“Are you sure, Yeol?”

“Positive.”

“But won’t they attract too much attention if we let them wear their own clothes to the mall?”

“I’m gonna be driving us there so nobody won’t see them on the way. Besides, it is still before mall hours and there should be no problem with that.”

“How are you even sure that there are already people in the mall? You just said that it is not yet mall hours.”

Chanyeol pulled out his phone from his pocket and held up one finger to tell his bestfriend to keep quiet as he dialed somebody. After a few rings, a curt ‘young master’ was heard on the other line. Kyungsoo’s lips formed an O as he understood. He smirked on his bestfriend though before going back to their visitors and informing them that they will be leaving soon.

“Mr. Lee, I need a favor.”

“I’m listening, young master.”

“Uhmmm, I have ahh, friends over and they came from a musical production last night. Someone played a prank on them though and hid their clothes somewhere and now they couldn’t find it. I was wondering if someone could assist us in Empire.”

“I’ll send somebody over, young master.”

“We’ll be there in twenty.”

“Understood.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lee.”

“Don’t hesitate to call again if you need anything else, young master.”

“Noted,” and Chanyeol hung up with a sigh. He really doesn’t want to use these kinds of favors from their company but this is kind of an emergency situation. Good thing that Mr. Lee didn’t ask questions. He took his keys that was on the drawer under his tv and set out to meet the others by the door.

“Chanyeol,” Yifan called him and he willed himself to look as normal as possible and stop himself from blushing because the prince is looking mighty fine in his clothes. “We greatly appreciate the assistance that you have given us. We will grant you favors as a way to express our gratitude.”

Maybe I could for one kiss..?

“Ahh, you don’t have to do that, really. You needed help and I could give you that so, no worries,” it doesn’t take too much convincing that Yifan is truly a prince charming, especially to Chanyeol.

“Do tell us if you’ve thought of anything,” Yixing smiled at him and patted his arm. Chanyeol saw that Kyungsoo is looking a little troubled on his side, his forehead is scrunched into a frown and his lower lip is jutted out. He’s got something on his mind. He tapped the other’s foot and his bestfriend’s wide eyes met his.

“Got something to say, Soo?”

“I am actually very, very curious as to what your quest is about,” Kyungsoo was slowly stepping behind his taller bestfriend and Chanyeol noticed that Jongin also moved as much as Kyungsoo did. That boy is oh so whipped. “I mean… you could only tell us if we could know about it but if not then forget I said anything,” Kyungsoo looked at the prince in the eye though because he is genuinely intrigued as to who these people are and why they suddenly showed up in Chanyeol’s backyard and why did Chanyeol trust them so easily without even knowing them for more than an hour when he agreed to let them sleep inside his house.

They all looked particularly harmless though (he’s a little doubtful at Jongin though, his stares are a little too intense and it makes Kyungsoo a whole lot conscious) but still. Why would people who are most likely not normal people suddenly show up there? And what’s with the talk of some sort of fire and Yixing can heal and Jongin can teleport. It has ticked something inside Kyungsoo and he’s pretty set on getting at the bottom of this mystery.

Do Kyungsoo loves mysteries.

Chanyeol scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. It was a good thing that his bestfriend has voiced this out first. “I am actually thinking of the same thing.”

Four sets of eyes fell on the prince as he contemplated on whether to tell their hosts about their quest. It is true that they have been generous to them and kind enough to put trust onto them. But what made his decision for him is his Dragon. If only it could tell Yifan directly what it wants to say except that they could trust these people back because they could help them in finding the Dragon Fire. This is their world anyway and Yifan wouldn’t want to do the search blindly just as how they were about to do, just like the previous quests. That method has proven to have no success over the years so maybe this is the time that they should be exploring more options.

“If you wish to know, then would it be too much to ask if we could ask for your help once more?”

“Not at all!” Chanyeol and Kyungsoo chorused. They grinned widely at each other, Kyungsoo being excited over the quest and Chanyeol being happy that this might prolong their guests stay in his house. And maybe he’ll know about what fire Yifan is talking about and maybe learn more about his own as well.

“Let’s talk about this in the car,” he suggested as he led the group to his garage where he houses his blue EcoSport and his maroon Starex which he uses whenever he and Kyungsoo has to bring instruments to their contests or recitals. He opted to take the Starex so that their guests would have enough leg room (Yifan, Zitao and Jongin are six-footer giants just like him) and enough room for them to place their bags for later.

Chanyeol slid the door open. “Get in,” he motioned but his guests were looking suspiciously on his van.

“What are we going to do inside that metal enclosure, Chanyeol?” Junmyeon asked as he stepped closer and felt the exterior of the van. “What is this thing for?”

Kyungsoo was the one who answered the questions. “This is called a car here,” he patted the window once. “We use this to get things from one place to another. Uhh, how do you transport things in your place?”

“We use portals,” Jongin replied as he stepped nearer Kyungsoo. “We open portals and use them to get goods from one place to another. You do know what portals are?”

Kyungsoo sighed as he looked up at Jongin. “Portals here are nonexistent though but the concept is that it is a distortion in space wherein the distance between two different points are shortened significantly by something that has a great gravitational pull.”

“I didn’t understand what you’ve just said, Soo.” Jongin frowned in confusion while Kyungsoo was gaping at him in surprise. The General noticed this and tilted his head. “Is something wrong?”

Chanyeol wasn’t able to hold back anymore as he had been trying to hold himself back since last night. He was laughing heartily and his guests were looking