Renjun caught Jia before she fell, picking the girl up bridal style and frantically looking at everyone else.
"We have to advance the woods, if we don't we won't make it in time." Renjun spoke. "We can advance only most of the way but we will still have to make it past the toxic fog." Haewon added.
"Okay well we need to go." Jaemin rushed everyone along. In order to advance, they needed permission from the workers in that division which would we Minjae and Feifei. "We can get you all past the toxic fog. Fun trick we learned." Minjae said, summoning a black velvet box. It had one lever sticking out of it, Minjae pulling it to the opposite side and suddenly a purple portal opened.
"Everyone get in!" Feifei pushed everyone in one by one. Through the portal was a bright white room. Everyone except Feifei and Minjae were rather confused. "Where are we?" Donghyuck was the first to ask. "A little place we like to call the back door." Minjae answered. "It skips a stage in the process but you need permission from an official, which is us." Feifei explained, placing her hand on a scanner which opened another portal.
"Once we get in run as fast as you can left. The fog will start coming from the right. You will see a wall of orange, run through it and that will act as a barrier to keep the fog out. From there we will make it to the house on spring locks end. Everyone understand?" Minjae explained.
Everyone nodded in understanding. "Renjun, you should go in first since you have Jia." Chenle spoke up, earning a chorus of agreements. Renjun stepped forward with the still unconscious Jia in his arms. "Okay, when Renjun goes in everyone else needs to get in immediately after." Feifei spoke. "This fog is fast so run for your lives." Minjae added. Feifei looked to Renjun, nodding her head in signal for him to go. He took a deep breath, making sure to tighten his hold on Jia before entering the portal and immediately sprinting left. Glancing behind him, he saw everyone else running behind him and the black fog creeping up quickly.
"Keep going!" Minjae yelled to everyone else. Feifei and Minjae were behind the others, shooting blasts of light at the fog in an attempt to hold it back. They didn't want to admit it, but the fog was moving faster than they had ever witnessed before. Sharing knowing glances, they both knew it was because of Jia. "Her powers are growing!" Jeno had caught up with Renjun. "I know! That's the problem!" Renjun shouted. Not too far ahead of the pack was the neon orange barrier. "Come on we are almost there!" Feifei yelled.
The fog began to pick up speed, alarming Feifei and Minjae. "This cant be good." Feifei mumbled. The lot barely made it through the barrier, everyone looking back just in time to see the black fog crash against the orange. Silence filled the air, the only noise being the whooshing sound of the fog crashing and the panting breaths of the group. "It's late. We need rest before heading to the house." Mark was the first to speak. "Mark is right, but where can we go?" Jisung chimed. "Follow us, we know just the place." Minjae huffed.
Past the barrier was a lush forest, Minjae and Feifei leading the group through until specs of soft yellow light were seen through the trees. Emerging from the brush, a quaint cabin was on display. "This is our cabin, we crash here during situations like this." Feifei explained as they entered the cabin. The pair showed everyone to their rooms, putting Renjun and Jia in the same room for safety reasons. Renjun set Jia down gently on one of the two twin beds, making sure she was okay before sitting down on the other bed. In the silence, he was left alone with only his thoughts.
"So this is the next queen of hell, huh?" He thought to himself, breaking out in a small smile. Noticing the reaction, he stopped himself. "No, I can't be in love with her. Not now." He sighed. Something in the back of his mind was telling him he already was. Jia stirred a tad, opening her eyes slowly. Seeing the unfamiliar atmosphere, Jia shot up in panic. "Hey, it's okay. It's me, we are safe." Renjun stood up briefly in attempts to calm her down. After hearing his words, Jia relaxed. "What happened?" She asked. Renjun gave her the explanation, Jia nodding her head in understanding. A silence overtook them again, not being broken for a few moments until Jia finally worked up the courage to say something.
"Renjun?" She started quietly. "Hm?" He looked over to her. "I know everyone is afraid of you, but you don't scare me. You used to terrify me when we first met, but now i've grown to like you. It may just be because we are soulmates but I really do like you Renjun. I know things are probably moving really fast right now and I'm honestly as confused as you but I hope this can work-" Jia rambled before she was cut off by Renjun. Jia was taken aback, not at all expecting what Renjun had just done.
He kissed her.
On instinct, Jia kissed back. Her heart was beating out of her chest at the contact, thousands of emotions swirling inside her at once. Truthfully, Jia didn't know that Renjun was even her friend, much less to the point where he was able to kiss her. Renjun didn't know what came over him in that moment, all his logical senses blowing out the window. His heart took control and pushed him to kiss her, clearly it worked. Pulling away, they both wordlessly looked into each other's eyes. They both knew good and well what just happened, and strangely enough neither of them hated it. Jia lost control of herself in that moment, her hand reaching up to the back of his head and pushing him forward to connect their lips once again.
Renjun was surprised, but nonetheless went with what was happening. Their hearts were racing, stomaches filled with butterflies as the kiss occurred. Unconsciously, Renjuns hands moved to hold her face in his hands. The action made the butterflies in Jias stomach double. Pulling away once again, they were both speechless and still trying to register what had just happened. Renjun smiled, a genuine smile that Jia had never seen before. Seeing his happiness made a matching smile grow on Jias face as she quietly muttered
"You look cute when you smile."
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