-Youngjae’s POV-

It’s been a week since we’ve arrived at the camp. We really haven’t done much but rest. Well, we were ordered to just rest for the week and then start training tomorrow. I hadn’t realized how badly out of shape we were, until they had the healers check up on us.

We hadn’t eaten properly since our journey, so we were lacking in much needed vitamins and proteins. Nor did we get any proper amount of sleep on our journey. We were constantly on the move and constantly facing danger. Our bodies were physically drained and exhausted. So we weren’t allowed to train at all or even use our powers at all for the week, and we had to visit the healers every other day. Except for me…I had to go every day.

“Youngjae, did you go to the healer today?” and Daehyun was the one to make sure I went every day.

“Not yet. I’ll go later today.” I said brushing it off. It was honestly a bit annoying that I had to go every day. Why me out of everyone?! Why am I the only one? “You should go now, so you won’t forget.” Daehyun on the other hand was worried.

I sighed, there was really no arguing against him…it’s not like I had anything else to do anyway. “Fine.” I gave in. he smiled, “I’ll go with you.” He said walking with me. “You always go with me.” I said playfully rolling my eyes.

Together we walked to the cabin where the healers were. I went straight to the back room, where the healer I usually went to was.

“Hi Youngjae. Hi Daehyun.” Park Bom greeted in her sweet voice. “Hello.” Daehyun and I returned the friendly greeting, bowing slightly. “Are you guys here for your final checkup?” She asked. We nodded. “Alright. Which one of you want to go first?”

I looked at Daehyun, he got the hint. “I will.” He smiled taking a seat on the patient’s bed. Bom stood up and examined him. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “Good. I feel stronger.” He answered. “Well, let’s see shall we?” She smiled and with that she motioned for him to lay down. Then her eyes glowed a gentle turquoise and light glowed beneath her hands, glowing the same color as her eyes.

She scanned her hands carefully over his torso, arms, hands, legs, feet, neck, and face. Then she instructed him to turn over onto his stomach, where she then scanned his back. “Okay. You can sit up now.” She said when she finished.

Daehyun obeyed and sat back up. “Everything looks good. You’re good as new and strong as ever. You’re ready to start your training tomorrow. You won’t have to come back here for another checkup, unless something happens of course.” She announced. Daehyun smiled at this, hopping off of the patient’s bed. “Thanks!” He thanked. “My Pleasure. Alright Youngjae, your turn.” Bom said, motioning for me to come over.

“How are you feeling today Mr. Yoo Youngjae?” She asked as I laid on my back. “I feel pretty good. Probably the same way I felt before we even left on this journey.” I answered. She smiled, nodding, before her eyes turned the turquoise color and the light appeared from her hands.

She did the exact same thing to me as she did to Daehyun, but only this time she moved much slower. Daehyun stood there watching carefully. I didn’t think much of it. “Okay…You can sit up now.” She instructed when she finished.

I did as she said and sat up. But instead of saying anything she sat back down at her chair and began to write something down on her clipboard. Daehyun and I looked at one another in confusion. But the elder looked more worried than confused. What was he so worried about?

“Well, you’re definitely much stronger than you were when you first came for a checkup.” Bom said, placing her clipboard down. However, this only made me feel somewhat nervous. “Will I have to come back?” I asked, having an idea that I might already know the answer. She nodded. “You won’t have to comb back every day though. Just twice a week. One time at the beginning of the week and then one time at the end of the week.” She explained. “Wh-Why?” I asked, not understanding. Was something wrong with me>

She sighed. “I was hoping that you’d be much stronger than this by the end of this week. I was sure that you would be…but for some reason you’re not.” She began. I listened closely.

“When you first came in for a checkup, your condition was much worse than the others. Which was why I had you come in every day. I wanted to keep a close eye on you, but your body is weak.” She said. “I’ve always been pretty weak since I’ve been young.” I informed her, hoping that that’ll help some. But she only shook her head. “You shouldn’t be able to do what you’re doing.” She said.

I only looked at her, not understanding. She only sighed again, she was trying to look for her words carefully. “You shouldn’t be able to run around like you do, nor should you be able to move around so easily….especially after the journey. Your body is weak. It’s magic that’s allowing you to function properly.” She said.

I sat there struck. Daehyun was speechless. “But Jayde did say that when I was born I…” “I heard about how you were born and what happened.” She told me.

“Then I should be fine right? Maybe it’s just because of that.” I said only to have her shake her head. “Even with that, you should still be much stronger.” She said.

It was silent for a few minutes. Then what was wrong? What does this mean? I felt my mind become overwhelmed with unanswered questions, not having a clue of where to even start. I was lost. “Youngjae tell me…how was your life growing up? Did you eat well? Did you get the proper nutrition? Did you sleep well? Were you ever harmed severely at any point in your life? Because all of that adds up.” She quizzed.

I was lost for words, taking in all of her questions. She looked at me with serious eyes. “Youngjae, you have to be honest with me…tell me everything.” She instructed. “You’re the son of Yoo Eunhi…and I want to do all I can do to help.” She urged. However, I didn’t say anything, shaking my head as I reflected back on everything. It was all bad news. If I told her, the results won’t be good.

Daehyun looked at me, placing his hand on top of mine, but I didn’t dare to look at him. I tried to pull away but he gripped my hand. “Youngjae…please…” he pleaded.

I sighed and took a deep breath before giving in. And I told her everything.

I told her about my living conditions, how I stated working in the fields at age 7, how I went as long as over a week without food. I even told her about the times I was beat by guards, by the man that claimed to be my father, the rich kids, by the guards again…and again...and the horse incident.

Of course I didn’t go into detail about them, but I did tell how severe it was and I how felt, physically afterwards. I noticed Daehyun cringe at the memories, especially the ones that involved the raids. He’d grip my hand even tighter.

Bom kept her professional façade, but the sadness and sympathy was prominent in her soft eyes. “That’s a major factor as to why you’re condition is like this.” She began once I finished.

“It’s a miracle that you’re moving and functioning well. Your mother was really working her magic.” Bom said with a small smile. All I could do was barely nod.

“By you going on this journey, a large toll was taken on your body. Especially since you were also using your magic.” She went on. “But…I felt fine. I feel fine.” I said. She nodded, “That’s because of the magic in you that’s allowing you to feel that way but…eventually…that magic is going to burn out if you don’t take care of yourself.” She said.

My eyes down casted…this couldn’t actually be happening. “But it’s not too late. There’s a way to get you better. It’s just going to take a while.” She assured, her own mood lighting up a little, but I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t say anything. It was too much to take in all at once.

“What do we need to do?” Daehyun was the one to speak, his tone serious. I raised my head up a little at this. We?

Com smiled. “You need to use your energy wisely. You can continue to do the normal stuff to do now, like walk, run, hangout with you friends. However, try not to do any hard physical labor. Stay away from physical labor for now, and if possible avoid physical fights. Right now you are not cleared to train, so you won’t be able to train with the others for a while.” Bom began. Daehyun nodded, taking in every word.

“Make sure to eat properly and regularly, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Be sure to eat healthy stuff and limit your sweets. I also suggest that you remain hydrated at all times. I don’t know what will happen if you get dehydrated, but it will take a huge toll on your body. Finally, get rest. Get the proper amount of rest.” She emphasized. Daehyun nodded. I lagged behind in my nodding.

“That doesn’t sound too hard.” Daehyun said, sounding somewhat relieved. “Well…that’s what’s going to keep his body from declining even more and help him regain some of his strength. But…it will take a while. You have to be consistent.” She stressed.

“And once your body is strong enough after about a week or two, I’ll be able to heal your body myself. I won’t be able to do much since your condition is really bad, but I will be able to restore some of the energy in your body and make you as strong as you were before you came here. You still have to do everything else I told you to do for the next upcoming years, so that your body can become self-sufficient and not depend on your magic for life support as much.” She emphasized. I gave a small nod.

“And for now you can’t use any magic. It’ll end up draining your power even more.” She finally said.

My eyes widened at this. No magic? “But I-,” “We’ll do just that.” Daehyun promised her, interrupting me.

Bom’s smile grew more confident, “There’s no need to worry. You’ll be fine.” She assured me. “In the meantime, I’m going to find ways to make you stronger and heal faster.”

“Thank you.” Daehyun thanked her sincerely. I could only give her a small nod of gratitude, too much was going on in my mind to think properly. With that, Daehyun gently pulled my wrist, pulling me out of the room…all the way out of the cabin.

“Daehyun…” I could barely say, “What are you doing?”

“I know exactly what you’re thinking and don’t worry about it Youngjae. Don’t worry about me.” He told me. I shook my head, “No…I want to break the curse. I said I will do it, and so I’m going to do it.” I insisted.

“No Youngjae. She said no magic…so no magic.” He said.

“But what about you? What about your own well-being? They can still hurt you. I don’t want you to suffer anymore. I’m go-,” “What about your life Youngjae?!” he nearly spat at me.

I frowned looking way from him. “…I don’t want you to suffer anymore.” I said, ghostly even a whisper.

He cupped my face in his hands, making me look at him, a small smile was on his face. “Don’t worry about me…this is more important. Don’t worry about me suffering when you’re the one who’s suffered the most.” He said. I could see the guilt and hurt in his eyes.

“I said ‘we’ for a reason.” He went on. “We’ll get through this together. It’s like what you said to me the other day, we’ll help each other out.”

I couldn’t help but let out a small smile, feeling somewhat encouraged. “Okay.” I gave in. he nodded and removed his hands from my face and slipped my hand into his. We walked like this, all the way down to the stream.

“I’m glad we had this break.” Daehyun spoke as we walked alongside the gentle water canal. “How come?” I asked him curiously. “Because, I got to do stuff like this with you.” He smiled cheekily.

All I could do was chuckle, but I did agree. It was really nice spending this time with him, without all the craziness of this war or even the craziness from back at home. “The week has been nice…but weird too.” I said reflecting on it. “How so?” He asked. “Bang and Zelo have been acting weird.” I said.

“Aren’t they in a fight right now? I thought Zelo was mad at Bang.” He said. “Yeah…but they’ve been acting weird around me. Like Bang won’t look at me directly when we talk and he keeps on saying sorry to me, saying he didn’t know what he as thinking. Himchan sometimes looks uneasy when he talks to me.” I explained. Daehyun scrunched his brow at this. “What about Jongup?”

“He’s still the same but he did tell me that he didn’t know…and if he knew he wouldn’t have agreed to it. Which makes no sense.” I sighed. “Maybe they feel bad about what happened when we were fighting Jayde’s sister.” Daehyun suggested.

“I was thinking the same thing…but do you know what Zelo said to me the other day? He asked me if I still hated royals.” I said. Daehyun raised an eyebrow at this.

“I told him yeah I guess I still do, and the-,” “Wait! You still do?!” Daehyun interrupted me. I just ignored the question and continued “…and then he told me that I had every right to not trust people so easily. He said that I was right for not trusting royals…he told me to be careful of who I trust.” I said feeling even more confused.

“Hm…maybe he saw something.” Daehyun said thinking about it. “I don’t know.” I sighed feeling a little frustrated. I didn’t have a good feeling about this. “Hey~.” He cooed placing two fingers against my brow, pushing the wrinkles away that formed as I thought to myself. “Don’t think too much. Remember wat Bom said?” he reminded.

I playfully rolled my eyes. “She didn’t say I couldn’t think.” I said. “Yeah…but don’t think too hard, it’ll hurt your brain.” He said. I shook my head, “Will it make you worry less if I do?”

He nodded.

“Fine.” I gave in.

A large smile grew on his face. “Good. Don’t worry Youngjae and just relax. I will take care of you.” He said proudly. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel any better. That might actually not be a good idea.” I teased. He only scoffed.

“But Daehyun…” I said, a sudden thought coming to mind. “Hm?” “Don’t tell anyone about this…about my condition Okay?”

“What? Why?” he asked. “Because, I don’t want anyone to worry about me. Nor do I want to hold anyone back. Especially my friends.” I explained.

“Youngjae, they should know, just in case-,” “Daehyun please. Nothing is going to happen.” I urged.

He looked at me for a little bit, before sighing. “Fine.” He gave in. “But! If you get hurt in even the slightest or even if you feel off, you have to tell someone at least me or Bom.” He stressed. I nodded. “Thank you Daehyun.” I said pecking his cheek with my lips. He smiled at this, “You’re welcome.” He straightened up.

“So~…Since you can’t train will you come watch me train?” he suddenly asked.

I looked at him, “What? Why would I want to watch you train?” I said. He looked somewhat offended. “So you can see how cool your lover is.” He said as if it were obvious.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’ll watch for a little bit.” I gave in. A large smile beamed on his face. I chuckled at this. Why was he getting excited over something so small?

We stayed by the stream for most of the day, until Jiho and the others finished with their daily training and then we hung out with them for a little bit.

By the time night fell Yang gathered the eleven of us and showed us to the cabins that they had finished setting up for us.

We were all to share a cabin that had two rooms and two bathrooms. Four of us were assigned per room. After Yang finished showing the cabin to us we all decided to get ready for bed.

“Wow! Looks like we have a room all to ourselves.” Daehyun stretched as we entered the fairly large bedroom. The room was actually really spacious with four twin-sized beds placed on each corner and a desk in the center of the back wall. There was only one small window that sat above the desk and another small window engraved in the door. “We’re not alone Daehyun. There’s supposed to be four of us to a room.” I reminded.

The elder turned around, a devious smile on his lips as he s his hands onto my hips. I gasped at the sudden action.

“Yes we are. Bang, Zelo, Himchan, and Jongup are sharing a room. Kris is staying in the cabin with the Shadow Seekers. Lee, apparently, is staying in some special cabin for the Council of Five members. And I’m sure the twins are staying with him.” He said. My eyes slightly widened. Were we really alone?

Daehyun smirked and leaned in for a kiss, but paused as the sound of the door opening was heard.

“Wow! This room is big!” it was Tae. “Youngjae and Daehyun are here too!” Min cheered.

“Hi Yo-…wait, what are you guys doing?” Tae asked confused.

I quickly shoved Daehyun away, seeing that he wasn’t going to move any time soon. I turned to face them feeling slightly embarrassed. I should’ve known better than to listen to Daehyun. Pabo!

“Hey you guys.” I greeted. “Hi Youngjae!” Tae smiled back. “Are you guys staying here too?” he asked. I nodded. “Yay! We get to share a room with Youngjae-ssi!” Min cheered jumping on top of me. I stumbled backwards for little bit, before finally catching my footing.

“I call this bed!” Tae claimed, running to the opposite side of the room, jumping on top of the bed closest to the front wall.

“Awe~! I want that bed~.” Min whined letting go of me. His attention immediately moved to his twin. “Too late. I called it.” Tae said. Min walked up to him. “But that’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.” Min pouted. “You snooze you lose.” Tae said proudly.

“I thought you guys were going to stay with Lee.” Daehyun spoke up. He was obviously disappointed. “Why would you think that?” Tae asked innocently, sitting up. “Well um…I thought…Uh…” Daehyun couldn’t come up with a good reason.

“We couldn’t share a room with him even if we wanted to. Because nobody is allowed in the Council of 5 member’s cabin.” Min explained. The two of us nodded in understanding.

“TaeTae get off~…” Min said trying to pull the elder twin off the bed. But Tae griped onto the headboard, refusing to let go. “Noo!” Tae cried. “Get off Tae, so we can redo the dibs.” Min whined.

“Great.” Daehyun groaned, running his fingers stressfully through his hair. I couldn’t help but laugh at him a little. “How about you guys share the bed?” I suggested.

The two stopped to think about it. “We can!” Tae lit up in realization. “But the bed is too small.” Min said. “Can’t you guys turn into pups or something?” Daehyun questioned.

The twins’ eyes lit up once more. “Yes we can!” Tae cheered. “Now we both can lay in the bed.” “Youngjae you’re so smart!” Min exclaimed in awe. “Thank you.” I chuckled.

“Wait. What about me? I’m the one who came up with the pup thing.” Daehyun said sounding offended. “Min. Let’s get ready for bed before it gets dark.” Tae said sliding out of the bed. Then he pulled his brother with him out of the bedroom, going to the bathroom.

We waited for the twins to finish before we took our turn in the bathroom. I took a warm shower first, while Daehyun brushed his teeth. Then we switched.

“Ah~…I feel so clean and fresh.” Daehyun exhaled, flopping onto one of the twin-sized beds. I sat down on the bed that was next to his. Tae and Min were already turned into pups, playing around in the middle of the room.

“I guess we should get to bed now, since you guys have a long day of training ahead of you.” I said, crawling under the thin white sheets. The two pups stopped running around and barked happily at us. “Good night you guys.” I said. The two ran over to their own bed and jumped on top of it, making themselves comfortable.

I looked over at Daehyun and saw that he was already fast asleep. I smiled, “Good Night Daehyun.” I was about to turn off the light when there was a sudden knock on the door.

I scrunched my brow at this. Who could be knocking on our door at this time? I thought to myself as I climbed back out of the bed and walked over to the door. Min’s ears perked up as he hopped off the bed, running to the door. He stood behind me, panting happily.

I slowly opened the door to see that it was Zelo. “Oh hey Zelo.” I said a bit surprised to see him. “Hi Youngjae.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Min barked at him. “Hey Min.” Zelo greeted.

I studied the younger for a little bit. “Is something wrong?” I finally asked.

“Um…I was wondering if I could stay in your guys’ room instead.” He said, sounding a bit embarrassed. “Sure.” I said allowing him in. “Thank you.” He thanked, entering the room.

I closed the door behind him. He walked over to the bed next to Min and Tae’s, climbing into it. Min then ran over to his own bed and jumped on top of it. “Good Night Zelo.” I said. “Night Jae.” And with that I turned out the lights before returning to bed.

-

The next morning we woke up early and everyone went straight to training. To my surprise everyone was focused and seemed to be putting their all into it. They were determined to get better. They had to get better. We had to get better. Even Daehyun was putting his all into it.

I leaned against the wooden fence, watching him fight his opponents. He was actually pretty good. Whenever he beat his opponent he would stop and smile at me, asking if I saw it. I would smile back at him and nod. But when he lost he didn’t even look at me and insisted on a rematch.

I watched him for a couple of hours before walking away. I didn’t want to stand here and do nothing while everyone else was working hard. I wanted to contribute to the war too. I wanted to become better. “Lee!” I called at the vampire, running to him when I found him.

He raised an eyebrow at me, stopping in his tracks. “Do you know if there’s any library or any place here that has any books? Any kind of books?” I asked him.

He scrunched his brow, thinking about it. “Yeah. There’s a cabin that serves as an information kind of place. There are spell books in there that the mages use to help with their training. It’s right across from where the mess hall that we eat in is.” He informed. “Sweet! Thanks!” I lit up, before running off. “No problem.”

I followed Lee’s instructions and sure enough I found it.

It was a fairly small cabin, with just one room. It wasn’t too small, however, it had enough space. There were four large tables piled with books and papers scattered across them. Maps were plastered along the walls with several different colored markings on them. There were a couple of small shelves, half full of books.

Nobody else was here so I decide to take the opportunity to search freely among the books. I honestly couldn’t help but feel a little excited, there were so many different kinds of books, filled with all sorts of information.

I grabbed a handful of books before sitting down at one of the tables.

I flipped through the books, reading them carefully and thoroughly. Some of them were spell books and some of them were books about the history between the Dark Magic and information on other stuff.

Daehyun probably wouldn’t appreciate me doing this, but I can’t sit here and do nothing. The least I can do is educate myself and at least memorize useful spells in case I do need to use them one day. And maybe I’ll be able to find a way to break Daehyun’s curse.