I opened my eyes only to spurt out a lot of water on the ground beside where my body is lying. My throat hurts a lot and so does my chest. It felt like I’ve been robbed of oxygen for quite some time before regaining consciousness. It didn’t help that my body kept on shivering. It was cold, really cold that I felt like my bones were not responding anymore. 

                “Are you really stupid?” Someone cursed at me.

                Everywhere around me, it is dark, so it took quite a while for me to start seeing anything clearly. When I raised my head a bit, I saw in front of me a pond with bobbing blocks of ice in its surface. That’s when the memory of what just occurred came rushing back to me. I was almost sure I’m going to get drowned. How is it that I’m here on the ground, freezing cold yet still breathing? More than that, how could that pond be so deep in the first place?

                “Did that brain of yours freeze as well?” that low but infuriated voice said again.

                I turned my head only to notice someone watching me intently. It didn’t take a whole lot this time to figure out who it is because we were surrounded by a red light coming from the back of his hand.

                “Kai,” I managed to croak though I sounded like I haven’t spoken in a long while judging from the way my voice came out all ancient-like.

                He was dripping wet, I can see. He’s also slightly shivering and that’s how I knew he dived in to save me. Before I could point this out however, he was already helping me sit up, even putting his coat around me. Though I felt embarrassed right now, I just don’t have the energy. My body is aching all over, like the cold water hit me from all sides. Pressure, I guess. I can’t even remember how long I was down. I’m even starting to think I’m having a concussion too because my head feels like it is still swimming there in the cold, in sync with the sea weeds.

                “You’ll get sick,” I told him as he continues to wrap his coat to me.

                “Well that would be entirely your fault,” he almost hissed at me. “Why can’t you just tell anyone if you’re going anywhere? You’re just making it really hard for us to protect you.”

                “How did you find me?” I asked him. That concerns me more than his nagging. Kai has saved me 3 times now. First from the big fall that night with Ji Hye, the next one on that attempt and now this. I don’t understand how he arrives exactly on time.

                “I just can’t sleep and then I felt like there’s something wrong,” he shrugged. Obviously, he’s not going to be very specific about the details.

                He turned his back to me, put my arms around his neck and piggyback ride me like I was a kid. I honestly can’t feel how his skin felt. My own has been numb from the cold. So this is how it feels to be literally in ice. I made sure in my head not to go really hard on Sehun.

                “Thank you,” I managed to whisper as my head lulled on his nape.

                “You’re heavy,” he says. I almost forgot how he can sound so concerned even with that poker face on. I haven’t talked to him for quite a while now. The conversations we shared always end in less than 5 seconds.

                “I was talking to a guy, though…” I said, rather groggily, like I’m getting lulled to sleep or even drunk. Everything around me is blurry. Maybe I did get my brain freeze. “He was just there one minute, and then he’s gone?”

                “Guy?” that seemed to alert Kai.

                “Yes, he knows about the medallion…” I talked more. “He knows about me. But I haven’t seen him before.”

                “There were blue lights,” I continued, though I don’t know why I’m being like this. “Lots and lots. And there was also music…beautiful…it was…beautiful.”

                “Are you sleep talking right now?” I heard him say.

                “Probably,” I let out a chuckle and then raised my right hand in front of my face. I don’t know what I’m doing. I feel drunk. And somehow, I could hear that music again, ringing in my head like I’ve memorized every note. It feels like it’s triggering something in me that I don’t know and I’m kind of scared of. “It’s so dark, though. I want to have that kind of light.”

                I was just making random motions with my hand as my eyes threaten to close. But then, I really did make it, that ball of light. But it’s red.

                “Oh…” I said. “It’s pretty.”

                “Yaaa,” I heard Kai said as he turned his head slightly to the right. “What are you doing?”

                “I don’t know,” I admitted as the red light I’m holding glowed more intense. “But it seems right.”

                “Right?” If Kai is not carrying me, I bet he would have already lashed out on me. “Do you want every creature in this place to notice us???”

                “Look, Kai,” I said as my gaze shifted back to where we came from, ignoring his words. I held out the light to that place, illuminating it.

                “The pond is gone.”

                It was really gone, like it never existed at all. The only thing that is there is a big expanse of grass.  Kai turned a bit so he could look. I never saw his expression because the red light I produced suddenly went out and I could remember no more.

……………………..

                Surprisingly, I did not get sick, but Kai got the fever. And though I was perfectly back in bed when everyone else woke up, they all felt that something is wrong because my body feels weak and so all of them felt the difference in their duires. This is the problem with my existence. What happens to me, happens to everybody else. I started to wonder what happened to them when I got the chicken pox back in my seventh grade. Anyway, I could have made an excuse but no. Apparently, I was all covered in red light when Kyungsoo and Luhan woke up. I could not fool them, because Luhan, at least, already saw this before when Ji Hye struck me to the wall. He’s perfectly aware that I got into trouble again, and this time it’s with the enemy because no mortal could have possibly triggered Seijira’s grace that protects me. This however I could not understand. I was practically not fighting with anyone unless that guy, that person who’s called Lay, did the whole ice cracking thing. Somehow, I felt like he did, but I don’t know…I can’t believe he’s an enemy. He was gentle…and he really did not attack me when he could.

                And honestly…I feel like everything that happened last night woke something in me. I couldn’t pinpoint it but the fact that this red light helped me recover quickly made it obvious that it let out partially the things about me that I do not know. I mean…why would an enemy do that?

                Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I was submerged in ice which practically weakened my organs. I still am sporting a headache of some sort. Plus, it’s snowing outside. The condition is not getting any better. It also doesn’t change the fact that Kai is sick and all of them are weakened. At this rate, we cannot travel.

                As I was sitting up, I saw Luhan enter the tent. I just got a glimpse of the snowfall outside. Kyungsoo is currently with Kai. I know because I was just having a conversation with him a while ago. Kyungsoo says Kai is not that sick. I was so relieved hearing that. It was of course really because of me that he is in that condition. Kyungsoo also said that I don’t need to worry because my condition doesn’t really affect Kai at all. I don’t know what he means by that and he didn’t care to explain.

                Pshhh. Kyungsoo and his secrets.

                “Where did you and Kai go?” Luhan asked me as he sat in front of me. He was being serious this time. He held out the back of his hand and felt my forehead. Just as he touched me, I felt him flinch like he was sort of electrified. I looked at him questioningly as to why he did that but it’s as if he can’t read my expression.

                “You seem okay,” he said though why would he flinch, I do not know. I often notice him wince whenever we’re together but I never gave a care before. I thought it was some sort of habit…and maybe it is? Or just a reaction when it comes to skinship (hihihi <3)

                However, now’s not the time to be thinking of such.

                “What do you mean?” I said, playing dumb. I’m pretty sure he has no idea if I was really with Kai.

                Luhan looks like he wanted to roll his eyes at me. “Nice coat.”

                Playing dumb turned out becoming dumb. How could I play such a game with Luhan in the first place? He’s definitely smarter than me. And I just wasn’t aware that I was still wearing Kai’s coat.

                “I was technically not with him though…” I said, looking down, embarrassed at my act.

                “Go on…” Luhan said. “I’ll listen to your excuse.”

                What the hell? I looked at Luhan. He still had that serious expression. Is he jealous? Well it is not fun anymore…I noticed long before that he is not too fond of Kai but seriously? What’s this now?

                “I went out alone,” I said, though I was already furrowing my eyebrows at him. “You know about that music I was talking about…I heard it last night. I followed it. There were blue lights, and then I found myself drowning in a pond.” I didn’t know why I skipped the part about talking to a person. “Kai saved me. That was it. Really.”

                “Why did you drown?” he asked. Luhan is very keen about details unlike Kai.

                “I stood in this pond…it was frozen…and then it cracked.”

                “How did he find you?”

                “I’d like to know that myself,” I told him.

                “Scratch that…I Just know he will,” I heard Luhan mutter.

                “What?” I asked him.

                “Mi Yeon, stop giving me something to worry about,” Luhan suddenly said. This time it was his eyebrows that are furrowed. He grabbed my hands and put them on each of his cheeks. “Are you trying to kill me?”

                “No…” I said and felt sorry. “I really promised that I would come back as soon as possible…it just felt like I have to know what that music is all about.”

                “Stop sneaking late at night,” he reprimanded me. “Or wake me up if you really have to go.”

                “That will be bothering you too much.”

                “I don’t care,” he said as soon as I uttered those words. “Just don’t go anywhere without anyone coming with you. Remember Mi Yeon that your life is not just your own. Rely on me always. I won’t mind.”

                “I mind,” I said.

                “Then stop thinking too much about it,” he said. “This mark…” he says as the mark glowed from the skin in his collarbone. “Remember that it’s there because of you and I intend to fulfill what it means. Everyone here came with you knowing what the mark commands. Even Sehun. Let us do our duty. At least until you know well how to control your duire.”

                I surrendered at this. I know he was right. He was always right. “Okay.”

                “Promise?”

                “Promise.”

                But I didn’t know then that I will be breaking that promise really soon.

……………………………………….

                Well okay, not really. I didn’t really break the promise. I didn’t went far off, just at the edge of the five-meter protection Kyungsoo conjured.

                That night, I planned to just go to the other tent to check out on Kai. I didn’t go in the daylight because Luhan seems so intent on guarding me. Plus, I don’t like the idea that Kai might start spurting out the things that I’ve told him last night which I didn’t tell the others