Once Baeri felt Chaima’s arms around her, she released her own grip and slipped out of the embrace, a second before they were completely around her. Baeri refused to give Chaima the accomplishment of trying to reassure her. Pissed off was an understatement to the rage Baeri was feeling at that moment. The moment she saw Chaima jump from the building, she thought her heart would stop. She couldn’t even stop the girl because unlike the pyrokinetic she didn’t have the ability to float in the air freely. Her limit was where the floor ended in between the opening in the huge wall. She had watched in dread as the fire at Chaima’s feet died and her friend fell to the ground. She was too mortified to let out a sound or even breathe.

Baeri cursed herself for being unable to do anything. She had to watch her friends do the work. Gikwang had summoned his eagle, while Hyunseung had jumped down, only to be caught by the graceful bird and Dongwoon used his ability to make the force of the gravity on Chaima a lot lighter, making it easier for Hyunseung to carry her back. Meanwhile the girl had already started shivering uncontrollably, from anger, fear and relief. She couldn’t believe her eyes when Chaima was back, rescued by the others and standing in front of her again. She automatically had jumped at the taller one, tackling her painfully to the ground while scraping her own knees on the concrete. Only after being able to hold onto her friend, Baeri knew for sure that she was in front of her, that her mind wasn’t playing tricks with her and that she wasn’t left alone in the world.

At the moment she slipped out of the brunette’s embrace, she stared at the healer with mixed feelings at the shorter girl. Baeri could see the fear of being beaten to a pulp and the worry for her in Chaima’s eyes. Tears were stinging in her eyes, but Baeri didn’t let them fall, she refused to. Instead the girl pulled back her hand holding it there for a second before launching her palm and swinging it towards Chaima’s face. The victim’s eyes widened for a moment astonished at the action and was too late to evade the blow. The impact of Baeri’s hand against Chaima’s cheek created a loud sound that echoed throughout the whole room. Six pair of eyes were on the two as Chaima’s hand slowly moved towards the sore and reddened skin of her left cheek, while her rounded eyes were on her partner.

“What the hell was that fo-?”

Chaima couldn’t finish her sentence as her other cheek was struck with the same force, making her head whip involuntarily to the left.

“What the he-”

The brunette was once again interrupted, but this time by Baeri’s voice instead. “You! Idiot!”

Chaima became completely silent at the girl’s shout. She rarely saw Baeri like this and when she did, it intimidated her to no end. Frightening was a complete understatement. The current Baeri was on a whole different level of scary. Even Doojoon, Junhyung, Yoseob, Dongwoon, Hyunseung and Gikwang were taken aback. Hyunseung’s anger had mostly disappeared when he saw Baeri’s condition and Gikwang was partly scared, because the last time he had seen Baeri angry was when he had been reckless to shield her during a mission and wounding himself badly. But even that outburst wasn’t much compared to her current state. All of them knew that she was afraid that she’d really lose Chaima, the one closest to her.

“I’m sorry.” Chaima uttered softly after a painful silence.

The apology was enough for Baeri. She just wanted Chaima to reflect on her actions and not to act rashly. Asking her to act before thinking was simply impossible for this hotheaded girl, she was aware of that. But she could at least ask her to be careful right? To treasure herself more, to stop hurting herself even if it was to protect others. It wasn’t that much to ask from her, was it? Since she was the only one the girl had left in this world, the only one she could completely rely on. It hurt her seeing Chaima’s rash behaviour, always ending up hurting herself. Allowing her stupid pride to get the best of her, but worrying everyone around her to no end. She should have been used to it by now, by Chaima’s behaviour and her habit to act before she thought. But can anyone get used to seeing someone they love getting hurt, without them sparing a second thought about it?

* * * * *

It took them half an hour to arrive at the headquarters again, courtesy of Jeffrey who easily opened a portal for them. They arrived in silence, no one spoke a word aside of Doojoon and Dongwoon, who talked to Carlo to report, even though he was watching them all the time with Hongjung’s help. The rest remained silent, even when greeted by Paro. The girl as well could easily see that they were in no mood to talk, nor pretend to be cheerful. She understood that pretty well and remained silent as well. She decided to be silently supportive, just comforting them with her expressions and smiles. There wasn’t much more to do.

Baeri as well silently worked on healing the injuries they had received. Though there weren’t many, she was sure to check up on all of them, especially since Saenan had pulled a dangerous stunt with their lungs. She remembered the mortifying feeling of not being able to breathe and hang on to the rim of near death disgustingly well. It still sent shivers down her spine, whenever she remembered the situation she was in. It was the first time Baeri was sincerely afraid of her friend. She had always known that her abilities were quite dangerous, but she had never imagined having to face them herself. She still considered this situation, where Saenan and Hana were their enemies, unimaginable. What had happened to them?

Once the reports were done, they were all dismissed and returned home except for Yoseob and Junhyung, who had to go for their monthly power level check up. Once they left for the laboratory, the rest including Baeri, Chaima and Hongjung returned home, where they made hot drinks and relaxed in the living room, spread across the couches and on the floor watching television absentmindedly. Hyunseung and Chaima were in the kitchen and although Paro wanted to help, she decided to leave them alone when, she met eyes with Baeri. The look in the healer’s eyes told her enough. They needed to be alone. She didn’t need to know why, she would just act according to their wishes. She wasn’t selfish enough to disturb them.

* * * * *
 

With a knife in her hand, Chaima skillfully slid the blade under the skin of the apple, making it curl on the table as she peeled it. Hyunseung was beside her chopping the peeled fruits that she piled up in either cubes or circles, creating a harmony of bright colours in the bowl. After a few minutes of chopping, Chaima let out a deep sigh and placed the knife on the counter. She side glanced at Hyunseung, whom was still cutting the fruits in perfectly equal shapes with full concentration, as she leaned back against the wall. Too much concentration for her taste. Another sigh escaped her lips as she returned her gaze to the knife on the counter. Her mind drifted off to the events of that day. Her encounter with her sister and the … revival of their friend. It was too much to take in for the moment.

“You…” The male voice made her snap out of her thoughts and divert her eyes to the male, whim had stopped chopping for a moment to gather a new piece. Once he continued chopping he also continued his sentence. “You’re thinking too much. It’s not like you.”

Chaima stared at the side profile of the dark haired illusionist for a while in silence. By the time he continued speaking again, he had already grabbed a banana to chop this time.

“It’s not going to do any good if you drown in thoughts, you know.” Hyunseung casually spoke. “You’ll hurt your brains.”

Chaima didn’t fail to catch the small smirk he knew she’d see. “And we all know yours isn’t that competent, so…”

“Yah!” The brunette interrupted loudly. “Keep your insults to yourself, stick figure.”

“I’m just saying.” The male shrugged without bothering to remove the smirk from his face.

“Yeah, you’re just saying that I’m dumb.” She hissed. “As if you’re the brightest lamp out there.”

“Maybe not.” Hyunseung paused for a moment and his expression immediately darkened. The smirk was no more. “But I don’t throw myself off a building going after someone, who I know can counter my ability without even needing to blink.”

Chaima’s eyes narrowed until the trademark scowl returned to her face. She didn’t even bother trying to defend herself, because she as well knew that her actions were just plain dumb and dangerous. She just couldn’t help herself at that moment. It was her sister and her friend, could she be blamed?

“They were our friends as well, but you don’t see us jumping straight to our deaths.”

Chaima eyed the male momentarily, irritated by the fact that he just read her mind. “Shut up.” she growled in a low voice.

“Everyone knows what you think. It won’t justify anything.” He told her bluntly.

“What the hell do you want, Jang Hyunseung?!” Chaima eventually snapped, not bothering to keep her voice down.

Hyunseung’s reaction was something she hadn’t expected. Within seconds he was right in front of her towering over her as he looked down at the startled brunette, who tried to hide it, close enough for her to feel his breathing against her skin. His hand was tightly clenched around the handle of the kitchen knife he had pierced the wall right beside her head with, whitening his knuckles. His other hand rested against the wall on the other side of her head, locking her between the wall and his body. Chaima returned the glare he shot at her with a piercing gaze, that could kill with a mere glance. Both of them omitted a dangerous darkness from their gazes and expressions, without giving in.

“What I and every other idiot out there want…” He started in a low hissed whisper. “... Is that that tiny brain of yours, at least tries to think about how the others feel before you jump to your death.”

Chaima found her tongue completely unable to utter a useful sound by Hyunseung’s actions and words. Did she disregard them that much? Was she to blame?

“You are.” He whispered softly.

With those words, Hyunseung slowly backed away and returned to his preparations for the fruit salad. The tension was thick between them and Chaima slowly realised that she probably had to rethink her actions and reflect. Would she admit it to this blockheaded person? No way. So as she made her way to the door creating louder sounds with her steps than she probably should, she paused in the door opening and turned her head before glaring not even daggers, but axes, at the illusionist, who silently continued his task.

“I hate you.”

The muttering of the three words was barely audible, but she was sure that Hyunseung had heard it. Though she hated to admit it, Hyunseung was right and above all, relieved some of the burden she felt on her shoulders. The talk wasn’t all too pleasant, but that person didn’t know a way to express himself, other than his violent methods. Chaima and the others were used to it, although it occurred rarely. But when it did, Hyunseung’s message would be completely clear and the victim to his words would find themselves pierced by it, lingering in their memories for the rest of their lives. This time again, he had succeeded.

* * * * *

Back in the livingroom, Chaima noticed that the atmosphere had become quite lively. What’s more, the two who had their examinations had returned. They didn’t quite look like their usual selves however. Yoseob was the size of an average hand, while Junhyung had turned into his animal form, the raccoon dog. Paro was cuddling the furry Junhyung, who didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, it looked like he clearly enjoyed it. Strange, whenever anyone else would pet him in his animal form, he’d either bite or scratch them or hurt them in some other way. Probably because he was mostly made fun of.

“Hyung, you’re so soft.” Paro uttered in awe as she the brown fur on Junhyung’s head.

Yoseob as well seemed to have sought safety with Paro. He looked quite annoyed and angered and from the snickering on the couch that came from Gikwang and Doojoon, Chaima could tell that they probably had done something to the poor half fairy. Baeri however, was still on her place with Paro on the floor, watching her play. Her mind was elsewhere though and despite pretending to pay attention, Chaima saw right through her antics. The brunette grabbed a pillow from the couch, pulling it away from underneath Dongwoon’s head, whom let out a sound of complaint that Chaima disregarded, and threw it with full force at the healer’s head.

Baeri didn’t see the attack coming, but once the leather coating of the pillow connected with her face, the impact forced her to fall backwards. With a loud growl she jerked herself onto her knees eying the culprit. Seeing the grinning Chaima, somehow threw her off guard. How could she be smiling that casually after what happened today? What exactly had happened in the kitchen. At that moment another figure appeared through the door opening and shot Baeri a knowing small smile. The healer nodded gratefully in return and let out a sigh before eying the grinning brunette.

“Sit down. I’ll kick your later.” She threatened.

The response was a smirk and a bowl of fruit salad pressed in her hands.

Author's note

LATE UPDATE. I'm sorry. I ruined my daily updates ;A; I have a good reason though. Fractured fingers. Three of them on my right hand OTL Writing hurts. EVEN THEN I'LL TYPE <3

Read lots <3 I'll just post this because someone is after my head if I don't. LOL

Lots of love,

Saenan