I stayed where I was, still in his arms, still looking out into the rain as it hammered down over the yard.

The water was already pooling on the ground, running in the uneven lines across the ground. But it was only going to get worse before it stopped. In my last life, it took a full day and a night before it stopped. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Chenghai didn’t move away and he didn’t loosen his hold on me either.

He stayed exactly where he was, steady and warm against my back, like nothing outside mattered as long as I was still standing.

I let a few seconds pass. Since I didn’t know the answer to the questions in my head, I might as well get his opinion.

I opened my mouth. "Would you suffer now," I asked quietly, my eyes still on the yard, "if it meant becoming stronger later, or would you be content to stay as you are and never reach your full potential?"

He didn’t answer right away.

I felt him shift slightly behind me, not pulling away, not tightening, just there. His breathing slowed, steady again and I could tell that he was already more awake than he was when he first woke up.

When he spoke, his voice was clearer. "I’ve seen what’s out there," he said. "I know what we’re dealing with now. I also know that, on my own, I wouldn’t be able to survive as I am now."

His arms tightened just enough that I felt it.

"I would prefer to suffer now," he continued, "so that later, I have the strength to protect what’s mine."

I nodded once. That was what I was leaning toward, but I wanted him to pick his future without me pushing it. "Okay," I agreed with a nod of my head.

I stepped forward, out of his hold, not looking back as I turned away from the window. "Let’s go wake the others."

Chenghai didn’t so much as hesitate.

I heard him move immediately, his steps crossing the room as he headed toward the others without asking for clarification. He didn’t question it. He didn’t slow down.

Good. That would make this easier.

I walked to the front door and opened it, the sound of the rain getting louder the second it opened. Cold air pushed in, sharp and heavy, carrying the smell of wet earth and something deeper underneath it.

Behind me, the room shifted.

Lingyun groaned first, half-asleep and already annoyed as Chenghai pulled him up without giving him time to think. Zhenlan followed slower, but he didn’t resist, his movements controlled even as he woke. Yuche was already up by the time Chenghai reached him, his eyes on me before he even fully straightened.

No one asked why.

"Take your shirts off," I said before I stepped out onto the porch, the rain hitting me right away, soaking through my clothes in seconds. "You’re going outside and the less clothes you have, the better."

There was a pause behind me before I head the guys moving to do what I had suggested.

I was surprised that Meilan wasn’t out here, with her men, trying to get all the benefits of this once in a lifetime rain.

Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t know. After all, in our last life, she was just as much of a pampered princess. She wasn’t caught in the rain.

And the majority of humans who had been had been killed as a result.

Letting out a long sigh, I pulled off my shirt and pants, standing in the middle of the night in a black sports bra and underwear. I took my long hair out of the bun and let it flow around me.

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, already regretting my decision, I stepped off the last step of the covered porch and walked out until I was in the middle of my front lawn.

The rain hit harder outside, like it had been expecting us, and wanted to punish me for even thinking that this was a good idea..

It soaked through what little clothing we were wearing immediately, and it burned.

I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not, but I could have sworn that I felt the rain seep through my pours, meeting muscle and blood like it was born for it and burning me from the inside out.

I felt it crawl through my arms, my stomach, my breasts as it burrowed itself into the pit of my stomach and a bright green ball flickered into being.

Lingyun bit back a curse as he came to at stop beside me. "Is it supposed to burn like this?" he demanded, his teeth clenching together like he would survive this out of sheer will.

I grunted and nodded. "You have to relax," I said, forcing my breathing to even out. "You cannot fight this."

"Is this once again something that you saw in a drama?" purred Yuche. I couldn’t stop looking at his chiseled abs and pecs. He looked how he always did, like he was walking through a park and not in excruciating pain.

"I did," I replied, tilting my face back and opening my eyes. The rain stung them, but I ignored the pain.

"And did it give a reason?" asked Zhenlan, strolling toward me much like Yuche had, his black brief plastered to his muscular thighs.

"This drama was a supernatural one," I started, finally closing my eyes. But every time I opened my mouth, more rain poured into me. "A meteor crashed into the earth," I continued, forcing my body to relax. "The rain that followed it was contaminated with space and nuclear debris. None of the scientists really understood what happened or why it was important."

My insides decided to take that moment to realign themselves and my legs gave out. I would have crashed into the muddy ground if Lingyun hadn’t wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest.

"That doesn’t seem very scientist-y," he chuckled low. "From the shows that I watch, the scientists want to learn everything."

I hummed, letting him support my weight. "And they probably would have," I agreed. "If it there was a reason to go looking for it in the first place. You see the only ones on the show to be contaminated by the rain were the poorest of the poor. Those living in the slums. About 90% of them died from exposure."

The men were silent as they watched me.

"Those who survived, became powerful. Like over the top powerful. But no one thought that the rain was the reason. They just assumed that it was a natural evolution. And the rich people, those who were sleeping when the meteor hit, went about living their everyday life."

"Ninety percent," hummed Yuche, his eyes seemingly looking into my soul. "That’s a steep decrease in population."

I agreed. "It was those who fought through the fever, fought through the pain. According to the drama, those who accepted the changes made to their body, that let the rain run its course were completely fine."

Lingyun flexed his arm, not tightening his hold so much as making sure that I knew he was still there.

Yuche tilted his head back, his black hair completely soaked as he opened his mouth and let the rain pour in.

Zhenlan and Chenghai copied his motions and I could feel Lingyun shift enough to tell me what he, too, was doing.

They were all smart enough to know what I was telling them without telling them.

"Don’t be surprised," I said, tilting my head back onto Lingyun’s shoulder and letting the rain continue to drench me through to my bones, "if you get sick tomorrow. It won’t last long. Just don’t fight it."