(7)

           Sehun knew the specific numbers and areas of which apartments in Seoul belonged to Sena. It felt fine at first – nothing seemed out of ordinary when the next day after Joonmyun’s departure, she packed up quietly in the middle of the night and left. Sehun knew, but like always, he let her had her own freedom to roam around in the big city of Seoul. She didn’t need to know. On that night, he thought it would probably be another escapade, but not for long, because Yoon Sena always needed some time alone when she was feeling particularly sad or mad.

            It had been the seventh day since he last saw her, exactly a week since she started living in the apartment near to the Blue House. If he called her out on that, she would probably reason that it was closer to her work place. He couldn’t even think of another way to stop her from working in that God-forsaken place, especially now that Jongin had returned to South Korea with the intention of stopping everything once and for all.

            A sigh escaped his lips as he stared out of the window. By daytime, he was working hard to keep everything together, but it all seemed to fall apart during sunset. He disliked being far from her – a distance he could not seem to shorten no matter what he did. Sehun knew he was no Kim Jongin. He wasn’t all dark and mysterious, and he was most definitely not a flirt. He couldn’t be Jongin, but whenever he thought of Sena, he always wished he were the one she loved. So the heartbreak would not hurt her so bad.

            Plans. Calculation. Secret. They could not be separated from Sehun and Sena. It was their second nature to always have something more than what they showed at skin-depth surface. Their lives revolved around lies, and sometimes Sehun wished their friendship would not be so complicated. He didn’t like having to keep secrets around Sena, but that was what adults did – or at least, in Sehun’s opinion it was.

            Seventh day. Something must be terribly wrong. She didn’t go very far and for long two years ago when she was lamenting over her broken heart. He sensed that this time it was not Kim Joonmyun that forced her away, but something else, and he was itching to find out. Should he ever know what bothered her now, he would get rid of it asap – all to get her back to his side. He needed her calmness and smile – for it was the only sunshine in his gloomy days. Lately nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

            “Aren’t you going to find her? Take her back home?”

            Sehun hated it when Taemin appeared without knocking. This man was as slimy as a snake, and it was unnerving. No matter how many times he tried to search for a flaw in Taemin’s documents, Sehun couldn’t find any. His parents were devoted followers, he had an older brother who worked in his parents’ shop. Lee Taemin excelled in everything he did, in a truly frightening way, and his speed in climbing the ranks was impossibly quick for someone from the branch family. And it was not just that. His uncanny resemblance to Jongin was really bewildering.

            “We don’t have a say in what she wants, do we?” Sehun chose to reply ambiguously, all the while restraining himself for revealing more. He was as good as Jongin in concealing emotion, for he had lived through twenty-one years of putting on a façade to please. There was a very polite smile – one that Taemin found extremely distracting – a combination of Sehun’s amusement and agitation. “If Sena needs her privacy, we shall give it to her, as long as she is safe and sound.”

            Taemin scoffed with a small, sarcastic smirk, “She is safer in the headquarter, Sehun, especially with her psycho grandfather running around, trying to make her a living blood bag for his own benefit. You are spoiling her – leader or not – and therefore, she thinks that the world is not as dangerous as it actually is. You have been doing all the dirty works, killing and cleaning all those bodies. She might be oblivious, but I am not, Oh Sehun. She needs to learn the truth.”

            “The truth will do her more harm than good,” Sehun insisted, this time firmer. He didn’t appear quite angry yet, but gone was the amusement in his eyes, though the smile was still there. Taemin shivered and glanced away from his face. Something about Sehun just seemed to frighten him, even more so than Joonmyun. But Taemin would not show his fear, even though his rational mind told him to stop talking before Sehun did something both of them would regret.        

            “Sena is not a child. You can’t shield her from everything. You are just as bad as Kim Jongin, if not more. If only Sena knows what you’ve done for her…” Taemin continued, but a glare from Sehun shut him up. He had never felt fear creeping up his skin this horribly before. The nonchalantness of his words suddenly sounded foolish, and he was forced to swallow back all that he wanted to say. Sehun blinked away and stared down at him, and never before had Taemin felt such inferiority from his height and aura alone, and he now understood why after Jongin left, Sehun was constantly placed first.

            “Sena doesn’t need to know,” He walked away from the spot to hide his annoyance.

            Taemin thought it was odd that each and every person in the Elites rank seemed to be highly individualistic when they were taught not to. And Sena was just as secretive, if not more. Sena always did things alone, and she preferred to keep everything to herself, and even if she did try to share it, she would pour it to different persons, so that each of them would not know more than what the others should have had. But Taemin knew that it was just her personality that found it hard to trust and depended on others fully.

            Oh Sehun, however, was different. He might use Sena as a reason to justify what he was doing right now. But he knew it was for his own selfish reason. Both Jongin and Sehun were pawns and masterminds behind each other’s well-calculated plan, and Sena was the reason and the victim. He didn’t know whether or not he should pity her, but he argued that Luhan or Taeyong would probably pick her up when she was all shattered and broken.

            They were clearly underestimating Sena. After the stun she pulled to Kim Minseok, they all gaped in shock. No one would have thought that the impulsive, hot-headed girl would actually plan something so carefully and wait for two years to realise it. Taemin wanted to say more, but Sehun didn’t look quite so happy with his presence, so he could only withdraw quietly before he really incurred the wrath of the Elite leader. After all, only time would tell what could happen to the three of them.

(8)

            It was probably the second day. I lost track of time. Maybe it was the third or the fourth. All I knew was that they hadn’t stopped this slow, but ingenious torture. I could feel my strength slipping in and out of my body, and most of the time, I was rendered unconscious by the drug. The only thing keeping me sane and possibly alive was my hatred.

            Hatred could kill someone. I swore that was the case for me. Two years ago I must have let him off too easily. I stared at the window indignantly, feeling a little bit drowsy as the effect of the drug wore off. It would take me a few more hours before I could move freely, before the drug finally flushed off of my nerve system, and before I could finally lay hands on Kim Jongin and killed him… very, very slowly.

            I was aware of his presence at my bed side. How could I not, when I spent every waking moment trying to ignore his existence? He tried to fawn and explain, but I was too angry to listen. And I told myself I had every right to be angry. He sold me off. Betrayed me again for the third time – though it was partly my fault for trusting him in the first place. I wanted to land a solid punch on that pretty face – anything to vent off my anger, but for now, I could only fume quietly.

            They didn’t tie me down. They probably figured that I was as weak as a porcelain doll with drug in my system. I wouldn’t blame them. They cleverly put Kim Jongin to take care of me so that I would not trash around like the spoilt I was. Hell, they didn’t know the kind of things I had in mind for them – if only they would let me go. Having your blood taken in a large dose on a daily basis for two straight days could kill you. And they were literally being merciless with it, probably because my blood seemed to be effective enough to sustain Grandfather’s life for another ten to twenty years.

            He had it all figured out. As a pure-blooded Suzakku, and one of the highest rank noble of that clan, he needed Wu Yi Fan’s blood to become immortal, and while I was a direct descendant of his, my blood wasn’t deemed pure enough for his old, fragile body. But for now, he would have to make do as Wu Yi Fan would not reach adulthood until two, three years ahead. So I became his experimental pig, the one he took care off barely to keep me unconscious and alive. But sometimes I would wake up, possibly because of my sacred bloodline that purify mostly anything that came to my system.

            “You don’t have to look so angry,” Jongin remarked, trying to sound that he was at least faking the kindness he was showing. I wouldn’t buy any of that. I was angry enough. I deserved to be angry. He had no rights to do this to me or to my family of Elites. And yet he did, for a reason I would not want to understand. How could a man be so cruel? How could he whisper sweet-nothings to my ear without ever mean it? Was I the only sensitive and emotional one to keep my integrity intact in this bloody world?

            “Just shut up, Kim Jongin. I swear I will get my hands on you the moment I could move and think properly, so you’d better run now. Run before I kill you,” I spat the sentences out pretty decently, considering the condition I was in. He didn’t look the slightest bit scared and instead, pushed a chair to my bedside and sat there with an almost-innocent façade, as if he didn’t do anything to me. As if he hadn’t hurt me enough.

            I wanted to put all the blame on him – the way I cried until my eyes gave up trying to squeeze more tears at my failure of a love life. I might have had relationships before him, but they were all quick, fleeting – just a few make-out sessions and perhaps some topless memories that I definitely chose not to remember anymore. They were nothing but something to pass time with. But Jongin was different. With him, I gave up my everything. I would have given him my entire world if he asked to. I would be selfish enough to leave the clan for him. Until I realised what a dumb, wistful girl I became because I loved him. Still, I never stopped. I didn’t think I could.

            “Why didn’t you bring Sehun with you? Aren’t you guys sticking together like glues?” For a moment, he glowered at the mention of Sehun, but I figured out it was just a petty former rivalry and not jealousy. Kim Jongin was incapable of emotions other than hatred, so I shouldn’t bother making up assumptions to my disillusioned mind. He asked me that question the night before, and I had refused to answer him because I thought he was ridiculous. Now I knew why.

            “I’m glad I didn’t bring Sehun with me. Else he would have been captured along into this horrible place,” I sneered to show my dislike at him, as if the everlasting frown on my face was not enough. I hated Kim Jongin. I hated Kim Jongin. I hated Kim Jongin. And still, I couldn’t seem to loathe him as much as I would until I moved on completely from the past. Every time I saw him, I saw a broken man in need of help, the way I was years ago. It was until I realized he was playing with my mind – with what I wanted to see of him – that I knew Kim Jongin was just messing up with me. He never was broken. And I certainly was fooled.

            “Don’t be so bitter, Darling,” He half-grinned with sarcasm pouring out of his acid-laced words. “Sooner or later, Sehun will come if we leak out the news that his sweet, little Princess is captured by the Bad Ol’ Man.” He glanced back and stood up, walking up to the door and closed it with a loud bang. Someone must be overhearing our conversation from outside. Jongin came back, and his expression took an 180 degree turn when he pinned me down on the bed with both his hands capturing mine, his eyes glaring.

            His voice was so soft that I was afraid I would not be able to hear it. He leaned in closer until his lips an inch away from my earlobe, and I almost flinched at the sudden closeness between the two of us, “Listen to me, Sena. You must get out of here. You must! When Sehun comes to find you, run. Don’t think about anything else. If you stay for a few days longer, you might as well die from loss of blood. Grandfather is planning to kill you – all of you.”      

            A/N: Out of curiosity, guys, if I were to write harem again, which guy would you want as the main character? Thanks!