Femme Fatale

Chapter 6

---

 

Her surroundings were dark. The coldness of the atmosphere gave her goosebumps and the eerie silence made her anxiety grow. She whimpered softly, dry and voice cracking. She hoped that at least Chorong was safe even if she herself wasn’t. One of them had to go and find their family and tell them what would happen. Or at least make contact with one of their witch-friends.

 

Eunji bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, and the pain distracted her from thinking too much. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before trying to break free of the metal chains that bound her wrists together. After a while of struggling against the metal contraption, she gave up and huffed in frustration.

 

She didn’t know how she and Chorong ever managed to end up being possessed by those two malicious dead spirits and she never remembered leaving their mansion. Eunji gulped once to try and get the moisture back in .

 

Suddenly, the door cracked open and a figure walked in. The figure’s eyes glowed blue before she dropped to the ground, leaving a see through woman standing. The see through woman pursed her lips and glared at Eunji who defiantly glared back. The woman scoffed.

 

“Don’t try to act so tough. You were the one who created this mess anyway, Jung Eunji.” She hissed maliciously, but the tone she was speaking almost sounded hurt or pained.

 

Eunji didn’t stop glaring and the woman growled at her before walking literally through the door. “Damn ghost.” Eunji spat before she looked at Chorong who was unconscious, still slumped over. Worry started to fill her. “Chorong,” She whispered lightly, using her foot to nudge the other’s forearm.

 

Chorong groaned lowly and another see-through woman walked through the wall, heading purposefully towards Chorong. Uttering a few words, she conjured a spell that bound Chorong’s wrists and ankles together and tied her whole body with a chain.

 

The woman silently made her way out, but not before sending a sharp glare at the two of them. Her lips were pulled into a scowl.

 

As soon as the woman was gone, Eunji tried to scoot closer to Chorong, seeking for comfort. They were alone in this hellhole and they only had each other to trust.

 

Eunji thought about the see through women, who used to be her good friends when they were still alive, and recalled her words. She bit her lip.

 

Was it really her fault?

 

---

 

Yookyung hummed softly to herself, a tune that both Jimin and Soyeon liked, and looked out her window. Her eyes flitted to the clear blue sky and she smiled slightly. Maybe she should make it rain today. She hadn’t done so for a while now.

 

But then she saw a familiar figure with dark attire go to the fields and lie down on her back, and decided against it, choosing to make it nice a cloudy instead. She smiled as the figure was joined by another figure.

 

“Chaerin-unnie.”

 

CL tilted her head to look at the newcomer and smiled. “Hello, Minji-ah. Lie down with me.”

 

Minzy shrugged and chose to sit instead, earning a laugh from the older woman. “Still the clean-freak, I see.” Minzy blew her bangs in mock annoyance, but a small smile was starting to form on her lips. “Whatever, unnie.”

 

CL turned her eyes to the clouds, watching as many random shapes drifted by lazily and smiled. It brought back happy memories.

 

A sudden frown broke the calm expression she had on prior. Minzy seemed to know what she was thinking and exhaled a regretful sigh. “I miss my unnies.”

 

“Hey, what am I, chopped liver?” the blond woman scowled playfully as Minzy chuckled lightly but it sounded somewhat hollow. “Don’t you miss them, Rin-unnie?”

 

CL stayed silent and closed her eyes. After a while she finally spoke up. “As wide the sky is, that is how much I miss them.”

 

“You’re so cheesy, unnie.”

 

“Ugh, sometimes I hate talking to you!”

 

“I love you too, unnie.”

 

They laughed together and the sadness was temporarily forgotten as they reminisced about the times when the four of them were still complete.

 

Yookyung simply watched with a smile and laid her head down, feeling the need to sleep. But as soon as she closed her eyes, seven enthusiastic people burst into her room, pleading at her to change the weather to snow for some reason.

 

Yookyung groaned and mentally chastised herself for nor telling someone to lock her door for her and reluctantly obliged to their request.

 

---

 

Naeun was with her mates on a stroll by a huge lake that was a few miles away from their mansion and rested at a nice spot under a shady tree. She was seated in Taemin’s lap with Ren’s head in hers. She played with Ren’s soft hair, giggling as he made a kissy face towards her.

 

“Rennie, you’re so pretty. Even prettier than me. Did you know that?” Naeun muttered with a slight pout. Ren giggled and hit her cheek lightly. “You’re still the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my entire existence, jagiya.” He murmured.

 

Taemin took some of her hair and pulled them into a sad excuse of a braid as she chuckled at his attempts.

 

They basked in each other’s presence peacefully before three shrill, giggling voices were heard coming their way. Naeun looked up and grinned when she saw her sisters making their way towards her. “Hey girls.”

 

Taemin groaned, hugging her closer to him as Ren whined as well when their supposed-to-be alone time together was interrupted. Naeun gently pushed them off and went to spend time with her sisters.

 

Taemin glared angrily at the three of them, upset that Naeun wasn’t with them. Ren grumbled and fixed his platinum blond hair before sitting up, choosing to lean back against the tree and close his eyes.

 

“Naeunnie!” Bomi chirped. “Did we interrupt your alone time?” Hayoung asked nervously, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Naeun smiled and shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine. I can spend time with them after this.” Namjoo raised her brows suggestively. “I wonder what you three will be doing then huh?”

 

Naeun rolled her eyes and flicked the ert’s forehead. Namjoo yelped in pain and glared at her sister, rubbing the sore spot. “Jeez, so snappy…” she muttered.

 

Bomi slung her arm around Naeun’s shoulder. “We want to go mate hunting today!”

 

Hayoung took a step back. “No, it’s just Bomi-unnie and Namjoo-unnie who need to go. I’m already… uh, linked to this one guy… and his best friend…” Hayoung smiled shyly.

 

“Oh? Oh? Hayoung has mates already?” Naeun raised her brows. Hayoung shook her head. “We’re not official yet.” The youngest shook her head. “They said they weren’t ready for it.”

 

“Hm… that’s fine then.” Bomi shrugged. “But please accompany us to find our mates!”

 

“I don’t wanna die a !” Namjoo cried dramatically, falling to her knees in exaggerated distress.

 

Naeun rolled her eyes at her sister’s silliness and made her way back to her mates. “Well, you have fun then. I have two big babies to attend to.”

 

“We will!”

 

---

 

“Soyeon, come out already! It’s been half an hour!” Tao whined.

 

Soyeon squeaked and squeezed further into her little corner in her bedroom. ‘This is stupid.’ She thought miserably. “No! I’m not going to embarrass myself!”

 

“Soyeon, it was our only choice, okay? Either this or send you away to a friend’s house!” Suho tried to reason. “And we really don’t want to do that when we know what would happen if you’re away from your mates!”

 

Soyeon gulped and looked down at herself. She was –forcibly- dressed in a slightly skimpy maid outfit. It was a black dress with puffy sleeves, a white lace collar, a white apron and a customary white maid hat. Her feet adorned soft cotton socks and shiny black shoes.

 

The skirt of the black dress reached only about half an inch below her mid-thigh and exposed quite a bit of skin. She didn’t really like to show skin because… well, she was just uncomfortable with it.

 

“If you don’t come out by the count of three, I will break down this door.” Kris threatened roughly, pounding on the door with enough force to make it shake. Soyeon widened her eyes when Kris really did start counting.

 

“Holy- Soyeon! He’s got a chainsaw!”

 

“Soyeon, just come out!”

 

Panicked, Soyeon rushed to the door and opened it, panting slightly. “There,” She huffed, “Happy?”

 

She looked at Kris and was irritated when she saw that there was no chainsaw with him. “Who was the one who said he had a chainsaw?” she hissed.

 

Everyone took a step back and pushed Sehun forward. He shrunk under her gaze and covered his head. “I’m sorry! Chen told me to say it!”

 

Chen backed away, raising his hands defensively. “Hey, let’s not get into a fight and-“

 

“Ugh. I just… I give up.” She sighed and the frown disappeared, leaving her with a blank face. “So, how long was I supposed to be your maid again?”

 

“Oh, yeah. Uh...” Xiumin trailed off when he finally saw her whole appearance and he blushed. He turned to look at his brothers. “Who was the one who picked out the dress?”

 

Everyone pointed at Kai. He grinned sheepishly. “Me..?”

 

“Why the hell is the dress so form-fitting and short?!”

 

Soyeon raised her hand to stop his yelling and placed her hand to her forehead. “Just… stop yelling please. I’m starting to get a headache…” At that, Tao immediately went to her side and checked her forehead. “Are you okay? Do you need water or medicine?” he asked softly.

 

“I’m fine. Thank you for the concern, though.” She kissed his cheek with a slight smile. Tao grinned and pointed at his lips. “You missed a spot.”

 

“Yah.” Soyeon punched his shoulder playfully.

 

“As much as we love seeing this nauseating fluff overload between you two, we really need to discuss what our plan is.” Chen quipped. Tao glared at him and stuck his tongue out.

 

Xiumin stepped in front of her to avoid any unnecessary flashes of skin and told all of them to go to the living room. Tao pulled her into his lap and Xiumin sat next to them. Everyone else just sat wherever they could.

 

“First, we’re going to have to give Soyeon another name.” Kris supplied. Soyeon widened her eyes and shook her head. “No! I like my name, I don’t want to change it!”

 

“Why do we need to change her name, anyway?” Chanyeol asked curiously. Kris shrugged. “Just in case. But if she really doesn’t want to change her name, that’s fine by me.”

 

“Sleeping arrangements.” Suho began. “Soyeon, you can’t sleep in Tao or Xiumin’s rooms anymore while our parents are around okay? We’ll let you sleep in another room but once mom and dad go on some other vacation, you can sleep in their rooms.” Soyeon nodded obediently, letting Xiumin pet her hair comfortingly.

 

“Okay. The last thing- we all have to keep our interactions with her to a minimum. Avoid using nicknames, skinship, and any sort of overly-friendly gesture. A simple master to servant relationship. Soyeon, that includes you too. Try to not to initiate more skinship that necessary, and no nicknames.” Kris said sternly. Soyeon gulped and looked down.

 

Suho was confused with her reaction. “Why are you so down, Soyeon?”

 

She chose not to speak and was relieved when Tao spoke for her instead. “Wolves are social creatures, which is why they live in a pack. Skinship is like a must for them and they become jittery and uneasy when they don’t do much of it.” He explained, burying his head in her neck. “And that’s also why she’s so touchy feely with us, and maybe some of you.” Xiumin finished.

 

“Oh.” The others said at the same time, nodding understandingly.

 

“Well, I guess you can do a tiny bit of it, but just make sure no one’s looking, especially mom and dad and other maids.” Suho looked at her with a slight smile.

 

“Oh, thank goodness.” Soyeon slumped in relief.

 

“Everything’s settled, then. The maids and butlers are going to be here in two days.” Kris got up and stretched. “Soyeon should probably go and find a room she wants to sleep in.” Soyeon nodded and went upstairs to go room-hunting.

 

“I should probably start on dinner.” D.O stood up and headed to the kitchen, Lay trailing behind him.

 

“I’m going out.” Kai said and grabbed his keys. “I wanna come!” Sehun said excitedly.

 

---

 

“Mate-hunting~ Mate-Hunting~” Bomi sang joyfully, holding Namjoo’s hand as they skipped through the forest happily. Namjoo was calmly looking around for anyone attention-grabbing, not really minding Bomi’s violent hand-swinging.

 

They were out of the forest in a few minutes and Bomi stopped skipping to enjoy the scenery. “It’s been a long time since I last stepped out of the forest.” She looked around and managed to spot a huge mansion nearby. It didn’t look abandoned in any way. People were bustling inside, laughing with each other or doing some sort of chore. She tugged on Namjoo’s hand and whispered, “Namjoo, let’s go to the city!”

 

Namjoo’s eyes sparkled. “And we can probably do some shopping while we’re there.”

 

“Let’s shift. We’re a lot faster that way.” Before Namjoo could protest, Bomi grinned. “I’ll keep us invisible. We’ll turn back as soon as we’re near the city, okay?”

 

Shrugging, Namjoo’s eyes turned gold as did Bomi’s and their bodies slowly shifted into wolves. Bomi was light grey with a white underbelly while Namjoo was a matted auburn colour. Bomi used her invisibility power to cloak them both as they ran towards the city.

 

True to Bomi’s word, they were there in five minutes. The trip would have been three times longer should they choose to walk.

 

A few hundred metres away from the entrance to the city, Bomi and Namjoo stopped, shifting back into their human forms. “Let’s go!” The former cheered.

 

They walked into a mall, starting to look around for any potential mates without using the Tracking method. They wanted to try out mutual attraction, like regular humans, and see if they could fall in love without a bond.

 

“Oh, he’s cute.” Bomi eyed a guy who was talking to yet another cutie as they walked towards a clothes shop. “Let’s go check them out.” She tugged on Namjoo’s arm and pulled her to the men before she sniffed the air. “Wait a sec…”

 

Namjoo also realized it. “They have Soyeon’s scent on them. She’s probably linked with them already.”

 

Bomi shrugged. “Well, there’s still more fish in the sea! Why don’t we-OW!”

 

A tall male had bumped into her and they both fell down, groaning in pain. Namjoo quickly rushed over to her side as the boy was helped up by his three friends. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry! Are you okay, miss?”

 

It was then Bomi and Namjoo got a good look at their faces and swore that they were in heaven. Those guys were freaking angels in terms of looks. “Miss?” the one who had fell down earlier asked again, his voice a little unsure.

 

Bomi snapped out of her love-struck daze and smiled sheepishly, rubbing her head. “Sorry, I kinda spaced out. Are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” He smiled, and Bomi could have a heart attack right then and still die happy. He was freaking adorable- almost on a Jungkook level. And Jungkook was damn freaking adorable when he wanted to be.

 

‘He has to be a maknae,’ she thought, looking at his youthful features that made him seem young even though he was taller than most of his friends. “Um, my name’s Junhong.” He introduced himself with a shy smile and Bomi felt the fangirl inside her scream. “But you can call me Zelo.”

 

“I’m Bomi. This is Namjoo.”

 

“So, do you girls want to join us for some coffee?” Another guy gave a kind smile, and Namjoo melted at the sound of his silky voice.

 

‘YESH PLZ’

 

“Sure.”

 

---

 

“We’re going to see her today, Fany! Why don’t we get her something nice? A dress, perhaps?” Yuri pranced around their apartment excitedly with sparkling eyes. Tiffany giggled and shook her head. “Maybe not this time, Yul. Why don’t we just get her some food?”

 

Yuri shrugged and filled a basket with some fruits before tying a white ribbon around the handle. “There. Now let’s goo~!” She grabbed the basket and her friend’s hand and flicked her wrist. They disappeared into thin air and appeared inside Soyeon’s room.

 

The poor girl, who was almost dozing off, snapped awake and sat up abruptly, scooting to the edge of her bed. “What the hell?” She never expected to see the two women she met in the lingerie store in her room, popping out of thin air.

 

Yuri threw her arms up exuberantly. “Surprise!”

 

“Is it my birthday today?” Soyeon wondered. “I thought it was-“

 

“No, silly!” Yuri shook her head. “We’re not here for you birthday.”

 

“We need to tell you something important.” Tiffany stepped forward. Yuri nodded. “But before that,” she gave Soyeon the fruit basket. “We brought something for you.”

 

Soyeon accepted it with suspicious eyes and placed it next to her. “Thanks…?”

 

“Can I sit?” the lightly tanned woman asked, pointing at the bed. “Sure.” Soyeon nodded. She was sure that they wouldn’t hurt her because they would’ve attacked at night or just killed her already.

 

“You don’t think we’re going to kill you?” Tiffany asked with a raised brow, sitting next to Yuri. Soyeon shook her head. “You would have done that when I was at the store or come at night.”

 

Tiffany nodded. “What did you need to tell me?” Soyeon asked.

 

“Your aunts are still alive.”

 

Soyeon’s eyes widened. “How… how do you know for sure?”

 

Yuri bit her lip before speaking. “We’re… not really human.”

 

“I can accept that since I’m not human too.” Soyeon narrowed her eyes. What did that have to do with her question?

 

“We’re witches.” Tiffany stated. “We’re good friends with your aunts and managed to track them down before, but their captors had moved somewhere else and we’ve lost contact with them. But that just happened around a week ago and I can still feel our bond pulsing so I’m quite sure they’re alive.”

 

“Wait, bonds? You’re mates with my aunts?” Soyeon gasped.

 

“No, not bonding in that sense. Witches are able to keep tabs on people close to them by making a blood bond. We do this by signing our names in blood on a piece of magic-infused paper and then burning it. The bond only breaks when either one dies. Witches can have multiple bonds, as long as they are able to take it without ruining the balance of their sanity.” Tiffany said.

 

“Oh.” The younger girl nodded. “I have a question.”

 

“Shoot.” Yuri tilted her head.

 

“Who are their captors?”

 

Tiffany and Yuri looked at each other before simultaneously answering, “They’re-“

 

A sudden series of knocks cut off Yuri and Tiffany’s answer and they cursed before disappearing. Soyeon groaned irritably as Xiumin poked his head in with a smile. “Come on, Soyeon! Dinner’s ready.”

 

---

 

During dinner, Soyeon was barely eating. She chewed thoughtlessly, her mind wandering back to what Tiffany and Yuri said, momentarily stopping her chewing. She swallowed her food before pushing away her plate.

 

“I don’t want to eat anymore.” She murmured lowly. Kai heard hear and scrunched his eyebrows. “Soyeon, you barely finished quarter of your food. Eat some more.” He chided.

 

“I’m full.” She shook her head and drank her water. “Seriously, I want you to eat your food.” Kai said again.

 

“Don’t wanna.” She shook her head and went upstairs.

 

“What’s with her?” Chen whispered. “No idea. Maybe it’s her time of the month?” D.O. replied. Chen shrugged.

 

“Maybe.”

 

Soyeon stood at her balcony, gazing at the stars with a peaceful expression. She had lots of things to think about. For one, she didn’t know how she felt about Xiumin and Tao’s brothers anymore. Were they accepting of her true self or were they just hiding behind a façade? Was she supposed to act normally around them or was she awkward with them now?

 

She also noticed that she had temporarily lost her cheery personality. Now, she was a quieter and less smiling person. Why is that? Was it because of Xiumin’s brothers finding out in a not so pleasant way?

 

She left it at that and decided to think about something else. Her mind drifted to the conversation with her surprise guests earlier. Who were the captors?

 

Soyeon glanced at the stars once more and sighed. She went inside and was surprised to see Xiumin sitting on her bed, his hands in his lap. He was fiddling with his phone and didn’t really notice her. She grinned slightly and reared back before leaping onto him. “Oppa~”

 

“Eeep!”

 

His adorable squeak made her giggle louder and she let him go. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Originally I just wanted to see if you wanted a cuddle, but you looked so stressed when you were on your balcony, so I wanted to do a stress-relief activity.” He smiled cutely and fumbled around with his phone, finding his music app. He scrolled through a list of songs and selected one. “Dancing!” He threw his hands up. A familiar tune began to play from his phone.

 

“Dancing?” she questioned with a small laugh, seeing him go to the centre of her room and kneel, fluttering his hands.

 

Oooh neowa na cheom mannasseul ttae

Oooh machi sajacheoreom maemdolda

Gihoereul noryeo nae mam ppaeseun neo

 

Soyeon giggled at him when he pulled her wrist to stand behind him as they did the second verse. She swung her lips to the left and to the right, snapping her fingers to the beat.

 

Ah neon dallajin ge eopseo yeojeonhae

Nan aega tago tto ta

Sanyanggam chaja han nun paneun neo

 

Soyeon heard the door open and saw Tao, Kris and Luhan poke their heads in. “Is that Lion Heart I’m hearing?” Tao giggled. Soyeon nodded with a laugh, watching the three scramble into position for the next part.

 

Subaek beon mireonaeya haeneunde

Sucheon beon neol tteonaya haeneunde

 

Soyeon waited for the chorus. It was the best part to her.

 

Xiumin danced in the centre, exaggerating his lip-syncing so much that it looked like he was eating something. Kris struggled to keep up because of his lanky frame but managed to not stumble. Luhan was giggling every now and then, being the person who did the dance the best. Soyeon was just doing what they were doing since she didn’t really memorize the dance.

 

Tell me why

Wae mami mami jakku heundeullini

Nan yeogi yeogi ne yeope ijanhni

Jeongsin charyeo lion heart

 

The leg squatting part that the boys did were the funniest. They were doing it so widely with really… passionate expressions (imagine Jimin’s face when he bodyrolls extremely) and sliding their hands up their sides so roughly that their clothes nearly lifted off their head. The circular hip motions were even worse- Kris looked like he was swinging his hips with a hoop.

 

Nan ae ga ta

Nae mami mami deoneun sikji anhge

Nan yeogijeogi ttwinoneun neoui mam

Gildeurillae lion heart

 

Tao was in the centre for the next part and was doing it with really girly hand gestures and an expression that said ‘I’m fabulous and you know it’. He was patting his chest and hips at a completely wrong pace and Soyeon was about to double over from laughing.

 

Ohohoh ohohohohoh

 

The ‘penguin walk’ as Soyeon liked to call it, made Kris stumble because he was swaying too hard and crashed into Luhan, but the others paid no mind and continued dancing.

 

Oooh neon jayuroun yeonghon yeojeonhae

Chungsilhae bonneung ape

Jigeum ne yeope nan an boini

 

They were supposed to hop in a circular motion and leave one to join last but it seemed that coordination was far from being their forte.

 

Subaek beon gomin gominhaebwado

Sucheon beon gyeolguk dabeun neoinde

 

Luhan stood in the centre for the next part, but he was already squatting when the chorus began.

 

Tell me why

Wae mami mami jakku heundeullini

Nan yeogi yeogi ne yeope ijanhni

Jeongsin charyeo lion heart

 

Kris got centre stage and he was patting his hips and chest so hard that she was sure it was going to leave his skin red. The clawing motions were also edited into punching motions, and she was sure that Kris messed up the most.

 

Nan ae ga ta

Nae mami mami deoneun sikji anhge

Nan yeogijeogi ttwinoneun neoui mam

Gildeurillae lion heart

 

Xiumin positioned himself so that Soyeon would be in the lead next. She paired with Tao and did whatever pose she wanted to do while the others were patting their thighs energetically.

 

Ohohoh ohohohohoh

Gonhi jamjaneun naui kokkeuteul baby

Nega geondeuryeo nado hwaga na baby

 

Xiumin partened with Luhan as Kris went by himself, giddily doing a pose before he realized he had no one to hi-five and grumbled.

 

Tell me why

Wae mami mami jakku heundeullini

Nan yeogi yeogi ne yeope ijanhni

Jeongsin charyeo lion heart

 

Xiumin got in the centre again and squatted wider than before, and actually fell but he continued the dance on his back as they all laughed at him and Luhan went in the middle for the next verse.

 

Nan ae ga ta

Nae mami mami deoneun sikji anhge

Nan yeogijeogi ttwinoneun neoui mam

Gildeurillae lion heart

 

Luhan wasn’t even patting anything anymore. He was doing some sort of weird jelly dance (Just picture RapMon’s dance) with a really weird expression. Kris pushed him out of the way and started posing for the short rap part.

 

Ladies y’all know

What i’m talking about right? (yeah)

Modu da anira haedo

Joheul ttae itji anha?

(Sasil naman joheum dwaetji mwo)

Baramboda ppareun nunchiro (mameun tteugeopge)

Haessalcheoreom ttatteushan mallo (meorin chagapge)

Gildeurillae neoui lion heart

Saja gateun neoui lion heart

 

He did this part pretty normally compared to the other parts he did and stepped back so that they all formed a straight line.

 

Lalala lalalalala

Yeogi waseo anja

Nae gyeoteman isseo

Han nun palji mara

Lion heart

 

They gathered in the middle, fluttering their hands and batting their eyelashes. When the dance was done, Soyeon burst out laughing the same time the door burst open, revealing a cracking up Chen holding a camera with Chanyeol and Kai who were leaning on each other for support, laughing their guts out.

 

“Gildeurillae lion heart~ I’m so uploading this to Youtube.”

 

“Yah, Chen!”

---

Lion Heart~

I was freaking obsessed with this song. I just had to XD

Hope you enjoyed!

Gildeurillae Lion Heart (click to watch the vid if you haven't already!)

XOXO, WinterSonata