Jinri woke up on her own again, this time less agitated. She was aware that her mind was still not back to its original state, but she was also quite certain that it never would be. Not after what had happened to her.

“I need a shower,” she mumbled to herself, heading towards the bathroom she had been using for the past day. There was a set of towels and a toothbrush, which she assumed to be for her since they looked unused, and she undressed, relishing in the feeling of the hot water washing away the dirt and grit of the past two days. She remembered feeling trapped in her own body after Baekhyun had removed that creature, as if her mind hid itself within itself. The first time she woke up after that she spent it crying all over Luhan. She felt bad about this, but she knew there was not much she could have done. Fear makes the mind do strange things.

The time she spent with the lot of them gathered in the kitchen was a bit better. She could remember more then, she could remember how nice and patient everyone seemed. She would have to thank them.

“Clothes, clothes, clothes,” she murmured as she left the bathroom wrapped in a towel. There was a dresser in the room she had been sleeping in, so she started her search there and produced a pair of sweats and a too large t-shirt. It would have to do for now. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and peeked her head out of the door. It seemed that no one was around.

“Hello?” She called out, but her voice was still a bit hoarse and it came out as raspy. Figuring she would fare far better if she were to just look for someone, she left the room, quietly padding down the hall towards the staircase.

“Jinri?” She turned to see Lay’s head peeking around the doorway of what she assumed to be his bedroom. “I didn’t hear you get up. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, nodding her head. “The kitchen is that way?” She pointed, expecting him to just say yes or no, but instead he walked out into the hallway.

“I’ll take you,” he offered, leading the way. “Luhan went out, but should be back soon. Kris and Suho should be around here somewhere though.” Jinri was grateful that she didn’t have to awkwardly ask about Luhan.

It was certainly true that she felt closest to Luhan, given the circumstances, but more than anything, she wanted to know them all. Despite having been told nothing about what happened, or what they were, or what she was in relation to them, she knew that they were all bound by something. A few days ago, the worst her biggest problem was finding a place to live, and now, it was simply living. She was in danger, and the only people that could help were there in the house with her, and before two days ago, the 12 least likely people she knew.

Several surprised faces greeted her as she and Lay walked into the kitchen. She bowed to the four sitting around the table before taking the same seat as she had the day before, next to Lay. He took care of her first, giving her a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.

“It’s not like she’s a cripple,” Chen muttered as he watched the interaction. Xiumin, who was sitting next to him, jabbed an elbow into Chen’s side, hissing at him to be quiet.

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” Baekhyun commented, still feeling a bit bad for his comments the day before. Jinri briefly looked up at him, and gave him a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “It must’ve taken you a while to recover. You…look good.” She was trying her best to string words together without the awkward pauses, and was finding it a lot easier to do than the day before, but it was still a work in progress.

“Like I said before, that thing was nasty.” Baekhyun pinked at her comment. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’ve never seen anyone made… of light before,” Jinri gave a small smile. “It’s not possible, but I thought demons were impossible, too.” Her eyes flicked to the door just as Kris and Suho walked into the kitchen, having heard that she was awake.

“Good…Oh,” She started to say, but paused, looking thoughtful. The others looked at her expectantly. “I don’t know…what time it is.” She laughed at her own silliness, and it seemed to break the ice, for the others laughed with her.

“It’s almost 9 am,” Suho told her as he fixed himself some breakfast. “It’s Thursday. You were recovering for a whole day.” Jinri nodded as she took in that information. It had been a long week: kicked out of her Aunt’s place on Sunday, slept in a park on Monday, possessed by a demon on Tuesday, barely made it through Wednesday, and now, it was Thursday.

“We have to see The Council this afternoon,” Kris said, looking around the room. “All of us. They have come to a decision regarding what happened.” Jinri looked at him confused.

“The Council?” she asked, and this time it was Xiumin who explained.

“They are the governing force for our kind,” he said. “They’re ancient, even though they might look young, and they’re wicked powerful. There are only four of them, Jaejoong, Boa, Taeyeon and Taemin. They handle all decisions regarding…well everything. They ordered us to protect you.”

“What do you mean protect me?”

“Well,” Suho hesitated, unsure about how to proceed. “We’ve been keeping an eye out for you for the past couple of days. Since last week, really; though at that time we weren’t actually sure if it was you we were supposed to be protecting.”

“So that’s why it seemed like you were all around so suddenly,” she mused. “I thought it must’ve just been a creepy coincidence.”

“Creepy?” Chen scoffed. “We are far from creepy.” Jinri raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’d find it creepy, too if people you’d never talked to before started popping up all over the place, being nice to you when normally they wouldn’t even give you the time of day,” she challenged. “Not that I care or anything, but there’s a reason who guys have the nickname of The 12 Princes.”

“You said that name before,” Baekhyun noted. “Do people really call us that?”

“I’ve heard it used here and there,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But back to the topic at hand. Besides being possessed, what do I have to do with you and your council? You said they asked you to protect me, but that was before this whole being possessed by minion of darkness thing.”

“I thought you might have known that at least,” Kris sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’ll probably be better if they tell you, but you’re a-”

“Yah, Yeon Jinri!”