-

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself in a field of flowers.

But, what happened to Iron Bolt?

And where am I???

"W-What happened??"

I slowly sat up, and I had a weird feeling in my chest.

I remember when Iron Bolt punched me. When he did, I felt and heard a lot of cracking, and then I couldn't breathe.

But, now I'm fine???

I'm still very confused though. Did the three of us die? And is this the afterlife? If so, why is Jaemin here, but not Jisung? If we we're dead, Jisung would be here too. So..., it can't be the afterlife right?

But if that's the case and we're still alive, where are we??

I started looking around while Jaemin was still sleeping. I turned around and came face to face with another person, making scream in fear and stumble backwards.

"Sorry~! I didn't mean to scare you~"

I calmed down a little, and realized the person was a girl around my age sitting in front of me.

She had long silver hair that was mostly contained in a bun, with eyes the same color as her hair. I really liked her choice of clothes too.

"You two were literally falling from the sky when I saw you. You landed in a nearby pond, so I brought you both here to keep you safe~. Also, I'm sorry that I changed your clothes. I didn't want you two to catch a cold or anything"

She apologized and handed me a small duffel bag with our clothes in it.

That's why our clothes are different from what I remember!

I thought it was odd that I was missing a shirt.

"Thank you for that. Do you know where we are??"

"This is Planet Kolara"

"Kolara... Wait. Which galaxy??"

"The Clover Cloud"

"What?! How did we get all the way out here?!?!"

"Are you two not from around here???"

"No! We're from Ethora in the Corona Galaxy!"

"What?! You're from Ethora too?!"

"Yes! How did you end up here?!"

"I don't know? All I remember is that I was with my friends when we all got separated. I ended up here, but I don't remember how"

"Like, you lost some of your memories?"

"Yeah. But I do remember that I'm from Ethora"

"...I got it! My brother and I can help you get back to Ethora~!"

"Really?! I'd be so thankful! But, how do we get off this planet?"

"Good question..."

"Your brother probably knows how, but he's still out col-"

"NoOdLeS!¡"

Jaemin suddenly shot awake, scaring us both.

He looked around in a panic, but calmed down when he saw me.

"Chenle! You're awake!"

He suddenly tackled me and hugged me tightly.

"Jaemin-hyuuuuung!"

"It actually worked! I'm so glad you're ok~!"

"What worked hyung???"

"You were asleep for almost a month even though Renjun-hyung healed you. I had to use the Power of Waking to wake you up. Turns out, your heart somehow fell into a deep slumber, but you're ok now~!"

"I see... But how did we get all the way out here on Kolara??"

"Oh! Ten-hyung destroyed one of the thrusters on our ship and we crash landed-. wAIT! WHERES THE SHIP?! WE GOTTA FIND RENJUN-HYUNG AND THE OTHERS!!!"

Jaemin abruptly jumped up in another panic.

What was he talking about?

What ship??

And why would Ten attack us???

Why are we so far away from home in the first place????

"Actually, when you two got here, not long after, I saw something like a meteorite crash not too far from here. I think that might've been your ship~"

The girl informed, catching Jaemin's attention.

"Really?! Can you show us the way?! We really need to find our ship!"

"Of course~! I'd be happy too~"

"Thank you so much~!"

Jaemin stopped panicking and seemed rather happy now.

"I'm Chenle by the way, and this is my brother Jaemin~"

"It's nice to meet you both~. I go by two names, but for now, just call me Kou~"

"Sure thing~. Lead the way Kou~"

She smiled, and led us on our journey to find our ship.

-

30 Minutes Later

-

Jaemin told me everything that's happened ever since I almost got killed.

Hearing that Ethora is in danger once again just makes me feel uneasy. As much as I want to go back, we can't right now. And if we can't fix our ship, there's no way to get back to the others to free them from their possessor.

But, for some reason, Kou puts me at ease.

She's kind of like Jisung with how she's so quiet and sweet. She picked two dandelions earlier and gave one to me and Jaemin.

She's really cute too. It's like I feel as if all of my worries wash away when I'm around her.

Still, she is quite a mystery.

"So Kou, how come you have two names?"

I asked.

"It has to do with my power, Yin and Yang. It lets me utilize a form of magic related to the aspects of Yin and Yang, allowing me to mystically control complementary and opposing powers. So I can use magic like Light-Shadow Magic, Lunar and Solar Magic, Thermal Magic, and Yin and Yang Separation and Unification. But, control, discipline, and restraint are extremely important. Unconscious, emotion-influenced, impulsive, or reckless use of my power can be catastrophic. Without the knowledge or proper skill, the intended use of such a powerful magic can create unpredictable or potentially dangerous results. So using my power may have a price, which I think is what happened to me"

"What do you mean?"

"I used to be just myself on Ethora, but I was childish and often used my power too recklessly. I think the price I had to pay for this recklessness was for my mind to become split in two. Yin and Yang is usually known by opposing forces, primarily light and darkness. I guess that's why I start to change now during day and night. In the day, I go by my original name, Kou. I'm always this nice, quiet, and sweet girl during the day. But at night, I change. I become arrogant, loud, and extremely flirty. During those times, I go by the name Emiko"

"I see. How much different is Emiko, appearance wise?"

"Well, her hair is mostly hanging down, although some is still contained in a small bun. She wears less clothes. Like, she really doesn't like shirts. Oh, and she usually has a white mark on her forehead. And the personality and embodiment of Kou shapeshifts into a small black cat. I guess that way the powers of Yin and Yang balance each other out, so one isn't greater than the other"

"Do you always switch between Kou and Emiko?"

"Not all the time. I try to go to sleep before night comes so she doesn't make that much of an appearance. But sometimes, she comes out earlier than usual. So if you ever see me trying to take my shirt off, or if you notice my personality changes or if a dark cat-like shadow starts to slowly appear on my shoulder, you'll know that Emiko is about to take over"

She had a disturbed expression every time she said Emiko's name.

It's like they're sisters that really hate each other.

"Kou, do you hate Emiko?"

"...N-No! But it's not like she likes me. Sure, we're like sisters that share the same body unwillingly, but I know she'd rather have my body all to herself, like I once did"

"Maybe you two can learn to get along better~. My hyung Taeyong can help you when we find him~"

"I'd like that a lot...~"

She smiled softly, and we continued to make our way to the ship.

-

Hours Later

-

Jaemin was the first to notice when Kou started to change.

She kept tugging on the collar of her shirt, and her dialect started to change whenever she spoke. A small shadow was slowly appearing on her shoulder too.

She got really nervous, and asked if I could carry her so she could sleep. I could tell that she really wanted to make a good first impression by the scared look on her face.

She told us that the ship crashed straight ahead a few more miles away, so I complied. She got on my back and I gave her a piggy back ride. She wrapped her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist, soon falling asleep.

"She's pretty different isn't she?"

Jaemin started a conversation, breaking the silence.

"She is. But I like different"

"You mean you like her~"

"Which way do you mean hyung?"

"You know exactly which way Lele~"

He teased.

"I guess..., but how would I know what it feels like to like someone in that way??"

"You know how Renjun-hyung is completely head over heals for Suko? You can see it in his behavior. It's written all over him. The way he stutters a lot, that dumb smile he always has on his face whenever she's around, and that obvious blush he always has on his face. Not to mention he fused with her first out of all the rest of us. He cares a lot about her, and I know he won't admit it to any of us, but he has such a big, fat, obvious crush on her"

"...Have I done anything like that with Kou?"

"Crushes are different for everyone. You've been picking her about her backstory because you're trying to get to know her better without realizing it. You haven't known each other for long, but you've both already started forming a bond with each other, because you're willing to help each other. She gave you new clothes because she didn't want you to get sick from being wet. She brought you somewhere safe to keep you out of harms way. And she stayed by your side ever since we got here, even if we were complete strangers. I have no doubt that she might like you too~"

"But a lot of people do stuff like that for me, especially Jisung and Renjun-hyung. How do I know if she likes me that way too?"

"You'll be able to tell with time. Actually, there's a great way for you to test my theory~"

"Really? How?"

"Kou said that Emiko is extremely flirty. So, if she flirts with you more than with any of us, whenever we actually get to meet Emiko, then you'll have a solid conclusion that she does have feelings for you~"

"Ok..., but we'll just have to wait and see right?"

"Right~"

-

We were found by three strangers that turned out to be our new friends.

The ninja Xiaojun, the knight Hendery, and the rather cute assassin YangYang.

They led us back to the ship, and everyone was very happy to see us. They were especially happy to hear that Jaemin managed to wake me up.

I also got to meet Serafina, Nora, and Geno. And it turned out that they were Kou's friends~. They informed us that they only had two more of their friends left to find now~.

Luckily, Renjun, Lucas, Jeno, Leiyong, and Mark fixed the ship in the most dynamic way possible. Jeno actually summoned unused parts for the ship, Lucas used his spikes to make everything stick together, with some help from Leiyong to weld the parts together, and Mark helped Renjun giving out orders while cleaning up unwanted debris.

The ship is actually very nice in my opinion~. I can't believe I missed this much in the time span of a month.

Anyway.

We decided to venture off to another galaxy for training, and everyone wanted to get as far as possible so that Ten and the others wouldn't be able to track us. How they found us in the first place, we don't know, but Mark made sure to use his unplottable magic this time around.

We decided to get some sleep while the ship flew on auto pilot to our destination.

I brought Kou, who was now Emiko, with me to my room. Lucky for me, she was still asleep. I laid her in my bed and laid next to her.

I then noticed that the shadowy cat she told us about was looking right at me. I held my finger up to it, and it quietly meowed and tapped my finger.

Now I knew that it was Kou in the form of the cat~.

"You should get some sleep too Kou~"

The cat just meowed and rested on Emiko's chest, closing its eyes.

That's so cute~.

Now that I think about it, I guess I am showing signs that I might like her that way.

We may have just met a few hours ago, but I can already feel that we might get much closer in time~.

"Good night Kou...~"