Seolhyun still wasn’t sure if Mina– Artemis shooting Hades in the head was a good move or not by the time they reached Gangwon.

Tall pines and mounds of snow greeted them when they reached the lodge nestled at the edge of the national park. Without Heechul and the air element, there would’ve been no way that they would’ve made it up the remote road. Even so, it took him over an hour to clear the snowy road.

The lodge was magnificent, made of logs and surrounded by a deck. If Seolhyun hadn’t been so exhausted, she would’ve appreciated its beauty much more.

“Do you know that Gangwon is one of the most haunted locales in South Korea?” Jennie said playfully as she opened the door.

“She doesn’t believe in ghosts.” Hyejeong lugged their bags over her shoulder, cheeks flushed from the cold. Seolhyun could barely feel it. All she wanted was a bed to sleep the rest of the day away in.

“Really?” Jennie grinned. “We’ll have to take you down to the old Gangwon Lunatic Asylum and see if that changes your mind.”

“Sounds like fun,” Seolhyun murmured, watching Jennie and Jisoo usher Rose inside. “How will we be safe here? What’s stopping any God from surprising us?”

Jennie’s brows furrowed. “We’re safe here.”

“How so?”

“Look up there.” Hyejeong shifted the bags and pointed above the front door. Carved into the wood was the same ‘S’-shaped rune that was on Seolhyun’s neck. “Apollo said no God who will against persons in this house can pass through.”

“The invincibility rune.” Seolhyun rubbed the back of her neck absently as she stepped over the threshold. “Didn’t know you could just rune up a house. That’s pretty handy.”

And inside was just as beautiful. Wide windows let in the last of the sunset and the wood floors had been polished until they shined. It sort of reminded Seolhyun of the cabin in Gimhae. She shuddered at the memory.

“You okay?” Hyejeong whispered, coming up behind her.

“Yeah, I’m just really tired.”

Jennie showed them to the rooms. Rose was placed downstairs, along with Heechul. Jisoo grabbed the loft above the living room and the rest of them got rooms upstairs. Everyone huddled in small groups or, like Heechul, stared out one of the windows, appearing lost in deep thought.

Hyejeong carried Seolhyun’s bags into a cozy, rustic-looking bedroom and placed them by the bed. Turning around, their gazes locked. Since the day she’d left with Jimin, they hadn’t been alone together. The car ride didn’t count. They’d been running for their lives after witnessing a tragedy. Kissing and touching hadn’t been on their minds.

It kind of returned with a vengeance then.

Hyejeong crossed the distance, cupping Seolhyun’s cheeks in her hands. They were elegant fingers, but calloused from years of training. Seolhyun loved her hands. Hyejeong angled her head to hers, lips hovering just within distance. “Later,” she promised, and then she pressed her lips to hers.

The kiss was gentle, sweet, and way too quick. Later? How could there be a ‘later’ in a house full of people?

Seolhyun took a hot shower and let the water ease her aching muscles once she figured out how to use the three showerheads without drowning herself. Afterward, she changed into sweats and sent the bed a yearning glance on the way out of the room. She had something to do before she rested.

Rose was sitting on the bed, legs crossed as she stared down at her phone. When Seolhyun knocked on the open door, she glanced up. “Hey,” Seolhyun said.

Rose watched her for several long seconds and then cleared . “I texted Lisa, told her we were okay.”

“Does she know what’s she going to do?” Seolhyun sat on the bed beside her, running her hands through the wet tangles in her hair.

“No. Her mom…” Rose’s voice caught and she swallowed. “Her mom is freaking out. I think they’re going to Seoul.”

Seolhyun felt her chest tighten. Rose had lost all of her family. “Will they be safe there?”

Long hair she’d envied for years shielded Rose’s face as she tipped her head down. “She thinks so. She’ll let me know once her mom knows more.”

Seolhyun nodded, dropping her hands to her lap. “Rose, I’m so sorry for what happened.”

Rose drew in a breath of air that seemed to shake her entire body. “We’ve been here before.”

“I know.”

She lifted her head. Her eyes glittered with tears. “I know it’s not your fault. What your mom did or what… what Jimin did. Every death that I’ve seen or been around has had to do with you. They’re not your fault, but they still happened.”

Seolhyun looked away, feeling the weight of the last ten months settle over her. Ten months of death, starting with her mom in Jeju, and she knew it wasn’t over. With the Gods involved as they were, with her birthday coming soon, and with Jimin out there looking for them, it wasn’t over. But still, what she was feeling was nothing compared to what Rose was going through.

“And I can’t… I can’t look at you without seeing all those faces,” Rose whispered. “I’m sorry. I don’t blame you, but I… I just can’t look at you right now.”

Seolhyun nodded stiffly and stood. “I’m sorry,” she said again. It was the only thing she could say.

“I know.”

Leaving her room didn’t reduce the guilt. Crawling into bed didn’t make any of what happened disappear. And her guilt wasn’t like what she’d felt after Chanmi’s death. This was like having a child who had done something terrible and everyone was staring at her, wondering where it all had gone wrong.

Seolhyun rolled onto her side, facing the window. Snow continued to fall outside. Nature was at its best when it was both beautiful and deadly. Watching the snow cleared her mind of everything that was happening, leaving behind the guilt until exhaustion claimed and pulled her under.

A feathery light kiss woke her up sometime later, drawing her eyes open. Hyejeong smiled down at her as her thumb traced the shape of her cheekbone.

“What are you doing?” She asked sleepily. “What if Heechul finds you in here?”

“Heechul is resting. Jisoo took Jennie and Rose to the store since the snow has let up a little.” Hyejeong curled around her, finding Seolhyun’s hand and threading her fingers through it. “We’re good.”

Seolhyun tipped her head back. “My uncle is a strict for rules,” she whispered.

Hyejeong brushed her lips over the tip of Seolhyun’s nose. “Heechul knows, Seolhyun. He’s not blind.”

“He’s okay with it?”

“I wouldn’t say okay.” Hyejeong grinned. “He actually kicked my when he figured it out.”

Seolhyun stared. “What?”

Hyejeong chuckled under her breath. “Yeah, he kicked me right in the cheek when he got back from Incheon. Twice, left and right.”

“Oh my…” Seolhyun pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. It wasn’t funny, but it was.

“The first kick was because you were with Jimin and Jonghyun. The second one was after he figured out about us.”

“How did he find out? We were careful.”

“I think he’s suspected something for awhile,” Hyejeong grinned. “But it was when you were gone he figured it out.”

Seolhyun wanted to ease the lines of concern that had appeared on Hyejeong’s forehead. They’d talked about her time spent in Jonghyun’s house on the way here and she’d reassured her a dozen times or more that she hadn’t been harmed there, but it still bothered her.

“What did he say to you?” She finally asked her.

“I don’t think you want to know. It was one of the only times I’ve heard a Heechul Kim cuss.”

Seolhyun smiled as she lowered her cheek back to the pillow. Gods know she was all too familiar with Heechul being angry. “You don’t seem too worried about him knowing.”

“I’m not. Right now, there are more… pressing issues to focus on.”

“Part of me wishes tomorrow wouldn’t come.”

Hyejeong kissed the top of her head. “Everything will be okay, Seolhyun.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes and snuggled in. “I just don’t know what to expect, you know? Will I automatically turn into a super badass tomorrow or something? Or will I be accidentally blasting people with Ether?”

“Whatever happens, you’ll still be Seolhyun Kim, and you’ll still be my baby. Just… just don’t ever scare me like you did today, okay? We’re still in this together.”

“To the end?”

“To the end,” Hyejeong whispered, pulling Seolhyun closer to her chest.

The Next Day

A beautiful morning, everyone watched Seolhyun as if they expected her to sprout a second head or start floating to the ceiling. Well, she didn’t feel any different from last night. No additional marks of the Elpis popped up. The existing ones didn’t tingle. She tried to levitate a chair in the kitchen… it didn’t happen and she just felt stupid afterward.

By the afternoon, the whole Awakening thing seemed very anticlimactic.

“Hey.” Hyejeong popped her head into the bedroom. “You busy, birthday girl?”

Seolhyun looked up from the magazine Jisoo had brought back from the store. “No. I’m just sort of hiding.”

Hyejeong closed the door behind her quietly and smiled. “Why are you hiding?”

Shrugging, Seolhyun closed the magazine and tossed it to the floor. “I kind of feel like an Elpis failure.”

“Why?” She sat beside her, eyes a soft heather gray.

“Everyone keeps watching me, waiting for something to happen. Earlier, Heechul stared at me so long his eyes crossed. And while Jennie was making lunch, she asked if I could heat up the soup with the fire element.”

Hyejeong looked like she was trying not to laugh.

Seolhyun smacked her on the arm. “It’s not funny.”

“I know.” She drew in a deep breath, but her eyes danced with amusement. “Okay. It is kind of funny.”

Seolhyun’s eyes narrowed on her.

Hyejeong leaned over, lips curving into a wolfish smile. “I have something I wanted to show you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box. “And then you have to come downstairs and stop hiding.”

Seolhyun’s eyes were glued to the box. It was plain white, but there was a red bow tied around it. Thoughts of jewelry stores danced in her head. “What is that?”

Hyejeong placed it in her hand. “It’s your birthday, Seolhyun. What do you think it is?”

She looked up, meeting her gaze. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know. I wanted to.”

Seolhyun slid off the lid, hooking that soft material of the satin ribbon with her pinky. Upon opening the box, she immediately choked up. “Oh, wow. This… this is so beautiful.”

Nestled against more satin, a dark-red crystal had been intricately designed into a rose in bloom, carved as if the petals were reaching up toward the sun. It hung from a delicate silver chain that complemented its beauty. Seolhyun plucked it from the box. Lights winked at the precious stone and it immediately warmed to her skin.

“Hyejeong, it’s… where did you find something like this?”

“I made it.” The tips of her cheeks flushed. “Do you like it?”

“You made this?” Seolhyun’s eyes widened. She breathed a little harder. It was remarkable that Hyejeong could craft something so astonishing. “I love it! When did you make something like this?”

“A while back,” she said, cheeks reddening further. “After you gave me the pick, actually. I wasn’t sure I’d ever… get to give it to you. I mean, I just started making it one day and the more it took shape, I thought of you. I was just going to leave it in your dorm, but then everything happened…” She trailed off, looking apologetic. “I’m just going to stop talking now.”

Seolhyun stared at her wordlessly.

“Are you sure you like it?”

Climbing to her knees, she threw her arms around Hyejeong’s neck. She clenched the rose in her hand as she kissed the girl’s cheek. “I love it, Hyejeong. It’s perfect. Beautiful.”

Hyejeong laughed softly, gently untangling Seolhyun choke-hold. “Here, let me help you put it on.”

Seolhyun popped around obediently and held up her hair. Hyejeong clasped the chain behind her neck, letting the crystal rose settle above her chest. The weight of it felt wonderful. She reached up, running her fingers over the delicate edges. Then she sprang around and tackled Hyejeong.

Laughing, Hyejeong caught her before they both tumbled off the bed. “I guess you do like it.”

Seolhyun pushed her down and kissed her. “I love it. I love you.”

She gave her a cheeky grin. “I love you more. You have to come downstairs.”

“I do?”

“Yes. So don’t argue with me.”

“Fine. Only because you’re wonderful and this necklace is beautiful.” Seolhyun paused, nudging her with her hip. “And because you’re y.”

Hyejeong ushered her out of the room after that. Before Seolhyun reached the stairs, she tucked the necklace under her shirt. People may know or suspect something, but she wasn’t about to broadcast it, even though she wanted to shove the necklace in everyone’s face (especially Jisoo) and make them go puppy eyes over it.

She followed Hyejeong into the kitchen. Her steps slowed as she saw everyone gathered around the table. “What’s going…?”

Jisoo and Jennie stepped to the side. “Happy Birthday!” they cried in unison.

Seolhyun’s gaze fell to the table. There sat a birthday cake, decorated with nineteen burning candles and… Wonder Woman? Yep, it was. Gold crown, red and blue tights and all.

“It was either that or Barbie,” Jennie said, grinning. “We figured you’d appreciate Wonder Woman more.”

“Plus she’s all cool with the whole superhero stuffs.” Jisoo added. “Maybe one day, when you decide to Awaken, you’ll be just as cool.”

“I lit the candles,” Rose said, shrugging. “All by myself.”

“I gave them the money.” Heechul folded his arms. “Therefore I was the key part of all of this.”

“This… this is… wow.” Seolhyun’s eyes found Rose again, sitting beside Jennie. Her hair was pulled back from her face, eyes still swollen. She caught Seolhyun’s eyes and smiled just a little. “This is great. You guys are awesome. Really.”

Jisoo clapped her hands. “You’ve got to blow out the candles and make a wish.”

What to wish for?

Seolhyun smiled. That was easy. As she crept to the table, she blew out the candles and wished that all of them made it out of this alive, including Jimin.

“I want the crown!” Jisoo yelled as Seolhyun stepped back, producing a supersized knife.

“It’s her birthday,” Jennie took the knife from her. “She gets to pick what piece she wants first.”

Seolhyun laughed. “It’s okay. Jisoo can have the crown. I’ll take the shield.”

They set about carving the cake and passing around milk tea cans. Seolhyun was overwhelmed by everyone. She hadn’t expected much of anything on her birthday except weird looks, but this was amazing. It was easy to forget about everything and what today symbolized. Here, surrounded by friends, things were