It is strangely calm for the next few days.

Furious, Jongin had wanted to lunge at Baekhyun again upon realising that he was the one who made Chanyeol blind, but the leader had stretched his hand out, creating a wall of fire between Jongin and Baekhyun.

"Don't touch him." Chanyeol snarls, and even in his blindness, he had executed the defence perfectly. "I will burn anyone that hurts him."

Even then, Jongin had turned from his Leader to the boy who ruined it all, and Baekhyun had only watched him silently, emotionlessly, as if unfazed by what he had done, what Jongin had wanted to do, and what Chanyeol had done.

God, at that moment Jongin had felt so angry.

"Yixing, take care of Leader here." Luhan had said as he lifted himself off the ground and away from the crowd. "Everyone should leave this room in case something happens again. I'll watch over him."

Nodding, Yixing watched as Kyungsoo gathered Chanyeol up in his arms and then walked out of the room, and then he followed afterward. Jongin and Minseok followed too, whereas Sehun looked a little lost, glancing everywhere before following afterward.

No matter how much Yixing had tried to exercise his power, it would not take the blindness away from Chanyeol – that's because, he realises, Chanyeol is not hurt, but only disabled, and Yixing can't heal disabilities.

"Enough." Chanyeol had said, stretching his hands outwards so no one can come near him. "I'm fine. Go check on him."

"He's the one that made you like this!" Jongin had shouted, exasperated.

"Luhan-hyung is looking after him, don't worry." Kyungsoo said gently.

"Yixing, go." Chanyeol had ordered, despite everyone's protests. Completely understanding of Chanyeol's wishes, Yixing had returned to check on Baekhyun, letting Luhan know that he's not needed. Once Luhan left, Yixing had entered the room, and had found the boy sitting there, staring into space.

That's what he had been doing ever since.

For the third time that day, Yixing creates an Energy Pill and presses it to the boy's lips, then tipping the water into his mouth. Baekhyun doesn't move, as if he's a doll on display for everyone to see.

"Your Professor is still blind." Yixing says softly as he pulls the glass of water away from Baekhyun's lips. "Only you can let him see again."

There is no reaction.

Those beautiful golden eyes are blinking every now and then, indicating that he's still alive, yet it seems as if his consciousness is non-existent.

"I'm sure you don't want to hurt him." The man continues. "Wake up now and help your professor."

Once again, no reaction.

Meanwhile, everyone's concern is on their Leader, whose vision composes of only darkness and nothing else. Chanyeol had tried to use his powers without his vision, but it had almost been disastrous if it weren't for Minseok showering ice cubes to wash out the fire. Even then, it's not as effective as water would be to kill the fire, and several places have been damaged.

To repair it, the Powerful Four elements must be united, but that hasn't happened since more than 2 decades ago. The Powerful Four contains of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, and once, it was Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Joonmyun, and Aang, Aang had died during the wars and Joonmyun taken in as an Experiment.

"You're handicapped." Minseok says as Chanyeol sits up on bed inside his room, still blind and unable to see anything. "You're basically a Lucky One now."

He doesn't want to say that it's true, but it is – he's basically powerless now, without his sight. How is he going to fight?

"Guess we might have to delay things." Luhan adds. "I mean, on the positive side, it means Sehun can actually train up his power."

"Or we could get that half-blood to give Leader his sight back."

"He's unresponsive still." Yixing says, returning to the room. "I doubt we should rely on him as a likely solution. Our worst-case scenario would be that he will be blind forever."

"He's going to get it." Jongin growls, but before he can disappear, Chanyeol speaks.

"Take me to him." He says, glassy red eyes staring into the distance. "I need to know if he's okay."

The room is silent, and Yixing can see the hesitation and disapproval on all their faces.

Still, at the end of the day, he's the one that knows Chanyeol best, and he knows Chanyeol won't rest until he can see Baekhyun – or in this case, be near him.

Without another word, he grabs the taller's wrist and pulls him out of the room, to everyone's shock, and once they're here in Baekhyun's room, he lets him know.

"Baekhyun." Chanyeol calls out softly, hand blindly reaching out. Yixing watches for a response, but there is none. Even though Chanyeol is the person that Baekhyun cares about most (that is still alive), at the moment he's not affecting Baekhyun at all.

It takes a while, but finally Chanyeol finds the smaller's hand and takes it in his own.

"Don't hurt yourself anymore." Yixing realises that Chanyeol is not acting himself, as if he had changed back to the Professor Chanyeol just for Baekhyun. "Professor is worried about you."

"Come back to Professor. Professor misses you."

Chanyeol doesn't sound like a merciless, ruthless Leader with his life goal of destroying an entire race – he sounds like a concerned young man whose only focus is the boy before him.

This gentleness in him ... dead along with his dead family, is now revived because of his feelings for this boy before him.

If this was a perfect story with a perfect ending, Baekhyun would wake up from his trance and embrace Chanyeol in his arms. Baekhyun would come back and he would light up Chanyeol's world again.

But of course, perfection does not always exist.

Baekhyun blinks, those golden eyes still staring into thin air – but otherwise, no reaction.

If Chanyeol can't even break Baekhyun's trance, then Baekhyun must have been really traumatised.

"Why is he like this ...?" Chanyeol mutters, and Yixing can hear the dejection in his tone. "Nothing is working."

"S-Sorry." A new voice mumbles. Sehun had entered silently, such that even Yixing didn't notice. "I told him ... because I thought he deserved to know the truth."

The gentleness in Chanyeol dissipates, replaced by the cold strong Leader.

"I couldn't watch him live like that every day not knowing that his parents had died." The boy says softly, sounding guilty. "I didn't think ... I didn't think he would react like this."

"If you knew what he went through, you wouldn't even think about saying it." Chanyeol's voice is quiet but very dangerous.

"Sorry ..."

"If he never comes back, I will make you pay." The Leader mutters, before he starts walking blindly out, hands in front of him in case he bumps into something. Yixing steps forward smoothly and grabs his forearm, leading him out.

Sehun risks a glance at Baekhyun, who's still sitting there like a doll. And he really does look like a doll, with that otherworldly silver hair and ethereal gold eyes.

But that's all he is – a lifeless doll, devoid of character and personality, like a blank canvas with every one of its quirks completely wiped out.

Luhan isn't too concerned with the newbie that had somehow decided to put himself into a lock that no one can decipher. He calls himself kind, at least, kind enough to treat Baekhyun humanely even though he has the blood of that other race inside him.

How can he be expected to treat that boy like one of his kind, when it was his other race that had murdered his entire family, right in front of him?

Three decades ago, he was a carefree young man who had everything. He had loving grandparents, busy parents who worked hard to provide for the family, and an annoying little sister who wouldn't get off his back, and when he was young, he was active in his soccer team as one of the best team players. However, one fateful day, he idiotically and pure-heartedly opened the door with no caution, no defences, and they knocked him down.

The moment he turned his back on the guests to invite them inside, they shot his back and he fell. He woke up to the scream of his little sister and the begging of his grandparents. When he crawled to the voices, he found that his parents were dead on the floor, and they had shot his grandparents right in front of his eyes. Then they had grabbed his sister by her beautiful turquoise hair and pressed something gold towards her face that made her scream. Then, as if there was an infection in the gold stone, charred black spread all over her skin, as if she was being severely burned. It spread fast, and in the end, she was dead, burned to a crisp.

Luhan had wanted to help, but his injury had rendered his powers useless, and, after watching them murdering his entire family that he loved and cherished, Luhan fell unconscious.

And after that, he was never able to walk again.

Despite not letting that traumatic experience define him as a person, Luhan still can't bring himself to look at a Lucky One objectively – how can he, when the war killed so many of his own people?

Back to the topic, Luhan really couldn't care less – not that much, anyway – what happened to Byun Baekhyun. He was nice when he had to, and when he doesn't have to, then he doesn't care. Kind of like customer service, really.

Luhan.

A fortnight later, a voice calls out to him, startling him. No one calls out to him, actually, because they've all gotten used to his power and had gotten bored of it. The most recent is Sehun who had played with him for a bit, but then that had ceased too. Besides, this voice sounds very different yet very familiar ...

... Baekhyun.

I've Matured, so that means I can start training, right?

Baekhyun is awake.

Chanyeol jerks up upon hearing that in his head. Flipping open the blankets, he tries to stand up and leave his room to look for the smaller, but he trips and falls in the process.

Back then, when he was clumsy in the Lab, that was all just a lie to convince everyone that he was harmless, but this time, it turns out that he'll really have to be clumsy now.

Chanyeol hasn't felt this useless and helpless in a long time ... ever since his family was killed. Not ever since then, until now.

Still, the need to know that Baekhyun is okay is making him push himself off his own feet until he finds a wall and slowly follows it until he gets to the door. Then, using his knowledge of the structure of the submarine, starts following the wall to Baekhyun's room. Honestly, that day when he created a fire wall right between Jongin and Baekhyun was a pure fluke – he didn't even know how he did that, but if things will have to go on forever like this, then Chanyeol would have to learn to do that continuously, without fluking.

Eventually, he touches the door that he believes is Baekhyun's, and then opens it.

"Baekhyun?" He calls softly, turning his head even though he can't see a thing.

Cold silence answers him.

Feeling as if no one's here, but wanting to confirm, Chanyeol follows the wall to get to the bed, then climbs onto it slowly, feeling around to see if there's anyone there. Indeed, there is no one there.

Deciding to just sit there and stall for a while, listening for any sounds, Chanyeol closes his eyes, because even though it makes no difference to his vision, he can still feel the soreness from opening his eyes for too long and from forgetting to blink. There seems to be no sound though, but Chanyeol continues to sit there, waiting.

Eventually, someone opens the door.

"He's not here." Yixing's voice enters his ears.

"Where is he?"

"He started training."

"Training? But he just woke up."

"He ... woke up a week ago."

A week ago? Chanyeol stills, trying to make sense of what the doctor had just said. But Luhan-hyung just told me about it just then.

"I didn't tell you straight away, because I thought we had a promise." Luhan's voice floats into his ears, startling Chanyeol. Of course, Chanyeol could not have known that he was here, because the older makes no sound wherever he goes.

"He woke up a week ago, but you didn't tell me?" Suddenly feeling as if his power and influence on everyone had diminished, Chanyeol tightens his fist.

"Do you remember the promise we made twenty years ago, Chanyeol-ah?"

Calling his name so casually stuns Chanyeol, because he hasn't heard Luhan call him that for decades.

"We all promised each other we'd never love." Although Luhan sounds very calm, there is a lace of anger in it. "For the sake of our people, our ego and our pride, we swore to dedicate our entire beings to bringing our race Justice once more. Or did you forget?"

In the meantime, Chanyeol had briefly noticed that a few others had walked in by the sound of their footsteps, but he pays no mind to them.

"Hyung, just forget it." Kyungsoo's soft voice whispers. "He's still here – we still brought everyone back."

"No, Kyungsoo, Luhan's right." Minseok cuts in. "Protecting our promises meant that we had the power to protect our own people. If we're just going to let this go, then how many other promises are we going to break?"

This time, no one speaks, as if no one dares argue with the big hyung.

"Okay." Chanyeol finally speaks up. "You're right. I didn't keep my promise, and I let everyone down. I knew ... I knew I was falling but I didn't do anything about it." It was as if the more he resisted, or tried to ignore it, the more it would surface as a reminder that it will always be there with him.

"Leader ..." Jongin whispers, tone disappointed.

"If anything, it was my fault ... and only my fault. Don't pull him into this."

"We haven't done anything." Luhan declares. "It's fortunate that the others haven't woken up, because you'd be in deep shit."

"Where is he?" Chanyeol asks quietly, frustrated.

"He's somewhere in this building. Go find him if you have the guts."

Suddenly furious, a growl rips from the Leader's throat and he stands, ready to hit someone, but someone catches his arm.

"Don't." Yixing warns and slowly, Chanyeol stops.

"Look, he's training hard and he's not seeing anybody right now." Minseok says. "At least he's still functioning, right? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll convince him to restore your eyesight soon."

"If you do any shit, I swear –"

"He's fine." Yixing mutters, then speaks louder later for everyone else. "Go back. I'll take Leader back to his room." For a moment, there is silence, but then slowly Chanyeol hears footsteps leading away.

"Ah, shit." Chanyeol mumbles, letting Yixing pull him up and take him back to his room.

Frustrated, Jongin follows his hyungs to eat lunch, but even as he eats his fish, he can only stab it frustratingly, having no appetite at all.

"There's nothing wrong with loving." Kyungsoo tries, taking a very small piece of fish into his mouth.

"There is nothing wrong with loving." Luhan affirms. "But there is something wrong with breaking a promise. Especially when it concerns everyone here."

"What are we going to do?" Jongin mutters, sighing. "It's not like we can suddenly tell him to stop and then he will."

"It's possible." Luhan shrugs. "To tell yourself to stop loving and then it will work."

"That's like telling yourself to forget the revenge because you're telling yourself to stop loving your parents."

Silence.

"Okay, maybe it's not that easy after all." Luhan mutters.

"Still ... there's nothing we can do about his feelings." Minseok sighs. "So we should do something with our reaction ... to his feelings."

Once again, silence fills the table.

"Really, I think we should just accept it." Finally, Kyungsoo speaks. "The more we take part into this, the more problems it will create."

"Honestly, I don't know if I can sit here and watch Leader get away with that." Jongin argues.

"It's not like we can do anything though."

"I'm sure he cares about us more than ... you know, him."

"We've always trusted Leader's decisions." Sighing again, Minseok takes a bite of his food. "Let's just trust him this time."

Agreeing with that, everyone continues eating in silence.

However, the short-lived silence is interrupted when a new person walks over and takes an empty seat, with a variety of foods on his plate.

Shocked, everyone else looks up, staring at the new figure, but the figure pays no attention and sits down, then begins eating quietly.

Finally unable to stand it anymore, Jongin slams his cutlery down and turns to the new figure.

"This is my last warning." He growls to the figure who is eating nonchalantly. "Get out of here before you ruin everything, half-blood."

Luhan, who's sitting next to him, nudges him, shaking his head to stop the younger.

Baekhyun continues eating, as if he can't hear anything at all.

"Why you ..." This time, Luhan uses telekinesis to restrain Jongin, who looks as if he's about to lunge at Baekhyun.

"Whoever made this ... It's really good." Baekhyun says softly, eating casually as he finally looks up, those bright golden eyes turning to stare at everyone square on, without fear.

"Hyung, let me go!" Jongin shouts before turning back to glare at Baekhyun.

"Give Leader his eyesight back." He snarls, and Baekhyun shrugs.

"Don't know how to." He responds simply, taking another bite of his vegetables and fish.

"You fucker ..." Immediately, Baekhyun throws off the cutlery from his hands until they clatter across the table and then crash onto the floor. The loud, bright sound has everyone stilling into silence.

"Look." He says calmly, almost-cat-like eyes scrutinising everyone before him. "Before, I was your filthy half-blood that didn't know what I was doing here, but now I've decided: I'm going to side with you. I'm going to train hard and develop my power so I can fight against them, with you."

Not knowing how to respond, the others can only stare back, disbelieving.

"If you didn't believe I was part-Monster before, now you should." He runs his hand through his silver hair. "I'm going to forget I was ever a Lucky One, so I can focus on becoming one with all of you, so you can stop treating me like an outsider now."

Even though the Monsters have not known Baekhyun for that long, somehow they have this uneasy feeling that he's changed.

"Why should we trust you?" Luhan asks, watching him carefully.

"You don't have to." He mumbles in reply, smiling before he picks up his plate and then walks away.

At first, silence fills the table as if everyone could not believe what had happened, but then, Kyungsoo is the first to speak up.

"This shows that we really have no choice but to accept his relationship with Leader."

"No." Jongin crosses his arms stubbornly, a little pout forming.

"Do you realise this is a better outcome, Jongin-ah?" Kyungsoo continues. "Our biggest worry was that he wouldn't embrace the Monster side to him, because he had lived all his life thinking he was a Lucky One, but at least now ... we know his decision."

"We don't know that." Luhan cuts in. "He can be lying and then pretending to side with us, so he can develop his power and then use it against us."

"Either way ... he's going to develop his power anyway." Minseok shrugs. "I mean, it's not like we're able to stop him whether he lies to us or not."

As they're arguing about this, Sehun pops in with his own lunch.

"Are you talking about Baekhyun-hyung?" He chimes in, and blinks in shock when Jongin glares up at him. "You know ... he was already siding with Monsters before he even knew he was one."

"What do you mean?"

"He trained as a Lucky One and one of his tests was to experiment on me." Everyone's faces turn dark, because it's such a sensitive topic. "It was competitive and everyone wanted to get in, so desperate they would do anything.

"But he wasn't like that ... From the start, he cared about my safety and my feelings." With that, Sehun explains everything that had happened in the Lab that Baekhyun had done, at least, from his perspective.

"So I don't think he's lying when he said he would side with us." Sehun finishes positively. "He's the kindest person I know."

"That does it." Minseok leans back, sighing. "All the stars point to them, telling us that we shouldn't interfere with them."

"I really don't like this ..." Jongin mutters.

"You know, if Leader finds out how you're treating the halfie, he's going to burn your ass."

"Is it so wrong to want to protect him?!"

"Don't do it anymore, Jongin-ah. You shouldn't treat someone like that."

"So how do you think we should treat him then?"

"Let's just treat him like normal. After all, it'll be easier now seeing that his appearance has totally changed."

They don't see Baekhyun again for the next fortnight, in fact making life easier for them. After all, even though they had all agreed to treat Baekhyun like one of them, it's not something that can be done easily, at least for them, who had lived for so long bearing hatred towards Lucky Ones. Their leader is also hiding in his room, almost as if he's sulking at everyone's reaction towards his feelings. The captured Monsters that were saved are also recovering well, whereas the other Monsters are living their normal lives somewhere in this submarine.

Whenever they see Baekhyun, it's always a meal time, but not every meal time. It's as if the halfie either takes a week's worth of food to wherever he's training or he will eat at the most irregular times, in such a way that no one is able to see him.

In the meantime, Kris awakens from his hibernation – in other words, he's finally leaving his room and leaving behind his research of Lucky Ones to venture outside into the hallways.

"Wow, you're still alive?" Jongin mutters upon finding Kris loitering in the hallways near their bedrooms.

"Yeah, I'm sick of drinking coffee to keep myself awake." Kris blinks his sleepy eyes. "I heard Leader's back?"

"Yeah, and he brought some halfie with him." Jongin grunts, missing the slightly surprised look in the older's eyes.

"What halfie?"

"Half Monster and half Lucky One."

"Is that even possible?"

"Didn't think it was until I met him."

"I need to meet him." Kris says eagerly, pushing up his glasses and eyes looking huge and awake now. "Do you think I can experiment on him?"

"Hyung, no!" Jongin warns, pulling away from the older. "Don't you dare."

"What? It's for the greater good." Kris leans forward, eyes looking strangely round. "So?"

Kris, your inappropriate thoughts are getting really loud. Luhan's voice fills their minds. And no, you can't.

"Why not?"

Because Leader will kill you. At that, the taller laughs.

"We all know that out of all of us, he's the one that wants Lucky Ones dead the most. What makes you think he's going to side with the half-blood and not with us?"

Silence.

"Oh, shit, I forgot to think that to him." Kris mutters. "Now I lost my train of thought."

"It's 'cause Leader broke his promise and fell in love."

"What?! Really?" Kris's wide eyes get even wider and then he finally leans back and out of Jongin's personal space. "Oh shit."

"Yeah, and we all decided to just accept it."

"... Wow, um. Okay." Silence. "So there's no way I can experiment on him then?"

"No."

Frowning, Kris's eyes slowly deflate until they turn into their sleepy state again, and the older turns around and shuffles away.

"I think I need a good flying." Jongin hears him mumble, and then he watches the older float into the air and then float out of his sight.

Finally, their Leader steps out from his room and joins them in the dining table.

"Still can't see?" Minseok asks with bulging cheeks, watching as Chanyeol's glassy eyes float over all of them.

"We'll get Halfie to restore your eyesight back, Leader, promise." Jongin says positively.

"And then ... you can date each other happily." Kyungsoo says carefully, wide eyes eyeing everyone cautiously. They all look just as cautious, wondering if this is the best way to tell their Leader that they had accepted his feelings and do not plan on rebelling against him.

Once again, Chanyeol doesn't respond.

"Kris is back." Luhan says. "He's right here."

"Yes, I heard from the way he munches on his fried chicken." Chanyeol deadpans.

"Oh great, I'm glad you aren't disabled to the point where we would have to start telling you where you are, who you're with ..."

"Where's Yixing?" The Leader asks instead, looking quite annoyed.

"Coming." Feeling like no one understands him except Yixing, Chanyeol eats his food silently, listening to the others talk to each other. Truthfully, it's strange to eat with so many people, something Chanyeol hasn't done in more than two decades ... but it's not a bad feeling.

Someone sits next to him and then starts grabbing food and putting it onto his plate – at least, that's what he's guessing.

"Your chopsticks almost touched the food." Chanyeol hears Yixing's voice beside him, and then he retreats his hand away, forgetting that he can't place his chopsticks wherever he wants, as his saliva can burn the others.

"Phew, dodged a bullet there." Kris says. "So, Leader, I heard there was a little half-blood floating around ...?"

Chanyeol silently eats his food.

"Mm ... that would be very delicious specimen ... After all, my research is getting a little stuck right now. I could use some new bodies to research and test on – " Bang! The table shakes and everyone flinches, startled. A sudden wind blows and then ceases.

"Sorry." Sehun whispers in the silence.

"Don't you touch him." Chanyeol says calmly, noticing that everyone had stopped eating except Yixing, whose chopsticks are clanking lightly with the ceramic plate, as if he's totally unfazed.

"What the fuck, Kris, I thought we talked about this." Luhan complains, and then Chanyeol hears chopsticks clanking against a bowl from the direction of Luhan's voice.

"Sorry, I tried." Kris mutters, and then silent eating resumes.

Slowly, quiet chatter starts up again, and Chanyeol stabs at his food, wondering why he's in such a filthy mood even though he's finally reunited with his kin. Is it because he can't hear a gentle voice that is quietly asking about his day, talking about his own day, and reminding him to rest and take care of himself? Is it because he can't see the cute munching of a certain student of his in the comfortable silence that they shared, with him using spoons to eat his rice? Or is it because he can't feel himself relaxing while the younger massaged his shoulders?

Feeling frustrated, Chanyeol sets down his chopsticks, despite recently loving the feeling of being full, something that Yixing's pills never satisfied for the past two or so decades.

He can tell his fellow comrades have noticed, but they don't say a word.

Even though he's stopped eating, Chanyeol stays there with everyone, still addicted to the feeling of being around others of his own kind.

"Oh! What's the occasion?" A new voice floats brightly above all other voices, and Chanyeol stiffens, hearing as footsteps sound in the distance and it's coming closer.

"Hyung!" Sehun shouts through a full mouth, but despite that, everyone else has quietened down until they're silent. Is it just Chanyeol or can he feel a little bit of tension?

"There are so many people here." That voice is coming closer ... closer ... and then it moves away from him. "Hi, I'm Baekhyun, half Monster and half Lucky One. What's your name?"

"... ... I'm Kris." The Researcher mumbles, sounding shocked.

"From the way you dress, I'm guessing you do some dirty work. Do you do experiments, by any chance?"

"Why, yes I do." This time, Kris sounds a little less shy and more himself. "On Lucky Ones, in fact."

Trying to control his rising anger, Chanyeol clenches his fist.

"Ah, interesting. So I guess you're probably really curious about me."

"Well, if you don't mind, I would love to ..." The implication is there even though Kris has trailed off, as if remembering that Chanyeol's there. The tension is getting higher and higher, but Baekhyun lowers it with a light chuckle.

"Of course, use my body however you want, wherever you want, and whenever you need."

Chanyeol takes in a sharp breath, loud enough to be heard.

Yixing coughs, reminding him his place, and Chanyeol breathes out, deflating. Feeling steam touch his skin, Chanyeol realises he had melted the ice that Minseok had created on the table around his body, and then turned it into gas.

"Look." This time, Jongin is speaking now, his tone sounding as if he's trying to control himself. "When are you going to restore Leader's eyesight?"

"I told you," Baekhyun responds just as calmly, "I don't know how to." Then no one talks for a while, and Chanyeol can hear that Baekhyun is eating quietly.

"Hey." Kyungsoo tries this time, his voice soft and gentle. "I know ... we haven't been the friendliest towards you, Baekhyun. On behalf of all of us here, I apologise."

"Mm." Baekhyun mumbles in reply, sounding very patient and willing to hear more.

"We decided ... it was wrong of us to discriminate based on race. We won't do that again and I hope you forgive us."

"Forgiven, forgotten." Baekhyun says cheerfully.

"That was easy." Luhan mutters to himself.

"We just hope ... you know, you can make your Professor happy. That's all we ask of you."

"Make Professor happy ..." Chanyeol's heart skips when he hears that word from Baekhyun's lips. "Mm, why?"

"What do you mean ..." Seems like Jongin's ready to blow again, that short-tempered boy.

"It's my responsibility." Chanyeol finally speaks, and even though he's calm on the outside, his heart is doing little skips. His palms are sweaty, his cheeks becoming hot, and his entire body is trembling too slightly to be seen. His words shut everyone up, which is something he intended, and he turns to face what he hopes to be Baekhyun. "When you told me the last time, I have not yet given you my answer."

There's no response, as if Baekhyun's waiting patiently.

"I feel the same." Chanyeol says softly, hoping that's enough of an answer. After all, this is right in front of so many people and he's sure Baekhyun might feel embarrassed if he were to say it clearly and unambiguously right now. But if he doesn't clarify his feelings in front of so many people, then Baekhyun will have second thoughts again.

"Oh." Comes Baekhyun's soft voice, then: "So what?"

The silence this time is tense.

Sehun notices the furious look in Jongin's face and the very uncomfortable and slightly dark looks on Minseok, Luhan, Kyungsoo, and Kris's faces. Even Yixing looks slightly shocked, so he decides to cut in a little.

"Uh, I think he means ... He means that he cares a lot about you, hyung!" Sehun cuts into the silence cleanly and quickly, laughing to ease the tension that Baekhyun looks like he doesn't feel.

"That's strange." Once again, Baekhyun replies casually, fearlessly. "If so, then I don't feel the same." The silver-head turns to face Chanyeol square on, watching him as if he can't see anyone else at the moment.

"Because I feel nothing towards him."

"Because I feel nothing towards him."

Sehun sees now, that all his hyungs look like fury is bubbling under their skin, as if they find that Baekhyun's 'confession' is an outright gesture of disrespect towards their Leader. Yixing is so shocked that he had looked up to stare at Baekhyun, who is now looking back down and eating his food as if they're holding a normal conversation.

"Byun Baekhyun ..." Jongin growls, and Baekhyun sets down his cutlery, leaning back, lips pursed.

"All right, Jongin. So first, you want to kick me out of here by discriminating against me. Now, you want me to return Chanyeol's feelings? Honestly, you guys are too much."

No one calls Chanyeol by his name, especially not someone so much younger.

This time, Chanyeol tenses a little and Sehun can tell – he's sure everyone can.

"Seriously, I can never sit down and have a good meal because of you. Don't you know the best way to maintain good relationships is to talk and laugh with each other?"

"Baekhyun, you're being too much." Luhan says quietly.

"How so?"

"For playing Leader's feelings. For lying about your own."

"Luhan –" Yixing warns.

"I'm sorry, Luhan-ah, I never lied." Baekhyun stands now as he packs up his things. "I once loved Chanyeol very much."

"But that was a long time ago, and I decided to put my feelings to the past, like I decided to put my other race in the past." Holding his plate and cutlery in his hands, he straightens his back and beams brightly at everyone, gold eyes twinkling. "Well, that was ... interesting. Thanks for entertaining me." Then he leaves, as if they are old friends reuniting for a drink and then bidding goodbye.

"He's such a jerk." Jongin mutters to himself, then leans forward towards his Leader, whose eyes are closed. "What do you even see in him, Leader?"

Eyebrows scrunched up, Yixing looks as if he's in his own thoughts, whereas Chanyeol seems as if he's meditating and acts as if he hasn't heard Jongin's question.

"He ... wasn't like this before." Sehun answers instead, and those who weren't from the Lab turn to stare at him. "He changed."

"Yeah, and you think I believe that?" Jongin scoffs. "How much can a person change in such a short time? Have you ever seen anyone change so much over such a short time in your life?"

"He changed completely ..."

"He sounds nothing like the person you told us, Sehun!"

"I ... It was true though ... He really sacrificed his everything for me ..."

"He's been through a lot." Yixing says quietly, staring hard at the table as if he still can't believe he had seen that.

"Yeah, and who hasn't here?"

"Jongin's right." Kyungsoo pipes up. "Everyone here has gone through a lot. Luhan-hyung helplessly watched his entire family die, Jongin's father was killed while his mother taken in as an Experiment – didn't survive. Leader's whole family, also killed. Kris-hyung's mum experimented right before his eyes. Minseok-hyung's friends turned crazy and then captured one by one. Yixing-hyung's sister played around with and tortured to death."

"And Kyungsoo, who watched his closest friend kill himself over the craziness."

"Who here hasn't been through so much? But we're still the same – we haven't changed into a complete jerk like that."

"If you haven't realised, Jongin, we all started out as jerks." Kris points out. "Except probably Kyungsoo."

"But biologically our body and mind are really sensitive during our Maturing stage." Kyungsoo explains, cutting in quickly before Jongin starts shouting at Kris. "Baekhyun would have gone through a lot of mood swings and changes, so little things may have affected him a lot."

"At least he didn't have to watch his parents die or get tortured or get taken in as an Experiment or ..." Jongin mutters.

"They forced him to choose." Chanyeol says quietly.

"What?" Jongin challenges.

"You were there, or did you forget?"

The moment those light-coloured red eyes turn to him, almost staring at him, Jongin's memory clicks.

"Oh yeah, shit." Jongin whispers. How could he have forgotten? Was he so desperate to see Baekhyun as an enemy that he had forced himself to forget that unforgettable moment? "Between Leader and his parents. Which to kill."

"That's horrible." Minseok says softly.

"Lucky Ones are horrible." Luhan mutters.

"That's precisely one of the mental tortures that may have broken Baekhyun." Kyungsoo explains technically. "What did he choose?"

"He chose to kill himself." Sehun whispers.

"I ... uh, guess he really did care about Leader after all." Jongin mutters, looking deflated as if all the anger and hatred has left him.

It's not just that that he went through. Chanyeol thinks to himself. He went through being Experimented on, experimenting on himself, was bullied by other trainees, tortured and played with emotionally... And all the other times I hurt him with my stupidity.

"I once loved Chanyeol very much." He said it, meaning that he's still Byun Baekhyun, that he hasn't forgotten himself and forgotten his past. He called Chanyeol by his name, something that Chanyeol had emphasised at the very start, yet ... he had gotten used to Baekhyun's timid way of calling him 'Professor', in such a way that he had started loving that.

And the Byun Baekhyun that he knows ... will never admit his feelings so casually and publicly, as if feelings are something that can be thrown around easily.

Is this still the little one that he knows?

Really unsatisfied, Chanyeol cannot sleep for the whole night and then decides it's time for him to find his student. Recklessly, he leaves the bed and lets his fingers stroke the wall – he had built this entire submarine and he knows this place upside down – he won't let his blindness stop him from finding Baekhyun.

Guessing that the smaller might be in one of the training grounds or the open space ground for running and exercising, Chanyeol heads there, to the lowest floor of this submarine. It takes a long time but eventually Chanyeol gets there.

Opening the doors, he steps in, ears waiting to listen to any sound that he can hear. He's not sure if the light's on or off here, because after all, he can't see light.

Instead, he stands there near the entrance and waits to hear for any noise.

It takes a while, but eventually he hears light rhythmic steps, almost like the sound of jogging. Knowing Baekhyun has always enjoyed jogging, Chanyeol decides to wait for him to finish. It takes a long time – the little one seems to really like long distance runs because he doesn't sound as if he's stopping. Chanyeol's not that sure of how long he waited for, but he waited a long time.

Eventually, those footsteps slow to a stable walking pace, and then that sound grows louder and louder.

"Ah, you're still here?" Baekhyun's surprised voice floats into his ears, sounding so much like Baekhyun but so unlike him. "I've finished using the running track, if you want to use it."

"Baekhyun." Chanyeol calls.

"Yes?"

"Do you ... remember the first time we met?" He asks, wondering if the boy still remembers ... wondering if the boy is still the Baekhyun that he knew.

"Wasn't it when I was a trainee and I went to your room to greet you? You shook my hand, but I was half asleep during that time."

"First thing I bought you."

"Four burgers and two drinks."

"Your first kiss."

"Stolen by Yixing."

"Why you always depended on him instead of me."

"Because I loved you too much it was a burden."

Every answer is short and casual, as if Baekhyun is stating a matter of fact. There is no hesitation, no timidness, no desire to keep these answers a secret, nothing like the Baekhyun that Chanyeol used to know. This Baekhyun answers everything emotionlessly.

"Will you tell Professor why you're like this now?" Chanyeol asks.

"Sorry, I don't have that much time to talk – "

"I'm your Professor."

Silence follows, in a way that even Baekhyun's footsteps (that he had started up in order to leave the room) had ceased.

"You're not my Professor anymore, Chanyeol-ah." Baekhyun replies simply. Chanyeol can feel the smaller brush past him, ever so slightly, to leave the room, and Chanyeol doesn't stop him in the midst of his shock.

"Am I still your Professor?"

"You'll always be my Professor."

"What?" Baekhyun's voice rings in the air once more.

"Stay." Yixing replies this time, and Chanyeol lifts his head up.

"I really don't have time." Baekhyun's tone is polite even though the implication is there.

"It's simple: You changed."

"Yes, and I told you that's because I decided to leave the past behind."

"Your Professor loves you back. Do you understand?" For the first time, Yixing sounds a little more agitated and passionate than he usually does, as if he's really truly desperate to find back the old Baekhyun again. "How many times have you felt sad, cried, and hurt yourself because you believed you were too young for him, were not good enough for him? When you thought he was in love with someone else, and would never see you the way you saw him? He loves you back, and he always has. Do you understand?"

Baekhyun sighs.

"Yes, I do." Once again, his tone is simple and so, so casual. "May I go now?"

The silence in the air is deafening and Chanyeol can feel himself burning with sorrow. There are soft footsteps, lighter than Yixing's, and Chanyeol guesses the doctor isn't trying to hold the younger back anymore. The door opens.

"What happened to your love, then?" Yixing tries one more time.

Yes, what happened to your gentle love? Chanyeol would like to ask. Now that you know I feel the same, will you try loving me again?

"Disappeared." Baekhyun's voice replies softly, sounding almost like his old self. "I don't know, Yixing. I taught myself to forget how to love."