From then on, Chanyeol would visit him every day without hiding, and would hold his fingers in his own to keep up the connection and the warmth it gives. Normally, Monsters do not need this much mutual connection to keep them sane, but maybe it's because Baekhyun is at that vulnerable stage of Maturing, which makes him more sensitive to certain things. Or maybe it's because he's half Lucky One, which means that he doesn't feel it as strongly as other full-blooded Monsters do and therefore he needs to feel it more often. Whatever the reason is, it matters not to Chanyeol as long as he can do something to ease the loneliness from Baekhyun's heart. Even though Baekhyun does not sneak glances at him like he used to, and does not smile as he used to, and does not display little expressions to show his feelings like he used to, Chanyeol is still willing to take care of him, even if it means the boy does not have feelings for him anymore.

"Isn't it ... weird to always do this?" The boy mumbles one day, staring at their linked hands.

"Do you have another way?"

"Way ... I don't know. Sehun taught me a game." Before Chanyeol can protest, Baekhyun had moved away and pulled away his hand, until only one hand is linked in a shaking hand manner.

"You play Rock Paper Scissors ... the winner will slap the loser's hand. The first to pull away loses." Baekhyun explains. "It's called 'Slap'."

Blinking, Chanyeol stares at their linked hand, as if frozen in time in the middle of a handshake. He hasn't played this game for a long time, since before the wars happened.

"Rock paper scissors ..." Baekhyun wins, and he slaps the back of Chanyeol's hand lightly. "Rock paper scissors ..." He wins again, and he slaps Chanyeol's hand lightly once more.

"You're not even trying ... why do you keep losing ..." Baekhyun mumbles, and slowly, a laugh accumulates at his throat and he releases it in small chuckles, obviously entertained.

Chanyeol is smiling himself upon watching this side of Baekhyun that he hasn't seen in a long time.

"Does that mean you're not angry at me anymore?" He asks stupidly, without thinking of the consequences.

"Angry ... for what?" Baekhyun looks up at him, looking lost and confused.

"For ... your parents' passing." At that, the smile leaves Baekhyun completely and he loosens his grip on Chanyeol's hand. Immediately, the energy in his eyes dissipates and once again he looks like he's staring into space.

"It's not your fault." Baekhyun whispers, and there he sits, unmoving and silent. Staring at the Baekhyun that suddenly looks so lost in thought, Chanyeol quickly ruffles his hair and pulls out scissors to Baekhyun's loose hand.

"I win." He whispers, before slapping Baekhyun's hand lightly. Blinking, the smaller snaps out of his thoughts, staring at their hands that are linked together. Then, he stands, hand pulling away from Chanyeol's as he walks away in a distracted fashion, in his own little world.

Chanyeol watches the boy resume his gardening, watching as the lights on the roof brighten unnaturally in a certain part of the Garden Room to let the plants grow, and frowns slightly, wondering if he had just done something stupid.

For the next few days, Baekhyun is out of it even more than normal, thinking so much that he would overdo his gardening or underdo it. Chanyeol watches afar, not wanting to be a living reminder of Baekhyun's pain.

After all ... if Chanyeol was never in the picture, would Baekhyun's parents still be alive?

Too afraid that he will trigger Baekhyun again, Chanyeol doesn't dare approach Baekhyun at all.

Instead, at night, he would sneak into the boy's room when he's sleeping, and lean against the bedside table. Baekhyun is sleeping soundly, and once Chanyeol's eyes adjust to the darkness, he sees that the boy is sleeping on his side, fingers lying next to his face. Slowly, Chanyeol leans down a little, reaching out his hand until the tips of his fingers are touching the tips of Baekhyun's fingers, and there, he can feel the warmth sizzling, ever so slightly, subtle and quiet and barely there, but if Chanyeol lets their fingers stay like this for the rest of the night, then it should be enough for the next day.

To Sehun, Baekhyun had always been an unreachable person. Someone who was so gentle and kind, who would risk his life and his everything for you, yet this sort of kindness seems to pull them far apart, because it makes him so hard to understand. Sehun is unable to fathom how someone would do this, without wanting or expecting anything in return.

What is Baekhyun thinking? Sehun would always ask himself. When he was an Experiment, he constantly thought about that mysterious Lucky One who would so silently and willingly decide to cut himself up, just so he can save Sehun that pain. When he cut himself that time, he bit his lips so hard it bled, there were tears rolling down his cheeks, and his face was red, veins popping on his forehead. His moans were soft and restrained, and when he squeezed his eyes shut Sehun was afraid blood would drip out from the corners. Watching all that ... Sehun was pained himself.

Then ... he Matured and changed. Sehun wondered then, what had made him that way. Maybe he was always like that, but pretended to be kind to fool everyone. Yet ... of all places, he didn't need to pretend in front of Sehun, who was in a position worse than an animal's. No actor would have pretended in front of a nobody like Sehun at that time. Maybe that substance that gave his neck the scar made him go crazy ... after all, he nearly killed himself if not for Yixing. Or maybe ... he had too many troubles, and he couldn't handle the pain anymore.

Either way, Sehun was completely willing to accept this new Baekhyun, because the Baekhyun in his heart will always be thoughtful and caring. No matter what happens to him, Sehun will always like him because this was the person that was once kind to him, when everyone else turned their backs on him.

And now, he heard that Baekhyun is back to normal again, and had immediately gone to visit the older. Once again, Baekhyun's kind smile is back, treating him like a dongsaeng much gentler than the others do, just like how he was treated when Baekhyun was his Experimenter.

Except ... this time, he feels more distant than ever.

When Sehun visits him to talk and play, Baekhyun would comply, which is fun and memorable, but often he would stop everything in his hands and stare into space, and not speak nor respond, sometimes for hours. As if he's in his own little world.

"What do you think about?" Sehun asks one day, when he's brave enough to ask. Baekhyun blinks, turning to him with a small smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You know ... what you think about when you're not talking to me. What goes on in your mind." Turning away from Sehun, Baekhyun closes his eyes.

"Reflecting." He replies. "On my mistakes. To remember my pain so I won't ever do wrong to others again."

"I-I'm sure you didn't do wrong to anyone!" Sehun protests, feeling a little scared. "Don't say that ..."

"I murdered two people." Baekhyun opens his eyes again, that sharp gold staring into his own. "I emotionally tortured and then killed them."

Sehun is shocked into silence, mouth open but nothing coming out.

"Are you scared?" Those golden eyes bore into him, but they don't look cruel and menacing - they look understanding and sad.

"No." Sehun says quickly, even though his voice doesn't sound convincing at all. The shock is still making him freeze in his place.

"I'm scared." Baekhyun's voice sounds so casual despite whatever he's talking about. "I don't know what I'll do next."

Silence hangs in the air for the nth time now, except this time it's Sehun that's thinking.

"Why ... did you kill them?"

"Because I wanted revenge. It ... was so unfair that they died and ... I was so driven by my despair it turned into rage and ..." Taking a shaky breath, Baekhyun lets it out and then moves backwards. "I'm a murderer now, and that will never change."

Without waiting for a reply, Baekhyun grabs his gardening tools, stands up and walks away, leaving Sehun by himself.

Finally, Sehun thinks to himself, he can see a little inside Baekhyun's mind, and understand him more.

Yet this doesn't make him feel closer to Baekhyun, but rather they are still on the same level of unfamiliarity, except this time it's Sehun that's pushing them apart, out of fear.

Now, the only person that Baekhyun interacts with daily is Yixing, after what had happened with Sehun and Chanyeol.

It seems that people are put off by his past, but that's understandable. In fact, it's better this way, so the further they get away from him, the less likely they'll be hurt by him.

Yixing is always the most stubborn, because he's the one that doesn't care, no matter what. After all, he's been there to see Baekhyun's every weakness, his every problem, and he had been there to heal him or rip him open. Yixing had never cared, and had never been fazed by any type of Baekhyun's personality, whether it was when he was heartless or too full of self-consciousness.

As he lights up the room for all the plants and begins to water the flowers, he finds Yixing watching him from afar. Not wanting to talk to anyone at all, Baekhyun pretends he doesn't see the older and continues doing whatever he's doing.

"What's your motive for the future?" The older asks eventually. "Gardening for the rest of your life?"

"Seems kind of like it, isn't it?" Baekhyun chuckles.

"Things will change really fast. Do you think you'll stay like this for the rest of your life?"

"If I can, I will."

Sensing that Baekhyun's not relenting, Yixing decides to change his approach.

"There are animals in another room, that I believe you will enjoy looking after."

"No thank you, I think it's good for me to avoid life for as much as I can."

"Stop avoiding everything."

"Better to avoid than kill innocent lives."

"You want to get rid of everyone around you, don't you?" Baekhyun blinks up at him, confused. "You've already pushed away Chanyeol and Sehun. The only one left is me."

"..." Unable to deny it, Baekhyun only watches him patiently.

"Let's make a bet." Yixing challenges. "If you can prove to me that you're really a ruthless, thoughtless monster that will kill, then I will leave you forever, and you can do whatever you want with your life.

"A week taking care of the animals in the Animal Room. If in a week you do not kill anyone, then you are not a monster. If you kill, then I will stop pestering you."

"How is that -"

"That's the only way I will ever stop pestering you. If you don't take up the challenge, then that's your loss."

Having no other choice but to take up the challenge, Baekhyun lets Yixing lead him to the Animal Room. There are cows, goats, sheep, chickens, sea animals ... Baekhyun's never seen them before in his life.

Feeling at a loss on how to take care of them, Baekhyun gawks at Yixing, who moves through all the animals naturally and quickly. When he's finished feeding all the animals, he strides up to Baekhyun again.

"One week." Yixing says, and then leaves the room.

What should I do? Baekhyun thinks to himself, worried. I don't want to starve them accidentally and kill them ...

Immediately, he walks around, watching what the animals are eating and trying to remember it in his mind.

If anything, Baekhyun is most desperate to get rid of Yixing. That's because if anyone is hurt, Yixing can heal them, but who will heal Yixing? He can't heal himself. If Baekhyun hurts him, it's over.

Even so, there is no way Baekhyun is going to kill any animal on purpose just so Yixing can leave him. Now that he is forced to face this challenge, he will take it and he will use all his energy and power to control himself and his emotions, just so he won't be able to hurt anyone.

Baekhyun won't kill. He won't kill anymore.

A week passes, and Yixing leaves the chair in his bedroom to go visit Baekhyun. Entering the room, he finds that the boy has grown accustomed to the animals, feeding them with his hands and stroking them ever so gently with a small smile on his face. It seems that Baekhyun has now faced a little part of his challenge and has overcome it, making him grow a step closer to interacting with other people. Closing himself off from other people isn't good, especially for someone like Baekhyun, who had recently lost such a big part of his life - the two people that had taken care of him and loved him in place of all the Monsters that could've been by his side when he was younger.

Watching Baekhyun not only feed the animals, but groom them, clean them, wash them, even playing with some of them, Yixing can't help but smile ever-so-slightly. In the end, he knows he needs to break this scene and he steps forward.

"A week passed." He announces, startling the smaller. "Tell me how many you've killed."

Frowning, Baekhyun straightens himself up from milking the cow.

"..." Eventually, the boy looks away, as if too ashamed to meet his eyes. "... One."

"Wrong." Yixing fires. "The hen was dying of old age."

"It died while it was in my care. It's my fault." Baekhyun mutters.

"Did you lose control?"

"... No."

"Did you kill while you were very aware and awake?"

"No."

"Why are you worried then?" Yixing says. "You're fine."

"I'm dangerous."

"That's not for you to judge."

"Everyone left me because they know."

"Are you angry at them leaving you, is that it?"

"It's not that ..."

"Do you just want everyone to leave you, including me?" Yixing steps forward slowly step by step closer to Baekhyun.

"..." Baekhyun steps back slowly in time, until Yixing suddenly increases his pace and grabs his wrist, stopping him from further movement.

"Do you believe me if I say I'll kiss you?" Now, Yixing's face is so close and tilted, inches away from Baekhyun's.

"No." Baekhyun breathes, keeping his eyes open and unwavering. He finds that, in this proximity, Yixing's face is smooth and angular, his eyelashes almost touching his cheeks when he looks down at how close their lips are, and looks back up again, that sharp gaze meeting his, as if wanting him to back down.

"I know ... you might do it because you want to take my pain away." Baekhyun whispers. "But I don't want it taken away. I want to remember it, to remind me that I shall never do wrong to anyone again. "

"If that's the case, then there's no need for me to distance myself, isn't there?" Yixing asks in such a way that Baekhyun can feel his breath fan his skin. Baekhyun sees the man leaning in, and he leans back.

"Do you still love Chanyeol, is that why?" Strange. Yixing smells like fresh mint.

"No." Baekhyun replies, still keeping that same amount of distance between them. "Do I have to?"

"No. But why don't you?" Not knowing how else to reply, Baekhyun stares at him for a while, but gives up in the end and moves away, completely.

The smirk on the doctor's face is so frustrating.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve." He finally says.

"I tell you to sit with everyone for meals. Did you?"

"So you're just annoyed I didn't listen to you ..." Baekhyun mutters under his breath, to himself.

"You just dislike listening to me. Do you only listen to your Professor?"

He's taunting me. Baekhyun thinks to himself. What's his motive?

He decides to remain silent, otherwise Yixing will use his words against him.

"Am I right, for you to be silent?"

Maybe not.

"I listen to myself." Baekhyun mutters.

"So you really have no feelings?"

"Why are you so curious?" Baekhyun mutters-shouts. "Is it so wrong ... to just not have feelings anymore?"

"Tell me what you're feeling then."

"I don't have feelings for anyone!" Baekhyun shouts, then can't help but send a glare up at the doctor. "Is this all you want?"

Visibly surprised, Yixing's eyes widen slightly, blinking as if he had just not pissed Baekhyun off. Baekhyun doesn't usually get pissed off at anyone, but clearly Yixing had pushed him off the edge.

"Sorry." Baekhyun mutters, once he had time to calm down.

"Come." Yixing says, tone dark as he turns and strides off. Having no other choice, at least, in his mind, Baekhyun follows hastily. Eventually, they arrive at a floor Baekhyun's never been to before, where there is only one door. Entering it after Yixing, Baekhyun is met with a huge stadium full of grass, sand, dirt, running grounds, the like ... There are all sorts of structures and equipment, with all sorts of people training in there.

Training.

Turning around, Baekhyun prepares to leave, but Yixing grabs him by the hand and pulls him in even more.

He notices everyone he had been trying to avoid, everyone that he knows either dislikes him or would rather he not exist in their lives. Yixing pulls him to an empty spot, making him face the older before finally letting go of him.

"I'm not going to -"

"Help me train." Yixing orders, and before he can protest, two thick pads are thrown at his direction and he catches it by instinct.

"..." Remembering that he was quite rude, Baekhyun sighs internally, deciding to make up for his poor behaviour. He slips the pads onto his fingers and faces it at the doctor, who's putting his boxing gloves on.

Training for your power to be stronger doesn't only mean to just practice controlling it constantly - it requires the control of both the body and mind, which is why exercise and meditation is just as important. Baekhyun had figured this out, when he trained all by himself. He had attempted only training his power, but that gave him internal physical injuries and made him very sick, until he realised that he also needed to exercise regularly, eat sufficiently, and sleep well. Holding the pads firmly, Baekhyun takes in all the blows that Yixing gives to him, noticing those sharp blue eyes looking concentrated like a tiger as he punches accurately at the pads. Of course, sometimes Baekhyun is unable to take in the blows, being a half Lucky One, and Yixing's force would push him backwards, sometimes throwing him off balance.

Even though this is meant to be Yixing's training, Baekhyun himself is feeling like he's working out, from how intense Yixing is punching. He needs to train all his muscles just to not fall. And then Yixing would tell him to move right, move left, so Yixing can punch wherever he likes. Then Yixing would start jogging off, and Baekhyun would have to run to catch up, just so Yixing can practise his kicks and punches while on the move. Then he would make Baekhyun carry heavy things for him to train with, using Baekhyun completely to his liking and pushing him to the edge.

Baekhyun had always been better at anything that requires physical activity than anyone else around him, but this time he is, for the very first time, worse than another. Yixing's stamina is too good for him and the man never stops, until Baekhyun ends up feeling exhausted, as exhausted as he usually is when he trains himself and pushes himself off the edge.

And ... he's not even the one training. He's only helping.

Yixing is panting too, sweat darkening his long-sleeved shirt. He takes it off and Baekhyun almost yelps in surprise.

"I've seen you naked a few times. It's time I return the favour." Yixing says, letting his shirt fall to the ground off his wrist.

"... No thanks ..." Baekhyun pants, reddening naturally because he doesn't usually see anyone naked. And he doesn't want to.

Seeing the man start breaking out into a jog, that's when realization dawns on him.

He guilt-tripped me to train with him. Baekhyun thinks, staring at the man's disappearing figure into the far distance. Then he teased me!

Having no other energy to be annoyed, Baekhyun falls backwards, chest heaving up and down. He hasn't worked out in a while - that felt difficult but ... good.

No, should not submit. Baekhyun thinks to himself as he pushes himself off the ground, shaking his thoughts out of his mind, feeling the sweat drip down his neck as he looks around. Everyone is training so hard, looking like they're desperate to win.

Baekhyun can understand. After all, Baekhyun had once felt that desperation, when his dream of world peace was strong, and when his desire for revenge was strong. Now, both those concepts have faded from his heart, and he's left with nothing.

No motivation. No desires.

Without any of these, he's empty inside. As if now, he's not living in this world, but only existing. This feeling of emptiness is terrible and is capable of pushing him into the brink of insanity, feeding onto the pain and guilt he already constantly feels.

Even though Baekhyun wants to take the pain away, he knows now that he should bear with it, remember it, confront it. Never again is he going to be selfish and choose himself over others, even if he has to live in a world of emptiness and pain.

The next time he opens his eyes, he notices that all the people that are training are crowding in a certain area together. Wondering if anything's happening, Baekhyun decides that it's not his place to nose around so he stays where he is.

Looking around to search for Yixing, he finds the man jogging just behind the trees, far away and oblivious to the sudden crowding.

"Someone get a doctor!" He hears someone shout. Heart suddenly beating in fear, Baekhyun stands hesitantly from the ground.

"Yixing!" He hears someone shout.

"Kyungsoo!"

Seeing everyone turn around in hopes of searching for help, it must be a very serious matter, so Baekhyun turns and runs off towards Yixing.

I must get to him. He thinks to himself, running as hard as he can, even though his body is already exhausted. It might be someone's life at stake here.

Finally finding Yixing amongst the trees, Baekhyun stops him, panting.

"Someone ... there ..." He says, pointing over to the huge crowd that's slowly dispersing in panic. Yixing turns, sweat glistening on his neck, and then realization dawns in his eyes and he starts sprinting over there. Baekhyun runs to catch up, in case he can be of any more help.

By the time he arrives, Yixing is already knelt over the body, eyes closed as his hands hover over the toned torso.

"Shit, if something happens to him, what's going to happen to us?"

"What happened to him? Why did he suddenly faint like that?"

"He must not be taking care of himself. Training requires utmost care ..."

"Leader!" Someone shouts, and Jongin appears, stumbling over before kneeling down next to the unconscious body, opposite Yixing.

The unconscious body is Park Chanyeol.

Chanyeol had been reckless, spending all his nights trying to give Baekhyun enough warmth while at the same time trying to train hard so as to not let his fellow Monsters down. He dived into this lifestyle knowing of the consequences, but assuring himself that he can do it, at least, for a little while.

Training in the days becomes more difficult and straining, whereas in the nights it would be calming watching the boy sleep. One day, however, while practising to control his power, the strain becomes too much and something bursts within him. He falls unconscious immediately.

The next time he wakes up, he's in his room, feeling much better, and once again he knows Yixing had spent a lot of his energy to heal him.

Still, even when he tries to sit up, he's weak and it's difficult. Maybe he's not completely healed yet, and that worries him.

Hands grab him in the darkness, helping him up.

"Switch on the light." Chanyeol says quietly, sensing that there is only one person in this room - he had not been blind for weeks for nothing.

Silence answers him, and even though those hands leave his body, nothing happens.

"I know it's you." Chanyeol says softly. "Baekhyun." I want to see you.

Once again, there is a pause, but eventually the lights come on by itself, and Baekhyun's youthful face appears. On the bedside table, there is a bowl of water and a cloth in his hand, used to take care of him while he was unconscious.

"Yixing ... hyung was too tired, so he couldn't heal all your injuries ..." Baekhyun explains. "That's why you have to rest here for a few days."

"Yixing ... is he all right?" It is as he thought. Usually, Yixing will do everything in his power to heal someone, even if it exhausts him for days, so he must've truly been tired. After intense training, one must not exercise his or her power intensely, yet once again Yixing did not listen.

"He'll be fine, I will check on him after you." As if noticing the cloth in his hand now, Baekhyun quickly sets it down on his lap, trying not to capture attention. "You should worry about yourself first."

Chanyeol tries not to imagine Baekhyun alone with Yixing, and tries to change the topic.

"Are you all right?" Isn't it adorable, when Baekhyun blinks in surprise? "Everything in control?"

"Mm." He responds. Right now, he wears a beanie around his head and he's adjusting it. With nothing else to say, Chanyeol watches him instead, and the boy blinks before jerking, remembering the bowl of water next to him before he takes it in his hands and fills up a spoonful.

"Here, you must be thirsty." Baekhyun whispers, but before he passes it to Chanyeol's lips, he pulls back again. "Ah! It's cold ..."

"That's all right." Chanyeol takes it from Baekhyun's hands and then heats it up a little, then passes it back. He can't help but smile when Baekhyun's eyes widen in surprise then his cheeks flush in embarrassment at forgetting Chanyeol's power. Then, staring at the water in the bowl, Baekhyun pulls up the spoonful hesitantly and then reaches out towards Chanyeol. Chanyeol opens his mouth and takes in the spoon, watching Baekhyun the whole time. Baekhyun feeds him water again and again, until there is no more.

"Are you hungry?" The smaller asks, setting down the bowl, but before Chanyeol can even open his mouth, the smaller stands up abruptly and rushes out. As if very reluctant to be in the same room as an awake Chanyeol.

After bringing back and feeding Chanyeol food, Baekhyun sits there awkwardly.

"Thank you, for looking after me." Chanyeol says. Once again, the boy flushes, opening his mouth as if to explain himself. "I know it's because you care. Not because of ... anything else."

Closing his mouth, Baekhyun flushes even more, if possible.

"Don't worry, I understand you don't have any other feelings." The boy looks away, and then picks up everything he had left in this room.

"Rest well." He says softly, turning and approaching the door.

"Are you ... going to Yixing now?"

"Yes."

"... Goodbye."

"Bye."

Chanyeol closes his eyes as Baekhyun closes the door. He knows Yixing deserves Baekhyun wholeheartedly, more than he ever deserves Baekhyun, because Yixing had always been the one who's there for Baekhyun, who looked after him tirelessly and watched out for him. But ... Chanyeol refuses to let go.

If Baekhyun does fall in love with Yixing, Chanyeol decides he will support them wholeheartedly, but even until then, he will keep his feelings. Because those feelings belong to him and him only.

Yixing had rested in his room for the past few days, with Baekhyun by his side taking care of him.

Even though Yixing had said that he will be fine on his own, that he always was when this happened, Baekhyun had been just as stubborn, staying by his side without a word.

And then when he had healed, Baekhyun had followed him to the training grounds, as if not convinced that he's fine.

Wondering if this means that the boy will now do whatever he wants the boy to do, Yixing waits for him to enter the main training grounds with him before turning to him.

The boy stops, blinking innocently with a book in his hand.

"Combat. With me." Yixing says, and the boy shakes his head firmly. Without waiting for the boy's excuse, he kicks the book off the boy's hands. Shocked, Baekhyun stares at the ground then at him, then bends down to pick it up. Before his fingers can reach the ground, Yixing kicks the book away, and predicting that Baekhyun will move and reach for the book, he kicks the hand to block the boy. Baekhyun, upon predicting that and feeling very annoyed, turns his body and blocks off Yixing's every kick aimed at him, still trying to get his book.

And Yixing continues to kick it away, whereas Baekhyun tries to snatch it back, until Baekhyun's the one attacking.

Once fully focused on something, it is hard for Baekhyun's thoughts to break out of it, especially in physical activity like this, so when he finally stops because he's too tired, he realizes that he had wasted too much time doing this.

Exhausted, the smaller catches his breath, staring at the ground as he watches and feels sweat drip down from his face and onto the floor. Once again, his stamina is challenged against a Monster, and his body is not quite used to it.

Someone hands him a towel, and he takes it, wiping his face, still panting.

"This is a form of exercise." Yixing says, sounding completely fine. "It's got nothing to do with your power. Remember, Lucky Ones exercise too."

"..." Thinking that he has a point, Baekhyun doesn't respond anyway, using this time to catch his breath.

"Therefore, I am fine as long as I don't train my power." Yixing continues. "So no need to worry."

Did he see through me? Baekhyun wonders as he stands up, letting the towel glide along his neck.

"I guess that means I'll just return to Garden and Animal Room then." Baekhyun says.

"No, it's boring training by yourself." Yixing says, juggling the book in his hands. Seeming unimpressed, Baekhyun sighs and then turns around, as if he doesn't want to deal with this new childishness in Yixing.

Unsatisfied himself, the doctor chases after Baekhyun, tripping him over. Baekhyun stumbles and falls, but balances himself on his hand and using that hand to push himself off the ground before he twists around to dodge Yixing's punch.

"I ... don't ... want to ... train with you ..." Baekhyun says in between intervals of him dodging.

"Irresponsible..." Yixing responds, still attacking. "... leaving your book by itself?"

Frowning, Baekhyun continues to dodge and block, and then he backs away completely, holding up a hand, panting slightly.

"If I win ... leave me be."

"Against me?" Raising an eyebrow, Yixing stares in amusement at the boy, who is already exhausted. "I won't go easy."

"Good for me." Then he strikes.

Yixing dodges just in time, surprised. The boy is relentless, striking with every chance he gets, and if Yixing had not trained so hard for a quick reaction response, then he would be dead in seconds. He dodges swiftly all of them eventually, because he had trained himself expecting attacks at least two times faster than Baekhyun's attacks - after all, Lucky Ones have a much quicker response.

He plays around with the boy for a while, dodging the attacks and not attacking at all, but in the end boredom takes over and he strikes quickly, just as Baekhyun exposes himself. Grabbing the boy's outstretched wrist, Yixing pulls the boy to him before flipping him over his shoulder. Baekhyun flips and hits the ground hard.

The boy groans softly and Yixing stands over him.

"You lose."

Unexpectedly. Baekhyun pulls himself up and attacks Yixing again, but the doctor has learned to expect the unexpected.

Seems like he won't stop until he wins ... or until he can't get up again. Yixing thinks to himself, dodging the boy swiftly again. Stubborn boy.

With a solution in mind, Yixing quickly trips him over, grabs the boy's hands and locks them behind his back. Pushing the boy into the ground, Yixing holds on tight to those wrists and places his leg across the back of Baekhyun's knees, locking them so he is unable to move and fight again.

The smaller struggles, but his size and his lesser strength loses out against a much stronger Yixing.

"Now this means you have to follow me around." Yixing whispers simply, feeling very amused about this entire thing.

"Find someone else to be your companion." Baekhyun mutters, as if almost to himself, as a last attempt to escape.

"I need someone most similar to a Lucky One to train with." Yixing shoots back, and then the boy stops struggling.

"... I give up. Let me go."

"I quite like it like this." Yixing's not the type to tease, but he thinks it's stupid to miss any chance of teasing Baekhyun, who has the most priceless reactions.

Once again, the boy looks as if he's sulking and so unimpressed, but then it disappears, to Yixing's surprise.

"Come on, hyung ~~~" The boy whines, pouting slightly. Taken aback, Yixing stares, forgetting the situation they're in right now, and Baekhyun takes it as an opportunity to slip out of the doctor's grasp. The boy stands opposite him, looking satisfied.

"You think it's fun to make fun of me ... but you forget that I also know you quite well, hyung."

Still startled, Yixing continues staring.

"You're so cute, you know that?"

Yixing can't help it - he flushes.

Grinning madly, Baekhyun pats the embarrassment out of his cheeks and bends down to pick up his abandoned book.

Feeling as if all the energy had seeped out of him, Yixing sighs internally and watches as the boy runs off into the distance.

He knows the boy will be back eventually. Why?

"He forgot to return my towel."

Meanwhile, Chanyeol does the exact same thing as Yixing - letting himself recover by exercising regularly but not training his power.

After all, if he starts taking care of himself by sleeping at night, then who's going to give Baekhyun warmth? If he decided to sleep in the afternoon instead of training, who's going to protect his people? As someone who had decided to lead everyone into revenge, Chanyeol cannot let them down, and he will not let them down.

In the days, he would train hard, physically, so his body would be in shape at least. When he feels particularly good and energetic, he would practise a bit of Fire, but will stop the moment he starts feeling the negative side effects. As a Leader, he cannot faint again, and he will not allow anyone panic because of him. As a friend, he will not let Yixing tire himself healing him.

Now that he cannot physically train his power, this means that he doesn't need to be fully focused. On the training grounds, as he jogs around, he notices two familiar figures engaged in combat. He almost stops when he recognizes who they are.

They're spending so much time together and there's nothing Chanyeol can do about it. In a way, maybe this is punishment for being an absolute idiot and not seeing the boy's feelings earlier, when he had feelings for Chanyeol.

Now, it's too late and Chanyeol's alone.

Wanting to stop thinking about them, the Leader runs faster, letting out all his frustration and sadness through exhaustion. In the end, he finally slows to a stop, and when he looks around, there is barely anyone there, because they had probably finished training.

Panting to himself and wiping the sweat off his face and neck, Chanyeol leaves to take a shower and then have something to eat, and by the time that's done, it's midnight.

He heads over to the boy's room and finds Baekhyun sleeping soundly. Tiredly he reaches out and presses the tips of his fingers against Baekhyun's. This is the most he can do now, for the boy he loves.

And this may be the last excuse he has to be closer to him.

On the hallway on the way to the Main Training Grounds after giving in to Yixing and accepting his loss, Baekhyun bumps into Kyungsoo.

"Sorry." He mutters, bowing slightly, before attempting to leave.

"Wait." The older interrupts, stopping him in his place.

"Yes?"

"Do you ... perhaps know where Leader goes to at night?"

Blinking in surprise, Baekhyun shakes his head.

"He got injured because he didn't have enough sleep." Kyungsoo explains, looking worried. "I thought perhaps you might know where he is, and what he's doing."

"Why ... would I know?" Baekhyun asks carefully, not wanting to offend because he tends to do that a lot, with this group.

"I know you were very close to him, and I thought, since you're ... uh, back to normal now, I thought you would know ..."

"I ... um ..." Baekhyun trails off awkwardly, wondering if he should continue. But the very worried and kind look on Kyungsoo's face eventually makes him spill. "I ... don't talk to him that much anymore."

The older blinks in surprise.

"I-It was because he was my professor, that was why I spoke to him ..." Baekhyun explains. "But we don't have that sort of relationship anymore, so ..."

"Maybe you're keeping your relationship private, and I will respect that, but this is quite important because his health is affected." Kyungsoo says softly. "He's not ... in your room ... perhaps, sleeping with you?"

Flushing at the very bold assumption, Baekhyun shakes his head violently.

"We don't have that relationship at all!" Baekhyun says. "It's not what you think it is!"

"..." Thinking, Kyungsoo doesn't look too convinced. "But then ..."

"I-I know everyone thinks that this all happened because you all thought I had feelings for him ..." Once again, Baekhyun seems eager on clearing misunderstandings, so that no one can resent him. "And ... and ... I-I did. ... But not anymore."

Kyungsoo stares at him blankly.

"So ..."

"I understand." Kyungsoo sighs. Guess Leader's on the short end of the stick now ... "I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you." Baekhyun blurts eventually. "Uh, is it all right if you teach me how to use some medicines, and how to make medicines from plants? Some animals are sick, and -"

Jongin appears out of nowhere, cutting Baekhyun off.

The teleporter notices Baekhyun, face darkening before he turns back to Kyungsoo.

"One of the Experimented is awake, and he's throwing a tantrum!"

Nodding, face turning serious immediately, Kyungsoo turns to Baekhyun to say something, grabbing the younger unconsciously, but Jongin had grabbed onto Kyungsoo at the same time. In the end, all three of them are teleported to one of the patient's rooms.

Surprised, Kyungsoo blinks at his surroundings, glances at Baekhyun and then turns towards thee patient in bed. Baekhyun watches in shock as Kyungsoo tries to calm down the man ... he had seen the man before.

This man before him, with light caramel brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes ... was one of the first Experiments that Baekhyun first watched.

Frozen in his spot, his eyes can't help but trail down to the man's arm that is adorned with very dark scars forming a circumference, exactly at the place Baekhyun watched him get cut.

Absolutely frozen in horror, Baekhyun can only watch as everyone in the room attempts to calm the man down by convincing him that they're Monsters and not just an illusion made by the Lucky Ones. In the end, they resort to showing their power one by one, and very slowly but eventually, the man calms down.

Now that this man is not thrashing around, Baekhyun sees now, something new in those green eyes - in one of them, there is a dark red line crossing the middle, as if it had been dissected into half but sewn back together - is that even possible?

"Your eye is injured." Kyungsoo says calmly. "Let me put an eyepatch over for now, and treat it later." Surprisingly, the man is calm. "In the meantime, what is your name?"

"Kim Jongdae." He mumbles in reply, scanning over at everyone. "Everyone here, Monsters?"

"Yes." Kyungsoo responds with a smile. "We have successfully taken everyone out from the Lab. In the meantime -"

"Did you kill any of them?" Jongdae asks.

"Uh, that can't be helped -"

A menacing laugh breaks out from the man's lips.

"All of them?" It seems like a really funny joke to Jongdae now, as he stares wide-eyed at everyone around him. "Is it really all of them? Don't tell me. Wait, it'd be better if there are still some left ... That way, I can finally teach them a lesson ..." Jongdae is still laughing loudly, almost hysterically. He stops suddenly though, and when he opens his eyes, they stare right at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun is held down by that one-eyed stare, unable to move.

"I fucking hate them." Jongdae spits now, staring at Baekhyun with hatred. Does he know? "When I have the chance, I will fucking cut them all up, cook them and feed them to the fish. Or I will eat them myself."

Baekhyun covers his mouth, unable to handle that animosity, but when he vomits, nothing comes out.

"Uh, we have many things to talk about, Jongdae." Kyungsoo cuts in politely, blocking Baekhyun from Jongdae's view. "We need to know as much as possible about Monsters in SQUAOII, and we need your help, but in the meantime, you need to rest ..."

Baekhyun backs up against the wall and leans against it, panting heavily. Everyone else in this room is unfamiliar except for Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Jongin, and they stare at Baekhyun strangely, not sure why he's reacting like this when he should be agreeing with Jongdae wholeheartedly. Jongin understands though, but he only crosses his arms and side-glares at a Baekhyun who feels sick inside out.

Hatred ... Baekhyun has always been allergic to that.

Joonmyun is now well enough to leave his bed, but because they had experimented too much on his leg, he is now bound to a wheelchair.

That doesn't seem to put him down, and he shows to be very eager in watching everyone train. Now that he is awake and reunited with the rest, all who knew him decades ago are even more motivated to train now, and even more motivated in bringing the Great Four together.

Joonmyun watches Chanyeol, Sehun and Kyungsoo train together with a large smile on his face.

"They've been working hard." Joonmyun tells himself, upon watching the improvement on both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol's skills. Sehun is very behind, but also doing well for such a young child.

Smiling, he looks around, watching everyone train hard for defense and revenge. It's coming along well, and Joonmyun knows that if this keeps up, they will have a chance against Lucky Ones' terrible weapons.

"Leader!" At the sharp cry, Joonmyun turns his head and finds Chanyeol on the ground with a nosebleed. Immediately, he wheels his chair over, staring in horror at Chanyeol whose face is pale and lips a very faded pink.

"Aish." Kyungsoo mutters, fumbling in his pockets for medicine. "Are you not sleeping again?"

"Did he strain himself?" Joonmyun asks. "Give him some water and let him sleep now."

"Just what is he doing that makes him not sleep?" Sehun asks worriedly, kneeling down next to Chanyeol after Kyungsoo had easily pushed him down and held him there, against his wishes.

"No idea." Kyungsoo replies hurriedly. "I'm going to manhandle you if you don't take care of yourself. It's either you stop training your power or you sleep enough. I'd prefer you sleep enough."

"I'm fine."

"Sehun-ah, please grab me some sleeping pills from my bedroom."

"No -" Chanyeol starts.

"Either you make yourself sleep now, or I will make you sleep."

Closing his eyes, Chanyeol carries a small scowl on his lips, but Sehun rushes off anyway. The other two stay in silence, watching the tall man lies on the ground. By the time Sehun returns, he is fast asleep.

"Uh ..." Sehun holds the pills awkwardly, but Kyungsoo accepts it with a "thanks" and then hoists Chanyeol up on his shoulder easily, leaving Sehun gaping.

Putting the pills in his pocket, Kyungsoo grabs Joonmyun's wheelchair in his other hand and hoists it up, carrying the two of them out of the Training Grounds casually. Sehun stops gaping and rushes after them.

Once Chanyeol's in bed, Kyungsoo takes Joonmyun to rest, and then he takes Sehun to where everyone is.

"One by one, the Experimented are waking up. Of all of us, they're the ones who despise Monsters the most." Kyungsoo says.

"A few days ago, one of them named Kim Jongdae woke up and said many terrible things about Lucky Ones, how he would deal with them and how he would kill them."

"Isn't that good ..."

"Baekhyun was there."

Everyone turns silent.

"I think that we should pretend Baekhyun is full Monster." Kyungsoo finishes quietly. "So let's not treat him differently from now on. We have to pretend until we are convinced ourselves."

"Isn't the best solution to just kick him outta here?" Jongin cuts in. "I mean, he's back to normal now and still there's nothing going on between him and Leader. I see it myself: Leader is always by himself now. So why is he still here? Isn't he just a waste of space? Leader broke his promise to us in the first place anyway, so it's not like it matters."

Baekhyun had walked in throughout some of Jongin's speech, crouching down in the corner of the room with a basket of fruits.

"Shh." Kris elbows Jongin, but his voice is loud nonetheless.

They sit there silently, and Kris pokes the apples in the bowl awkwardly.

"These apples are good ..." He mumbles. Once again, silence fills the air.

"Here ... are more apples since you want them." Baekhyun cuts in, and he places a bowl of freshly washed and cut apples right in front of them.

"Didn't ask for it ..." Kris mutters, then coughs loudly, as if he had accidentally blurted that out.

"Oh ... Does anyone ... else ..." Baekhyun asks awkwardly. Jongin sideway glares at the apples then looks away, Luhan is staring straight ahead and not looking at all, Sehun's head is bent down very low on the table, Minseok looks away, and Kyungsoo is staring at the table in front of him.

"I guess not." Kyungsoo responds, with a small smile.

"Ah." Kyungsoo watches as the boy takes in the apples slowly, holding them tightly in his hands, and immediately feels guilty. After all, he had heard the boy begin to wash and cut the apples after hearing Kris say that, but truthfully he doesn't like eating them.

Once again, the silence is overbearing even as they hear the sound of footsteps walking out. The footsteps stop, though, at the entrance of the door.

"If ... If you want me to leave, I'll leave." Baekhyun blurts, capturing everyone's attention. "You're right. I'm useless here and I can't do anything for you."

No one argues with him at all, and Kyungsoo himself is too surprised to react and speak.

"If you show me the way out, I promise ... I will never come back."