The silence in the dining hall wasn’t heavy, but it made me uncomfortable.

Why wasn’t anyone saying anything?

I had just poured out my heart, told them what they meant to me. I get that they are shocked but I expected more than this.

Then, I noticed Min-Cheol’s hand tremble slightly. I could see the reflection of the chandelier in his wide, blue eyes glistening with tears he didn’t want to fall.

He looked like I’d just handed him the sun.

"Hyung..." he whispered, his voice cracking.

But he didn’t finish the sentence and just leaned forward, dropping his forehead on my shoulder, his back arched.

His fingers gripped the fabric of my shirt as if he were afraid I’d vanish if he let go.

"You..." He tried to speak but still couldn’t make a sound statement. He shut his mouth, his hands trembling against my body.

Seo-Jun had stared at me and for the first time, the sharp, sarcastic retort didn’t come. The Adam’s apple in his throat moved as he swallowed hard, his gaze slowly dropping to the table.

The man who wanted to watch the world burn for me looked, in that moment, like he was the one being consumed by the fire I’d just described.

I turned my tear-streaked face toward Ki-hoon.

He was still sitting perfectly still, but his knuckles were white where they gripped the edge of the table. He didn’t say a word, but the look in his eyes was so intense, so raw with a mixture of relief and agonizing devotion, that I had to look away... Before I let his gaze swallow me.

It was Jin-Yeok who finally broke the spell.

He stood up slowly, his chair scraping on the floor. He walked around the table, his footsteps heavy and deliberate. When he reached me, he didn’t say anything. He just took off his glove and reached out to wipe the teardrop hanging on my jaw with his thumb.

"You really are a dangerous person, Jo-Pil," he murmured, his voice thick. "You talk about us lighting a path for you... But you’re the one who just burnt down every defense we had left."

I felt my breath hitch, looking at him.

I felt Min-Cheol’s grip tighten. Even if he didn’t say it, I knew he was scared but there was nothing to be scared about.

"Why not?" I said. "It’s because I’m not giving you any chance to escape me. I have to burn every escape route, haha." I laughed, but there were still tears in my eyes left to fall.

He smiled at me and this time, the smile reached his eyes. It was so genuine that I could see myself in the reflection of his emerald eyes.

And my reflection was how he saw me. I was.... glowing.

"Then I have to thank you for blocking every escape route." He said, dropping his forehead against mine. "You just did me a favor."

"Did I?"

What favor was that, I wondered.

He kissed the corner of my eye, sucking out every last tear that threatened to fall.

"Don’t cry anymore, Jo-Pil." His melodic voice whispered, and it reached my core like a hypnosis.

"You’re saying it like I want to cry." I laughed and then the others moved as well.

Seo-Jun stood up, kicking his chair back with a loud clatter. "You’d better mean what you said." He said with a snarky smile.

"Which part?"

"All of it." He grinned. "Because if you try to take it back, I really will burn the world down and I don’t mind if we’re stuck in it. We’ll burn together, Jo-Pil."

"Burn by yourself, you pervert." I lashed out at him and he laughed.

"Hey! I thought you said we were in this together." He said and I pouted.

I didn’t mean we should burn, idiot.

Ki-hoon stood up last, his presence was quiet and steady.

"Jo-Pil’s right," he said and his eyes fell on mine. "He still has a lot ahead of him so he can’t burn with you just yet."

He walked up to me and stood before us with his looming presence.

"Jo-Pil, your words make me so happy." He said, a smile playing on his lips. "And my best part was... That you consider me a fire that lights your path." He closed his eyes, reeling in the feeling of warmth my words gave him.

"Hey, you’re not the only fire," Seo-Jun said, ruining the moment for Ki-hoon who definitely felt irked.

"I definitely shine brighter," Ki-hoon said and with that, they both began to bicker, wondering who was the shiniest fire.

What a headache. Haha.

Watching them, it felt like my heart was overflowing. The weight on my shoulders—the questions about my worth, the physical memory of all the horrors, the fear of the ’masters’—it didn’t disappear, but it felt manageable. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

I was a person loved and in love... That alone should give me some peace of mind.

"Dinner is going to get cold," I sniffled, making a weak attempt to lighten the mood. "And I definitely can’t compromise that."

"You little foodie," Seo-Jun exclaimed.

"Let it," Ki-hoon whispered against my hair.

"Hyung, we can just reheat it later," Min-Cheol said but were they being serious?

Did they have any idea how hungry I was?

Did they have to hear my stomach grumble before they realized how serious this was?

I had cried out all the last bit in my belly, okay?

"I’m hungry, though," I said. "And I have ’stamina’ to maintain, remember?"

But they still didn’t take me seriously, not until a loud growl erupted from my flat and surely empty belly.

It was more like a rumble than a growl and I was left there, standing in shame.

Seo-Jun broke the silence as he barked out a laugh, walking over to ruffle my hair so hard I stumbled.

"Fine, fine! The little foodie needs to recharge." He said but I pouted and smacked his hand away, and he just wouldn’t stop laughing.

I found the rest trying to hold back their laugh but they weren’t doing a good job at it.

"Okay, hurry and sit down and eat before I decide to feed you myself," Seo-Jun said and I threw my face away.

"Hmph!"

As we all sat back down, the atmosphere had shifted into lighthearted chatter, with this and that going on, with a little bit of bickering at the side.

I was so glad I got to get it all out of my chest.

In that moment, Jie-Yu walked down and seeing the atmosphere, she felt puzzled, having that ’What’d I miss?’ expression on her face.