CHAPTER 8

Seulgi was in the white circle again. This time—alone. The setting was also somewhat different from the place where they had their wrestling ‘class’. Where was she?

She heard a gush of winds, and the swaying of trees. Between two bushy thickets, her instructor came out of nowhere with the same outfit she wore earlier. A smirk tug at the corner of her lips as she entered the circle. Seulgi step back, feeling sudden uneasiness.

“Wrestle me, Kang Seulgi.”

Kahi’s voice was different. It was a male’s voice—and a familiar one. Where did she hear this voice before? Seulgi then tried to step forward, slightly lifting her hands, reaching out for the cloth tied at Kahi’s thigh— the instructor smiled at the gesture and she too came forward.

Seulgi grip the cloth firmed on Kahi’s legs and her eyes widened when she looks up to see Kai sneering at her with a ‘You’re doom’ written all over his expression.

Kai pulled Seulgi roughly, trying to lift her off  and topple her out from the white circle. Seulgi tried her best to firm her stance as she, too, tried to knock Kai off with her head desperately heading and pushing his chest. But Kai was stronger. Seulgi felt it. It was a different kind of strong. With one swift move, Kai manage to lift Seulgi off from the circle and both of them tumble to the ground.

Seulgi had her eyes close, feeling the weight above her as she breathes deeply. She wandered why the heck is Kai still above her so she opened her eyes to find Irene. Irene’s eyes staring straight to Seulgi’s own pair. The distance between them were dangerously close and Seulgi can’t help but to stare back and forth between Irene’s acorn brown eyes and her rosy red lips.

Seulgi’s heart palpitates more as she felt Irene trying closed the distance between them. Seulgi immediately close her eyes shut and—

Something soft yet compact hit her face.

Once

Twice

Thrice—

She flutters her eyes open, seeing Sehun and Choa looking over her while sniggering. A small sigh escapes through her lips. So it was a dream after all, feeling slightly disgruntled as she rubbed her eyes.

“Have you heard of a superstition that says you will go crazy if you sleep in the evening before 7pm,” Sehun asked her with a teasing tone.

“No,” Seulgi answered, pushing herself up by the ankle.

“So do I,” Sehun chuckled and Choa said, “It’s your first day doing the schedule with us. Must’ve been tiring for you, right? You’ll get used to it soon. I have a feeling you’ll be doing twice more things than we usually do.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Seulgi did a few stretches before standing up from her comfy bed.

Choa shrugged, “Do you know that it’s so hard to wake you up?”

“I’ve been told,”

“I almost went to Hermes clan to borrow their horn siren to wake you up,” Sehun spoke, “but I was afraid you might get deaf, so…”

Choa rolls her eyes and pats Seulgi on her shoulder, “It’s almost 7pm anyways, go and wash up a bit and have dinner with us later.

Seulgi puts up and OK sign as she dragged her feet to the bathroom. Her thoughts still stray away to the previous dream. They were so close.

The heat of the campfire penetrates the approaching chilly air. Seulgi sat as close has she dared to feel the radiating warmth, holding out her hands, feeling the heat seeping in. It was mesmerizing to watch, colours of orange and red gave way to yellow and white near the centre, where the emanating heat was the greatest. But Seulgi flinched and back away frightfully as sudden two logs were being thrown into the fire.

“This would last till tomorrow dawn,” Sehun wiped his palms on his pants and sat down, across the fire, ahead of Seulgi.

All of them encircled the fire and sat comfortably. Choa past Seulgi a blanket and she put it over her exposed legs. They chat here and there, waiting for Baekhyun to arrive. Woozi said Baekhyun was extra excited for the campfire since he has something to bring and show to the clan.

“I hope it wouldn’t be another loud thing because that stupid horn he showed us last week was so—“

“Whaddup guys, and girls,” Baekhyun greeted them and bowed humbly towards Choa and Seulgi. The insides of his green jersey seems to be hiding something as Seulgi saw how the right side of his jersey was sticking out weirdly.

“Well,” Baekhyun sighed and sat down, looking around expectantly, “Is this all? I thought Irene and Yura were coming too?”

“They are…” Suho nodded on a direction and there they were, walking side by side. Yura’s face lit up as she saw Seulgi and wave enthusiastically with Irene furrowing at Yura’s action and had a stoic expression on her face. Both of them were wearing oversized sweater, except that Irene was purple whilst Yura wore pink. The two of them greeted the group and all of them bowed their heads and greeted back.

Yura immediately plop herself right beside Seulgi while Irene had no other choice but to seat beside the empty spot, where Sehun purposefully budge over secluding it. Seulgi saw Irene rolled her eyes across the campfire as Yura clutched her arm and Seulgi was a little dumbfounded on what was she supposed to do.

Suho break the silence and cleared his throat, “Since this is a welcoming ceremony for Seulgi. Let us all pray to Apollo, thanking him for another additional member to our family. I am sure Seulgi will lead the Apollo clan well and achieve many great things throughout this camp.”

All of them nodded happily and Woozi past them a few twigs and a packet of marshmallow. They pierced as many amounts of marshmallow on to the sticks and twigs and plunk it inside the fire. Seeing the fire cackling in a different manner, something inside Seulgi tells that Apollo is content.

“So,” Baekhyun rubbed his hands giddily, “story time now Seulgi.”

“H-Huh?” Seulgi was caught off guard. “Me?”

“Yeah you of course,” Sehun starts to pick up a long twig and open up a few more packets of marshmallow, “It’s essential for the new member to tell their story about themselves.”

“Oh…okay,” Seulgi answered timidly as she stare around the circle. All of them look at her expectantly; even Irene propped up her knees and put one hand on her chin, staring straight at Seulgi.

“Uh…if some of you might not know, I’m from Seoul,” Seulgi bashfully spoke and Yura patted her shoulder, encouraging her to go on, “I live with my mom since I was little—“

“So do all of us,” Suho chirps.

“Most of us, not all of—“

“Let her talk,” Choa said through gritted teeth.

“I’m on my senior year of high school. And umm, I’m a member of the Archery Club at school and the president of that club as well…”

“As expected, a child of Apollo,” Sehun put a thumbs up and Baekhyun prodded Seulgi with questions. “What does your mom work as? Have you ever met any weird monsters or creatures outside before? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Such a twisting question,” Choa smirked.

“My mom works as a nurse and she met dad, Apollo, when she was a trainee at one of the hospitals,” Seulgi scrunched her face thinking about the second question, “The only monster I’ve seen before was Mo-Mormor?”

“Mormor?” All of them exclaimed in surprise, except for Irene who nodded in a pleased way, maybe she was reminded on how she defeated Mormor

“You mean The Mormor?,” Choa inquired again, disbelieved, “The Mormor who likes to go after kids and bites them?”

“Yeah…” Seulgi shuddered as she was reminded at how that Mormor was crawling with its hideous form. Its eyes pierced straight at Seulgi when she called out for the creature. Thinking back, it was a pretty dumb move, she thought, not that she was much of a help as she was knocked down by Yuri and Irene soon after that.

“…If it wasn’t for Irene and Yuri, I might be the one getting bitten off by that monster,” Seulgi burst a smile at Irene who blush furiously as all of them kept wooing and cheering her.

“And the last question?” Yura suddenly prods on amidst the cheer, making all of them look back to her, eyes—again, full of expectation.

Seulgi shrugged and recalled back how she is always slightly dense when it comes to this ‘dating’ thing. During freshman year, there was this one guy who was her neighbour and her classmate. They were kinda close and he even gave two boxes of strawberry-coated Pepero to Seulgi during Pepero day. He even did that among the views of their classmates and Seulgi did thank him before heading out of the class. But the next day, he avoided her and a few of her classmates said that Seulgi is stupid for rejecting a guy like him.

The thing is, the guy did not even confess nor say that he liked Seulgi. How in the world did she reject him? But thinking twice, if the guy did confess, Seulgi would still reject him. He is nice but