The four of them had opted to eat outside, the summer evening being beautiful. Currently, the three men were watching Mim ecstatically work her way through the rest of the 600 grams of pork belly they'd ordered, waving one of the women over to ask for another 200 grams. Yifan swore he could hear his credit card crying. Chanyeol and Firefall just chuckled.

“Well, you did ask for it, offering her as much as she wanted.”

Yifan sighed softly, watching as Firefall moved closer to Mim, allowing her to shove a few pieces of pork belly in his mouth, giggling.

“I keep forgetting she's just as bad as that woman in the gumiho drama.” He watched as she leaned into Firefall's shoulder, chattering away with him as they grilled the next 200 grams together. “If not worse.”

Chanyeol leaned back, still watching their birth-mates. “Wanna share the real reason you're willing to drop a possible couple hundred thousand won on pork belly when you know the only way Mim will stop is if she actively decides to?”

Yifan sighed deeper. He'd successfully managed to get Mim to forget about earlier, and, truthfully, had almost forgotten about it himself. “She saw a couple in the park. One of those happy, sappy couples that looked like they stepped out of a drama. Paired with me going on a date...” He trailed off. He knew he didn't need to say anymore.

Chanyeol nodded, taking a drink of his beer. “Understandable. As selfish as it sounds, I'm glad that didn't happen to Firefall.”

Yifan didn't respond. He knew Chanyeol didn't mean any harm in his comment. In reality, it was a good thing Firefall didn't have the same issue Mim did. Chanyeol, for his good heart, was still a Fire Summoner. With that came a quick temper that flared white-hot before dying. Unfortunately, that flare could do massive damage in those few seconds. He'd never be able to handle having Mim as his birth-mate.

Yifan felt that was where he got lucky. An Air Summoner, he was quite a bit more laid-back when it came to issues, to the point of forgetting about them as his attention moved onto the next thing that interested him. Mim was pretty self-sufficient when it came to her emotions, so things like having to cheer her up were rare. Yifan allowed a smile as he watched his birth-mate across the table. As much as he would whine about it to Chanyeol or Luhan later, he was more than willing to do this for Mim when necessary. He was dragged out of his thoughts by Chanyeol's voice.

“So, how did the date go? Mim said it went really well?”

Yifan's face slid into the same dopey smile from earlier as he turned to Chanyeol. Chanyeol's eyes widened, and he hurriedly gestured to the nearest ahjumma, who glanced at Yifan, then to Chanyeol's desperate eyes, and nodded, chuckling a bit. She managed to bring two more bottles of beer as Yifan launched into the details of his date. He nodded at the appropriate times, fighting the urge to chuckle at Yifan's face. His mind slid into other thoughts as his eyes moved over to his phoenix. He watched as Firefall fed Mim another piece of meat, laughing at something she was telling him. He thanked his lucky star again that Firefall didn't have Mim's issue. If Firefall so wished, he could have men and women lined up around the block, just like Chanyeol could. Chanyeol tuned out Yifan for a second, realizing that Firefall had never shown interest in any of the people swooning as they walked by. He made a mental note to ask him about it just as Yifan finished his date story. He switched back to Yifan without missing a beat.

“She kissed you? Man, no wonder you're in such a good mood.”

Yifan grinned that same dopey grin. “We're going to lunch tomorrow.”

Chanyeol made a mental note to mention that fact to Firefall. Mim would probably need some company, and he knew that Firefall's classes gave him relatively the same time off as Mim's for lunch. He glanced at Yifan and blinked at his unusually serious face. “Yifan?”

Yifan's face stiffened further and Chanyeol was aware that the two across the table had fallen silent. He looked over. Both Firefall and Mim were silent, eyes darting around. Chanyeol suddenly felt it, the change in the air. Something was wrong.

Meanwhile, Mim and Firefall were cheerfully sitting opposite, Firefall silently letting Mim feed him and yammer on about anything that came to her mind. Firefall's mind was racing, but he remained quiet, letting Mim talk. He knew she needed someone to listen. Despite what Yifan thought, Mim was still dwelling on the couple from the park, and Firefall could feel her sadness, despite her attempt at hiding it. So, he let her lean on him, let her giggle and talk, slowly feeling the sadness lift.

Suddenly, Mim went stiff and silent. She sat up, her eyes darting around. Firefall felt it a moment later, a rush of energy, dark and almost palpable.