Chapter 11: Myriad

Sehun

            Jaebum paused his pacing of the room for a second to whirl around and face us at an alarming speed, something similar to what an army general would feel when given game-changing information too late into the war blazing in his dark irises. “And you only tell us now?”

            I sat ramrod-straight in my chair, my hands twisting in my lap. I felt strangely akin to a young boy being scolded by his father after a phone call from the teacher reporting his misbehaviour. “She got it before you came along,” I explained, reasoning to myself that it was a perfectly fine explanation and that I wasn’t scrambling for excuses in order to avoid Jaebum’s wrath. “It didn’t change her, it doesn’t hurt her… I kind of forgot about it.”

            Beside me, Haerin leaned against the wall, looking far more relaxed than I was currently feeling. “I forgot as well. It really doesn’t bother me at all, and most of the time, it’s so faint I can barely see it…”

            Youngjae frowned at her from where he was perched on the windowsill – ironically where Jiwon had been sitting just an hour or so before. He’d left before Haerin and I had reached my apartment, and judging from how Yugyeom had been restraining Jaebum from sinking his fist into the wall as we were entering, I assumed it hadn’t been with a curtsey and a kiss of the hand. “Most of the time?”

            “It darkens when Sehun’s around,” Haerin said. “Accompanied by a tingling feeling.”

            “How did you get it?” Youngjae took her wrist, and she pulled away almost immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry – did I hurt you?”

            “No, it’s-” Haerin pressed her fingertips against her temples and closed her eyes. “-I’m sorry. I just don’t like contact, that’s all. It’s nothing personal. I, um… I touched the pendant and when I pulled away, it was there.”

            Guilt and confusion flared up in my head at her words. I don’t like contact. It must’ve been extremely uncomfortable when I’d hugged her – and yet, she hadn’t pulled away like she had when Youngjae had simply touched her arm. She seemed to accept it, even. And she didn’t seem like the type of person to make false statements.

            I leaned my head against the back of the chair and sighed, softly so no one would hear. I didn’t consider myself socially impaired, but everything about Lee Haerin was confusing to me at the moment.

            “How did it feel when you touched it?” Jaebum asked, having resumed his pacing.

            “It hurt so much I felt like I was going insane,” she said simply – no call for sympathy, no sugar-coating. Somehow, it had more of an impact – on me, at least – that way. “It felt like there was a fire just underneath my skin, and I wanted to claw it out. It faded when Sehun touched me.”

            “Sehun,” Jinyoung spoke suddenly, looking at us over his shoulder as he placed a warm towel on Jackon’s head, who was currently lying near-comatose in my bed. “Do you have your pendant with you?”

            I scoffed, reaching into the back pocket of my pants. “When do I not?” I held it out in front of me by the chain, and as it swung back and forth, I gradually grew disoriented at how the light in the room seemed to shift to accommodate its sudden presence.

            Jaebum swallowed, his eyes glittering in the light of the pendant. “Haerin, I’m going to need you to trust me.”

            “I have to touch it, don’t I?” Haerin said, her voice sharp with fear and resolution.

            “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his confident aura dissipating and the bold look in his eyes wilting. “I know you don’t want to, and I don’t want to make you do this, but I have no other choice – I need to confirm something.”

            Haerin sighed, and closed her eyes. I felt the urge to take her hand – but, given her recent statement about her dislike towards contact, I decided it would be more unhelpful than not. “What’s the worst that can happen to me if I do?”

            “Well,” Youngjae spoke up, “you can combust-”

            “Not now, Youngjae,” Jaebum interrupted firmly, silencing the younger boy with a pointed look. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. But I don’t think anything bad is