*******

Minho had returned to the operation theatre immediately after making a quick call. He still didn’t trust Jinki, as a person or as a doctor. The entire room was quiet; filled only with the sounds of the ECG, breathing, and soft sniffles. Kibum had moved on from the drama rather quickly and Eunji had his sole attention. Warm tears still rolled down his cheeks, partly overcome by the tragedy and partly by the alcohol. Taemin was rooted to his spot next to Kibum since the incident with Minho and Jinki. He had too many questions for both, but fear had kept him from opening his mouth. He didn’t even have the courage to glance towards Minho who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed. And was too angry to look at Jinki who was standing near the ECG monitor, in front of Minho.

Suddenly the door of the operation theatre opened and two masked people walked in. They were dressed in black cloaks, bird masks and top hats as if they were cosplaying the ‘plague doctor’ from the 17th century. As soon as they walked in Minho got up from his seat and made space for them while Jinki stood his ground next to the ECG monitor. Kibum let go of Eunji’s hand and slowly got up backing away slightly from the bed. Taemin followed suit and stood behind Kibum. One of the plague doctors came and stood in front of Kibum while the other took Minho’s place. They both extended an arm such that their palms, the only exposed part of their body, hung above Eunji. Soft murmurs left their mouths but it was hard to decipher what they were saying. Within seconds, their palms started glowing bright green; and unlike Minho and Jinki’s red light, it did not cover their entire body but only their palms. As if in response to their murmurs, Eunji’s entire body started glowing bright green while the ECG maintained a steady beep indicating that she was still in the state of rest. Within a few minutes, their murmuring stopped and so did the abnormal green glow. After that, the plague doctors moved to the back of the room and Jinki called for Dr. Jang to come in. They both checked Eunji once again and Dr. Jang gave a knowing nod to Jinki and turned towards Minho saying, “It looks like her internal wounds have been healed. Her body will still take some time to recover so we may need to keep her under observation for a little longer. But looks like she responded very well to the treatment so there should be no further complications.” Minho bowed to her deeply as she started to leave; just before she reached the door, however, she turned around and said. “Oh and by the way, the police are here and I’ve asked them to wait in the lobby. They’d like to question her brother. The two new doctors can use the back door and take the emergency exit to leave the building from the parking lot. There are no CCTV’s in the emergency exit so you should have no problems changing there.” The two plague doctors bowed to her as she left the room.

“You can go meet the police now, I will take care of things here.” Jinki said and Minho was about to protest when Jinki continued, “I am a doctor Minho, I have taken an oath. I know you don’t believe me but I will never harm a patient and I have nothing to do with the incident. I promise you I will keep her safe till you return.” Minho knew Jinki was right. He was a doctor and has tended to several patients and the hospital staff and senior doctors revered Jinki for his skills. “Fine.” Minho reluctantly left the room from the front door as the plague doctors made their way to the back door.

Once outside the operation theatre, one of the masked men spoke up. “Thank you for coming at such short notice Mr. Prophet.”

“You can call me Joon-hyung, little Tae. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to meet the Nemea and the current leader of the most powerful faction. It was a bonus to see Taemin! But alas, he seemed clueless. Well, not for long though, Poseidon’s son looked ready to step in and carry out his duty!” Said the other masked man as they reached the emergency exit.

“What? Poseidon’s Son is here?” Taehyung asked, surprise visible in his voice. “Don’t worry, we are not meant to interfere at the moment. Let’s just see how things unfold,” said the prophet. Once inside the emergency exit, they both took off their masks and clothing and started making their way out of the building.

Minho came back after a few minutes and left with Kibum, who was the last person known to have seen Eunji. While they were both away, Taemin kept glancing at Jinki who was still busy noting down something on a notepad. After a while, Taemin decided he’d never get a better chance to question Jinki about him and Jonghyun.

“Jinki, we need to talk,” Taemin said looking at Jinki. He heard Jinki sigh and put the notepad away. “You saw it, didn’t you?” Jinki asked.

“What? You knew?”

“No, but I had a hunch when I saw you standing close to the door.”

“So, what happened? Are you in love with Jonghyun now? Who initiated? And why the hell is everyone glowing like bloody Christmas illuminations?” Taemin asked, his voice rising with every question.

He heard Jinki snicker, almost as if enjoying Taemin’s discomfort at the events of the day. Taemin wasn’t sure of what to make of Jinki’s reaction. There was something mean and malicious about it. The Jinki in front of him seemed far removed from his warm and kind boyfriend or the meticulous doctor from a minute ago. Taemin started regretting ever confronting Jinki.

“We aren’t Christmas illuminations, as much as we are divine beings living among normal people.” Jinki almost snorted the response. “But you shouldn’t focus on that for now. Ideally, I would’ve just asked you to forget everything you saw but I need your help and for that you need to know who and what we are. In fact, you need to know who you are too. But it is not my place to tell you and I have a feeling that you are about to find out soon anyway. As for what you saw, Jonghyun kissed me. And believe me, I wanted to push him away sooner but…but I couldn’t” Jinki’s tone and expression had changed by the time he finished talking. He didn’t sound like he was ridiculing Taemin anymore, but looked genuinely confused as to why he didn’t, or rather, couldn’t push Jonghyun away. He still wasn’t sure how the images popped into his head. If I’m not mistaken, it was me. Only younger. So, what was that? A memory? Dammit, it is incomplete. I should’ve just continued kissing him. Why did I stop though? Why was I scared? Have I really done something so terrible that my mind doesn’t want me to remember it? Why is Jonghyun bringing back these memories? I hope these memories are mine and not of some ancestor or some past life. I wonder if it is possible for bloodlines to carry memories. There is still so much I need find out!

“So, you couldn’t push him away before because you love him now?” Jinki’s train of thought was interrupted by Taemin’s question. “I saw you, you know. You were crying. But you also seemed to be enjoying it. Were you enjoying it?” Taemin felt scared, confused, and hurt. He doesn’t understand the glowing lights but he cared more about infidelity than about divinity. “What? Did I look like I was enjoying it? Do you think I asked for that? Of course not! I was struggling myself, you know. This whole thing is new to me too.” Taemin’s expression immediately changed after hearing this. “You weren’t…doing…I-I mean, you don’t eat that, do you? Or…do…you?” Taemin now looked excited. His eyes were wide and twinkling and his face almost broke into a smile. It was Jinki’s turn to be creeped out and wish they weren’t alone in an operation room.

Taemin had always held Jinki’s fancy, not because Jinki loved him. He didn’t. Nor was it because he was the Original. But because he was strange and unpredictable. He hated insects and wou