|Chapter II- Hope|

hope
/hop/
noun
        1.  a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen
verb
        1.  want something to happen or be the case

The door slammed open, revealing the hooded figure who was in the process of grabbing bottles of potions off the shelves. “What the do you think you’re doing?” Jinhwan yelled angrily.

The thief whipped around in shock, so quickly his hood slipped down, revealing a male who looked around his age. “Oh .” Jinhwan heard him mutter under his breath.

Despite the harsh situation, Jinhwan couldn’t help but catch the glimmer of sadness that laced his face. His stare didn’t die down however, his eyes locked with the stranger.

“I don’t want to do this.” The thief said, his grip on the potions only tightened, an obvious sign that he had no intent of returning them.

“I don’t see you putting them back either.” Jinhwan spat out, eyes narrowing. He has no escape from here.

“I’m really sorry for this,” the stranger let out a sigh, “but I really need them.”

Regardless of being a thief, his voice was so apologetic and filled with sincerity that a small part of him couldn’t help but believe him. “You know, if you were really sorry-”

A radiant iridescent light suddenly blinded Jinhwan, forcing him to look away for a split second. When his vision cleared up, the thief was gone. “What the actual .” Jinhwan breathed out, dumfounded.

There was only one exit to his part of the palace, and the thief was standing on the opposing side. There’s no way he could’ve gotten out of here that fast… and I was standing in front of the door as well.

Still in a slight state of shock, he went to rearrange the bottles that had been knocked over during the robbery. As he picked them up to reshelve them, he noticed a striking absence of invisibility potions along with several poison antidotes. Who the hell even needs that many invisibility potions?

Dismissing his trivial thoughts, he refilled the half empty shelves, the gap between the bottles now shockingly prominent.

The fleeting image of a pair apologetic eyes of the man flashed in his mind; the man was so captivating and mysterious that Jinhwan couldn’t help but want to cross paths with him again. Who is he?

The door creaked open, revealing a head of messy brown hair. “Hyung?”

“Jiwon?”

The younger boy stepped into the room, a playful grin on his face. “I heard yelling, so I thought I’d come see what happened.” Jiwon tiled his head to the side quizzically, “Is something wrong?”

Jinhwan let out a sigh. “Some guy managed to steal a bunch of my potions,” he said, while running a hand through his blond hair in exasperatedly, “and I don’t even know how he escaped. It’s like he just… disappeared or something.”

“I was out in the hallway with Donghyuk earlier,” Jiwon said, frowning, “I’m sure I would’ve noticed if someone ran out. Did you manage to see who it was?”

The older male paused; a small voice at the back of his head was yelling for him to not reveal too much. The image of the oddly captivating male kept lingering in his mind. “His hood was up, and he disappeared so quickly... One moment he was there, and after a flash of light he was gone.”

“A flash of light?” Jiwon blinked, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. “Hyung! Do you think that he’s… a teleporter?”

Jinhwan stifled a laugh while rolling his eyes. “Jiwon, what are you- five? Teleporters are myths people made up; how could they possibly exist?”

“You mean you haven’t heard it before?”

“Heard what?” Jinhwan's eyes were trained on the younger man, intrest piqued.

Jiwon grinned, excitement evident in his voice as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “The rumours," he said gleefully.

“The rumours?” Jinhwan echoed.

He nodded. “From what I've heard, fifteen years ago, apparently there was a father who experimented on his two sons. Rumour has it that the eldest son was granted the power of teleportation, while the younger one somehow received the power of healing.

“But as their powers developed, their father wanted to do further research that required more testing on his children. Their mother hated the fact that their children were the ones being testing on; the tests were painful and very inhumane. But there was nothing she could do to stop her husband.

“Their mother sent her children away, fearing for their lives. Meanwhile, the father was busy sending hunters out to recapture his children. Their mother was murdered by her husband in an attempt to save her children, and to this day, they’re still being hunted.”

“Is this true?” Jinhwan asked, perplexed by the story.

Jiwon shrugged. “It’s hard to say- they are rumours, after all. It’s supposedly true, but as time passed, various interpretations of the story were tossed around. Though I am surprised you’ve never heard it before.”

Jinhwan hesitated. “That boy… the one who can teleport. What is is name?”

"Well, I only know what I've heard, and even then there's probably a very low chance of my information being totally accurate..."

"What is his name, Jiwon?"

“Kim Hanbin.”

Kim Hanbin, Kim Hanbin, Kim Hanbin. The name echoed endlessly in Jinhwan’s head as the younger male left the room seeking another source of entertainment. He barely even noticed- so focused on committing the name to memory. Images of the male flashed through his eyes.

Kim Hanbin.... who are you?
 

Hanbin landed, his balance slightly wavering, as he almost dropped the bottles of potions gripped tightly in his hands. “Junhoe?”

“Hyung?” The dark haired male poked his head out from behind a nearby bush, his voice weak and hoarse.

Hanbin frowned at the state of the younger male. Junhoe’s face was pale, drained of all colour. His hair was drenched in sweat, bangs sticking to his forehead. Hanbin knelt down to the height of Junhoe. “Don’t worry, I found some poison antidotes.”

“Found?” Junhoe asked, a hint of laughter in his voice, “I think you mean stole.”

“Do you want it or not?” Hanbin grumbled. What a pain in the .  Hanbin tossed a bottle to Junhoe, regardless of his answer. “Just drink it.” He could feel a headache beginning to form, his hands automatically going up to rub his temples.

Junhoe drowned the bitter contents of the vial down, making a face at the taste. “This is disgustin-” He stopped mid-sentence aftering seeing his brother grimacing. “Hyung? Are you okay?” Worry creased his forehead, a hand reaching for Hanbin’s in an attempt to soothe him.

“Yeah,” Hanbin sighed, “just- just tired. I’ll be fine.”

Junhoe frowned. “You’ve been teleporting a lot today, haven’t you?”

Hanbin hummed in response, not bothering to look at his younger brother.

“You should rest hyung. The hunters shouldn’t be here soon.”

“Well, I stole these anyway.” Hanbin said,  waving the bottles of invisibility potions in the air.

Junhoe squinted to read the scrawled writing on the label. “Invisibility potions?” He took one carefully, “Are  you sure they work?”

“Nope.”

Junhoe rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the reassurance, hyung.”

Hanbin leaned back against the trunk of a tree. “Oh, come on. What’s the worst that could happen?” He laughed, tossing one of the vials to his younger brother. “Drink it. I’ll tell you if it works.”

Junhoe muttered in protest, draining the contests regardless of his complaints. The potion was sweet and syrupy, but left an astringent aftertaste. He stuck his tongue out in distaste. “That was awful.” Junhoe looked up at his brother.

Hanbin’s eyes were widened in awe. “Holy ,” he breathed out, “it worked! This is amazing. I didn’t think it’d actually work.”

Junhoe grinned, “You should try it too.”

Hanbin popped the cork off the bottle, drowning down the blue liquid. He looked at Junhoe pointedly, waiting for a response.

Junhoe looked at Hanbin strangely. “I can still see you?” He mumbled confusedly.

“What the .” Hanbin frowned, carelessly tossing the bottle aside.

“Hyung, do you think it’s because your energy level is incompatible with the potion?” Junhoe asked.

Hanbin's energy level was ridiculously high compared to regular humans. Junhoe’s energy level was also fairly high, but was a only a fraction of Hanbin’s. During the process of teleportation, the amount of energy drained from him was equivalent to the amount he was teleporting- excluding his own energy level.

Hanbin mumbled, “It is possible, I suppose.” He brightened up. “But at least you’ll be safe from the hunters. But you’ll have to stay close, or I might teleport without you.”

“Hyung, this still isn’t any safer. The hunters can still see you.” Junhoe pointed out, “I’ll be safe; but you’ll be put in twice as much danger.”

“I’ll be fine.” Hanbin said, his voice tired. “It’s easier to hide as one person rather than two.”

Sensing the weariness in his brother’s voice, Junhoe decided to drop the subject. “You should sleep, hyung. I’ll stay on lookout.” Junhoe said softly, urging Hanbin to rest.  

He hesitated, but the constant pounding in his head made him want to give in. “Only for a while.” His body relaxed against the tree trunk as he closed his eyes.

“What, you don’t trust me?” Junhoe said in mock offense.

Hanbin laughed, the sides of his eyes creasing, “Let’s just say I’d rather do it myself.” He felt a warm body plop down next to him

“Just shut up and sleep, hyung.” Junhoe’s tone was light, but Hanbin could sense the hint of worry in his voice.

The corner’s of Hanbin’s lips curled up into a slight smile, leaning against Junhoe’s shoulder as he began drifting off to sleep.
 

When Hanbin awoke, the sun had already risen. He yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. As his vision cleared, he was met with a smiling Junhoe.

“You’re awake.”

Hanbin looked up. “The potion wore off.” He commented.

Junhoe nodded. “They don't last very long. A few hours, tops.”

“That's it?” Hanbin frowned, “Well that's useless as .”

Junhoe hummed in agreement, “Well you can always go back for more, now that you know where it is.”

Hanbin’s ears perked up, a small part of him wanted to meet the alchemist again. He had held a calming aura despite the tense situation. He made Hanbin feel safe. Safe… safe was something Hanbin couldn't remember feeling. Will I get to see him again?

“Hyung, are you sick? You face seems a little red.” Junhoe’s hand reached up to his brother's forehead.

Hanbin pushed his hand away, feeling the heat rise up to his cheeks. “I'm fine.”

“Whatever you say, hyung,” Junhoe muttered under his breath skeptically. “Should I take another potion?”

“It’ll be safer.” Hanbin tossed him a bottle absentmindedly, a certain alchemist occupying his thoughts. An image of the alchemist's eyes filled with hope and promise flashed in his mind, and for the first time in years, Hanbin could foresee a future where he wasn’t hunted. Wasn’t in fear every moment of his life.

That was a future Hanbin looked forward to seeing.
 

A/N:
Hi everyone! Sorry this chapter's up so late. ^^; I meant to upload this chapter earlier but I uh procrastinated. It's winter break for me right now, so hopefully I can get another chapter up before it ends. This chapter wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I promise that the next one's gonna make up for this.
Hope y'all had a good Chrismas! (or any other holiday you celebrate)

Thank you for everyone who has subscribed, commented, and upvoted. It's really makes my day to see people enjoy my writing.

-classicalights

P.S: omg how great is iKON's debut album? <3 /can't wait for WINNER's comeback in January/