“The blood vow binds them. There is no way out aside from Death.”

Book of Lunar Eclipse, 1111, J.Y.

(2)

                  Kim Jongin was only five when he met that terrifying old man who was in his seventy. His greyed long hair swayed with the wind. His figure towered over anyone else. To the five years old Jongin, the Yoon leader was a nightmare and a fairytale villain.

                  “Where are my parents?” was his first question, and even then, he was squeaking and trembling. Fear was real, and it was cultivated deep inside of him since his childhood. “Why are you taking me away from home?”

                  In the shiny black car, there was only Jongin and the old man. The driver played deaf and did his task efficiently. The little boy hugged his one and only toy, a worn-out teddy bear given to him on his birth. It was also his most treasured possession.

                  “Your parents are dead,” The elder answered too calmly, and a cruel glint flashed in his eyes as he looked down to meet the boy’s frightened eyes. Oh, how he loved the innocence and ignorance in those pathetic dark orbs. It would certainly be a delight to crush them. “Your home is destroyed. I am taking you away because you are very important to the clan.”

                  Jongin understood very little of what he said. His curious mind asked the man again, this time his eyes were glassy, “What is ‘dead’? Are my parents coming? I want to go home…” He whimpered and almost cried, but one look silenced him.  

                  “You won’t see them again. They are gone.”

                  It wasn’t until a few years later that Jongin truly understood what was happening. He didn’t know why he wailed so loudly that night or how he survived in that hell of a house with his frightening grandfather and a few other Elders. He only knew that his last memory of his parents were in the house, when they gathered for one last breakfast before the old man took him away.

                  Nineteen-year old Kim Jongin stood in front his bathroom mirror as the water ran down rapidly on the tub. He clenched both his fists and slowly took off his clothes. His abs and back were bare. His eyes hardened as he threw the clothes on the bin. Next came his pants and underwear. And there they were: faint lines of scars running down his thighs and lower hips, hidden all along in places that no one knew of.

                  “Pathetic,” He touched and hissed, and then chuckled, repeating his Grandfather’s favorite word. He had heard the same thing over and over again that he became numb to it. The word ‘pathetic’ was a repeating echo in his heart, crushing him down with its weight and all the memories behind. “Yes, Kim Jongin, you are so pathetic.”

(3)

                  Kim Joonmyun had the nerve to come to this school and teach. I wondered what was going through his brilliant mind when he made that decision. He was good, though. He behaved very appropriately and was really helpful through the lesson. I also noticed that he didn’t even glance at me once. Sighing, I went to get my P.E uniform from the locker to change.

                  “Is that the… Genbu…?” Taeyong couldn’t resist asking as the class walked into the sports hall. He didn’t bother to make friends with others, and I supposed that was also part of his introverted personality. Girls seemed to dig it, though. They all swooned at the new mysterious eye-candy from time to time.

                  “That’s the second son, Kim Joonmyun,” I didn’t bother correcting him.

                  “I heard he has a strong base of supporters from the political party,” Taeyong informed me. He must have not known of my close relationship with Joonmyun, so he was filling me in on all the issues surrounding the Genbu clan. “And I am not talking about Southeast Asia in particular, but also China, Japan, Korea and even Russia.”

                  “Russia?” I raised my eyebrow with interest. Both of us stood much closer now so we could talk in hushed voices. “Isn’t that Byakko’s territory?”

                  “Byakko doesn’t have their claws on Russia and some part of the northern Europe. In fact, most of the government there support Suzakku, and that’s why they went hiding somewhere in the snowy countries,” Taeyong didn’t look like he’d cared much, but he actually knew a lot. “Byakko’s relationship with Genbu is about as bad as ours with the Suzakku.”

                  “Byakko’s new leader is just a jerk and a possible psychopath,” I stretched according to the instruction to avoid getting scolded. Taeyong copied my movement and both of us were soon running around the hall with a number of other students. It seemed that today’s theme was 100m marathons, so we had to warm up first before getting started on the race. “It’s either that, or he is just a misunderstood genius. Doesn’t change the fact that his mind is twisted, though.”

                  “Do you know him personally?” Taeyong crinkled his face cutely and slowed down. We were now last in line, about a meter away from others. The teacher hadn’t come yet, so we could still relax for a while. Only the student representative and a few others seemed hardcore enough about this lesson anyway.

                  “Haven’t met him, though I would really love to,” I replied earnestly. “Byun Baekhyun is hard to meet, and he is always moving around. I heard he just went to India yesterday.” I thought back to a handsome young man with a smile so radiant it could lit up the whole room. Too bad he wasn’t just about look, but I guess every leader had to be like that to survive. Being chosen at such a young age damaged our psychological state to an extent. “Ah, but Joonmyun has met him.” He said a few good things, a few bad things and nothing more.

                  “How old is he?”

                  “Around twenty-one, not much older than us, really,” I shrugged it off. Baekhyun was chosen when he was twenty-one. I was among the youngest, though I wasn’t entirely sure whether Suzakku’s next priest would break my record in a few years. Genbu still hadn’t decided, but if they went with Minseok, he would be twenty-three, the oldest of us all. “Oh, before I forget, what time will your class ends today?”

                  “Around eight,” Taeyong answered grumpily. The smile on my face grew wider because it was the most expressive face he had shown me in the past few weeks. “Don’t wait for me. It will be dark by then. I will call Yixing or Kyungsoo to pick you up.” Or Jongin, but Taeyong grimaced at the last option.

                  “Don’t be too sad,” I patted him with an apologetic expression. “You can cry later when you get home because math, chemistry and physics homeworks will probably be piling up for you.”

                  “! Don’t remind me, Sena!” He cursed, and almost, almost whined. I never noticed how cute he actually was. He looked and acted cold at times, but he was quite whiny at times. And it was also the first time he called me by name. Somehow my heart warmed up at that.

                  “I understand, TaeTae. Trust me, I do.”

                  He looked positively disgusted with the nickname and was so close to yelling at me, but after looking around and saw a few curious glances from our classmates, he grimaced and glared at me, “TaeTae? Seriously, Sena? That’s the best you can do? What kind of name is that?”

                  “Would you prefer something else instead? YongYong? Yongie?” I taunted, seeing that he looked more and more irritated. “Alright, fine, Taeyong, I’m sorry. Let’s just stop here. Don’t burst at me, okay? I’m scared.” I wouldn’t want to be punched by an angry Elite, to be honest.

                  Annoyed but not quite mad, Taeyong released a loud huff of breath and flicked my forehead. He seemed conflicted for a moment, as if my sentences just triggered something in him. Unlike the coldhearted Jongin or the ambiguous Sehun, Taeyong was starting to “feel” like Luhan, who gave me comfort and the ability to trust again. This boy wasn’t so bad after all.

                  “Who’s angry, ? Look at your frightened eyes,” He looked so smug by it and spat out, “Tsh. What a coward.”

***

                  “Don’t avoid me!” I snarled at the back figure of Kim Joonmyun who was walking back from the gate to his car. I purposefully chose this hour so no one else was around. “Kim Joonmyun! Stop there!” My pitch was getting higher until I couldn’t go any louder or higher, “Halt! Kim Joonmyun!!!”

                  He didn’t halt, but he walked slower and sang in a cheerful tone, “If I stop, you’ll hit me!”

                  “I don’t talk with my fists!” I tried to reason, but then Joonmyun had already burst out laughing. He leaned onto the side of his car as I caught up to him with a frown on my face. “What?” I jabbed his arm with my long finger. “What? What? What?” I knocked impatiently on his car’s roof, “Hello? What’s so funny, Kim Joonmyun?”   

                  “Darling Dearest,” He caressed my cheeks and laughed again, “You have always talked with your fists, okay? Never the other way.”

                  “You,” punch on the arm, “are,” on the stomach, ”such a jerk!” I delivered the final punch on his chest, but he stopped me halfway. He was strong, but his touch was gentle. I glared at him and gave up fighting, “Now why are you even here, Kim Joonmyun? Please don’t tell me some corny joke like “sudden proposal” or something similar to that.”

                  Amusement danced in his bright eyes, “Was about to say something along the line, but you beat me to it.”

                  I raised my eyebrows in disbelief and side-glared him. “No. Give me a better reason. A concrete, solid one before I send you hurling back to the Genbu clan. Seriously, though, what were you thinking? You are a precious son of your clan and you came without any protection! Imagine what Byakko would do if they know. No, scratch that. Just answer me. Why are you here?”

                  The mirth in his eyes had disappeared now. They weren’t exactly gentle, but when he lifted his hand to touch my cheeks, I couldn’t help but sigh in contentment. It was always so warm with rough edges from years of training hard. I was no longer angry, just worried for his safety. The situation in Seoul was chaotic and I didn’t really want to drag him into this mess.

                  “I heard about what happened to the main corporate building in city center and your house. You are my fiancé, I came because I am worried about you…”