(19)        

It was the first Christmas without snow.

It was a weird blessing that I did not have to brace the cold in December. None of us celebrated the big holiday date, but the entire stadium of Genbu headquarter was decorated with lights and cottons falling off of the rooftop to replace the white snow. There were walls decorations of glass that resembled ice shards and it was the most enchanting thing I had ever seen in my life. Time passed in the blink of an eye. It would be two months and a half of staying over as a guest in this humongous cage. As polite as the Genbu family was, it never truly felt like home, and I could tell that Joonmyun was starting to feel the same.

Sohee did not bother me during her stay, just giving occasional greeting every now and then. Everyone, but me was getting accustomed to her presence since she was sweet and helpful and endearing to their leader Minseok. Speaking of that guy – he had been doing nothing and pushing all the works to Jongdae and his secretary as he played with his new love-interest-slash-fiancée. I had to restrain myself from gagging time over time because their little act of loving and caring did not faze me. It was distasteful, to say the last – and as I firmly stated over and over again – Yoon Sohee was not a good enough actress to fool my perfectly functioning eyes.

As Christmas was approaching, I realised our time was up soon and we had to move out. I still did not know why Byun Baekhyun target me out of the three clans. I might be a girl, but Seiryuu was not a weak clan. I had my Elites and fifteen thousand people and half of the Asian contingent supporting me. He might have the advantage in weaponry and technology advancement, but my clan was no weakling. Because of this, I was frustrated. Why did he choose my Elites? Why not destroy my clan first? I could not figure it out. It was as confusing as my Math, Physic and Chemistry homework combined – and to distract myself from the clan matter, that was what I had been doing for the past few weeks.

Having Joonmyun as my personal tutor was greatly helpful. Occasionally, Taeyong would come and join, but the guy was much smarter that he did not need tutoring on his homework. My holiday would soon be over and I had to return to Seoul to resume my studies or I would be dropped out of school.

“Why Byun Baekhyun? What have I ever done to that psychopath?” I whined and dropped my head onto the pile of heavy books I did not even want to read. My hair was messy and tangled after putting on dry shampoo. The highlighted part became even drier and it was the worst hair day I had ever had because it got stuck everywhere. Still, I was too lazy to even go and wash it today.

In Genbu’s headquarter, their rooftop mimicked the sky on the surface, and so, when it was sunset, the light was especially blinding and the orange was a brilliant shade combination of blood red and bright yellow. Joonmyun’s personal lounge had a transparent ceiling which was close to the football stadium, so it was a combination of sunset scenery from a distance and fake snow falling down nearby.

“He does not need reason to hurt people, Sena, Sweetheart. That is why he is a psychopath,” Joonmyun explained with a wistful sigh. His hand was on my head, caressing my hair gently but his eyes were far away on the distant field. There was a thoughtful purse of lips as he paused for a good few minutes and enjoyed the comfortable silence between the two of us. Ever since the death of his father, Joonmyun had grown more quiet and mature. I started to miss his usual flirty remarks and jokes, though I would never say it out loud. This was a growing up process everyone had to go through.

“I still don’t get why he only targets my Elites, though. Why not me? He had the chance to kill me in the party but right after Jongin got shot, he seemed to back down and disappear with his groups of trained soldiers,” I knocked my chin onto the book in frustration. I was not as bright as Jongin, Sehun and Joonmyun, so I could not think far ahead. “Would he change his target if we go back? It’s like playing a shadow game where he hunts us as his preys, and it is the most disturbing feeling ever.”

“Everything about Byun Baekhyun is disturbing, Dearest,” He picked up a glass decorated with crystal beads and examined it closely. It was apparent that the glass had been crafted so delicately that it was easy for the eyes but held no other usage such as drinking. Kim Joonmyun, however, was a man who appreciated art, so he had collections of antiques everywhere he went – whether it was the vast desert in Africa or the mountain in Switzerland. “He’s been watching Genbu for the past decade since he was a child. Perhaps he wants a change of scene and chose you instead. After all, Wu Yifan might look like a harmless child, but the truth is that Suzakku holds much greater power than you and me combined.”

“Wu Yifan?” I questioned. The sharp-eyed child did not pose much harm – for now, but in a few years, he would surely take over the empire fully and launched attacks like Baekhyun did. It was not like peace or allegiance was a choice because neither of us would compromise. “Then what should we do now, Joonmyun? You know I don’t like staying her for too long.”

“I have been thinking about this for a while,” Joonmyun put down his glass and moved onto another antique piece – a wooden carving of Anubis symbol, the God of afterlife in Egyptian culture. I had the same carving in my old mansion that was burnt down after the party incident. It was now ashes and ruins. “What if Byun Baekhyun was the one behind everything; the kidnapping, the Seoul attack, the house’s fire…?”

“Sehun’s checked on it. Said it wasn’t him,” I hastily replied.

“What if he wants you harmless?” He glanced at me. “It’s just a wild guess on my part, but it sounds quite reasonable, don’t you think? Put all the pieces together, Sena, and you will understand what I mean. First of all, the explosive attack could not be someone from your clan or mine, because your Elders were harmed in that incident. Knowing them, they would not have risked their life for something so dangerous, let alone participate in it.”

“And like you said, Byun Baekhyun backed off after Kim Jongin was injured, and I was there, too, in the midst of chaos, but I could hear his shouts in the air, telling everyone to leave before they harmed the wrong person. The kidnapping assault might, or might not have anything to do with him, but someone as calculative as Baekhyun would not send a weak man to go after you, whether his purpose is to threaten or weaken. And lastly, you said that he wanted the Shadow fighters after your Elites, which means that he wants to be rid of them before he could get to you, but why would he, when he could have killed you off at the party if he wants to?”

Joonmyun’s lengthy explanation annoyed me. “Yeah, give me the shorter explanation, Joonmyun, else I would not understand.”

“So much for a clan leader,” He flicked my forehead gently. I laughed and threw my head back as he explained to me again in a clearer and more understandable standard language, “Alright, My Fairest Queen, here is what it is: Byun Baekhyun is not out for your blood, he wants something else from you, and he can’t get it unless you come out of your circle of Elite protection, so that’s why he wants to kill them. That, and also because he enjoys playing a game of who-to-kill-next.” 

I covered my face tiredly. “So we can go back to Seoul while the rest of them stay here? Do you think they would agree?”     

Knowing my Elites’ personality, they would most definitely insist that they followed me everywhere I went, even to the grave (though that was an exaggeration of my part). In particular Luhan and perhaps Taeyong, would never agree to such an absurd demand – leader or not. And Joonmyun knew it well, too. “They would obviously disagree, being the possessive men they are, but I never said that you should go back to Seoul while they stay here.”

“Okay, quit playing with your words, Joonmyun, because we do not have all days to guess what’s in your mind and I am getting very impatient. Tell me your plan,” I leaned in in concealed excitement. If this was Joonmyun’s plan, then it had to be legit somehow, because this man was born with high intelligence and I knew very well that he would plan something big and unexpected to counterattack.

“I was thinking of those movie scene where I explain and you…”

“Not funny, Joonmyun,” I laughed sourly at his lame attempt of joking and graced his cheek with my thumb. “Just tell me before I die of anxiety attack!”

“Have you ever watched Nirvana in Fire?” He asked seriously. I had heard of that Chinese drama but never found the time to watch. I was surprised that he got the spare time to watch it while I was busy trying to study and train at the same time. I had not gotten many breaks lately, because if I weren’t training, I would be studying, and if I weren’t studying, I would spend my entire day planning out escape plan for us.

“No, what does it have to do with this?” I raised my eyebrow. Joonmyun loved building up tension and sometimes, it was overly dramatic and completely tragic on his part. A smile made its way to his lips and I recognized the same old boy with carefree personality and flirty smirks. However, his grins no longer held the same effect on me because my mind was very much occupied with another person at that moment. A pang of overdosing sweetness hit my heart in waves as I stifled a small smile at the momentary distraction of Kim Jongin.

“Because the guy said that you shall not wait for the enemy to attack, or you’ll end up in defense and that is never a good position,” Joonmyun clicked his tongue in distaste, “So instead of going for defense – you know that us, Genbu, is good at this – we will force them to attack first. We will conceal the plan perfectly such that Byun Baekhyun would not have any other chance but to attack at the predicted moment.”

“Great, is that your brilliant plan?” I raised my eyebrow in sarcasm. The idea was more novelty than realistic and I wondered how he would lure Baekhyun out of his Byakko lair because that Byun psychopath was not dumb. He would know when he was being deceived and he would counterattack full force. That was what I feared, especially if he pulled Suzakku to his side on this fight. “And how will we do that, Mr. Genius?”

“We bait him with you.”           

A/N: Counting seven more chapters before the end of first book. I have decided that the second book will be titled 'Blood of Seiryuu'.