P u b l i s h e d   o n : 2 9 / 0 4 / 2 0 1 3

 Chapter Fourteen  : Not Okay.

"Even if I wasn't okay, I'll have to be anyways." She said monotonously.

She managed to pull him out of the water as he choked a little on the water. She pressed her lips into a fine line before pulling him up. “You were doing fine a moment ago, what happened?” she questioned as she furrowed her eyebrows. He rubbed the back of his neck before gulping. “I-I’m sorry. I just..-“ She shook her head before she brushed past him to stand in front of the boys sitting down before her. “Kai.” She called him out as Kai stood up immediately.

She turned around to stand by the lake again as Luhan mentally gave himself a long lecture. He joined the boys sitting down on the ground before continuing with his lecture. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ll come by to practice later, alright?” Suho patted Luhan on the shoulder as Luhan couldn’t do anything but nod his head.

“Well,” Hae Jung breathed out before eyeing the twelve boys in front of her. So far only Luhan managed to be the only one who could stand on water, even if it was for a few minutes. “We definitely need more work. We’re not asking you to immediately be the best. No, we’re not. We just want you guys to want to get stronger just as much as we want you to be able to handle any dangerous situation.” Brian gulped before he continued. “It may seem easy and safe for you now, but Zenon won’t hold back when he realizes we’re your trainers.”

The boys nodded their heads as some of them felt tired. Some didn’t exactly try to converse with their trainers, maybe that’s why their training didn’t go as well as they expected it to be. And some couldn’t even be bothered with the training. A few of them were even splashing one another with water during their break time. “Look,” Hae Jung whispered as she crouched down in front of all the boys. “When we train you guys, we want you guys to be able to connect with us and be serious. Only then we will know your strength, and your weaknesses. If you hold back on everything, how will we know the best way to train you?”

“So show us, and don’t hold back. Show us who the chosen ones are. Show us that our leaders chose great potential people to be a part of the Dynarion Clan. Show us that. Until then?” she shrugged her shoulders a little before standing back up to look at Brian. “Don’t even get your hopes up on getting stronger if you boys aren’t willing to get your together.” She held onto Brian’s arm before pulling him away, disappearing from the lake.

“Alright guys, play times over.” Kris spoke up as he stood up. “I second that.” Suho took Kris’s side as he stood up as well. “They’re right, in a way. We have to be serious. We’ll have to train harder and better if we want to survive in this world. You saw what happened to Hae Jung.” Kris gulped as Suho shivered a little thinking back on how pitiful Hae Jung looked. “Think about it guys, we’re the chosen ones for a reason. They can only do so much but it will all go to a waste if we don’t work for it ourselves."

“So how about it guys?” Kris asked as he shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s fight for our lives, for the people and as the chosen ones of the Dynarion Clan.” All boys stood up as they put their hands in the middle after forming a circle. One after another placing hands on top of one another before determination flushed in their veins to strive to be better and stronger.

“Give them time.” Brian turned to look at the girl standing beside him as she stared at the night sky above them. “I don’t know if I can do this again.” she whispered as the smile on his face faded away. “They’ll get stronger. I promise you. You can do this Hae Jung. We, can do this.” He whispered as she gulped. “I’ll go and check on them. I know you need your time alone, with.. Just.. I’ll go check on them.” He leaned closer to give a kiss on her cheek before he left the balcony.

“Dear Kyle,” she started off before she took in a deep breath when she realized she was alone. “Today’s the day you left. The exact same date you left me.. 121 years ago. Are you listening to me?” she stared up into the sky filled with tiny lights that happened to be stars. She could easily tell he was listening to her even though he was unreachable. “I just want to say how much I hate you.” She let out a bitter chuckle before gripping onto the railings. It was a lie. What a horrible and terrible lie to be told.  “And what an idiot you are.”

She was tapping her fingers nervously on the railings as she tried not to cry. A tear rolled down her cheek unknowingly as she was fighting the urge to not let it all out. Just then a figure appeared in front of her whispering, “Please don’t cry.”

That voice. It sounded so desperate, so needy. She instantly knew who it was. She lifted her chin up only to look into Kyle’s eyes. “Why do you keep showing up?!” she raised her voice as she looked away from him. She gripped tighter onto the railings. If she were to grip tight enough, the railings would easily break. “Do you know how hard it is for me now?! Without you here?!” she screamed at the figure in front of her that could only frown as his heart was breaking just as much as hers was. It killed him inside knowing that he couldn’t hug her with his arms that he once did every day. It made him feel useless. It made him feel..worthless.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He whispered as he tried to come closer to her but she wouldn’t lift her chin up to face him. “I hate you! I hate you so much! I hate-!” she tried to go on but she choked on her tears. She took in deep breaths as she turned around to let her back face him. She slid her back against the rail until her bottom met the ground. “I’m sorry.” She could hear him whisper behind her as she shut her eyes tight.

Those were the two words he would constantly repeat but those words would never bring him back to life. “You know, this is one of the two days I cry every year.” She whispered as he tried to say something but he couldn’t. Every year he would reappear in front of her just to make sure she was alright. Before he could say anything, footsteps could be heard coming towards the door as she wiped her tears away and sniffed. The door creaked open and she was staring at the ground with her knees up.

“S-Sorry, I didn’t know someone was here.” Kris softly apologized before she shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, it’s not like I own this balcony.” She scoffed a little at the end before letting out a heavy breath along with a tear rolling down her cheek. Kris gulped as he wanted to leave but she said something that made him do otherwise as she wanted someone to be around her at the moment. Even if it is one of the twelve newborns. “No, don’t leave.”

Kris could sense something was different in her voice. Was it sadness? Was it depression? Anger? He couldn’t tell. He closed the door behind him before making his way towards the girl on the ground. “Are you..okay?” he asked as he crouched down in front of her with a gap between them. Even though he's always seemed like he had a grudge against Hae Jung, it was all because he was trying to be careful.

“Even if I wasn’t okay, I’ll have to be anyways.” She said monotonously as she looked up at the sky where she could see Kyle’s figure. “Leave.” She whispered as Kris took a glance at where she was looking at. His eyes widened when he saw Kyle floating above them. Slowly he was descending up to the sky and soon his figure was gone. Kris furrowed his eyebrows as he looked back at the girl in front of him. “W-Who was that?” Kris asked as she let out a bitter smile.

“The person that once meant the world to me.” She blurted out softly as she scoffed. She wiped away the incoming tear rolling down her cheek with the back of her hand. “What happened to him?” he managed to question quietly as he wanted to know more. For some reason the aura she had around her was heartwarming. It was definitely different compared to the one she had when she was training them. It him in like a black hole. “He died saving me.” She whispered as she looked up at the sky again. “That idiot sacrificed himself for me.” She let out a scoff before pushing herself up.

Hae Jung had a deep realization that she had just told Kris a secret she's been keeping all this while from anyone apart from those who knew Kyle. The boys didn't know Kyle and she was more than glad to know they didn't. If Kris went blurting it out to everyone, she would definitely do something dreadful and it won't be pretty if she can't hold back.

“About this, can you keep it between us?” she gulped before Kris nodded his head after a moment of thinking. Not that he had anyone to tell to anyway. “Thanks,” her eyebrows raised a little as she spoke. “You should get some rest.” She eyed the boy who looked dead tired. He’s been practicing a little while more a moment ago with the boys. “Are you giving up on us because of the way we acted today during training?” he asked her before she could turn around.

“No.” she answered before she turned around to get back inside the house. For some reason, Kris felt relieved knowing they weren’t giving up on them. He knew inside out they needed their help if they wanted to get stronger. Kris let out a heavy sigh before he looked up, only to be greeted with the exact figure he saw floating above him earlier. He fell onto the ground as his eyes widened. “Who are you?” Kris asked immediately as his instincts kicked him. The figure smiled before his full appearance appeared before Kris. He looked completely normal and fine, as if he was alive. He stood on two of his feet on the ground as Kris got back on his. “I asked once, I don’t plan to ask again.” Kris snapped at the figure as he could only chuckle.

“Name’s Kyle.” Kyle smiled before offering a handshake but quickly pulled his hand back when he realized he couldn’t possibly shake Kris’s hand. “You’re Kris, am I right?” Kyle asked as Kris furrowed his eyebrows. “How do you know my name?” Kris asked as he took a step back from Kyle. “Silly. Spirits aren’t stupid you know.” Kyle smiled before raising a brow in amusement.