Guts (EXO)

Crack the Shutters

The piercing coldness woke Hyerin, but she made no move to get up or open her eyes. Her body felt heavy with soreness and was almost impossible to move, and she was scared of what might greet her once she opens her eyes. Maybe she was already dead, and she was just not ready for that.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder. “Wake up.”

She groaned and stirred in whatever she was lying on. “Is that you, Jesus?”

“No,” the voice replied softly, “just plain old Yixing, unfortunately.”

Hyerin’s eyes shot open, and there sitting beside her was Lay, staring at her with worry. At once, she sat up, wrapped her arms around him, and started tearing up.

Lay hugged her back. “It’s okay,” he reassured. “You’re alright now, you’re home.”

It took a lot of explaining to do for Hyerin to understand that they were now staying in the woods, that Jiyong destroyed M-LX, and that they have been suffering from the lack of supplies for the past month. Back in Gwangju, they didn’t worry about such things.

“Come on, Lay,” she said, attempting to stand up from the sleeping bag she was tucked comfortably under, “help me get up. I want to see the others.”

Lay grabbed her arm and carefully pulled her up to her feet. “They’re eating supper right now. Everyone’s been waiting for you to get up. Oh, and don’t move too much, I just healed your crawler bite.”

They exited the tent and stepped outside where the other agents were eating around a fire. Once Hyerin was out in the open, the first one to notice was Myungjae.

“Hyerin…” he trailed off dazedly before jumping up from the ground and running towards his daughter. “Hyerin!”

“Dad,” she whispered, letting herself be enveloped in her father’s embrace. The others followed shortly and hugged her, glad that she was okay.

“How have you guys been?” she asked. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“We’ve been…okay, I guess,” Xiumin said, shrugging. “We’re making do with what we have. How have you been?”

The corner of her mouth tugged upwards. “Not so great. We went back here and Minho and I-” her eyes widened suddenly, “M-Minho, w-where-”

“He’s inside one of the tents,” Agent Zero said, giving her a plate of food. “He’s still unconscious, but he’s fine.”

Hyerin sighed. “I didn’t know M-LX was destroyed and swarming with night crawlers. I shouldn’t have brought him with me. But anyway, that’s not the point,” she said. “The reason why we came back is-”

“We already know.”

Hyerin turned around, shocked to see Kai walking towards her with a big smile on his face.

“It’s okay, Hyerin. You don’t have to explain anything. We already know,” he said, chuckling as Hyerin got up on her feet and tackled him into a hug.

“You’re back!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “I can’t believe it, we thought you were dead.”

Kai gave her a soft smile. “C’mon, Hyerin. You know I’m stronger than that.”

“I do know. You wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t,” she mumbled, closing her eyes. “God, I missed you so much.”

He laughed. “I missed you too, you brat,” he whispered, messing up her hair.