"I could have been happy!"

“Get your hands off of her” Yongguk was calm but warning with his command as he stood to the right of Hope. From the girls left, Kai smirked, tugging her closer to himself and away from Yongguk with a cunning look in his eyes.

“You really think I would just do as you say? She’s the most valuable thing to us right now, so why pass this chance up?” With a shrug of his shoulders, Kai refused to hand the girl over to him. Hope let out a sound that signalled pain when Kai’s hand on her only gripped tighter.

“You’ve made a deal with us Yongguk, no benefits will come to you if you break it now” Kris threatened him as the rest of his team moved in closer.

“If it’s for her safety and protection then my job gives me every right to break any deal I made with you” Hope didn’t think Yongguk, or any of his team could move so quickly, to the point that she couldn’t even see the blur of his movements. Yongguk appeared by her side in a flash and snatched her away from Kai. She was shut in one of the minivans just as quickly, her whole scenery changing with the blink of an eye. Hope looked down, stiff and stunned as she looked at the marks on her arm that were going bright red from Kai’s hold. With a cry from Yongguk as he ran back to the scene, Hope stumbled back, unconsciously falling into Zelo. Hope jolted away and screamed as the sound of a bang on the window had her body flying in the air again. Hope scrambled to the door, gripping it and praying Baekhyun wouldn’t break through the door and get to her.

Baekhyun was yelling things at her and she put her head down, refusing to look at him and trying to tune his voice out as she held onto the door, praying none of his attacks would damage the vehicle enough for him to be able to reach her. Hope was holding up well, Baekhyun wasn’t able to open the door and when the minivan realised it wasn’t going anywhere, it automatically locked and the girl's whole body sagged, feeling like she just escaped death himself. Baekhyun was still angrily trying to find a way into the vehicle so Hope climbed over the seats as quickly as her shaky limbs would allow her to so that she could hide in the back. She could feel the van moving, going from side to side as more people beat against the windows and kicked at the doors in an attempt to get to her.

There was the resounding sound of glass smashing and Hope squirmed away when it flew towards her. Chanyeol’s head appeared through the broken window and Hope screamed. It only made Chanyeol laugh as he reached for her.

“I got her!”

“She’s going to the back!” He yelled, forcing his body through the broken window at the same time that Hope forced herself into the packed boot of the minivan. The door to the boot was forced open, making Hope look up in alarm. There was only one option Hope knew she had if she didn’t want to get caught. With a big breath of air, she dived past whoever had gotten the boot open and into the arms of Himchan, who had been standing with his arms open as if he knew this was going to happen. The two fell to the ground, with Himchan covering her. Hope shut her eyes, squinting and holding onto Himchan with a tight grip, making sure they wouldn’t be separated. All the noises around them became muffled, as if they had almost disappeared and there was a long pause where no attack had reached them and Himchan hadn’t spoken a word.

Unsurely, Hope let her eyes flutter open, making sure she was really with Himchan. When she saw him using his body to cover her, she knew she was still outside the hospital and she looked around, gasping at what she saw. There was a shield, clear like a bubble with a light shade of pink, stopping the attacks that were meant to be thrown at them.

“Himchan what’s happening?” Himchan ignored her, not speaking and closing his eyes. He pulled her closer when there was a loud thump, the same sort of sound that would be made if something were to hit glass. Hope looked up and shook in terror when she saw Kris hovering above them, on all fours as he punched the barrier with all his strength. It made cracks start to show in the barrier and as the colour faded Hope could feel that it was weakening.

Himchan’s body tensed and he let out a noise. The barrier came back in full strength with a wave of energy rushing through it that threw Kris off it. The cracks went away and the pink in the barrier grew stronger, obscuring the sight of what was on the other side of the barrier.

“Himchan, this is wasting your energy” Hope watched him sway and he shook his head, making the both of them stand, watching the conflict going on around them. Yongguk fought with all the anger one body could hold and more, pulling out what Hope could only explain to be grenades from his back pocket in an endless supply.

Youngjae’s tactic was to pull any member of EXO he saw dangerously close, making them squirm until they were unconscious and he dropped them to the floor. When Hope caught sight of him, his eyes were rolled back until they were purely white and he stared, causing a feeling of dizziness with the whites of his eyes. Jongup fought in a similar way to D.O. when his foot stomped against the ground beneath him, pieces of the earth went flying and he stood brave and tall amongst the rubble, remaining unharmed.

Daehyun had lost more control than ever before, it was as if he had spun on the spot a hundred times and now he was trying to join in on the fight. He jumped at members of EXO, colliding with them and stopping any attacks they were making towards s. But when he got back up he would raise a fist and stop himself at the last second when he noticed it wasn’t a member of EXO. He was in a state of confusion he wanted to attack EXO but there was a voice in his head, commanding that he aim for his own team and destroy them. And as much as he didn’t want to, his body made its way towards his team and tried to destroy them, just as it was commanded to.

“You need to go and stop Daehyun” Himchan told Hope and she looked at him in bewilderment.

“Excuse me?” She gasped and the barrier around them started to grow weaker.

“Go and get Daehyun, you’re the only one that can hold his attention and the only one he’s going to listen to” Himchan shoved her and Hope panicked, putting her arms up to protect herself. But it was as if the barrier hadn’t even been there, she pushed straight through and was out in the danger zone again. Himchan walked away, the barrier moving with him and barrelling anyone that crossed its path.

“Jung Daehyun!” Hope ran, praying that she wouldn’t get ripped away and taken.

“Oh princess, what are you doing out here?” Daehyun turned to her, reaching out for her and holding onto her. Hope collided with him, her face getting smashed into his chest and she felt like she had just rammed her head into a brick wall.

“Daehyun I need you to stop what you’re doing and think for a moment!” The girl exclaimed and Daehyun looked down at her in worry.

“Daehyun you’ve been attacking your own members! Stop and think you’re not meant to be hurting them you’re meant to be fighting with them!” Hope grabbed Daehyun by the shoulders, pulling him down to her level so that they were eye to eye.

“No sweetheart, the plan is to do whatever it takes to get you to the king” He was smirking but his expression faltered and he shook his head angrily.

“No!” He protes