Chapter 2: Piercing

Sehun

            “Sehun!”

My mother ran up to me, a look of delicate worry on her pale face as if she hadn’t just abandoned me to burn in my sleep. Hayoung trailed behind her as usual, her tear-streaked, soot-covered face a little more raw and honest than my mother’s. “How did you survive, my son?” She patted my cheek with something a little faker than affection before another woman from our town called her over, and she joined the flock of gossiping mothers without so much as a second glance my way.

            It was sickening, really, how much of her ‘personality’ was painted on with her foundation and too-bright lipstick.

            Hayoung, instead of following at our mother’s heels in her usual manner, approached me hesitantly. Although we didn’t quite hate each other, our relationship was more of a cautious acquaintanceship than the close bond that was expected of siblings – in fact, most of the time I rarely saw more than brief glances of her, shuffling along shyly in our mother’s shadow. On bad days, I thought her pathetic; on good days I pitied her.

            “You’re cut,” she mumbled, pointing at a wide gash stretching up my leg. Running through the blazing town, my arm folded over my mouth and my eyes focused dead ahead, I hadn’t had the time to sense anything wrong. Now that the excitement of running through a burning town was dissipating, the pain started slowly creeping up my leg like an army of fire ants.

            “Oh, that.” I tried a dismissive wave but she was already gesturing me over to a fallen log, where many others were being tended to. Despite being the children of the leader of the clan, we still had to jostle for a spot amidst significantly less wounded – ample proof of how long gone the regal, respected trueblood clans of centuries past were.

            As my sister carefully cleaned off my wound, I stared at what was left of my town, my childhood, my past. If this had been a storybook I would’ve been grieving, or in shock at least, that my entire life up until now was almost literally going to hell.

But this was nowhere near a storybook, and as I stared into the flames up towards the clouds, I felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of relief.

--

Haerin

            “You know,” Yunhyeong remarked, his cheeks filled with the cookies I’d burnt yesterday, “Seoul is really beautiful at night.”

            I frowned at him, noticing the crumbs that were speckled across the corners of his mouth. “Hold on.” I stopped walking, leaving him to skid awkwardly and walk backwards a few steps to stand beside me again. Fishing a napkin from the depths of my purse, I handed it to him. “You’re such a slob, Yoyo. And I agree,” I said as he started wiping at his mouth, pointing to a place he’d missed. “Seoul is a beautiful place at night. But dark city streets aren’t exactly safe for girls.”

            Yunhyeong frowned in confusion before he understood where I was getting at and nodded, making a small, rather endearing ‘o’ with his mouth. In times like these, he really just seemed like nothing more than an overgrown little boy, forced to grow up and shoulder the responsibility of taking care of his sick mother far too early on in his life.

            After he’d thrown the napkin into a nearby trash can, we resumed walking in natural synchronization, just a little bit too close to be acquaintances and a little bit too far to be lovers. And although I was sure he wouldn’t have minded if we’d held hands, I wasn’t exactly the type who enjoyed intimacy.

            “How’s Chanwoo?” I asked, guilt brewing in my stomach at the sound of the name. I didn’t want to waste any time Yunhyeong could’ve spent with his boyfriend – I could tell he really liked him, and felt bad for any time I took away, what with my pathetic lack of social life and all.

            He hummed, looking predictably more excited. “He’s visiting his family a few cities over.” The lighthearted expression on his face melted away into something more worried when he added, “You know you don’t have to worry about wasting my time or anything, right? Sure, I like Chanwoo a lot, but you’re my best friend. I’ll always have time for you.”

            I couldn’t help but smile up at him as we entered the bus shelter, my heart feeling warm and soft for the first time in a while. “You know I don’t deserve you, right?”

            Yunhyeong laughed. “Hey, hey. I said you’re my best friend, not my girlfriend.”

            “Still.” The bus rolled up to the shelter, its windows revealing full seats and several people forced to stand. Yunhyeong groaned, and I swatted his arm – it wasn’t like we weren’t used to crowded buses. “Tell Chanwoo that if he hurts you, I’m going to strangle him with his intestines,” I added.

            He choked on his spit, leaning away and coughing violently as he tried to regain his breath. “Y-yeah… I think he’ll get the message.”

            I nodded, pulling him back into an uprigh