o25

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Jinqiong knew she shouldn’t have been admiring how pretty Hei’s power was as the ship sailed towards the direction of the gates, but the way the snowflakes and ice crystals lay suspended with the sunlight on the other side—it was gorgeous. Then she realized that it had been a long time that she looked at something and thought it was genuinely pretty and that it was a downright terrible time to do so, and she snapped back into reality.

A minute passed. Two. The sun was beginning to dip when Jongin, still up in the bird’s nest, let out a shout, pointing at the horizon.

She had to squint to see. At that point, they were beginning to pull away from the area the storm had been raging, giving way to crisp coldness, but no snow. In the distance, in the far, far distance, two jagged black rocks stood.

Baekhyun, a couple paces away, swore, the relief obvious in his voice. Hei, standing close to him and gripping the railing so tight that her knuckles were white, looked up too. Her face was drained of color from the effort, but a hint of a grin pulled at her lips when she spotted the gates even if they could very well be sailing to their deaths.

“We’re far enough,” Jongin called. “If we sail at full speed, we should be able to get to the gates before Junsu—or at least, really soon. Hei should probably conserve her energy for getting through.”

Baekhyun stiffened. Jinqiong was pretty sure just the prospect of his wife using her power put him on edge every single time—the more she thought about it, the less it was him being overprotective as Hei often put it, but afraid for what might happen. Or perhaps afraid of something repeating, an old memory that haunted him every time. He put a hand on her arm, and Hei looked at him, questioning if it were really okay, before letting go.

Behind them, the storm whirled back to life, but they were already past the raging seas. Jinqiong released the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

Then everyone snapped into action. Baekhyun was shouting at everyone to hurry the ship in the direction, then paused briefly in front of Hei, expression softening in the way that Jinqiong noticed he reserved only for her (then she felt angry at herself for even beginning to observe these things) and said something inaudible to his wife before hurrying away.

Hei watched him go, then turned around before Jinqiong realized that her sister was heading in her direction.

“We need—” she started.

“You need to rest and stay away,” Jinqiong cut in. “Leave this to them.”

Hei’s lips thinned into an angry line. “I’m not some—I’m not weak,” she said so sharply that Jinqiong nearly took a step back at the ferociousness in her voice. It wasn’t something she would every associate with Hei, yet she looked angry enough, jaw set.

It was sudden, but perhaps it wasn’t. I’m not weak. She would’ve pushed the words aside for later if a small part of her wasn’t reminded of herself too. Her power, some of them had said, was useless. What was invisibility going to do? So Jinqiong had worked extra hard. I’m not weak. The words echoed until the voice sounded like her own.

Song Hei, who had been told all her life that she was useless, and up until then—a year ago—had most likely thought so. And even though Jinqiong knew Baekhyun most likely didn’t mean it, his continual insistence of keeping her away from danger must’ve hit a nerve.

“You’re not,” she agreed. “But you’re also pregnant and we need your power to get through the gates, and the last thing someone needs is for you to tire yourself out before that.” Then she added drily, “In that case, we’ll all die.”

It was a gamble hinting that all their lives were in her hand. But Hei seemed to relax ever so slightly, enough to allow Jinqiong to pull her away towards the stairs.

She wanted to stay up at the helm, watch Junsu, to sooth that paranoia that he’d somehow sneak up and slit and take the gem, the stupid nightmare that wouldn’t go away. She wanted to be selfish. It wasn’t even selfishness—Song Jinqiong didn’t sit with people and comfort them anytime. And since when did she care? Sure, Hei was her half-sister, but that didn’t mean anything. She’d been nice, but there had been a time not long ago when that exact niceness Jinqiong had found utterly insufferable and suffocating. It just reminded her how much worse she was.

She was more than confused with herself when she opened the door to Baekhyun’s cabin and led Hei inside. Jinqiong told herself that they had no use for her up at the deck, and it was likely Hei wouldn’t stay if someone didn’t make her, and she was the only one who wasn’t too preoccupied to watch her. She didn’t quite buy her own excuse, but it was better than none.

As soon as the girl sat down on the chair, she started shivering. Jinqiong wasn’t sure if it were a result of her power, the fact that both of their clothes were soaked, or something else entirely.

“Get a change of clothing,” Jinqiong told her quietly. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

She didn’t argue with that. Quietly, Hei rummaged through her closet, and Jinqiong waited for her to change. She didn’t turn around until Hei asked, “What about you?”

She looked down. Water dripped from her shirt, coat and trousers onto the floor, creating a dark puddle around her, but for some reason, Jinqiong didn’t feel cold. Outside, the crew was struggling to bring the ship towards the gates—away from one danger and into the next—but she couldn’t bring herself to think about that fully. Maybe it was better that she was down here, where Byun Junsu couldn’t see her.

“I’m alright,” she told Hei.

Her sister swallowed. “I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “It’s…” She gave a shaky laugh. “It’s been an awfully long day.”

Jinqiong smiled despite herself. Insufferable and suffocating, but there was something about Hei that was different in a good way. “It’s about to get longer,” she replied, then paused. Talking about your problems wasn’t very Jinqiong at all either, but she convinced herself that if Song Hei was too nervous and wound up, then they’d all either lose their lives to Byun Junsu or get eaten by a dragon. The fact that the latter was better wasn’t much of a reassurance. So really, she was doing all of them a favor by calming down Hei enough for her to use her power for the gates.

Part of her was very well aware that Hei was levelheaded enough—even then—to bring them through even if Jinqiong didn’t say anything, but she ignored the voice.

“You said you weren’t weak,” she began cautiously. “What did you mean?”

Hei blinked. “I didn’t really mean it.”

“No, but you meant something. You wouldn’t have said that for no reason. Especially when all I suggested was that you go downstairs until you had to use your power. It hardly warranted such a response.”

She got a wince in return. “Old insecurities.”

“If you’re not going to tell me, then let me guess. Our family has told you you were weak for all your life. Compared to the crew, you’re not as well versed in combat. Baekhyun keeps you away from everything because he’s worried about you. Something happened recently to make you think of—well, old insecurities—again. Was it Yifan?”

Hei stared at her in shock. “Did Jongdae pass his power onto you?”

Jinqiong gave her a dry smile. “You pick up some things when you’re sent as a spy most of the time. Comes with the job. Our family realized my power made me useful for something. So that’s what I did.”

The initial shock gone, Hei shook her head, and Jinqiong knew she’d hit a mark. “It’s stupid,” she murmured. “But sometimes I can’t help but think they’re right. Maybe Baekhyun’s overprotective, or maybe it’s because I’m more of a liability out there. I couldn’t do anything against Yifan. He probably would’ve run me through with his sword if you hadn’t intervened. If me being out there makes the situation worse, aren’t I just burdening the crew?” She shook her head. “I’ve been trying to improve my power, but if you see the way Baekhyun looks at me when I use it, then…”

Jinqiong had seen. But she was pretty sure she and Hei saw two different things. He was worried about her. He was frightened of something happening again, something that had frightened him enough to look that way every time she summoned. However, what Hei interpreted it as was a different story.

“I’m not made of glass,” Hei finally said. She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anyone else.

“No,” Jinqiong agreed. “You’re not. And while Baekhyun’s the Byun family’s prodigy, between you and me, you’re probably the more powerful one.”

Her lips turned upwards slightly. “Everyone knows that.”

“Maybe you’re not good at combat.” Jinqiong watched her expression carefully. “Really, Kim Jongdae