Baekhyun's POV

“I don't think he will be coming anytime soon.”

I heard Joonmyeon say from his position on the bed, his head lying down on his opened palms. I shifted while standing, because my legs had turned numb from standing at the corner and just waiting for the boy to appear. With Hani, of course.

I watched Sehun shift as well, and his entire body was shaking. I could tell he was affected by Joonmyeon's words; more than before actually. I didn't know what to say to be honest, because I knew Sehun liked the girl too much, and maybe he even trusted her to a large extent. I don't know when it started, him trusting her; even though I told him we shouldn't trust her. I guess having Minseok hyung and Joonmyeon hyung beside her as well and trusting her wholeheartedly was putting him at ease too.

I darted my eyes to the place Kai had teleported to with the box, and then back to my fingers. When he first took the box, I had thought something bad will happen to us, but after merely ten minutes; nothing happened. That had worried me even more.

“Do you really believe something bad will happen to Hani?” Xiumin hyung asked, as he was leaning against the single window, staring outside. The window was bigger than normal, and the fading light glistening from the sun was reflecting over him, giving him an odd, ethereal view that I wasn't used to.

“I didn't say that,” Joonmyeon hyung sighed, rubbing his eyebrows and dragging his hand down until he was grasping his chin, before he looked up at Xiumin with empty eyes. “I just.. I don't trust Kai at the moment,”

Just when Joonmyeon hyung said that, a small sound of a click resonated in the entire, quiet room, and almost immediately; most of the heads present shot their heads toward the source of sound. Beside the window Xiumin hyung was leaning against stood a very healthy-looking Kai, carrying a half-dead Hani in his arms.

Before I can even get appalled, or distinguish the horror slowly slipping past my sanity; Joonmyeon roused hurriedly, but before he could even rush to the girl, Kai started moving and gently placed the girl on the bed.

I was so scared then, so shocked. Because she looked scarred for the rest of her life, both physically and mentally. The tension in the room rose by the appearance of Kai, and I could catch Sehun’s murderous stare directed to Kai’s skull. Even I, the boy who shows no emotion; was practically radiating heat. Hani looked fragile, there was no negotiations in that; but right now, she looked far worse. Her hair was half bloody half dry, and there were scars on her face. I noticed the hand she had kept on her side, even when Kai laid her gently on the bed. Her jeans were dirty, bloodied, and just simply uncomfortable.

Sehun and Joonmyeon fussed over her almost immediately, and Xiumin walked away from the window, sparing Kai no glance, who had gently backed away, eyes staring onto Hani’s body and feet shuffling; before crouching down beside her bed. Xiumin’s eyes were wide, terffied and there was a pinch of sadness as well. He reached to touch her under the moving limbs of Sehun and Joonmyeon, but retreated gently to glance at his freezing fingers numbly.

I knew what he was thinking, and I too; glanced down at my abnormally cold fingers. We were cold, freezing. We had been like that ever since we were cursed. But Xiumin was colder; he was the coldest due to his powers. He was afraid that touching Hani might make her condition worse, especially since she looked like she would pass out if he only did touch her. I backed away the same way Xiumin hyung did, my back grazing the wall of the big room of Hani’s. I heard murmurs and hisses of are you okay, coming from Joonmyeon’s and Sehun’s mouths, while the remaining three of us stared with shock, heart accelerating in a scary rate.

One would think that having a blood bond with Hani would make us feel her agony, but all I could feel was the empty feeling in the depth of my soul, as I stared at her with my cold façade, still legs, and shaken fingers. I was never one with feelings, never a guy who could express his heart’s thoughts at all. I hadn't been like that; I had changed and I was aware of that. Something had died in me, something that I wasn't sure I’ll be able to grasp back.

“Joonmyeon..” I heard her tender voice whisper in a broken noise, accompanied by a hiss of pain. I realized at that moment, that she radiated power; power so great that the moment I had figured it's existence, I slowly came crumbling down to my knees. “Sehun..” she called Sehun too, but the boy turned to me with furrowed eyebrows, because he didn't understand what was the reason of my sudden fall. Then, his eyes widened; and he snapped his eyes to Hani’s body with a gasp he tried to hide. I had known this boy for a long time to forget about his quirks and the slight shift of his expressions.

He was sitting down, so the force of the power didn't knock him down. Joonmyeon seemed like he had realized it the moment she had appeared, but he was strong enough to be standing beside her carelessly, her cheek gently with the tips of his fingers. Xiumin too, who’s face was close to Joonmyeon's thigh because of the proximity, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, as if he could smell the amount of power she has.

Hani raised one of her hands up, her entire body shaking. Joonmyeon immediately sat down beside her, curling one of his legs under him and leaving the other outstretched towards the ground, and clutched her hand in both of his, directing it to his cheek.

“Are you okay?” he whispered gently, and it doesn't take a genius to see the sheer worry in his eyes, or the anger he so willingly wanted to show, but didn't. It was magnificent how hard he tried to conceal his feelings, because Joonmyeon always relied on his shown emotions. I wondered why he didn't want Hani to know of his anger, but my eyes wandered to Kai, who retreated more and more into the shadows of the curtain belonging to the window, and the answer came to me right away.

Hani smiled in response, nodding her head vigorously despite the heavy wound bleeding on her head, before looking at Sehun, reaching her hand for his neck, curling her fingers on his skin, before pulling his head to the crook of her neck. Unaware of myself, I stiffened. I never liked it when Hani showed any sort of physical affection to any of my brothers. Touching leaves bonds with people, and I didn't want that thing to be created between Hani and my brothers. Sehun seemed to believe the opposite, because he snuggled in her embrace even though his cheeks were burning, and his pride was apparent. Instead, he lied down fully beside her, and Hani took the chance to nuzzle his hair with her nose.

“I was so worried,” she said, and I was surprised, because I thought Joonmyeon would be the one to say that, not her.

“What?” Joonmyeon seemed to think the same. “Why were you worried? You were the one who was kidnapped,” Joonmyeon made sure to stress the last word, and I did catch Kai wincing and curling more into himself.

“Come here,” she called out instead of answering, beckoning Joonmyeon to lie closer to her. There was evident surprise flashing in his eyes, but he complied with a timid smile and lied on her other side. She caressed his hair as well.

“I was worried because they wanted you. I was afraid I wouldn't be brave enough and give you away,” Hani spoke, and for the first time since she had came here, she finally let the tears fall.

Something in the back of my heart, in the deepest part of my rotten soul, there was a sound of a crack, followed by another until an entire wall I’ve set for protection fell down from its almighty stand. Something about the way her face reddened and swelled, and the way her blinking tears fell down her rosy cheeks made something within me disappear. I sat down Indian style instead of standing back up, watching with the limited angle I had (the bed boards were huge) how Joonmyeon unconsciously reached for a spot on her stomach, and started circling calming circles on her skin, comforting her.

“It's okay, Hani,” Sehun murmured, because Joonmyeon seemed in a lot of shock to say anything. “It doesn't matter now. You're fine now, and that means you haven't given up.”

“I haven't,” she sniffled, and something about that movement made the corners of my lips curve up. “I haven't.”