Murdered.

The word rang in Jinri’s ears like a church bell.

Murdered.

“Jinri?”

Lay’s voice broke Jinri out of her reverie. Everyone at the table, bar Kris, was giving Jinri concerned looks. She had been silent ever since she’d left Kris’s room over an hour before. She didn’t even say anything when she’d left his room. Kris let her be; she had a lot to think about and he understood that. It hurt to think about it now, but to be in her shoes and only just know about it… he couldn’t imagine.

“Jinri, are you okay?” Lay asked again. “You’ve been quiet this whole time. Are you not hungry?” Jinri looked down at her plate. She hadn’t really touched any of her food, and had barely taken a sip of her now cold tea.

“I’m fine,” she said quietly, placing her chopsticks lightly on the table. “Sorry, I’m not too hungry; I’ll eat this later, if you wanna pack it up. Excuse me.” She stood from her seat and was about to leave when Chen caught her wrist and gave her a questioning look.

“Seriously, you can talk to us if something’s bothering you,” he said roughly, eliciting a smile from the girl. He let go and turned away, blushing slightly.

“I just had a long day,” she reassured everyone, her eyes flickering to Kris. “I’m gonna go take a nap and see if that helps.”

“Let us know if you need anything,” Suho told her, his brotherly concern for her apparent. She nodded and exited the kitchen, leaving them all silent and worried. Luhan directed his attention to Kris, who was staring off into space.

“You know what happened, don’t you?” Luhan asked Kris directly. “She comes home crying, locks herself in her room, and after speaking with you again, she just shuts down completely. What happened when you went out today?”

“I told you before, didn’t I?” Kris said unfazed by Luhan’s deadly glare. “She found out more information about her brother. Wouldn’t you be shocked if you suddenly discovered something like that?”

“You’re lying,” Luhan accused, looking right into Kris eyes. “I can sense it in your aura. There’s something you aren’t telling us, and I’m finding it hard to believe you have her best interests at heart if you’re keeping something like this from us when we could be helping her together.”

“Us? Don’t you mean “you?” I know you’ve Marked her already Luhan,” Kris challenged. All eyes switched from Kris to Luhan, whose face had lost all of its color.

“No wonder,” Baekhyun whispered, awed. “It must’ve happened that first day then; that’s why none of us could tell. The Hadrian smell was masking yours, and by the time it wore off, yours had too and none of us knew.”

“That has nothing to do with this and you know it, Kris,” Luhan hissed. “It’s not exactly something I could help, and you know that.”

“He’s right, Hyung,” D.O. said. “I’m worried about her, too. I mean, she was all worried about it before she left, and then when she came back she was so upset. What really happened?” Once again, the attention was turned back to Kris. Even Suho, who would normally have his back in these situations, was curious.

“It’s fine if you tell them.”

Jinri stood at the entrance to the kitchen, a tired look on her face. No one had noticed her return only a few moments after she left. Though she had agreed that she and Kris should keep it from the others, she realized that she was being a hypocrite. Luhan was right in a way. How could she ask all of them to trust her with their lives, when she couldn’t even trust them with this detail about her own life? She had witnessed the whole exchange and was curious about a couple of things, but she didn’t like the tone this conversation was taking. Luhan looked murderous, Kris looked annoyed and the rest of them looked caught in a confused trap.

“Jinri, you came back,” Chanyeol exclaimed, trying to smile and lighten the mood. “Here, let me reheat this for you.” He reached across the table and grabbed her bowl of rice, using his flame power to heat the bowl before placing back at her spot.

“What’s going on, Noona?” Sehun asked, voicing the concern everyone had.

“Kris is my brother,” she said simply. Not moving from her spot at the door. “At least, we think so.” She made her way to the table and sat back down, but didn’t touch her food. All eyes switched between her and Kris.

“You’re joking right?” Kai asked. Neither sibling said anything. “I mean, seriously…” The table stayed silent, waiting for a reply from Kris or Jinri. Kris wouldn’t look away from Jinri, and she was staring quite pointedly at Luhan.

“Look,” she told him. “I know you want to. You’ve done it before, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you now, should it?” She didn't mean to sound so cold and accusatory, but she just knew he wanted to read her mind, or do whatever it was his power did to find out the truth.

“I made a promise that I wouldn’t and so I won’t,” Luhan replied, averting his eyes. He was embarrassed by what he knew she heard earlier, and knew he would have to explain himself at some point. But for now, he just wanted to keep things between them simple.

“I thought your sister was dead, Kris?” Xiumin asked, voicing the concern of the other members. “If that’s the case then how could you two be related?”

“I always assumed she was dead,” Kris clarified, breaking his silence. “My parents only told me that she was no where to be found when they came to find me. She was just a kid when this happened, so it wasn’t likely that she was alive and everyone – myself included, obviously – believed that she was dead.”

“But then what about your aunt?” Chanyeol asked. He was the only one who she had explained her backstory to in such detail* so it didn’t surprise her when he asked.

“I don’t know how she found me, and why her story is different than what Kris and I have talked about. I’m meeting with Taemin for lunch tomorrow,” Jinri told them. “I guess I’ll find out for sure at that point, but there are just too many things lined up for it to be wrong. I… I believe it. I want to believe it.” She looked at Kris as she said this last bit, hoping she got across her feelings. Sure she was confused, but she needed him to know that she accepted him as her brother, even with the possibility that it wasn’t true.

“I lived my life until now not knowing about my family, about the truth of this world and the magic and danger that exists within it,” she continued. “Two weeks ago, I was thrown into it at high speed, changing my life and yours. I’m sorry that I doubt the bond that we share, even though we haven’t known each other long.” She felt the emotion well up inside of her, but she was too tired to even cry anymore.

“Noona…” Tao was sitting across from her, but got up and came around the table to give her a hug anyway.

“I guess this makes things easier for you b