༄ NOW more relaxed, Sam moved Minho's hair out of his face. He was sleeping peacefully, his breaths even and bottom lip no longer shaking.

She moved closer. Through the night, she discovered both of them twisted and turned enough to end up face-to-face, their hands connected. Now it was morning, ten AM, and she did still have an unpleasant feeling in her chest.

Right now, Minho seemed okay, but she wasn't sure how he'd feel later on. On the other side, she believed in him and that he'd try hard enough, and wouldn't harm himself. If he did, that would be okay... but that was something she had to keep reminding herself of.

She struggled a bit, knowing that though she wasn't a professional, she wanted to help Minho the best she could. If only it wasn't so... complicated.

Sam let go of a breath. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, feeling his muscular body press into hers. Funny how a sassy, 'big' guy like Minho hid so much. Proof you could never base someone on what they went, or are going, through.

Speaking of hiding things, she considered telling her father about what Edith had said in the bus. That if Sam would've been more careful, nothing would've happened, or if she stopped the ones that had the sparkles, everyone would be okay.

Groaning, she took her phone, not wanting to go back to sleep, but also not wanting to leave Minho.

She didn't have much missed texts. Just a few posts on Instagram and information about the fire somewhere online.

Around two o'clock, sparklers were sold in Club Soiree. This resulted in a flame and due to the shock, it was held up against the paper decorations. Because the decorations were not impregnated with a fire repellent, the Christmas tree branches and papers immediately caught fire.

The burning mass came down into the crowded cafe, causing a fierce short fire where the temperature rose to 932 degrees with lots of smoke. The Christmas branches melted, causing a short circuit and the lights went out. The fire extinguished within six minutes due to lack of oxygen.

Her eyes widened at the article. Reading it like that was way different than experiencing the whole fire, and she was happy she got out before all those branches melted to the ground.

Fourteen people died. In addition, 250 people were admitted to hospital, of whom 57 were seriously injured.

Fourteen. She stared at the screen. Fourteen people died. And she couldn't help but think it might've been someone who she stepped on, or someone who she bumped into, or-

"Hey."

Her head snapped toward Minho faster than she wanted it to. "Hi," she murmured, lying back down. "Slept well?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And you?"

She nodded. "Yeah." And gave him a small smile. "Wanna go downstairs? I'm sure breakfast is ready."

"Sure." He kissed her. From surprise, her eyes shot wide open. "Are you okay? Feeling better?"

Sam shrugged, unsure. "I mean, better than last night. But I still feel weird."

"That's not shocking. What happened... it wasn't nothing," he lowered his voice, scooting closer. "Let me know if you're really not okay, alright?"

"I will. You too, please." She took his hand. Intertwined their fingers. "Are you okay?"

His cheeks caught a blush. "Yeah, after that cry, I am. Sorry 'bout that, by the way. It was-"

"It was okay. I didn't mind at all, and you shouldn't be ashamed." She pulled a face. "And again," she turned more serious, "I'm super proud of you."

His gaze softened. "Thank you, Sammy. I'm proud of you too."

She chuckled. "For what?"

"For... being so cute," he stated. "And beautiful and hot and amazing and maybe a little nerdy but also very funny and helpful."

"You're proud of me because 'I'm cute'?" She smiled even harder.

"Yes! Because," a short pause in which he was thoughtful, "because that proves you're so strong that you fought against-" Minho cleared his throat- "your mom's genes."

A pause.

"No offense!" He added.

Sam let out a laugh, which soon multiplied and turned louder, until she was laughing in his chest, also muffling them.

"Don't tell her I said that."

She looked up again, raising her eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes. "Please don't tell her I said that."

"Alright." She smiled. Luckily, Minho managed to make her happier, even after all the events. "We should really go downstairs now."

"Yup."

Sam wanted to climb over him, and Minho wanted to get up first, which caused them to bump into each other hard enough to roll off the bed.

With a thud, Sam landed on top of him, both groaning.

"Ouch."
"Ow."

"Hey, don't complain! You had a soft landing," he murmured. "But, I'm glad to see you're falling for me."

"Dude, I've fallen for you a long time ago."

"Sweetheart," he mocked, "don't call me dude as long as you're sexually attracted to me."

"Pookie wookie pie, don't mock me as long as you want me to save you from a lot of teasing."

"Small boo-boo bear, don't mess with me as long as anyone can hear us."

"Bitch, what are you even going to do when no one can hear us?" She gave him a smack on the shoulder.

He gasped. "Did you just call me a bitch?"

"Bitch, witch, snitch, all the same."

"What about a trich?"

Her mouth dropped open: she also gasped. "Minho! Too far!"

"At least get off me before we fall through the ceiling and land on the table to be the next turkeys."

"What's that supposed to mean? That we're heavy? Fat-"

"Of course. My muscles are very heavy."

"Idiot-"

"Though I won't be a turkey, because it takes too long to chew on these thick muscles! But you..."

When she climbed off him, her elbow happened to hit his stomach. He grunted, she gulped. "Ah, sorry. Want me to give it a kiss, heavy muscled turkey?"

"There you have it. A nickname for me!"

She hummed, helping him up (that wasn't necessary but she did it anyways). "Breakfast, finally!"

At least they cheered each other up. A lot.

The couple entered the kitchen, immediately facing Edith, Jeff, Sahil, Gally, Thomas, and Brenda.

"Morning." Sam gave all of them a nod. "Is everyone okay?"

"We actually are. And you two?"

"All good," Minho and Sam assured in unison.

"You're just on time for the eggs and bacon." Her father smiled. "Sit down, kids."

They sat down across from their friends, right next to each other with Jeff on their side and Sam's mom at the head of the table.

"Now that you two are also awake," she shot a glance at them, "I want to inform y'all that school is canceled for tomorrow. Six from the fourteen people who have died were students. Tomorrow, there are opportunities to leave flowers at their lockers or grieve with classmates. But it's your own choice."

Just like that, her good mood flashed away. Six kids who hadn't even lived their lives were gone now, and eight adults who might've had kids to take care of.

"They're not sharing who the victims are online," Edith continued, "but as the principal, I received a list. I don't know if you kids want to know. I'd suggest it's nice, so you'll be aware of who you're grieving for, and to know if it's maybe a friend of yours."

"I'd like to know," Gally was the first to speak after a short silence.

Without any other words, Edith slid a paper toward the boy. Brenda peeked over his shoulders. Her eyes stood sad. Full of sorrow, but there wasn't a sign of recognition. Maybe that was good, looking from the positive side.

Thomas and Jeff glared too. Their eyebrows caught a scrunch. "Hey, man?" Thomas looked up the same time as Gally, both at Minho. "You might want to see this, too."

They handed him the thing. Sam took a breath before she read with Minho, and only recognized one name.

Stan Hart.

She wasn't sure how to react, and Minho seemed clueless too. Stan hadn't been someone they liked. Maybe they had hated him... but a teenage boy didn't often deserve to die. Neither did Stan, in Sam's opinion.

What he had done was wrong. Very wrong. But it had been a way to prevent his parents from getting angry at him, or maybe even violent. Stan hadn't been... purely cruel.

"It's not a student from our school," was all Minho managed to say, his voice quieter.

"If you read a little better, you could see this paper includes all fourteen-"

"Mom," Sam cut the woman off before she could get snappy at Minho. "Don't do this right now."

She remained silent, luckily. Minho swallowed, and Gally rubbed his temples. Thomas bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

"Who is it?" Brenda asked quietly.

"An opponent from basketball," Gally murmured.

Sam was very glad Gally didn't mention he got into a fight with Minho. If her mom would've heard that, she wasn't sure about the outcomes.

"Do we know how Alby is doing?" Sam changed the subject. "And Sonya? And... basically everyone?"

"Everyone is okay," Jeff replied. "Alby got treated by a doctor and now has a serum for the burns. The rest went for a good night of sleep and seems less upset now."

At least that was a good thing.

❤︎︎

A/n: Man, I need to find a way to make this story longer, aha

Well, it's gonna take some chapters to solve all the Edith problems, but other than that... will this be a 'shorter' story (50-60 chapters or something), or do we want the 70-80?

x Vera