(6)

            “Don’t be pissed,” Sehun tried to calm me down. We were at the rooftop, waiting for Genbu’s arrivals. I impatiently stared at my watch, pointing at 10 o’clock in the morning. The sun wasn’t bright on the day, with clouds covering the sky and strong wind blowing all over the place. It was a particularly cold spring – the weather turned worse each day. Flowers were only starting to bloom on the soil, the grass green but wet, and the trees slowly started to grow a new leaf.

            “I’m not pissed.”

            “You look pissed,” He chuckled, and I glared at him for spoiling my mood. Damn PMS. Damn Kim Minseok. I found my fiancée, who was leaning onto the door frame with his eyes closed, possibly thinking about his next steps from now on. I walked over with Luhan trailing behind with curious eyes, and poked Joonmyun on his cheeks not-too-roughly, “Kim-effing-Joonmyun, you don’t look too happy, either. Shouldn’t you be jumping up and down in joy that everything is going your way?”

            “Should I?” He finally opened his bright brown eyes. I scoffed, glancing away from his eyes to his softly-blown curly hair. “Calm down, Sweetheart. You are not the only uncomfortable one. And besides, this headquarter is so much bigger than our Genbu’s headquarter. You can put them at the very end of the Western wings while you stay in the main house.”

            “And you’re as mean as I am, Joonmyun,” I laughed when the wind messed up my hair, and fifty feet above the ground was Seiryuu’s helicopter and four figures sitting inside. Joonmyun gave me a wink and all of us lined up in front of the door, waiting until the helicopter landed safely and they got out of it. “Shall we stage another act for them? I kinda get tired having to act so lovey dovey around you whenever strangers are around.”

            “You don’t have to do anything. Just be your usual sassy-self and all will be fine,” Joonmyun smiled and tugged the hair that got onto my face to the back of my ear, “Don’t I adore you enough that it’s easy for others to misunderstand our relationship?” Then he grabbed a hold of my hand, and I swore there was a mocking glint on Luhan’s face. Sehun simply looked away with a small frown – something he always did whenever Joonmyun was around. “Let’s greet your in-laws, Darling.”

            I sneered, and hand-in-hand, we walked and welcomed the newly arrived guests. Minseok looked noticeably different compared to his younger self, presumably because the last time I saw him was on the ship, right before I fell onto my own pool of blood two years ago. He was so much thinner, his cheekbones now visibly sharper and his eyes tired. There was a look of helplessness on his face, as if he had not slept for days. I would not blame him. Who was sane enough to be able to go through the torture of Byun Baekhyun’s psychopathic antiques?

            His mother aged a little. I had only ever seen her gracing the cover of gossip magazines – being the shame of Genbu’s main family. She was still beautiful, but the light in her eyes had died down, and she appeared to be shaken. Perhaps the attack in Genbu’s headquarter had shocked her. It might not always be peaceful in the last generation, but at least Yong Ha managed to shelter and shield them away from the rest of the world. It was, in a way, caging and locking them away, and though that was understandable on his part, it had caused much injustice for the clan members and issues between the four great clans.

            Jongdae was the only one who resembled his former sarcastic self. He was also the only one carefree enough to openly step forward and hug me. Like usual, he gave Joonmyun a sneer – albeit a light-hearted one – and a courteous, but playful nod. His smile was as beautiful as before, his features sharper and his voice gentler. I looked at him for a good few seconds before breaking out into a grin and pat his shoulder in a friendly manner.

            “Welcome to Seiryuu’s lair,” I warmheartedly spoke, though most of it was directed to Jongdae. I gave the two behind him a nod and a small, polite smile that meant business.

            “It’s changed!” Minseok remarked, looking around and spotted the artificial lake and waterfall from my front yard. There were forests surrounding this thousand-acres land, with dug-up valley surrounding it, which made it almost impossible to go out without helicopter. There was also a small artificial hill from a distance, and on the top, one could see a smaller scale of Seoul, which was pretty fantastic, especially at night. “Seiryuu’s headquarter used to be smaller, but look at this now!”

            “I’ve heard rumours that you changed, and it’s pretty much true,” Jongdae glanced at me with his body facing Joonmyun. He held his arms in front of his chest almost defensively, though the lazy casual smile on his face stated otherwise. I stiffened, and Luhan immediately stepped forward. I put a hand up and he halted with furrowed eyebrows and a glare at Jongdae, who seemed like he would not care much about it, “You were called a Heiress before, but now you’re the Dragon Lady. What a difference two years could do!”

            “Two years is not short, Jongdae,” I sighed and affectionately called out. I looked over at the pale mother who seemed sick from jet-lagged and told Minseok loudly, “Kim Minseok, you can continue your sightings afterwards. I have to be a good guest and show you the rooms and the rules around.” The three of them looked positively confused as I tilted my head towards Joonmyun with a smirk, “Isn’t that right, Joonmyun?”

***

            What a difference two years could make.

            This sentence should apply to Jongin, as well. I tried to stand a little bit further so that I would not breathe the same air as him, but he seemed determined enough to disturb me today. There was no smile on his face, unlike his usual teasing self. His eyebrows were furrowed, and most of the times, he seemed distracted by something. I wondered if there was anything wrong and put up my defence as my instinct alerted me that something was going on, and I hated not knowing anything about it.

            The President was, as always, neither too warm nor cold. She just sat on the table, writing, reading and occasionally taking phone calls. There was really not much to do being her bodyguards all day. I stifled a yawn and looked through the glass door. The only thing different today was the absence of Lieutenant General Han. Usually, he would be found wondering around in the corridors, or visiting Mrs. President whenever he had the free time to do so.

            The absence made me uncomfortable and uneasy, but I did not and could not directly express it to Jongin. Each word of mine could be a weapon to attack and a weakness, so it was best I kept quiet around this man. When I tried to distract my mind away, I inevitably began to become very much aware of him. His presence never failed to give me the sort of effect he had two years ago. It wasn’t much of a butterfly effect where I could feel flutter on my stomach all the time. It was that kind of homely presence that called out to me, as if I belonged there.

            Comfort and a sense of belonging, they said, would not exist without the feeling of safety. But that wasn’t always true. I wasn’t safe around him, and yet our existence was like two polar oppositions on the magnet. We ended up attracting each other even though all we wanted was to be separated away. As I was glancing, he caught me in-between stares, again missing the usual smirk he would put on to tease me. His face was rather bland, when he suddenly spoke to break the silence, “Done staring yet?”

            “Not quite,” I boldly replied and folded my arms in front of my chest. “Wonder what’s gone wrong this time with Grandfather that causes you to be so unhappy?”

            “That old man’s living somewhere in the city and I can’t care less about him,” He scoffed and rolled his eyes side-ways. The worry on his face ceased, and somehow I began to feel more relaxed as his usual composure returned. It was weird, standing side-by-side with Jongin and talking in a civilised manner without wanting to pounce on him – though I admitted the thought did cross my mind this morning once or twice.

            “Aren’t you living together? Done being the good puppet of my Grandfather’s?”

            He starred at my mocking grin and raised his eyebrows to challenge me, “Not really, no. I was never a good puppet to begin with. Why would I live together with that old man when it doesn’t benefit me in any way?” I sneered and muttered under my breath, “Perhaps the reason you left two years ago was because my position and the position I gave you was not beneficial enough.” I wanted to raise my voice, but he continued with his eyes burning a hole in the back of my mind, “Yoon Sena, just remember this: everything I did, I did it for you.”

            I swallowed the words I wanted to say, looked back to the front and told him in a softer voice, “Maybe that’s why we fell apart. Because after everything we’ve been through, you still betrayed me in the worst way possible. I hope you are happy, Kim Jongin, now that you are free from the blood vow that binds us together. Else you wouldn’t have shot me in the chest that new year night.” Again, I had spoken too much, revealed more than I should have about the scar in my heart.

            “I was meant to shoot Joonmyun, but you took the bullet for him,” He chuckled bitterly. “Sena…”

            “What is this, Kim Jongin? Are you trying to appease me so I would allow you back into the clan? Has Grandfather gone crazy or does he simply have no other method that you ought to pitifully beg me like this?” I cut him off mercilessly. There was not a hint of affection where it used to be. I despised the way he stared at me like he used to, as if those lies he told me were not enough.

            “Nothing,” He suddenly became very tame as he backed away to another corner and stood there with a grim expression. His lips was pursed into a straight thin line, and his figure suddenly seemed too far away for me to reach. He looked like a lone wolf, standing alone proudly but sadly. I tried to shrug away the pity in my chest when he spoke, “It’s nothing, really…”