The South Korean girl had only but one option; to stay silent at the dinner table and accept the food that was being forced onto her. One thing when it came to Lan Mei was that she absolutely did not want to trouble others, whether it is for simple things or bold acts of kindness towards her. She wanted nothing but to be there and that's all. However, it seemed that Katyusha was cooking a feast for them… Lan Mei couldn't refuse and put her effort to waste. Especially since Ivan explained to her that Katyusha has a fragile body than the norm.

"Is it good~?" Katyusha stated with a smile. Lan Mei nodded smiling herself, in truth the food was different than what she had eaten; not the pleasant different though… yet Lan Mei was able to deal with it since she had Katyusha's feelings in mind. Also Yong Soo raised her to eat everything on the plate no matter if she liked it or not, basically she learned to train her stomach to be a black hole and consume everything despite not liking it…

Apparently Yao was the same…well the part of being a black hole.

Lan Mei turned to Yao who seemed to eat his plate worth entirely, to the very point that all was left was the plate itself; spotlessly clean. Lan Mei sweat dropped at the act, 'H-he ate everything… and he's supposed to be injured (in his abdominal region).'

Yao clapped his hands together as an act of being done; He looked over to Lan Mei with a smile since he caught her gaze. "Is something wrong aru…?"

Lan Mei flushed a light pink in embarrassment as she continued to eat her entire plate. She was feeling prideful that she was left behind in their "battle". Yao chuckled at this and looked over to Ivan with a glare. Currently the two males sat next to Lan Mei; Lan Mei being in the middle of their glares…

'What's his problem… he's been glaring nonstop at me,' Yao thought in annoyance as Katyusha began to serve his plate again. Yao made no effort to let Ivan's glares get to him…yet, it seemed that Lan Mei was in a less cheerful mood which made Yao concerned. "Lan Mei," Yao inched closer whispering in her ear, "If you don't want the food you don't have to force yourself aru. I can eat it." The feeling his warm breath on her ear made the South Korean flinch nervously. Lan Mei flushed a darker shade as she almost began to choke on her food. "L-Lan Mei," Ivan and Katyusha called out anxiously. Immediately Ivan directed his attention to Yao, "What did you do?"

Yao scowled at the Russian, "Nothing," Ivan was unconvinced, he stood up from his chair ready to drag the Chinese teen away from the South Korean. "Don't lie. She started choking after you whispered something in her ear. What did you tell her," His voice was dark and intimidating.

Yao felt shivers go down his spine as he tried to keep his stare; getting up himself he walked only to stop a few inches near Ivan. He tried to be intimidating as much as possible as he glared daggers at the tall Russian male, "N-Nothing aru. I said it was nothing!"

"Liar!" Ivan barked back.

"U-Um guys… w-we shouldn't be fighting da-ze…," Lan Mei managed to say after composing herself. She was able to finish her plate now and immediately Katyusha asked if she wanted seconds; which Lan Mei said no to in the politest way. However, this was hard for a "Yes-girl" such as herself… She got up to try and break them apart.

"D-da... we should be eating." Katyusha stated with a weak smile.

The two males looked over to them stopping from their "fight" as both saw this was the wrong place to fight each other. "We'll continue this later…," Ivan muttered through a blank smile. Yao held a weak smirk as he walked back to his chair. Lan Mei sighed seeing the two bicker like children, she wondered if both would ever be friends…

As Lan Mei walked to sit back in her chair Katyusha stopped her and asked cheerfully if she wanted dessert. Lan Mei forced a smile as she told her that she felt full yet Katyusha insisted that she come along, "Come on, help me bring the desserts~. Be sure to get some for yourself~!"

"B-But—," Lan Mei was "dragged" away to the kitchen by the Katyusha. Honestly, the idea of her being frail was hard to believe for Lan Mei. This left Yao, Ivan and Natalia alone in the vast dining room. Surprisingly the two were being silent… well actually it was understandable since Natalia was there with an irritated expression.

"K-Katyusha… I…," Lan Mei began but couldn't find the words. "Lan Mei, do you like anyone? Any boy that you have interest in…?" The question made the South Korean teen jump back in shock. "W-W-What? U-Um Katyusha..."

Katyusha began to giggle at Lan Mei's flustered state. "I was only asking~. But Lan, I'm seriously asking you. Do you~?" Lan Mei hesitantly shook her head, "I-I'm not really…looking for a boyfriend yet…"

"…Yet? Then when will that be, Lan?" Lan Mei fell silent as she seemed to increase in redness. "I-I'm not sure…" The Ukrainian sighed as she pulled her into a sisterly hug, "When you're sure about it, come see me, da?" She broke into a smile, "D-Dae."

Katyusha smiled back releasing her and looking over to the desserts she left on the kitchen table. "Help me stack these in the cart~." Lan Mei nodded and began to help her with the desserts. For some reason the South Korean teen found herself wonder a question that has been on her mind for a while.

"Katyusha, don't you have people helping you here?"

Kayusha smiled, "Da, usually there are since Ivan and Natalia go to school. But before…," she railed off. Lan Mei timidly apologized but Katyusha reassured her, "You know, I went to World Academy as a student not too long ago. I was supposed to be a second year student right now," she frowned slightly. "But because my body can't handle stress very well I had to drop out. It was fun while it lasted, though~."

"I'm sorry…," Lan Mei couldn't help but utter sadly. "I-I wish you get better."

Katyusha smiled sweetly as she changed the subject, "…By the way, did something happen? I noticed that Ivan is a bit…angry." Lan Mei nodded feeling a frown form on her face. "I'm… not really sure. B-But I think it's because of me…"

Katyusha paused in her stacking and asked her to explain. "W-well…earlier today Hyun Soo brought a bag… he said it was a present to me, from Ivan. I wanted to open it yet I kind of debated against it…" Lan Mei began to blush at the thought of it which brought a smirk on Katyusha's face, "You were curious though, da?"

"D-Dae…, but Ivan told me to wait until Yao arrived." Katyusha stifled a giggle as she began to think upon her words, 'Ah, my little Ivan was being childish again. He wanted to show off his gift for her in front of others~.'

"What else happened, Lan?" Lan Mei hesitantly continued her explanation while struggling to suppress her blush. "W-well…since Ivan and I finished most of the written assignment we decided to take a break. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to nap… so we ended up sleeping in the garden…" She squeaked in embarrassment as she remembered what happened when she woke up. "Oh, did something "interesting" happen?" Katyusha cheered with a smirk.

Lan Mei shook her head as she covered her face. "Come on, Lan~! Tell me~, Tell me~!" Katyusha was acting like a child now as she begged for the Korean teen to tell her. "W-When I woke up…" She trailed off nervously. "Da~?"

"Yao was on top of me…," instantly Katyusha started to squeal at this. "Ohhh did he!? W-Well I didn't know that Yao was such—."

"I-It's not like that! Yao is just a friend…," Lan Mei trailed off feeling light headed from all this screaming and embarrassment. Nevertheless, Katyusha was still on the subject, "Then what about my little Ivan~?"

Lan Mei immediately jumped back at the thought, "A-A-Ani! He's also a friend! Not to mention I knew him for a short while, w-we just recently met! Same goes for Yao!"

"So~, admit it you fell for my little Ivan. He's adorable isn't he~. He's also very handsome~!"

"Katyusha!"

"Fine, fine~. Continue on explaining I really want to know why Ivan is angry."

Lan Mei sighed nervously as she seemed to be red like the pickled cherries in some of the desserts. "…So…Yao, he was unconscious because it seemed Ivan and Yao were fighting while I was sleeping." Katyusha nodded, "Go on~."

"Ivan said he was asleep though so…I guess he was fighting in his sleep…?"

"You believe him?"

"D-Dae…he didn't look like he was lying to me," Lan Mei stated. 'Besides… seeing as though he isn't like normal guys… maybe its a habit from what he does?' She tried to convince herself with such thoughts. Katyusha nodded as she seemed to stack all the desserts on the cart. She was intrigued by this explanation since it was both entertaining and interesting to her. "Yao eventually woke up…and well it turned out the present that Hyun Soo brought was Yao's present to me…," Immediately Katyusha realized the problem, she clapped her hands together with a grin, "I found the problem."

"E-eh, you did? What is it da-ze?"

"Ivan is jealous~." It took a few seconds for Lan Mei to process the words in her mind before speaking again. "Ehhhh?" Katyusha still held a smile as she pulled the cart along, "Da~. He's just jealous. Tell me, did anything else happen? Like, did he try to hide anything?" Lan Mei thought on it, "W-well…he didn't really "hide" anything yet Yao said Hyun Soo left a bag in his procession by accident and Ivan took it. Ivan said he was going to return it to Hyun Soo."

"Ah, I see~. I think I heard all that I needed to know, shall we go to them?" The South Korean raised a brow, "Sure…" The two walked out of the kitchen and arrived to the dining room where the three sat silently. However, Lan Mei immediately sensed that the mood was slightly different.

"Did something happen…?" Lan Mei asked anxiously. The males turned a light pink at her stare which made her raise a brow in confusion. Weakly she forced a smile, "U-um… guys…?"

They refrained from speaking to her which made her feel slightly saddened, 'Aigoo…I did something wrong again. They hate me…'

Silently she sat down between them, but to her surprise they shifted away slightly. The South Korean sighed weakly as she remained silent, 'I want to leave. They don't want to be friends with me aigoo…'

Katyusha worriedly looked at the situation, thinking to herself; 'Oh no, did they overhear…? Well that's not good,' in her worry she still handed everyone desserts so that they may eat. Silently the three ate and Katyusha sat by Natalia, "What happened…?" She whispered.

"Both of you were taking a long time in the kitchen which made Big brother worried. That guy tagged along because he was worried that something happened to Lan Mei…," Natalia explained in a whisper.

Katyusha squeaked slightly at Yao and Ivan's concern for Lan Mei yet worried about her guess being true. 'Ah, this is a big problem… now the mood is awkward. A-and seeing how Lan Mei doesn't know the situation that well…'

'They hate me… but why…should I apologize…? B-But what did I do?'

Yao coughed out nervously as he weakly smiled towards Lan Mei, "The food is delicious aru~. D-don't you agree, Lan?"

Lan Mei turned with a saddened expression as she tried to force a smile, "D-Dae…"

Yao frowned slightly, 'aiya…she seems to be even sadder.'

"Lan, try this." Ivan called out hoping to cheer her up. Lan Mei turned to face him still feeling saddened. 'Now is the time to apologize…a-and I can also try to apologize for earlier, b-but what did I do earlier…?' Her mind was splitting apart. Ivan sighed at the sight of her frown. This made him unhappy but what he heard earlier brought feelings of embarrassment so he froze at the sight of her face. 'H-has she always been this cute…,' Ivan thought as he stood frozen in place. Unfortunately, he didn't pay attention as some of it fell on her clothes.

Lan Mei stared blankly as she got up from the chair. "I-I'm going to the bathroom…" she stated as she began to walk away.

The two males called for her asking if she was okay to which she responded with a smile and a "I'm fine…," both males did not believe this as they decided to follow her yet Katyusha told them to sit. "I want to speak to you both…"

Meanwhile, Lan Mei leaned against the door of the bathroom feeling slightly gloomy in mood. As expected of Ivan's house…the bathroom was also grand like the rest of the house. She sighed as she began to dial her brother's phone number. After 3 rings the elder picked up with a cheerful voice.

Anyo~~ is it time for me to pick you up da-ze?

"D-Dae…" Lan Mei stated with a small smile. She was very happy to hear her brother again during this time.

…Lan Mei? Is something wrong da-ze? You seem sad…

"O-oppah…I'm fine," she lied. It seemed her sadness came back at the mention of it.

Lan… tell me. Or do you want me to put Elizabeth on the phone…?

"…She's there?"

Dae, she needed a ride to a friend's house. Aish, I don't understand how everyone but me needs to go to friends' houses. Am I that unpopular~~!

The Korean girl began to giggle at her brother's words, "A-aigoo, Oppah~. C-come on…just hurry and pick me up, okay?"

Ahaha~ fine, fine. But Lan, did something happen da-ze? You've been worrying me since last week, especially after club. Is there something you're not telling me?

Lan Mei remained silent for a moment before speaking once again, "Oppah…, let's talk later okay…?"

…Fine. But no more avoiding me. Luckily its vacation so you can't dodge me at home got it. And don't forget I have Elizabeth with me~! –What are you talking about, git! Hey, pay attention or you'll injure us- Aigoo, got to go Lan Mei. Bye-bye~!

Lan Mei giggled as the phone was immediately hung up. "Oppah… I don't think it's that easy to explain though."

Slowly she put away the phone in her pocket feeling herself already missing her brother. Now that she realized it she hasn't spent time with her brother ever since she met Yao and Ivan. '…I wonder how life would be now that I won't be able to hang around them.' She felt tears form on her eyes. 'Umma…what do I do? What should I say…?'

She paused, 'Ah, that's right…I still need to get her back from Xiang.' At the memory of Xiang she felt slight anger boil. She pushed it back however and began to breathe calm breaths; she needed to be calm.

In her time, she was already sitting against the door with legs hugged close to her chest. "I'll wait, and wait…until Oppah comes." Sure, she felt she was being childish yet she didn't want to face them. She saw Ivan's face…he was turning red, probably in anger, and then he let her clothes get dirtied; Perhaps on purpose? She refused to believe this, "A-ani…Ivan isn't that type of person. He's very kind and…," Yet she couldn't say anything else since in actuality she hasn't known him for a long time.

'What am I saying…acting like I know him…'

She looked over to her phone yet again, "4:00…" She thought for a moment, "If Oppah doesn't come by 5 I guess I'll tell him I'll take the bus. S-since I can't stay in here forever…"

A knock on the door cause her to jump slightly.

"W-who's there…?" she called in a depressed tone of voice.

There was no response which made Lan Mei slightly anxious, "Who's…this?"

No response again which made Lan Mei scared. She inched back from the door studying closely as the knob was being jiggled violently on the other side.

Without a second to think a click was heard and the door creaked open. "It's been awhile, huh Lan Mei," stated a familiar voice. Lan Mei felt her eyes grow wide.

"You… wha-"

The Male sent a forceful punch to her stomach causing her a great deal of pain before raising her by the collar. "X-Xiang…how did you—?"

"You don't need to know," his lips cracked into a small smirk, "You thought I wasn't going to be around since its winter break? How disappointing, I really overestimated you…" He threw her to the ground causing her to lose consciousness from the force of the fall. He began to look around the interior with a smirk, 'sneaking in here was easier than I thought.' Slowly he pulled out the hairpin that he stole. Studying it for a moment he sighed, 'why do I have to do this again?' He bent down and placed the pin in her hand. "I'll torture you again soon, Im Lan Mei."

Lan Mei fluttered her eyes open only to see two familiar faces. Yao and Ivan.

"L-Lan you're okay aru! What happened?" the Chinese male basically cried out. Looking at him right now Lan could have easily mistaken him for a female if she didn't know him. "Yao…?" She began to sit up only to fall back down in pain. "Don't force yourself, Lan." Ivan stated calmly for some reason Lan Mei was able to pick up guilt in his voice. For a moment the South Korean thought she was just imagining things in her light headed state. "What happened da-ze…?"

"Aiya, that's what we want to know aru…! What happened to you? You went to the bathroom to clean up yet when we go to check on you you're on the floor badly bruised and unconscious!"

'Oh…Xiang,' she thought with slight anger evident in her eyes.

Ivan studied her sensing his guesses to be true. 'So it wasn't a false alarm…someone wandered into the house, and that someone was that guy name Xiang.'

"Everyone, can you leave for a second I need to speak to Lan. Alone."

Katyusha and Natalia nodded understanding perfectly. Yao on the contrary was being stubborn. "Like hell I'm leaving aru! Lan Mei is hurt; she needs people who care about her to be with her!"

"Natalia, get him out."

"Yes, big brother," she began to walk towards the Chinese teen who glared daggers at Ivan. "I'm not leaving! You can't make me aru."

"Ufufu~ last time I checked this was my house."

Yao was immediately silenced as Natalia dragged him away. At the sound of the doors closing behind Ivan breathed out a sigh as he brought a hand to his aching forehead.

"Ivan…?"

"You're okay, da?"

"Dae…I'm fine." Ivan smiled glad to hear such news. Hesitantly he took her hand in his, "I'm sorry… because I—."

"Don't blame yourself…," Lan Mei interjected, she sighed nervously suppressing the heat that was currently rising in her cheeks from his contact. "What happened has nothing to do with you. I-I just…tripped."

"Don't lie…," his hold on her hand became tighter for a moment. Lan Mei smiled in reassurance wondering what to say. Yet she found it better to let the silence talk for her. To show that she really had nothing to say. To show that she was just a useless girl who couldn't do anything but stay silent and let things happen.

Ivan sighed, "Lan, tell me the truth. Tell me, who did this to you?"

"I don't know…," she lied. Actually… in truth she didn't know him, so technically it was a half lie.

Ivan remained silent as his mind seemed to think on its own, 'If only you knew Lan…if only you knew who I was and what I do. If only you knew I was supposed to protect you despite being an assassin... if only you knew that I could kill anyone if I wanted to. That you're friends with a murder. Maybe if you knew some of these facts, will you be able to tell me the truth...?'

"Did the person do this to you, too?" Lan Mei glanced over to her bruised arm from before. It was getting better yet a small bruise was evident on it. "Dae…," Ivan wasn't able to speak anymore. 'It's my fault. For not being able to protect.'

Ivan got up causing the South Korean teen to get up despite her pain. "Where are you going—," she fell to her knees feeling the pain in her stomach. 'Damn it Xiang, he hits really hard…'

'It's my entire fault'

"Ivan! W-wha- nggh…," she stood quiet seeing that she couldn't raise her voice too much since it pained her. She felt so unlucky right now. Weakly she tried to get up with the support of the low table; only to fall down knocking over the objects on the ground. She cursed weakly in Korean as she struggled to get up. Yet she found her sights on a familiar object. "Umma! Umma!" She cried happily as tears started to fall from her face. She clenched the object close to her, "Umma, bogo sip-eoss-eo (Mom, I missed you)."

Yao despite being pulled away was able to still wait by the door. Natalia allowed him this as a favor from Katyusha. Though, Yao had to promise her not to go in. Yao promised and so Katyusha and Natalia left him alone as he stayed still in front of the door.

He pressed his ear to the door suppressing tears as he heard her speak. When he found out that the person who injured her today was the same person who injured her arm the other time, Yao felt anger boil in his veins. 'I'll kill whoever did this! I swear I'll kill that person!'

Yao began to clench and unclench his fist repeatedly as if craving to kill the culprit now. He listened on still, which what seemed to be simple chatter until he heard Lan Mei scream out. Yao was about to break his promise yet ruled against it despite it being unbearable. He heard footsteps and immediately moved away from the door. Ivan walked out without looking back and Yao saw an awful expression which surprised him. 'Tears…?'

Never could he imagine that the Russian would be able to cry, he didn't seem human enough for that. But it wasn't impossible now, Yao definitely saw it.

"Ivan—!"

Ivan made no effort to talk to Yao as he walked away. Yao gritted his teeth in anger as he looked over to the room. He heard a crash and then Lan Mei's voice. Quickly he motioned to open the door but again, that stupid promise… despite it being so stupid Yao never broke promises no matter what they were. He punched a nearby wall in anger, "Damn it! What the hell aru! What the hell is going on!?"

Yao was deeply confused, he felt like he was being left in the dark ever since day one. So many questions rushed through his mind such as; who was the person causing Lan Mei trouble? What actually happened on that night Lan Mei was in trouble? Where was she after the incident and how she escaped? Most of all he wondered about the girl herself. He still didn't know much about her. Yao sighed in annoyance, "What the hell is going on aru? Why is all of this happening to a single girl?"

Hi,Fiore here. It's been long since I uploaded a chapter and I'm extremely sorry for that. School and personal life has been stressful and there's so much for me to do. But with that aside I'll try to update this story every week like I had originally planned. (Also wish I can convince Remi to help revise my story for corrections since I'm really bad with grammar and spelling...). For today I'll upload 3 chapters and as always thanks for reading. Please fav, follow and/or review. It makes me very happy~! ^^