"What are you doing?"

Xiumin saw Tao staring hard at the wall clock. Whenever Xiumin saw Tao, the guy was either looking at his watch or any clock in sight. And this morning, he chose to stare at their room's wall clock.

"Hyung," Tao began. "Try freezing my hand."

"Huh?"

"Just try freezing my hand," Tao insisted, now holding out his hand for Xiumin to freeze freely. "That thing you did before, with the trees."

Tao had caught Xiumin practicing his freezing skills on the woods near the House one morning. Ever since they came to the House, Xiumin always felt hyped up as if the cold inside him needed release. And so he let it out on the trees.

"Why do you want me to freeze your hand?" Xiumin asked, confused with his brother's thinking. "Did you burn yourself? Have you been touching Chanyeol's body parts that you shouldn't?"

"Hyung?" Tao looked appalled, much to Xiumin's relief. "No! It's not that! I was wondering if I could stop the time before you freeze me."

"Of course you won't. I--" Xiumin imagined Tao's hand freezing even before he could finish his sentence.

Tao felt the prickles of ice in his fingertips and he immediately pushed his will, allowing time to stop. And just as he wanted, Xiumin was caught midsentence, and mid-skill. He was freezing Tao's hand even before he was ready, the sneaky hyung! Tao danced around the time-frozen Xiumin.

"I froze you, I froze you!" And Tao released the weight on his will, and Xiumin finished his sentence.

"--will always beat you."

A block of dry ice fell on the bed, where Tao's hand had been. But Tao was already beside Xiumin, smiling smugly.

"I got you, hyung."

"How did you get there?! Are you like Kai now?"

"No no no! I didn't teleport! I just held the time and moved here and then released it. You didn't know I was gonna do that! But I totally deflected your Skill on me. Ha ha."

"No way! That's not fair!"

Tao just laughed at his cute hyung. "But you did your Skill on me even before I got ready! But I was ready! From now on, I'll be ready all the time."

***********

Chanyeol thought he was the first one in the kitchen that morning, and he walked in on Eunhye stirring a steaming mug of coffee. No ice cream this morning? he wanted to ask her.

Eunhye silently poured another cup of coffee and placed it in front of Chanyeol on the kitchen counter. The guy blinked at her, not sure if it was really her giving him coffee she had made.

"What?" she asked between sips. Chanyeol could feel the temperature emanating from her mug and he knew the water had just boiled. Was she immune to the heat as he was? Nah, that's impossible. "It's just coffee. And I didn't poison it."

Funny, he was about to ask about that. She turned around back on her side of the kitchen counter and Chanyeol took a sip. And spat it back out. What the heck? She drank this kind of coffee? No wonder she always looked bitter.

"I'm not bitter," Eunhye said, suddenly turning back to face Chanyeol. She handed him two small jars, one labelled Sugar, the other Creamer.

"No one said you were," Chanyeol said. He was sure he didn't say that aloud.

"You just did."

"Nope, I said 'thanks for the coffee' just now."

Eunhye opened the jar of Sugar herself, and put a teaspoonful of sugar in Chanyeol's mug. And another. And another. And yet another. And another one.

"Okay, that's fine. Thank you."

Eunhye kept her eye on Chanyeol, daring him to say anything more, as she added two more teaspoonfuls of sugar. "Milk?" she asked him.

"I'm good."

She added three teaspoons of milk anyway. She didn't have to bother, really.

"Good morning," Luhan walked in, his hair still disheveled. He took in the two of them at the kitchen counter and frowned at Chanyeol. "What are you two doing?"

"Coffee?" Eunhye offered, not bothering to answer his question. Behind her, Chanyeol shook his head vigorously, trying to warn Luhan not to take anything this girl offered.

"Sure, I love coffee," Luhan said, glaring at Chanyeol. He put a hand to Eunhye's shoulder and slightly pushed her away from Chanyeol, as if he was the dangerous one, still with his eyes on him. He's suddenly protective of her?! Chanyeol was the one Luhan should be protecting!

"I'm gonna make pancakes," Chanyeol announced.

************

Ava glanced through her Vessel's eyes. She had to find those three scrolls. W