“What.” 

“Yeah, no one really knows what this Pure One is yet.”

I cross my legs, uncross them. The thing that confuses me, is why SHC doesn’t know about the Pure One. I mean, Jongin knows about it (well, not about me but he’s definitely heard of the Pure One), Sehun does, too. And I’m sure that Kyungsoo has at least seen the words once on the pages of the various books that grace the walls of his office. 

“Well,” Yoonmi says, leaning closer so she can lower her voice while still being heard. “At least, SHC doesn’t know. But we do.”

“Wait, what-”

“I think a day before you left, and these letters were sent to the agency, Jongin got out of the hospital and went to go talk to Danmi, who supposedly knows about the Pure One. And no one, except for the few of us, knows he visited her. She told us everything. She told us about you.”

I don’t know how to respond. All I can think about is Yoonmi saying she told us everything. Does that mean that Jongin knows about the past, our pasts, now? “So…”

“So the SHC,” She leans even closer, pitching her voice even softer. “Doesn’t know about you. Doesn’t know what the Pure One is, yet. We’re trying to protect you, Daeun.”

I don’t like what she says next.

“Because as soon as the council find out about you, they’ll hand you over for the promise that everyone else will be left alone. There’ll be a price on your head, and you won’t be safe anywhere.”

“When were you going to tell me?” I inquire, leaning against the doorframe.

His back is facing me, and he doesn’t seemed surprise. He probably heard me coming as soon as the elevator placed me on the same floor as him. “This isn’t the place to talk about this.”

“Well, then where do you suggest we talk abou-”

I feel a light sensation of a hand on my wrist just before I’m sent into a dizzying whirlwind of colors that sweep me off my feet for a few seconds and drop me back onto solid ground. I close my eyes for a brief moment to stop the sudden vertigo, and even before I open them I know that he’s already far away from me on the other side of the room. I recognize the place, and realize we’re on the upper level of Danmi’s house.

“No one can eavesdrop here. Danmi’s house is protected with a seal.” Jongin fumbles with the zipper on his jacket and I almost cross the room to stop his hand because the sound makes my head hurt, but then he stops and looks up at me. I’m frozen into place.

“I was going to tell you sooner, but you said you were going on a trip to find your parents and I didn’t want you to worry. So I settled with telling you on the day you got back, but we both know how that worked out. And you were already gone by the time I woke up.” He shuffles a foot forward, like he’s going to take a step, but he doesn’t move. “Daeun, I know this past week or so hasn’t really been the...best, but I need you to be safe. Regardless of what’s happened, I want to protect you from whatever’s out there. Do you trust me?”

Do I trust him? Of course I do, I know he is the one person I can always rely on. But some of that trust came with loving him, and that portion has been almost stripped completely bare. I don’t know if I’m ready to rebuild that just yet, but...

You need him now more than ever, especially with the upcoming struggles you’ll have to face.

“Yes,” I breathe. “I trust you. Jongin.”

I’m rewarded with a small, but genuine, smile. It’s soft, overjoyed, and I’m about to bask it in like it’s the sun and I’ve only seen snow up until now, but it vanishes. Guilt clouds over it, hiding it from me.

“I-I’m trying to make up for a lot of things. Like for that time I gave you 100 percent dark chocolate, for being such a pain to wake up in the morning,” He pauses and I manage to laugh. I realize he’s only a few steps away when he adds, “For hurting you.”

I sigh. “Jongin, look, don’t worry about it, I mean, it’s fine-”

“No. No it’s not fine. Nothing is fine. I promised to protect you, and I ended up hurting you. I hurt you, and that’s. Not. Fine.” He finishes slowly, enunciating the last words so it drives the point home. And it does. The words go straight through my heart and break something I didn’t even know was there. Boy, does it hurt.

I breathe, deeply in, silently out, hoping to draw out a reply that’ll satisfy him as well as me, but I come up with nothing.

“It’s not your fault.” I try. 

“How is it not?” He whispers. 

“It’s not your fault that you met Minkyung. I mean she’s your-”

“Soulmate? Yeah, I know now. But, I only want you. I only need you. No soul mate, nothing.” He breathes in hysterically, ruffling his hair and closing his eyes. “Just you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Jongin. At least not right now.” Damn this mouth of mine.

He nods, rocking on the balls of his feet. “I know it isn’t.”

There’s a noticeable void of silence that cuts between us, so I do the first thing that pops into my mind: hold out a hand. “Hi, I’m Daeun, and I don’t like lazy pricks who won’t get up until it’s twelve in the afternoon and eats all the ice cream without sharing.”

Jongin stares at me like I’ve gone insane and answers, “Are we starting over? Isn’t this what they do in those cheesy rom coms?” 

I roll my eyes and huff, “Just humor me.”

His hand slides into mine and with a definite shake, Jongin smiles. “Hello, I’m Jongin, and I am a lazy prick who likes to sleep in and eat all the ice cream by myself. I think we’ll get along just fine.”

I grin, and Jongin lets out a small laugh. He holds onto my hand longer than necessary for a handshake. And I let him.

I look from the table, to Yoonmi, and back down. The stare she’s giving me is quite uncomfortable, and I hunch over the Japanese Lesson book that I’m currently studying. We’re in the Open Room, and as it’s name says, it’s an open room where a lot of the photocopiers, printers, etc., are found. In the center there are rows and rows of desks with table lamps and outlets, and off to the side there’s a fridge for drinks and a bar for snacks. In the whole SHC building, there are three of these rooms, so there’s more than enough space to go around for everyone.

I find that it’s the perfect place to study on my breaks. It’s not dead silent, but it isn’t overcrowded and rowdy either. Did I mention Yoonmi and Jongin have the same breaks as me?

“Something happened.” Yoonmi voices, head tilted to the side in observation.

“What do you mean?” I reply, jotting down a few more words on the paper before glancing back up.

“It’s just...why are you and Jongin acting like two middle schoolers who secretly like each other even though everyone else knows they do?”

I cough. “What?”

Yoonmi sighs deeply, almost as if she was explaining something so stark and obvious that it was a pain to repeat. “For the past hour, I have been watching you two look back and forth at each other so much that my neck is starting to hurt and I feel like I’m watching a tennis match. And just a while ago, when he came over to check up on you, you couldn’t even look him in the eye without stuttering, oh and why isn’t he sitting with you. What are you, some teenage girl with a crush on oppa or something?”

I kick her under the table. “I’m nineteen which is still technically a teenager. He has to spend some time with his other friends too, you know. And are you sure you just aren’t imagining things?”

She lifts an eyebrow before turning her head to her left. “No, I’m very sure that I’m not imagining things and if you want hard proof, look now and you’ll see that Jongin’s staring at you again.” 

I follow her gaze and my eyes lock with Jongin’s just before he turns hurriedly away, jumping into conversation with his friends. Okay, so I glanced at him a couple of times, and he looked my way a few times too, I admit it. It seems like since we started over, I’ve been abnormally shy around him and vice versa. Like we’re both a little too conscious of each other. Yoonmi does not have to know that though.

“See?”

“No, I do not see.”

“But you clearly saw that he was embarrassed when you caught him staring. I mean, normal Jongin would’ve made a face at you, and normal you would’ve stuck out your tongue at him. You guys already have a bond, I don’t know why it seems like you’re in the oh I like you but do you like me? phase when you already know that you have feelings for each other.”

I fumble with the words in my mouth for a while until Yoonmi gives up on me. “Fine. I’ll just ask Jongin himself because he was probably listening to our whole conversation. Weren’t you, Jongin?”

“Stop. Stop it-” I whisper, playfully nudging her arm with my pencil.

“Right, Jongin? Now tell me what’s up before I tell everyone what you did when you were drunk last year-”

“Yoonmi, nothing’s wron-wait, what did Jongin do last year?”

“Oh, haha, that. Well, he-”

“As Daeun was saying, nothing’s wrong, Yoonmi.” I jump in my seat at the sudden new voice. God, he should really stop doing that thing where he just appears out of nowhere.

“Right, Daeun?” Jongin inquires with a lazy smirk. You sure are different from a few seconds ago, I think to myself as I nod.

He leans in closer, and I feel myself move slightly away, but he’s just looking at the book in front of me. “Daeun, no, that’s not how you write that-”

Well, at least this used to be a place I liked to study.

A little bit of comic relief?

Anyhow, if you'd like, please check out my second fic ever: Dissipate. It's Luhan-centric, and the first chapter is not yet posted, but hopefull it will be soon^^