

Baekhyun still had his arm up in the air - courtesy of Luhan -, sleeping soundly, murmuring unintelligibly against the cushion. “So warm…” he hummed sheepishly.

“Yah! This guy!” Chanyeol shook his head. “Suho-hyung, are you ready?” he asked, as I saw the leader playing around with a ball of water. 

“Oh, really? Guys, come on,” I tried, but they wouldn’t listen. 

I rolled my eyes when they whispered the countdown, but I was surprised to see D.O. step up out of the blue, standing behind the couch so that he could grip the leaning and suddenly flipped Baekhyun off the couch entirely before the boys even made it to one. 

Baekhyun woke up with a start, yelling loudly and flinging his arms as he looked around, bewildered. “Whoa! What the heck?! What happened?! Yah!” he exclaimed loudly as his brothers laughed. 

“Okay, Suho-hyung, your turn. He’s too loud,” D.O. smirked to which Suho shrugged as though it didn’t matter anyway and flung the ball of water at Baekhyun’s face. The yelling became noisier then and even I couldn’t hold back my laughter. 

“Hey! Su-hyung! You trying to drown a guy?! What was all of this for?!” Baekhyun protested, shaking his head wildly while wiping the water from his face. 

“That’s for stealing Jae-noona from us in the middle of the night, hyung!” Sehun piped up, his arm around my shoulder defensively. 

“He didn’t steal me, Sehun,” I remarked flatly. 

“Shh, noona, let us have our fun,” the maknae replied in an urgent whisper. 

“Yeah! Did you think you could win over Jae without a fight?” Kris prompted, sleeking over his fluffy bed hair. 

“Um, okay, first of all I’m not some prize to be stolen or won, thank you very much. And per usual, you guys have it all wrong. We fell asleep while talking last night, that’s all,” I clarified. 

“Exactly! It’s not my fault that Jae-noona likes to cuddle!” Baekhyun added, gratefully accepting the towel Lay had gotten for him. 

“Okay, you’re not helping,” I pointed out, causing him to grin guiltily at me. 

“How did you guys even end up here in the first place?” D.O. then inquired, squeezing into the cushion of the leaning. I briefly exchanged glances with Baekhyun, and it wasn’t difficult to tell that neither of us were willing to share the conversations we had with one another. 

“Well, I had trouble sleeping, so I went out to get some water,” I started, looking to Baekhyun to bail me out of having to lie. 

“Y-yeah, and I just came out of the bathroom so we met half way and got to talking,” he replied, placing the towel around his neck. 

“Talking about what?” Luhan then asked, a smirk on his face. He arched his eyebrows in surprise at me, as if he could sense that I was totally purposely blocking him out no matter what. The look he gave me was one of utter amusement though. It was as if I could almost hear him thinking how fascinating he thought my reaction was. The bully. 

“Everything, nothing- what does it matter? It was a private conversation,” Baekhyun answered resolutely, though the boys probably wouldn’t let the matter go that easily. 

“We got to talking about the dagger,” I added as Baekhyun quickly masked his surprise. “And our next step. But I guess we were both too tired to really discuss it so we fell asleep instead,” I shrugged, pretending to be embarrassed at that fact. At least the guys would leave the matter be then- I hope. 

“Oh…well that’s boring, noona, why would talk about stuff like that in the middle of the night? You should’ve been resting instead,” Sehun told me. 

“Indeed, the both of you should have,” Suho nodded, looking at Baekhyun too. “We don’t know what’s going to happen from now on, but with the black snake out there we need all the rest and energy we can get. We don’t know when we might have to use it,” he added. 

“Wow, way to go, Suho-hyung. Great way to bring the mood down,” Chen commented. 

“Yeah, hyung, we were just joking around,” Chanyeol interjected as Suho confusedly looked around. 

“What? But, but-,”

“Always taking things so seriously and we haven’t even had breakfast yet,” Luhan quipped to mess with him. 

“Too tense,” Kai remarked. 

“And dense,” D.O. commented with a smirk. 

“Wha- but! Hey! I didn’t mean to bring the mood down, but we can’t forget what we’re up against either…” he said with a sulking pout that made us laugh. 

“Ah we know that, hyung! We’re just messing with you,” Tao said comfortingly, slinging his arm around Suho. 

“That’s right, so how about all of us go and get some breakfast and after that you can talk about the end of the world as we know it as much as you want, okay?” Kris suggested as he walked on Suho’s other side, sandwiching him between himself and Tao. 

“Cool, I could use some chicken,” Kai said, walking ahead. 

“Chicken? Who eats chicken for breakfast?” Sehun prompted following his brother. 

“I don’t know, who drinks bubble tea during breakfast?” Kai retorted, much to Sehun’s protest. 

“Yah, bubble tea is tea! Tea is completely normal to drink in the morning!” his voice echoed as they disappeared around the corner. Baekhyun quickly placed his hand on my shoulder, smiling and nodding subtly, before following the others. 

I trailed behind a bit before I decided I could use some food as well. However, as I walked behind them, my hand was suddenly tugged, my mouth covered and I was pulled away to another room before I realized what just happened. 

“Hm?!” I mumbled, looking at a smirking Luhan who placed his finger in front of his mouth to silence me. 

“Follow me,” he whispered, pulling along with him to the opposite direction the boys went to. His hand was wrapped tightly around my own as he took the lead, guiding me through the hallways and rooms of the Kim mansion, until we ended up in what I presumed was some kind of ballroom. Honestly, how rich are Suho’s parents? 

The room had mirror walls on one side, giving the illusion that it was much larger than it really was. Three great chandeliers hung from the tall ceilings and the enormous windows allowed the light of day to come flooding in, except since it was gray outside, the whole room seemed to be bathing in dim, gloomy light. 

Still, I suppose it didn’t take away the grandeur and beauty of the room, though I wondered why Luhan took me here in the first place. I looked at him when he opened a glass door, which I had initially mistaken for another window and the cool morning breeze wafted in. 

Luhan looked up to the sky, but said nothing and just stood there in front of the door. 

“Um, so…” I started, but Luhan didn’t even look at me. What? Rude much? “Is there a particular reason why you dragged me all the way here so I would miss breakfast?” I asked. Since the ballroom was so big, my quiet voice still bounced from the walls in whispered echoes. 

“Sorry,” he suddenly apologized. “I didn’t mean to be so dramatic, but there was something I wanted to ask you in private,” he said. 

I narrowed my eyes at him, putting my hands on my hips. “If you want to know what Baekhyun and I were talking about I’m not telling- and no, you do not get permission to enter my head,” I told him derisively, but this only made him chuckle. 

“No worries, Jae, that’s not why I brought you here for,” Luhan assured, running his fingers through his messy hair. He was wearing loose sweats and a t-shirt, the sight so casual and comfortable, it felt strange to have to realize that I looked the same way, sans the morning gloriousness that he radiated with ease. Honestly, I don’t think these dudes ever had a bad hair day in their lives. It was a stupid time to become self-conscious but I couldn’t help but check up on my shaggy appearance in the many mirrors and desperately tried to smooth over my hair when I saw it looked like tangled tumbleweed. 

“Why did you bring me here, then?” I asked, casually trying to unknot my hair. 

Luhan looked serious then when he gazed at me, lifting his hand, extending it to me. “Come here,” his voice beckoned from all around the empty ballroom. 

“Is there something wrong?” I asked him, taking small steps. 

“Just come over here. Hurry, before the others realize that we’re missing,” he urged, waving his hand at me. 

I quickly joined him and Luhan immediately directed me towards the opened doors as he stood behind me. 

“I want- no, I need to ask you something,” he said, his hands on my shoulders. 

I frowned a little. “Okay…” I murmured, wondering why he was acting so weird. I turned around to ask him, but Luhan prompted turned me back to face the doorway that led to another stone balcony. It was large enough for more people to dance here too, in case the ballroom wasn’t enough. 

“Answer me immediately,” he whispered, his breath tickling my skin. “Without thinking, you have to answer my question. Can you do that?” 

“Luhan, what’s this about?” I asked, starting to feel a little agitated. Why did he insist on playing these silly games?

“No, no, no, Jae. Without thinking. Can you answer me immediately? You have to react, you don’t get room to think about the answer, you just have to say it,” he persisted. “Can you do that?” 

“Yes,” I sighed, playing along, hoping that he would make a point. 

“Good. Alright then, let’s start off easy-,”

I grunted. “I thought you said there was something that you needed to ask me? Why don’t you just ask?” I interrupted, but he squeezed my shoulders in warning. 

“Jae,” he called out. “Focus,” he said. “I have a point, I promise.” When Luhan heard me sigh again, he chuckled before he continued. 

“What color is the sky right now?” 

“Gray.”

“And the forest?” 

“Green.”

“Whose house are we staying in?”

“Suho’s.”

“What did you dream about last night?” 

“My parents.” It wasn’t the only dream I had, of course, but it was the last dream I had before waking up. I felt Luhan gently squeeze my shoulders. 

“Who did you talk to last night?”

“Baekhyun.”

“Who did you see first when you woke up?”

“Sehun.”

“Do you trust Mr. Tabi?” 

“Yes.” That was a really fast answer. Did I really trust him?

“Do you trust us?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Then, out of all twelve of us, who do you like the most?”

I startled, feeling all the blood rush towards my head I was sure I was gonna burst. 

“What kind of question is that?!” I protested, but Luhan laughed. 

“Damn. Well, it was worth a shot,” he said, but something in his voice nearly sounded regretful. What was he playing at?

I pulled away from his grip so I could turn around to face him. Doing my best to ignore how impossibly gorgeous he looked in the gray light of the morning, with a dust of red covering his cheeks, I confronted him. 

“Look, I don’t know what you’re playing at, Luhan, but if this is some kind of game-,”

“It’s not, not really. I’m sorry,” he interrupted, apologizing sincerely. “Just tried to lighten up the mood a bit before I got to the really serious stuff.” 

I didn’t need to be a mindreader like him to see that there was something troubling him then. Luhan’s eyebrows were furrowed, and there was concern gleaming in his doe-eyes. 

“Luhan, what is it?” I asked, and he sighed, turning me back around to face the balcony outside. 

“Look up to the sky and tell me what you see,” he answered, but this had me sigh in exasperation. 

“Is this another game?” I asked, voice flat. 

“No games, I promise,” he assured. “Just tell me, what do you see?” Luhan sounded serious enough in my opinion, so I relaxed a bit and looked at the gray sky. I let my eyes wander over the dark clouds, squinting now and again, wondering what he wanted me to say. When I lifted my shoulders in question, I shook my head. 

“All I see is gray skies. The weather is dreary, so what?” I told him, but Luhan shook his head, standing beside me. 

“No, Jae, look again. Look at the light, anything you notice?” he persisted. 

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just told me, Lu?” I asked, losing my patience. I was starting to get hungry…

I was met by the most sinful puppy dog look known to mankind and I groaned in defeat. “Fine!” I huffed, looking at the stupid gray sky and the stupid gray light of morning on this stupidly dreary day- hold on. I watched the clouds moving to the will and whims of the cool wind, saw how parts of the cloud dispersed to reveal the blue skies hiding behind them. That is, I had expected them to be a clear, bright morning blue, but was rather stumped to see that wasn’t the case at all. The sky was a lighter gray than the clouds moving in front of it, and the little light that spilled through the wisps of billows was not a bright yellow or warm orange of color. The rays were pallid and cold, like the light of- but that wasn’t possible, was it?

Luhan was watching me while I inspected the strange skies and when he saw my face crunch up with confusion, he took it as his cue to finally elaborate. 

“I had the same expression on my face when I woke up this morning to look outside. I haven’t told the others yet, but I wanted to confirm it with you first,” he said as I met his gaze. 

“With me? Why?”

Luhan sighed again, his lips twisted in a wan smile. His body language signaled hesitation before he gave in. 

“I had a dream last night,” he started, “Well, I thought it was a dream, but it could’ve been a vision. You were in it, Jae. You were standing on the stone platform back in the woods, you know, our usual spot? Anyway, you were looking up at the moon. I had never seen it so big and so close before…You held the dagger in your hand and asked me what I thought of the sky. When I told you that I didn’t know what you meant, you smiled and whispered something,” he explained nearly breathlessly. 

“You said that one can tell when the time for the earth is over. The sky would be the first to crumble. When I woke up, the first thing I did was look out the window and I saw what you just saw. Don’t even get me started when I looked over to the bed to see that you were gone- that really scared me for a moment,” he muttered softly, looking embarrassed and sad at the same time. 

“It was just a dream, Lu,” I tried to console him. He blinked at me and I still can’t get over the intensity of his gaze. It still had the ability to unnerve me, but not necessarily in a bad way. 

“Was it?” he asked with the vulnerability of a child. “Look at the sky, Jae,” he emphasized. “The sun never rose this morning. The light we see here comes from the moon. It’s the same light I saw in my dream. I don’t think we have much time left, and Jae-,” Luhan took my hands in his. “I don’t know why, but I’ve got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that goes up to tighten my chest- I’m worried, I’m-,” he abruptly stopped talking as though he divulged something he didn’t mean to. He looked at my hands, intertwining our fingers. “I’m scared something might happen to you,” he confessed so quietly it seemed all the world had fallen still. He looked uncomfortable having to say those words out loud, a distinct frown on his face. 

Was he expecting me to comfort him? Should I tell him that he shouldn’t worry when we both knew full well that there were many things to worry about? Still…

He looked so upset. Dreams could do that to a person I suppose, and his in particular was admittedly nerve wracking. Considering his abilities, there was no reason to suspect the dream of being false. The frightening notion that the sun had never risen this morning was enough proof of that, but somewhere it hurt to see that even something so disturbing wasn’t the first thing Luhan was worried about. 

He gripped my hands tighter as though he was conveying that he didn’t want to let them go. 

“Luhan,” I started, but how should I continue?

“Jae,” he interrupted. “Do you really think Mr. Tabi has the answer to help us?” he asked. 

“He seems to know what he was talking about and it looked like he was puzzling the pieces together. He said he knew what to do, but I don’t know how long it would take him,” I saw Mr. Tabi’s face again, how determined he had been, how comforting it felt that there was someone that actually took me seriously, someone who believed me. “You’ve known him for years, right? Do you think I’ve made a mistake trusting him?” I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to know the answer but I also felt that if there was only one of them that said that they weren’t sure about Mr. Tabi, then I’d think twice before accepting his help as well. 

“Mr. Tabi is probably the coolest teacher we have at the school,” Luhan smirked. “Not only that, he’s a good guy. I think so at least. I never really needed to read his mind since he’s the kind of guy who just says whatever he thinks of. So, if he says that he’s willing to help, I suppose I see no reason to suspect him,” he said thoughtfully and then nodded. “I just hope he really has the answers we need.” 

I nodded in agreement while looking at our hands. I was trying to see which finger belong to which hand. When I looked up again, Luhan’s gaze was absent. 

“That’s not the only thing you wanted to ask, is it?” I stated, rather than asked. 

Luhan grimaced in reply. “That uneasy feeling hasn’t left since I had that dream. That’s why I just have to ask you if you know- truly - what you’re getting yourself into. I mean, I’m a guardian first and foremost so I have to worry about these things. I’ve been thinking lately, and no matter what happens next you can bet it’ll be dangerous. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ve sacrificed so much already, Jae, you’ve already done so much. I know that none of us will think less of you if you decided that this point was where you draw the line. I don’t have to tell you that running away from home is a pretty big deal,” he explained, sincerity and gentility dripping from his every word. I could tell that he would prefer me to sit this one out and even though I appreciated his concern, it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I squeezed into his hands a bit, giving him the best smile I could offer in the morning. 

“Thank you, Lu, but my answer is clear. I’ve made up my mind. I know full well of the possible dangers we might face, but I’m willing to challenge them beside all of you. I’m not going anywhere.” I assured him, but Luhan seemed torn by the answer I gave him. 

“Do you really know of the possible dangers, Jae? Keep in mind that you haven’t woken up yet, like the ghost wolf told you to. We don’t know what might happen once you do, we- I - wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to you. That bad feeling-,” 

“Is just a feeling. Come on, Lu, with you guys as guardians what could happen to me?” I interrupted. 

“You could die,” he whispered with trembling voice. “You apparently died in the past, what if- what if it happens again? What if you waking up actually means that you have to-,” he couldn’t finish the sentence and, granted, I was a bit shocked myself as it never really occurred to me that I could die again. Guess that was an effect of having escaped death one too many times. Then again, I really did have complete faith in the boys. They’d protect me and I’d try to do my best to protect them. 

“The past is in the past, Luhan. This is the here and now. Things’ll be different this time, you’ll see. We’ll find a way to win this time, without casualties. I won’t grant Mr. Yok his sick pleasure of hurting more people,” I told him and then smiled at him again. “Now will you stop worrying and be a little more positive? You give Suho a hard time or being Mr. Doom and Gloom, but you’re worse than he is!” I cheered him up, finally getting a chuckle out of him. Hey, it was better than nothing!

“Ouch, that was below the belt, Jae,” he quipped, the playfulness returning in his eyes. “So…do we hug this out?” he scraped his throat, obviously feeling awkward about how to proceed. I punched him lightly on the arm which startled him before I leaned in for a quick hug. 

“You’re a dork,” I muttered into his shoulder. 

When we pulled away, a soft smile lingered on Luhan’s lips when he suddenly blinked in bewilderment. “Oh no! I forgot to ask one more thing during our lightning round!” 

I shook my head in amusement. “Well, then ask me now and get it over with,” I sighed deeply. 

He smirked and made sure to hold my gaze when he asked, surprisingly softly, “When we’ve played hero and saved the world from certain destruction and all that- who are you going to take with you to the Homecoming Dance?”

I arched my eyebrows at him, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks again. His provocative stare helped keep my mind sharp though so I wasn’t going to be thrown off my feet that easily. 

“Well, guess we’ll find out after we’re done saving the world,” Ha! Take that, Mr. Smartypants! I grinned. Luhan chuckled, admitting defeat when he became serious once more. 

“It’s not Minho, is it?” he asked, looking bothered. 

I shook my head in confusion. “What do you guys have against Minho?” I muttered as Luhan seemed to struggle to find an answer. I was about to tell the doofus not to trip over his own tongue when something shifted in the air. 

Even though I more or less anticipated it, I still jumped and gave a soft shriek when Kai appeared out of thin air. The swirls of black smoke still twirled towards the ceiling before they thinned out and dispersed. 

“Sheesh, here you are! I’ve been looking for you two everywhere,” he panted, appraising us for a moment. “What the heck are you doing here?”

“Uh, we-,”

“Um, yeah we were just- eh…”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Never mind, I don’t need to know,” he cut us off. “Here, come with me. You guys gotta see this,” Kai grabbed our shoulders and before either of us could even open our mouths to ask what was going on, we already disappeared into the black mist.