07.

It was the feeling of something wet yet warm touching Sahyun’s face that caused her to stir again, perhaps only just a few hours later. She blinked her eyes open to see a woman standing before her, arm reaching forward to dab at her forehead gently with a rag. She was clothed simply in a long dress, her long black hair down past her hips, her face bare and youthful, a kind smile on her lips.

It was the first woman Sahyun had seen since coming to the Middleground and it somehow made her feel relieved now that she had. She was easily made aware by how clean this woman looked, of her own filth, her hair slick from grease and dirt, the same clothes she wore to visit her parents graves sticking to her body after what she assumed could only be a couple of weeks, since time didn’t pass in the Middleground like she was used to.

As if noting her discomfort, the woman looked down from above her at her face and tilted her head to the side in acknowledgment. “Trust these men not to understand a woman needs her hygiene taken care of, huh?”

A weak laugh bubbled in Sahyun’s throat but died quickly from the aching she still had. The woman tsked and stopped dabbing at her skin to reach onto the table beside her and pick up a cup.

“This is a remedy that will help with your throat and make you feel a little bit more awake. Drink up, sweetheart.” Her hand was also gentle as she held Sahyun’s chin, helping her sit up enough to drink some of it.

The effects of the drink were instantaneous, and when she downed the last drop, became slick with her saliva and the soreness went away. She felt more nourished drinking that one cup than she had from any of the so-called food she had received from the men.

It was easy to figure out this woman was Ruvi, Seungcheol’s companion, or wife as Sahyun decided to put it in her own mind. After helping her drink and get up and stretch her tired and stiff limbs, Ruvi took it upon herself to walk Sahyun to their restroom, where she helped her shower and change into new clothing, though Ruvi’s options consisted of nothing but long dresses. She had managed to find a pair of Seungcheol’s pants to thrown on underneath, just for the sake of feeling a little more guarded and secure, but they were loose with the weight loss that Sahyun had undergone since coming there. Ruvi had to use one of her scarves as a makeshift belt to hold it in place over her bony hips.

“Jun is fairly good with making remedies. I’ll send a few recipes and ingredients with him whenever you all part from us, so you can have proper nourishment. Gain some weight.”

Having the dirt cleaned from her body, her hair felt lighter and her whole being felt refreshed and rejuvenated and she was so grateful to be able to clean herself properly again. She almost dreaded leaving the confinement of the shower, the opportunity to take one becoming more of a luxury than what it was in her mundane life. She just prayed it wouldn’t be so long before she would be able to properly cleanse herself again, though she knew it was likely to be wishful thinking, considering they had nowhere to go when they left…

Ruvi was waiting for her once she was dressed and stepped out of the restroom, an expectant look on her face. “Seungcheol has finished preparing for the binding so we should head into the living room again, dear.”

“Already?” Sahyun found herself asking, anxiety beginning to fill her the thought of what was to come. She had no idea how magic in this world worked, whether or not it would be painful or uncomfortable. And the fact that she would be linked to two people for the rest of her…

Could she even call this a life?

She didn’t know anymore.

With a sigh she followed Ruvi toward the living room, her heart jumping when she saw everyone gathered around and waiting for her. Seungcheol stood in the middle of the room, facing the sofa, a different book in his hands, and one glance behind him showed the rings and bracelet on the coffee table, next to a needle that had her turning even paler in the face than she already was. Soonyoung and Jihoon sat on either end of the furniture, and when the women made their way into the room, the black-haired man turned to look at her, his sharp eyes showing a similar kind of anxiety mixed with… guilt.

Jihoon gave her a quick glance, as well, but looked back down at his feet shortly after, seemingly uncaring about what was going to happen, maybe even a tad irritated.

“Ah, you looked refreshed.” Seungcheol smiled when they made their way toward the group, Ruvi motioning for her to take a seat between the two men. “I promise the process is a quick one, and after we can discuss some things about what you guys need to do from here.”

Even though she could talk now, Sahyun still couldn’t seem to find her words as things began to happen around her. The needle on the table was in Seokmin’s hand and before she could even register what was happening, her wrist was grabbed and her blood was drawn, causing her to hiss in pain.

“Sorry, We need blood from each of you to complete the process, and we already have Soonyoung and Jihoon’s.” He gave her an apologetic smile, to which she couldn’t even be upset at, even if he had stuck her with a sharp object out of nowhere. Once he drew enough blood, he retracted the needle and brought it over to a bowl that was sitting beside to the pieces of jewelry, squirting her blood from the syringe into whatever mixture sat in it.

He handed the bowl to Seungcheol and stepped away again, finding a spot behind Seungkwan and looking genuinely, or maybe it was exaggeratedly, concerned for the events that were about to take place. Even Seungkwan looked enthralled, his lip drawn between his teeth as his eyes fluttered from person to person.

Sahyun didn’t even need to Jun calm her nerves like she thought she might have, her body somehow relaxed on its own. Maybe it was the realization that she had no control over anything anymore that left her calm, or the fact that her brain was simply too exhausted to worry about anything any longer. She didn’t even fidget when Seungcheol reached forward and told her to close her eyes while his hand rested on top of her head.

She assumed whatever he said after that was some type of spell, the words far to foreign to be any language she had ever heard of, and before he even finished her body felt like it was tingling, her muscles warming up to the point where she wondered briefly if she were on fire. But, just as quickly as it happened, he was done and moving from one boy and then the other.

It was an entirely too confusing process for her to remember everything that happened, she focused her sight on the bracelet for the majority of it, until Seokmin was back in her line of vision, picking the object up and bringing to her to place gently over the skin of her wrist, the same one he drew her blood from. Soonyoung and Jihoon wore their own rings and after a few more words she didn’t understand, Seungcheol closed his book and smiled at the trio like he wasn’t a grown man who had just used some type of magic to bind three people together for however long they needed to be. 

“Have fun, kiddos.” He chuckled, earning a groan from both men on the couch. 

“You act like this was some type of party. I literally only did this to save her life. It was not willingly because