Chapter Twenty-One

The Second Change (Hiatus)

The rest left after Taemin had left. There was no point continuing the meeting, seeing that the girls were too much affected by the death, as the kings had clearly shown it as, and were taken away from the Jang mansion. After the guests had left, Heechul and Hyunseung went to search for their younger brothers, determined to have a talk.

Taemin, as it turned out, didn't return to his room. He was missing and this made the two older brothers worried. Jonghyun was still nowhere to be found. "What do we do now?" Heechul asked his younger brother. "The only places we haven't searched yet are...our rooms, Eunna's room and...the library, right?"

Hyunseung looked thoughtful about something but he didn't say anything. "Maybe..." He shook his head. "Let's just check the library first. There's no way that they'd be in our rooms after all." The two brothers hurried towards the large library in the Jang manor. They pushed open the door and found the circular library in total darkness. 

Heechul sighed. "They weren't here at all." He frowned.

Hyunseung flipped the lights. "They were here." He stepped into the room. "They were but they are no longer here." He said, tracing a finger on one of the bookshelves.

The library was a mess. Someone had clearly gone through the books since there were many books lying on the ground. "What is it?" Heechul asked. He rarely entered this library, seeing that he had his own mini library in his room. 

"They must've been looking for something." Hyunseung stated. "Taemin's been here, not too long ago in fact. He realized something was wrong and went to look for the others."

"Can you tell what's wrong then?" Heechul asked.

"No, you can." Hyunseung said. "You're related to Jonghyun. Jonghyun's been here even earlier." Hyunseung turned his eyes onto Heechul. "Hyung...You have to do this. I cannot see any deeper. You can if you try."

"I'll try alright..." Heechul sighed. He closed his eyes and let the time flow, focusing on the faint remainder of Jonghyun. Time flew back and soon, Heechul found himself standing in the library, where he saw Jonghyun there. Jonghyun was rummaging through the books non-stop. Glancing at each cover before discarding it behind him. There were three others in the room; Onew, Key and Minho.

"Are you sure we're going to find what we need here?" Key asked doubtfully as he flicked through a book. Jonghyun looked up, irritated. "I mean, this library, you sure we will find what we're looking for?"

"This is our only lead. If you don't want it, I can stop searching anytime." Jonghyun snapped. He threw the book he held at Key, who dodged it. "Don't argue or say any crap if you can't have the patience to wait. Patience is a virtue, as Eunna always says."

Heechul stared at Jonghyun. Did his younger brother know that their sister was dead? Did he? "Key, don't be a nuisance to Jong." Onew chided the younger boy.

"Sorry..." Key pouted.

Minho bent down to pick up the book that Jonghyun threw. "Jonghyun-hyung, this is a diary." Minho stated. Jonghyun stared at what Minho was holding before he walked over and took the book away. He flipped through the pages and then snapped the book shut. 

The other three stared at Jonghyun. "Let's go." He said. "Oh, Onew-hyung, leave a message for Taemin. He'll come when he's done." He added. Onew lagged behind as the other three left the room, completely walking through Heechul, whose insides clenched uncomfortably. Onew did something to the air then left.

Heechul found himself whirled back through time and then when he opened his eyes, or at least, he thought he opened them since his eyes were open the whole time, he stared at Hyunseung. "A diary..." He gasped out, still exhausted at the time travel. "A diary...They took a diary. Onew, that kid...he did something to the air...He said it was a message for Taemin."

Hyunseung closed his eyes. "I didn't wanted it to come down to this." He sighed. "We can't do anything, hyung." Hyunseung sighed. "They knew that Eunna was going to get hurt. The diary was our mother's diary. It was entrusted to Taemin to look after. That diary contains the information to return to the world of the dead for a period of time and reclaim one soul, at the cost of another." He said softly.

Heechul's eyes widened. "They're willing to die for Eunna?!" He asked. "They aren't even family. I have to stop them. They can't risk their lives for her. She'd hate it. You know where they went. Lead me to them!"

"I can't. You have to be part of a circle in order to go to the spirit realm. They are a full circle. I am a circle with the council. You...Your own circle have yet to be found." Hyunseung said tiredly. "We should rest. Perhaps, we may have a dream of them. You can question them if you see them in a dream."

"You can't just leave it at this..." Heechul whispered. "She's our sister."

"She's our dead sister." Hyunseung corrected softly. "Go to sleep, hyung. She'll be fine. Jonghyun'll be fine. Taemin'll be find. They'll all be fine. Don't worry yourself too much." Hyunseung left. Heechul, after awhile, turned off the lights of the library and left for his room.

Unknown to Heechul, Hyunseung had no intention of going to sleep. He was leaving the mansion. Hyunseung pulled on a black coat and walked out of the mansion's front doors. From one of the houses, three pairs of eyes watched him leave the protected area. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
No comments yet