A/N: THOUGHTS ARE IN ITALICS. Font in purple is spoken in English

Author POV

Junsu entered the room where Jaejoong was. Walking towards the bed, Junsu met Jaejoong sitting on it while staring at the sketch book in his hold. To any onlooker it would look like Kim Jaejoong had frozen on his spot.

Sitting by him, Junsu looked at Jaejoong. His eyes caught Jaejoong’s fingers brush over what looked like a drawing of himself. Clearly Kim Jaejoong was baffled at what was on his hold.

“She’s really talented Su” Jaejoong broke the ice.

“I think the same hyung” Junsu softly smiled “She very beautiful, strong and equally talented”

It was silent for the next few minutes with Jaejoong maintaining his gaze over the sketch and Junsu shifting focus to and from his friend and the drawing in his hand.

And finally when things finally sank into Jaejoong’s system, “I’m really him Junsu…” He softly declared, eyes dead set on the sketch, “I’m really him, aren’t I?”

Junsu didn’t know how to respond. So he spoke his true feelings. “It looks like she drew you in hanbok hyung.. Though I’m not sure if you are indeed the same person hyung. I don’t know this prince as much as I know you to give you that answer.”

The right side of Jaejoong’s cheek raised to an almost smirk. “Neither do I know this prince Su… Neither do I”

“But I guess Reya knows, right?”

Jaejoong could only nod. “Which is why I should speak with her. I need to get to the bottom of this before I leave Su, else I -”

Sensing a presence enter Jaejoong looked ahead, forcing Junsu to follow his gaze and meet DiDi. Her eyes fell on what he had in his hold and Jaejoong instinctively held onto the book tighter.

“This seems to have gotten rather out of hand Jaejoong”

“Why? Did you expect me to not find about Reya at all?”

Jaejoong’s voice rose more than he expected. Something about the elder irked him lately and so some reason he feels that it all boils down to Reya. Jaejoong feels that DiDi is purposely pushing Reya away when somehow to Jaejoong, she seems to be the in epicenter of this shenanigan.

“Tell me the truth DiDi. Reya is part of this so-callled curse, isn’t she?”

The elder looked right at the boy who bore a face of nothing but seriousness. Just like the prince himself, the Kim Jaejoong opposite to her was very straightforward and rash when it comes to matters regarding Reya.

And that will only make matters worse if she kept mum any further.

So there was no other option but for her to tell him the truth.

The truth as to why she wanted to keep Reya far from him – something that fate did not let her to do.

Taking in a deep breath, the elder werewolf spoke, “No Jaejoong. Reya isn’t part of the curse”

Her words made Kim Jaejoong frown. There you go! The same nonsense spilling out of again!

But what was told next, made his heart stop beating for a split-second.

“She is the reason behind the curse”

His silence gave her the green signal to continue. Taking in a deep breath, DiDi turned to Junsu. “Son, can you please fetch me a chair to sit? It’s going to be a quite long story to tell you friend.”

“Oh! Sure! Of course!” Junsu immediately skipped to the hall and brought on of the dining chairs to the elder.

Jaejoong remained silent, intently looking at her get comfortable and Junsu sitting back beside him. “Go on.” Jaejoong urged, “I’m listening”

His mannerisms that instant depicted the Prince himself, but DiDi kept that to herself and began. “The Princess, when she was a child got captured by smugglers once and taken as prisoner to their ship. A trueborn gains his/her true powers only after puberty and therefore she was nothing but a scared child hoping for her parents to get her…. in that very ship, somehow Reya was there too.”

Both Jaejoong’s and Junsu’s interest perked up once her name was spat out. Finally! Some part of the puzzle was about to be solved! Finally!

“Reya had protected the princess from the men’s torture, instantly earning her gratitude.. And this ship Jaejoong, it was that very ship that you - the prince, along with your knights, attacked and rescued the captives.”

“That’s how I met Reya…” Jaejoong concluded. The elder nodded affirmative.

“The princess grew very fond of her Jaejoong. So much that she refused to come to her parents and be with Reya, whom we assumed was nothing but a runaway from home”

“What does the princess’s fondness concern with the curse?” Jaejoong questioned, “I don’t see a connection at all..”

“Oh it does my prince.” Didi assured, “Because you, my prince, drew your sword right into Reya’s chest in front of our princess”

Junsu’s mouth fell. Immediately he looked at his brother who had a look of utter horror.

“I am not aware what led you to do that Jaejoong but when we arrived, all we saw was Reya losing her grip on her sword and you stabbing her. And that, oh god! I still can remember that horrid sight of seeing our princess lose all senses and plunge onto you”

“You were there?!” It was Junsu who exclaimed for Jaejoong seemed to have lost the ability to talk, let alone breathe at the moment.

The elder nodded. “You see, when a werewolf shares affection towards someone – be it another werewolf or a human, whether romantic or platonic, they are capable of sensing the significant other’s distress. The princess, you could say, idolized Reya then. She kept on talking about how she was protected by Reya, of how strong-willed Reya was, of how much she wished to be like her when she becomes queen. So when she sensed Reya’s distress and came to her aid, you had hurt her. And she reacted to it without thinking twice.”

DiDi leaned towards Jaejoong, her face soft and almost pleading. “This, my prince” She pointed at the sketches, “Is her remembering what happened then, and that only means that eventually she will remember what you did to her.”

“And once she does my prince, Reya would not sleep until she has taken revenge”

Jaejoong finally showed some reaction to her words after all the time, swallowing his spit down his throat. Those words of her surely gave a rather uneasy tremor down his spine.

But Junsu couldn’t take it anymore. “Are you saying that she would kill hyung?! That she – she – she”

“I don’t know son. But I can’t take the chance, given who she is”