Minho

When morning dawns the room lights up and through his eyelids Minho can see the light. He is aware of the morning but too tired to wake up yet. In his semi-aware state, Minho feels a slight weight on his head. It’s light and warm and it keeps gliding from the top of his head to the bottom. He can hear the soft and muffled sound of his hair being ruffled. He had spent the night before next to Eunji’s bed and held her hand to his forehead, begging her to wake up and mock his sorry state. Eventually he had fallen asleep with his head on her bed and her hand still in his. 

While trying to remember the night before and enjoying the warm caress of someone’s hand, he hears a familiar giggle and suddenly a bolt of electricity passes through his entire body making him stand up on the spot where his chair stood. 

“EUNJI!! You are awake!!” He screams in excitement as he stands, wide awake, with a wide smile, next to his fallen chair.

“Haha, not as awake as you, but yes! I’m up and well,” she says with a smile.

Minho presses the button to call a nurse and goes in for a long, warm hug. He fights back the tears as relief floods him over. He holds Eunji’s small palm in his and looks at where the needle connects the Saline bottle to her body. So much has happened in such a short time and so many emotions have been left unspoken that he doesn’t know where to begin. Before either of them could speak a nurse walks in and is utterly surprised to see Eunji awake. He runs some quick checks and calls for Dr. Lee. Within a minute, Jinki walks in and the room becomes colder. He asks Eunji standard questions as to how she is feeling, how long she thinks she has been sleeping, if she remembers what happened to her, and when she would like to meet with the police. All the while focusing only on her and completely ignoring Minho who has taken an offensive stance by standing stiffly next to her bed with balled fists.

Eunji says that she feels fine though she is surprised to find out that she has been in the hospital for two whole weeks, but overcomes the shock almost immediately. She says that she doesn’t remember what happened and would speak to the police the following day. Jinki simply nods and says that she would need to be observed for at least 48 hours to determine if she can be discharged, and then leaves before things get more awkward.

“What was that?” She asks when the two cousins are finally alone.

“Well…a lot happened when you were asleep” Minho manages a weak smile and proceeds to narrate the events of the day she was brought in. Eunji listens attentively and raises her eyebrows at  his actions the day she was brought in; but when he stops talking she sighs and looks at him with concern.

“So…how are you? I mean it must be a lot to find out about your best friend being the Son of Poseidon.”

“I’m okay. Things between us haven’t changed, though he really is very strict about not letting me spend time alone with Taemin” Minho says with a small chuckle. Then his expression gets all serious when he starts to talk again. “So, do you really not remember or did you just pretend not to?”

“I pretended.”

“So what happened that day?”

“Well when I was on my way back to Seoul, there was a truck behind me that was close behind. So I let it pass; then it overtook me and suddenly slowed down and won’t let me through. I honked a bit and then tried overtaking it. That’s when it rammed into my car and my car hit a light pole and rolled outside the highway road onto the grass patch. When the truck rammed into me I used my celestial powers to create a shield around my body. Hence I was completely unharmed, though I can’t say the same about my car.”

“I had guessed as much. What happened next?’

“It took me a while to get out of the car, and I had to exit through the window while my shield was still protecting me from broken glass and metal pieces. But once I got out I felt drained so I undid my shield. Thats when a masked man appeared. It was so sudden, almost as if he knew that I would survive the crash. He was wearing black clothes and had a full face bunny mask. Honestly, the mask made it scarier because it was a smiling bunny but the aura that man exuded was dark and eerie. Then the man used the same magic as you, explosion magic, and exploded the rare view mirror that was close to me. My body reacted automatically and jumped away from it and then the man appeared right behind me and instead of using an object, he put his hand on my back and released the magic. I felt something burst inside of me and I could taste rusted iron in my mouth. I tried to put the shield around me again but I was too tired and I was losing consciousness. I tried asking him who he was and what he wanted but I could barely move. I think I was lying on my back because I could see his face and the sky. Then he walked closer and put his hand on my ribs and I saw him glow, though I couldn’t sense any aura around him. That was the last thing I remember. I was in a lot of pain and then I just out.”

“This is worse than what I had imagined. Do you remember anything about this masked man that would help us search for him?”

“Not really. I mean he was taller than me but not as tall as you. Very lean and fast. Had no aura but could use celestial magic….OH!! HE HAD A STRANGE ACCENT!!”

“What?”

“I JUST REMEMBERED! He spoke to me! He answered my questions. I think he said something along the lines of ‘I shouldn’t stick my nose where it doesn’t belong’ but I was paying too much attention to his accent to remember clearly. He sounded foreign. Like non-Korean. But I can’t place that accent anywhere.”

“This just keeps getting more and more out of control. I think you should just mention until the accident to the police since you were found inside the car. But I will look into the incident and try to find out if there are any bloodlines that can conceal the aura and still use offensive celestial magic.” Minho said and after a while he couldn’t contain himself so he asked, “If you don’t mind, what exactly were you doing that day? You didn’t tell me you were leaving Seoul.” He didn’t want to show the hurt he felt at not knowing something about Eunji’s life. He thought they told each other everything and were open about their feelings. So he couldn’t comprehend what would make her hide her trip to Daegu.

“I’m sorry Oppa. I didn’t mean to hurt you but if I’d told you, you wouldn’t have let me proceed with my plans. I actually went to visit the Genealogy Archive at Daegu to see if Jonghyun belonged to a Special bloodline. But his name did not show up under any of the Special Kim bloodlines. I think he is just a normal human being.”

“Oh. I see. It wasn’t important to know this right now, but I guess that’s why you didn’t tell me. And at least it makes one thing clear. But in any case I don’t think you should be alone for a few days. Whoever this masked man is, he intended to kill you and if you weren’t treated on time then…then…” Minho swallowed and withheld his tears. Eunji place her and on his and pressed it tightly while smiling and nodding at him, as if nudging him to go on. So he cleared his throat and continued, “I will keep a look out for this man and have someone tail you if you don’t mind? And you should hang out with your friends and stay with Amber whenever I’m not nearby, okay?”

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