Truth

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Kyungsoo watched as his broomstick wobbled out of control and Jieun dangled behind him, trying to hold on.

Jieun's scream filled his ear as she fell off the broom and descended into the darkness.

"You killed me," Jieun's voice shrilled in his ears as Kyungsoo lost vision of everything around him.

     Kyungsoo opened his eyes abruptly, panting heavily. He touched his forehead and his neck, finding it drenched with sweat. It was another nightmare; the same nightmare that he had been having every single night. He sighed and sat on the couch, pushing Jisoo's long legs off his side. Kyungsoo watched as Jisoo squirmed at the touch and returned back to his position, resting his legs on Kyungsoo.

He sighed and gave in, leaning his head on the sofa.

He stared at the glass ceiling and listened to the sound of raindrops tapping against the windows mixed with Baekhyun and Jisoo's snoring.

He was getting the same nightmares, but the intensity of the dream had increased ever since he got here.

What was more shocking was what he had heard in Jieun's room earlier.

     Her description of her dream was like the missing puzzle to his dream. He didn't know why any of this was happening and why he was entwined with this girl that he had never met before.

He didn't necessarily hate Jieun; Kyungsoo never hated anyone.

     It was just the fact that ever since he met Jieun, he felt this connection of yin and yang with her. She felt like an inevitable force that he couldn't escape from. He couldn't quite describe what it was, but every time he was around her, both fear and calmness filled him so strong he wasn't sure whether to run or stay.

Jieun was a strange interaction of fear and security that troubled him on both ends of the spectrum.

He had never felt this before, and he wasn't sure what this was.

He wanted to get away from this feeling; he wanted to push away this entire interaction so that he wouldn't have to be in any more pain.

He wanted to stop feeling fear if he ran away from security or no security if he ran away from fear.

He was taught all his life to push away those who give danger.

"What am I saying?" Kyungsoo sighed to himself.

     He looked at his broken leg and arm, sighing. It was going to take at least a month and a half for his limbs to heal and he was paranoid of time ticking. Each day was so crucial but he seemed to be the only one who understood the seriousness.

Suzy looked as if she wanted to stay in this world forever, and Baekhyun seemed to have no real understanding of how dangerous their situation was.

He glanced at Baekhyun quietly and thought.

     Kyungsoo was the only one who knew that if they stayed in this world for too long, they would eventually fade away and die. That was the rule of the universe and the natural selection that had been decided for their magic world. He wondered if there was a way that a wizard could permanently stay in this world without disappearing. He had heard stories of wizards who had left the magic world for a permanent life in this world, but he wasn't sure if they were myths or were actual stories.

"Baekhyun," Kyungsoo whispered. "I need to go to the bathroom."

Baekhyun only rolled across, still in deep sleep. Kyungsoo couldn't walk properly until he got crutches and needed Baekhyun's help getting around everywhere. 

"Baekhyun," Kyungsoo hissed from his seat but Baekhyun turned his back on Kyungsoo, snoring louder. 

     He sighed and got up with his normal leg, hopping all the way to the door and grabbing on the knob. He opened the door and squinted his eyes, realizing that he had left his spectacles back on the bedlamp. 

     "Dammit," Kyungsoo sighed and jumped toward the bed table, tripping on the floor. Baekhyun squinted as Jisoo tossed and the couch, falling back asleep and resuming with his snoring. Kyungsoo sighed and touched around for his spectacles and slipped them on his eyes. Kyungsoo tried to support himself up but struggled as he felt a strong pain in his normal leg.

He was bleeding on his knees because he scraped against the old pieces of wood that stuck out from the floor. 

"," he muttered under his breath and dragged himself on the floor to get to the door.

     He creaked the door open and pushed his back against the corridor wall, forcing himself to stand up. He stared at his knee and saw that he had bled through his pajama pants, and a stinging pain came from the fabric touching his scar.

Kyungsoo limped to the bathroom, sighing.

     Kyungsoo walked out, limping to the kitchen table and sitting down. He rolled his pants up to his knees and saw that his knees were still bleeding, and it was stinging pretty bad. The pieces of fabric from his pants were stuck on his knee as he tried to pull them out with his fingers, hissing in pain as he accidentally pinched the scar with his fingernails.

"Kyungsoo?" a familiar voice came from behind as Kyungsoo turned his head to see Jieun standing there, half-awake. 

     Kyungsoo forced himself to stand up, falling back down because of the pain.

"Are you okay?" Jieun asked as she walked over to him and noticed the bleeding scar on his knee. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," he hurriedly rolled down his pants, revealing the blood-stained pants. 

"You're not fine," Jieun said fervently. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing big,"

"Nothing big?" Jieun blurted, surprising Kyungsoo. "The bleeding isn't stopping! Wait here."

     Kyungsoo watched in surprise as Jieun ran across the living room, searching for the medicine box in the cupboard. Kyungsoo was quite surprised; although it was a short time, it was the first time Jieun had raised her voice. He watched as she kneeled on the floor and frantically searched through the box, looking for an ointment and some bandages. She grabbed them and rushed towards Kyungsoo, almost tripping over her feet as she rushed over. 

     Kyungsoo chuckled at the sight.

Jieun's clumsiness reminded him of Eunbin, his first love.

"You're smiling," Jieun said as she placed all the things down and smiled along. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Kyungsoo forced his smile away and flinched as Jieun rolled up his pants. "I can do it."

"With that arm?" Jieun grinned and pointed at Kyungsoo's broken arm. "I got this. I may look clumsy but I have a knack for treating people."

Kyungsoo lifted his hands and watched as she tapped rubbing alcohol on a swab and closed the lid. 

"It's the first time I've seen you smile," Jieun said as she swabbed his knee. "Your smile is nice."

"Thanks," Kyungsoo said awkwardly. Kyungsoo hissed in pain as Jieun rubbed his knee to disinfect the scar. 

     "I'm sorry!" Jieun said in an apologetic tone as she bit her lips, finishing off. She squeezed some ointment on the cotton swab and applied it on his knee, slowly spreading it across the scar.

"Are you a nurse?" Kyungsoo asked as she looked into her face. He didn't noticed before, but her eyes had an unusual sparkle to them.

"No," she chuckled. "My mother was a nurse. So for me and my sister, we got taught medical procedures instead of getting read nighttime stories to bed."

"Where is your mother?" Kyungsoo asked. "I didn't see her around."

"She died," Jieun said casually. "A few years ago."

"Oh," Kyungsoo bit his lips. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok," she smiled and stuck a bandaid on his knee. "I didn't tell you, how could you have known?" 

     Kyungsoo nodded awkwardly and watched as Jieun packed all the things back into the cupboard. She walked over to him and stuck out her hand, trying to help him get up from his seat. Kyungsoo took her hand by the edges and got up, limping back to the rooftop room. 

"Hey Kyungsoo," Jieun said from behind.

     Kyungsoo looked back, staring at her face that was filled with a touch of pensive sadness. She forced a smile as she stared back at him, trying not to let the sadness on her face show.

    "I'm a dull and dim-witted person. I'm also really naive and slow, so a lot of people hate me. I know that you don't really like me, and I'm sorry if I did something that hurt you or annoyed you. Good night." Jieun said in a fast-pace as she ran back to her room.

     Kyungsoo stared at the empty spot she stood at, lost in thoughts. 

---

     "What happened to your knee?" Baekhyun asked as soon as Kyungsoo opened his eyes. 

     "I fell over last night," Kyungsoo rubbed his eyes and put on his spectacles, throwing a cushion at Baekhyun. "Because freaking Byun Baekhyun didn't get up when I woke him up last night." Kyungsoo scowled and sighed, struggling to get up. Baekhyun stood up and supported Kyungsoo up, both of them staring at Jisoo who was still snoring on the couch. 

"I need to get my crutches today," Kyungsoo said as he changed his clothes. "I can't live like this."

"Let's go after breakfast."

"Breakfast?" Kyungsoo said.

"Jieun said to come down when all of us are awake. Said she prepared some breakfast for all of us." 

Baekhyun grabbed a cushion and threw it at Jisoo, waking him up abruptly.

Kyungsoo was lost in thought as he thought of Jieun.

     "Good Morning," Jieun greeted as she set the utensils on the table. Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Jisoo sat down at the table carefully, watching as Suzy got out of her room after a shower. Suzy stared at all the food on the table and her jaws dropped as Jieun delivered some more plates to the table.

"Did you prepare all this?" Baekhyun asked, surprised. 

"I figured you guys would be hungry after last night," she said. "It's not much."

"Not much?" Suzy said as she dug in. "This is the best breakfast table I've ever seen in my life!"

"Thanks, Jieun," Baekhyun smiled at Jieun, eating a strawberry. 

Jieun smiled and glanced at Kyungsoo who silently ate the food. 

"What are you going to do today?" Jieun asked, munching on some peaches. "Today's Sunday."

"We need to go pick up Kyungsoo's crutches from the hospital," Baekhyun said. "He had a fit last night."

"Do you know where the hospital is from here?" Jieun asked, her eyes gleaming.

"We'll find our way around," Kyungsoo said reluctantly.

"I can take you. It's hard to get out of the block because of the organization of the buildings. I can take you guys to the hospital and show you around-"

Kyungsoo raised his head and stared at her, stopping Jieun.

"That's... if you don't mind," Jieun corrected herself. "If you don't want to it's ok-"

"Thank you," Kyungsoo said quietly and continued eating. 

Jisoo watched in ridicule as Jieun tried to hide the smile that was inevitable. 

"I think I'll stay home," Suzy said as she drank her milk. "I'm too tired from yesterday."

"What's up with you?" Kyungsoo asked. "Volunteering to stay home in the human world?" 

Suzy only shrugged, picking at her food. 

~

     "Please go to the Samsung Seoul Medical Hospital," Jieun asked the taxi driver as Kyungsoo and Baekhyun stared out of the window in fascination. They had never been on a taxi in this world before, and watching the buildings as they drove past was certainly a sight for them. 

"How much do the carriages charge in this human world?" Kyungsoo asked as he stared at the distance monitor in the driver's seat.

The taxi driver stared at Kyungsoo with a weird look through the front mirror and shook his head.

"Oh, it's called a taxi," Jieun whispered awkwardly, laughing away the driver's look. "Basic rate is $5 but it goes up per minute after you pass the basic rate distance."

     Kyungsoo nodded, looking out the window. The buildings in this world were so tall every single one looked as if they were touching the sky. They were all monotone and life seemed to be out of this city along with the people who went in and out of these buildings. 

"Are you guys from abroad?" The taxi driver asked, eyeing them through the front mirror.

"We're from Excelsius," Baekhyun said proudly.

"Excelsius?" the taxi driver asked in fascination. "Is that some place in Europe?"

"It's a small state in Europe," Jieun replied before Baekhyun could, laughing awkwardly.

"Do they not have taxis there?" The taxi driver laughed. "Your conversation was quite funny for some students."

"He stayed within an Amish environment in Europe," Jieun beat Baekhyun again. "They're all carriages and candles." 

     The taxi-driver nodded awkwardly as he pulled up infront of the hospital. Jieun paid the driver and the three rushed out fast, getting as far away from the taxi driver as possible.

"Baekhyun!" Kyungsoo shouted. "I told you not to go around blowing our identity like that!" 

"By the looks of it no one would believe us anyway," Baekhyun blurted back.

"Are you serious?"

"You're such a paranoid,"

"Me? A paranoid? Whose fault is it that I have a broken leg and arm?!"

"Don't fight guys," Jieun said. "Everyone's looking."

     Kyungsoo sighed and walked into the hospital, supported by Baekhyun as the two still argued on their way in.

     Kyungsoo collected his crutches from the doctor and he walked out of the hospital by himself, much more satisfied. Baekhyun and Jieun followed after, laughing at Kyungsoo's fast adaptation to the crutches. It usually took a day or two for regular people to get used to crutches because of the pressure on their body, but Kyungsoo was on crutches as if had used it for his whole life.

"It's good he only needs crutches on one side," Jieun smiled as she watched him.

"Kyungsoo's a fast adaptor," Baekhyun said. "That's why he's quidditch captain." 

"Qudditch captain?" Jieun asked, fascinated and amazed. 

"Kyungsoo's been quidditch captain ever since second year. He's never missed a year and was elected every single year, although I don't know about the future."

"What do you mean?"

"It's quidditch recruitment month soon, but he's here. He can't be recruited if he's not there." Baekhyun shrugged. 

Jieun went silent as she watched Kyungsoo ahead of her. 

"The National Establishment of Qudditch tours around the world every year, recruiting the best upperclassment from each school. Kyungsoo wasn't recruited the past two years so this year is the last year for him to get recruited before graduation. Kyungsoo's been working towards recruitment for as long as I can remember, I don't blame him for wanting to go back so much."

"But there must be other ways to join the establishment?" Jieun asked, feeling guilty.

"I mean, yeah." Baekhyun shrugged. "Those who are recruited get automatic acceptance to the Drexel Graduate College of Physical Education for Quidditch. The recruitees are basically granted a spot in the National team but need to go through training. A lot of Excelcius graduates test to get into Drexel because they also have additional recruitment opportunities in the College, but it's on a whole another difficulty level as compared to Excelcius." 

"Is that why Kyungsoo hates me?" Jieun asked unconsciously, shocked at what she just said. 

     "What?" Baekhyun asked, surprised. "He doesn't... hate you. Kyungsoo never hates anyone. It's just... he doesn't hate you." Baekhyun said awkwardly as he ran towards Kyungsoo and headlocked him, laughing as the two joked around again.

Jieun watched the two boys and felt a rush of guilt and sadness overcome her. 

Baekhyun's words hit her like a hammer on the head. 

     Jieun was so excited about these wizards that came to her that it never occurred to her that these wizards were also people who had their own life back home. She was so occupied with wanting them to stay with her because she had never felt such happiness in her life before. 

Jieun sighed and reached for her pocket and took out Baekhyun's nametag.

She stared at the nametag that she had never even lost in the first place.