Author’s note: Please read this chapter peacefully, wholeheartedly, as there would be a set of plot knowledges revealed, coming up from this point. This chapter probably be the longest one in history. If you get to leave the comment below, please make it free spoilers, tho. Thank you.

***

The deafening, irate sound of ‘Kim Seolhyun!’ being yelled, followed by a husky male laugh was what roused Seolhyun from the satisfying haze of deep sleep. Her eyes fluttered open, and she tried to remember the last time her mom had used her full name. It had been probably years ago, when she’d tried to pet a baby rabbit that had gotten on their balcony somehow.

Mrs. Kim stood in Seolhyun’s bedroom doorway, dressed in her robe, hanging open. Dr. Park stood behind her, one a strange, satisfied smile on his face.

“What?” Seolhyun mumbled. Her hard pillow moved. Glancing down, she felt her cheeks burn hot. Hyejeong was still in her bed. And she was half lying on her. One of Hyejeong’s hands was wrapped around Seolhyun’s, pinning it against her chest.

Mortified on an epic level, Seolhyun pulled her hand free. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“It’s not?” Mrs. Kim folded her arms.

“They’re just kids,” Dr. Park said, grinning. “At least they’re fully clothed.”

“Not helping,” she shot back.

“Mother, relax, I’m not going to get pregnant.” Seolhyun started to sit up, but Hyejeong’s arm tightened around her waist as she rolled into her, nuzzling her neck. Wanting to die a thousand deaths, Seolhyun pushed at her. But Hyejeong didn’t budge.

Hyejeong’s eyes then opened into thin slits. “Mmm, what’s your problem?” Seolhyun stared meaningfully at the doorway. Frowning, she turned her head and froze. “Oh, wow, awkward.” She cleared as she removed her arm from Seolhyun’s waist. “Good morning, Mrs. Kim.”

Mrs. Kim smiled tightly. “Good morning, Hyejeong. I think it’s time for you to go home.”

“Anyway,” she whispered to Seolhyun. “I kind of like being your body pillow,” she admitted, a smile in her voice. “Even if you drool on me.”

“I do not drool. Now go home.”

Then Hyejeong left as fast as humanly possible after that. Following, Dr. Park went downstairs without saying a word. Meanwhile, Seolhyun found her mom shoving the coffee pot into the maker. “Mom, it’s not what you think. I promise.”

Mrs. Kim turned around, planting her hands on her hips. “I am concerned,” she continued. “First it was Hyejeong, then you seemed to have started seeing Jimin, but now...”

“I’m not seeing Jimin,” Seolhyun said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Really?” Ultra bright smile suddenly formed on Mrs. Kim’s lips. “Oh my God. Glad to hear that, sweetie. She’s too small for you.”

Seolhyun rolled her eyes.

After taking a morning shower and quick breakfast, Seolhyun was sitting in her seat, doing some paper. Sleep actually didn’t come easily last night, as well this morning go through. She kept checking the driveway next door, making sure Hyejeong’s Jjujju was there. She could just zip her way back to the given address without her SUV, but seeing the car gave Seolhyun some relief.

Just as she continued to type, there’s a soft knock on the door.

“Honey, Mina is here to see you.” Mrs. Kim walked over and flipped her laptop shut. “And before you say you’re busy or have plans, you need to get up and go talk to her.”

“Okay.”

“She missed you. You can’t spend every waking second studying and hanging out with Jimin or whomever.”

Or whomever? Like she had this long list of dates. Seolhyun sighed as she stood.

Mina was waiting outside, a vision in white. It took Seolhyun a few seconds to realize the white sweater she wore had blended into the background.

“Hey,” Seolhyun said lamely.

Mina blinked and her eyes immediately darted from her face. “Hey,” she responded with forced enthusiasm. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”

Seolhyun leaned against the door. “Well, I just started my English paper. Wanted to kind of get that out of the way.”

“Oh.” Her pink lips turned down, struggling for another subject. “Uhm, like my new boots?” Mina stuck out one slender leg. Black leather boots ended just below her knees. The heel was killer. “Hyejeong got them for me.”

“They’re awesome.”

She giggled, then popped a lollipop back in . “Okay, before you tell me no, I already cleared it with Chaeyeon.”

Seolhyun frowned. “Cleared what?”

“Chaeyeon is throwing a little party at her house. It’s just going to be a few of us. Hyejeong is going.”

“Uh, I doubt Chaeyeon is okay with me going to her party.”

“No, she is.” Mina pinged around the living room like a captured butterfly. “She promised she’d be cool with it. You can even invite Jimin if you want to.”

Seolhyun stepped back. With everything that was going on behind her and all the lies, being around Mina was hard. “Maybe some other time, because I’m really busy.” She didn’t wait for an answer, and started to shut the door.

Mina did the super-speed crap and pushed the door back open. She looked like an angry little puppy. “That was extremely rude, Seolhyun.”

Seolhyun flushed. She couldn’t deny that. “I’m sorry. I’m just so swamped with schoolwork.”

“I understand that.” Mina pushed the door farther open.

“And I’m not inviting her.”

Mina came to a sudden halt, the lollipop dangling from her fingers. “Are you guys having problems?” she asked hopefully.

“You know, if I were actually dating her, I’d have a problem with how happy you sounded there, but since I’m not dating her, I’m okay.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’s going on with you two, then?”

“Nothing.” Seolhyun sighed.

Mina on her lollipop for a few moments as she watched her. “And nothing is going on with my sister, right? She’s just slinking around the house for no reason.”

Seolhyun’s lips pursed. “Mina...”

“She’s my sister, Seolhyun. I love her. And you’re my best friend, even though you haven’t really acted like it recently.” She flashed a quick grin before continuing. “So I feel like I’m stuck in the middle of you two. And I know neither of you is putting me there, but I want... both of you happy.”

Wondering how they ended up on this conversation, Seolhyun sat down with a sigh. “Mina, it’s really complicated.”

Her eyes met Seolhyun’s, and Seolhyun saw the hurt in them. She swallowed, looking away. “I know you and Hyejeong are... well, whatever’s going on between you two, and you’re doing whatever with Jimin and I’ve been spending a lot of time with Minhyuk, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” Mina rocked back on her heels, clasping her hands under Seolhyun’s chin. “Go to the party with me. Please. I miss you. Please.”

How could Seolhyun say no? She turned slightly, spying her mom standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The look on her face pleaded with her daughter, too. Seolhyun was caught between the two, and neither knew that she was trying to stay away from Mina for her own good.

“Please,” Mina whispered.

She remembered Hyejeong telling her she was being a ty friend. She wasn’t trying to be, and Mina didn’t deserve that. She nodded.

Mina grinned. “So are you going to go with us tomorrow night?”

As much as Seolhyun wanted to see the Jungs’ house, because she bet it was super posh and cool, she was still undecided. “I’ll think about it.”

“You promise?” Mina nudged her with her elbow. “It would make me really happy if you did.”

“Promise.”

Mina jumped forward and gave Seolhyun a quick, tight hug. “Thank you.”

The next day...

Hyejeong and Seolhyun checked out the office building in Evensi Field the following morning. They’d thought it would be empty, considering it was sort of a holiday, but the whole plaza of offices was packed with cars.

Pulling the cap over her face, Hyejeong jumped from the car and checked out the office on the street. When she returned, she grinned at Seolhyun and quickly pulled out of the plaza. “It appears to be a lawyer’s office. Has at least two floors above the main one. They’re closed obviously on Sunday. Bad news is they are outfitted with an alarm system.”

“Crap. Know a way around that?’

“Fry their systems. If I do it quickly enough, I shouldn’t trigger an alarm. But that’s not all. Above the entrances and windows is kind of blackish-red gemstone.” Hyejeong’s lips tipped up higher. “This is good, though. Whatever those stones are, they have to mean something.”

It did. Youkyung could be in there right now. “What if it’s guarded?”

Hyejeong didn’t answer.

Seolhyun knew what that meant. She’d do anything to get her sister. Some people might think that’s wrong, but she understood. If that were her mom or something, she would do the same. “When are you going back?”

Again, Hyejeong was silent. And Seolhyun knew that meant she didn’t want to tell her because she was planning to do this on her own. Seolhyun pushed the issue the entire way home, but Hyejeong didn’t bring it up.

“So are you going to Chaeyeon’s party?” she asked, changing the subject eventually.

“I don’t know.” Seolhyun fiddled with the button on her sweater. “I can’t imagine her wanting me there, but back to–”

“I want you there.”

She glanced at Hyejeong, chest swelling to the point of bursting. Way to knock her off track in such a deliciously tender way.

Hyejeong’s eyes slid toward her. “Seolhyun?”

“Okay. I’ll go.” At least she’d be able to keep an eye on her there, because she knew Hyejeong wouldn’t wait past tonight to check out the offices. The fact she wanted Seolhyun there didn’t outweigh the importance of Seolhyun keeping an eye on her.

***

The party wasn’t starting until nine, and Hyejeong was heading over early to help Minhyuk with a few things. Seolhyun was supposed to drive over with Mina, and with a sly wink, Hyejeong said she was taking her home. When she got back, Seolhyun chatted with her mom before she left for work. She appeared happy to hear that Seolhyun was spending the night with Mina.

Grabbing a book off the counter, Seolhyun headed upstairs. And surprisingly, she passed out about twenty-five pages into the fantasy novel.

Some time later, the sound of her bedroom door closing woke her up. She rolled onto her side, frowning as her eyes drifted from her door, then across her dresser, past the closet door, and over the silent, stiff form of Jimin.

Jimin?

Seolhyun jerked up, but in a burst of alarming speed, Jimin shot forward and clamped her hand over Seolhyun’s arm. Fear dug in. Rearing up, Seolhyun knocked Jimin’s hand away and twisted, scrambling across the bed.

“Whoa! Whoa, calm down, Seolhyun.” Jimin darted around the bed, hands raised in a harmless gesture. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Seolhyun’s pulse was all over the place as she backed up against her desk, heart pounding. Seeing Jimin in her bedroom was unexpected, terrifying. “How... how did you get in here?”

Jimin winced as she ran a hand through her shoulder-lengthed hair. “I knocked for a couple of minutes, but you didn’t answer. I... sort of let myself in.”

The same way Seolhyun had let herself into Xiumin’s house. Her eyes darted to the door behind Jimin, and all she could think about was who her uncle was, how deeply involved she must be with the AOE... and how dangerous she could be.

“Seolhyun, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jimin crept closer, and Seolhyun felt the rush of static moving up her arms in response to the perceived threat. Somehow, Jimin sensed it and blanched. “Okay. What is your deal? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You already have,” Seolhyun said, swallowing.

Jimin looked wounded as she lowered her hands. “That’s why I came here as soon as I got back into town. I’ve had this whole week to think about what happened with the Kloom, and I’m sorry. I understand why you’re upset.” she paused. “That’s why I’m here. I just wanted to talk things out with you.”

Was she telling the truth? Seolhyun’s hands opened and closed at her sides. She felt like a caged animal with no way out.

“Obviously coming into your house like this wasn’t a good idea.” Jimin smiled. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

Seolhyun forced herself to calm down. “Okay. Um, can you give me a few seconds?”

Jimin nodded as she backed out of the room, and Seolhyun slumped against her desk, dizzy with adrenaline. Jimin didn’t know that Seolhyun had discovered her relationship with Xiumin, and that meant she had the upper hand. And if Jimin really was working with the AOE, Seolhyun needed to calm the hell down. Jimin wasn’t nearly as dangerous believing Seolhyun didn’t have a clue about anything than if she did know.

She quickly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a comfy shirt. The whole way downstairs, she took deep, slow breaths. Jimin waited in the living room, sitting on the couch.

Seolhyun gave her a smile she didn’t feel. “Sorry. You just caught me off guard. I don’t like when people... just show up in my bedroom like that.”

“Understandable.” Jimin rose slowly, then Seolhyun noticed a paler color skin, heightening the shadows under Jimin’s eyes. “I won’t do it again.”

Her eyes went to her laptop, and she suddenly wished she’d cleared the search history. She moved into the room, feeling like she was stepping into quicksand. She didn’t know how to talk to Jimin, to even look at her. Jimin was a stranger to her now. Someone that, no matter how harmless she looked right this second, she couldn’t trust. Part of Seolhyun wanted to rage at her and the other wanted to run.

“We need to talk,” Jimin said awkwardly. “Maybe it would be better if we went to get something to eat?”

Seolhyun’s distrust spiked.

Jimin laughed grimly. “I was thinking the Diner Dash.”

Seolhyun hesitated, not wanting to go anywhere with Jimin, but she also didn’t want to be in the house alone with her, and being out in public had to be a better choice. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was near seven. “I have to be back here in an hour.”

“Okay.” Jimin grinned.

Seolhyun slid on her boots and snatched her phone. She glanced next door as she climbed in. Hyejeong’s SUV was gone and so was Mina’s car. She’d mentioned something about getting party favors.

“So, did you have a good day?” Jimin asked, sliding the key into the ignition.

“Yeah, you?” Seolhyun’s seat belt was stuck, as usual, and she tugged on it. “Do anything exciting?” Like go on a covert mission for the AOE?

“I spent some time with my uncle. Really boring.”

Seolhyun froze at the mention of Xiumin, and the strap slipped away from her fingers, snapping back into the holder.

“Are you okay, Seolhyun?”

“Yeah,” she said, taking a deep breath. “This damn seat belt is stuck. I don’t know why I have so many problems with seat belts, but they are always giving me crap.” She tugged on it, cursing under her breath. Finally she got it unstuck and twisted around. Her gaze drifted over the dashboard and dipped to the floor.

Something gleamed under the exterior light, peeking out from the corner of the mat. She let go of the strap and bent, grabbing the cool metal off the floor while Jimin fiddled with the wipers.

Seolhyun stared down at the strip of goldish black metal, struck by the familiarity of it. She’d seen it before on someone. Turning it over, she saw the engraved shape of the state. A flakey reddish substance, kind of like rust, covered half of the state and the lettering. She smoothed her finger over it, revealing the name engraved on the band. Comprehension crept in slowly, mainly out of disbelief, because she knew who half this watch belonged to.

Joongki... Song Joongki.

She’d seen him wear this before. And... and the stuff on the band wasn’t rust. Her stomach tilted and a violent shudder rolled through her. It was blood. Joongki’s blood, most likely. She squeezed her hand over the band, hoping Jimin hadn’t seen her pick it up.

Her breath halted in her chest as Jimin glanced at her.

Jimin was staring back at her. Her gaze dropped to Seolhyun’s hand and then flicked up, meeting her eyes again. Their gazes locked. Pure, raw fear dug at Seolhyun.

“,” she whispered.

A small, weak smile crawled across Jimin’s lips. “Dammit, Seolhyun.”

Seolhyun spun around in her seat, reaching for the door handle with her free hand. She threw it open and got half of her body out of the car before Jimin’s hand clamped down on her arm.

“Seolhyun! Wait! I can explain.”

There was nothing to explain. The bloodied watch belonged to Joongki, Joongki who’d been missing. Add that onto everything else, and Seolhyun was so out of there. She threw her weight forward, breaking Jimin’s hold. Scrambling to her feet, she darted around the front of the car.

Jimin was fast, before Seolhyun even reached the first step of the porch. She grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around. Seolhyun went, swinging at her. Jimin dodged the blows, catching her arms, pinning them to Seolhyun’s sides in a brutal hug.

“Let me go!” Seolhyun screamed, knowing there was no one who would hear her. She only had herself to get out of this mess. “Let me go, Jimin!”

“I can explain.” She grunted as Seolhyun managed to jab an elbow into her stomach, but she held on. “I didn’t kill Joongki!”

Of course she’d lie. “Let go!”

“You don’t understand.”

Static rushed over Seolhyun’s skin in response to the threat. Red-white light clouded the corners of her vision.

Jimin’s eyes widened slightly. “Don’t do it, Seolhyun.”

“Let me go,” she growled, feeling the explosion of heated lightning zinging through her veins.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will,” Jimin warned.

“So will I.” And Seolhyun would. She could.

Jimin let go, pushing Seolhyun’s back. Her boots slipped over the gravel, then Jimin charged her. A flash of intense blue light blinded her. Pain reverberated off her skull, tearing through her, splintering Seolhyun’s grasp on the Source. She screamed out, feeling her legs go out from underneath her.

Jimin swooped in, catching Seolhyun before she fell, half dragging her up the stairs. “I told you not to do it. You didn’t listen to me.”

Something was wrong with her motoric function skills. Seolhyun opened , but nothing came out except soft moans. Her legs wouldn’t work. She couldn’t feel her feet. A metallic taste was in the back of , blood leaked out of her nose and, she thought, her ears, too.

The door swung open in front of them, and Jimin dragged her in. It slammed shut, shaking the pictures on the walls. Seolhyun kept trying to talk, but only garbled words came out.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” she said, as if reading Seolhyun’s mind. “One of the first things they teach us is to control a concentrated blast of Source so it’s like getting hit with a super-charged energy. We all have to take a hit, just to know how bad it feels.”

She dropped Seolhyun on the couch. Her head tilted to the side as she blinked slowly. Jimin’s face blurred in and out, and then steadied. She looked grim as she leaned over Seolhyun, brushing the strands of hair off her face. Seolhyun tried to knock Jimin’s hand away, but her arm wouldn’t cooperate.

“I know you can hear me. Just give it a couple more minutes, and it will wear off.” Jimin sat back, one hand moving up Seolhyun’s leg that was off the couch. She positioned it beside the other.

Shaking her head, she slipped her hand into Seolhyun’s front pocket and slid out her phone. Holding it up between them, the Source flared in her hand, obliterating the fragile piece of electronics. She tossed the remains to the floor. “Now, listen to me, Seolhyun.”

Seolhyun squeezed her eyes shut against the rush of tears.

“I didn’t kill Joongki. I don’t know what happened to him, but you, you left me no other choice,” she said, voice grave. “I had to clean up after you, make sure you didn’t expose yourself before they knew what to do with you. If you hadn’t busted those windows in front of him, he’d still be hanging around here and dreaming about his football career. You didn’t leave me a choice.”

“No,” Seolhyun croaked out, horrified at what Jimin was saying.

“Yes! He would’ve told the world!”

“You’re... you’re insane. You... didn’t need to kill him.”

“Listen to me!” Jimin yelled, dragging her fingers through her hair, eyes bugging. “After I left the party, I stayed and I saw him leave once you broke the windows. I followed him home, and he was so drunk he pulled over on the side of the road. He was going crazy about it and I had to turn him over. I don’t know what they did with him.”

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