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Of Coming Together and Falling Apart

Time was running out, and Hei had no idea what to say.

Jungwoo had taken the dagger away from her neck, but he obviously didn’t trust her enough because he was still holding it. Hei wondered if it were worth pointing out that not only could she not get past him or use more power but she was still chained.

Instead, Jungwoo said, “First tell me how you’re using your power right now.”

Hei took a deep breath to calm herself. Her heart was jumping in . “Baekhyun taught me before I left,” she said. “I was trying to summon my power, but it wasn’t working because of your spell, or whatever it is that you did. He told me to instead try to draw my power to me since I’ve been trying to force myself through the barrier, and it works. I can only draw bits of my power, and even this took me a day to gather, so it’s not nearly enough. But…” Hei shrugged. “It’s all I have right now. It was enough for me to make a path to get here, and enough for this as well.”

Jungwoo stared at her, eyebrows furrowing. Finally, like a verdict being passed, he nodded. “But aren’t you wasting your energy doing this?”

“I want to talk to you without any interruptions. This is enough.”

“There were no interruptions before.”

“I want to ensure Junsu can’t hear,” she corrected. “I don’t trust him, but he can’t enter the timestop or be able to tell what happens inside of it. As long as I can hold it, then no one will know what happens here.”

“And how long can you hold it?”

“Not long, if I don’t get more of my power back.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “I won’t.”

“Then five minutes. Listen for five minutes.”

The strain from using her power was obvious. It wasn’t like before, where she drew it out from that well while knowing that the supply wasn’t exactly finite. This—this was trying to produce something from the last dregs of power, and it was undeniably more difficult.

Jungwoo’s expression faltered, uncertainty flooding across his face for a moment. Hei watched as he flicked his wrist at her, and momentarily, the pressure on her power disappeared.

The familiar feeling flooded back into her like a dam being broken. Hei didn’t have time to stop her power before it rushed back, so strangely easy to summon after so long of having it barricaded. Without even thinking, Hei summoned the full timestop, sending the rest of her power out until everything was frozen.

Jungwoo didn’t budge until her power was flickering steadily all around. He sheathed his dagger. “I can take all that away before you can blink,” he said quietly. “So don’t try anything else. You have five minutes.”

Hei blinked, surprised. Now that her power was dealt with, there was nothing else she had to worry about. Except she had no clue where to start if she were even going to begin to convince Jungwoo.

“What do you want Junsu to do for you against the families?”

Jungwoo frowned. “I thought you were doing the talking, not interrogating.”

“If Junsu told you he could kill the family leaders, then he lied to you.”

“Junsu never promised me he’d kill them. Just that he was capable of making them suffer. And since the families have been weakened after the Byun family leader’s death, they’re at their most vulnerable.”

“Through his mind control.”

Jungwoo pressed his lips together. “No.”

“Mind control or not, Junsu’s cruel, and you know that.”

“The families are also cruel, and you should know that better than anyone!”

“So your solution is to be cruel back?”

“If I have to be cruel to get rid of them, then I will,” he snapped. “They’ve ruined everything already. It’s not like I have anything left to lose.”

For a moment, it wasn’t Kim Jungwoo in front of her but Baekhyun, sitting on his bed in that horrifyingly messy cabin, head buried in his hands as he told her bitterly what his family had done to him, to the girl he had loved, and what he planned to do as revenge. It’s not like I have anything left to lose.

“There’s always something to lose,” she told him.

His eyes narrowed. “Easy for you to say.”

“If you want justice against the families, this isn’t the way to do it. I spent a good part of last year watching Baekhyun do the exact same thing as you did, and in the end—”

“I’m not the same as Byun Baekhyun, so don’t expect me to suddenly have a change of heart just because a girl tells me to.”

Hei told herself not to flinch at his tone. “I don’t think you’re a cruel person,” she replied, “and that’s precisely why I’m here right now.”

Jungwoo took a deep breath like he was trying to calm himself. “Then you’ve placed your bet on the wrong person.”

“You didn’t take away my power that day,” she pointed out, hoping desperately that she was right, “when we were going into Hell’s Gate. I saw you lower your arms. I know you hesitated. Why?”

Jungwoo pressed his lips together. “That means nothing.”

“You brought me food and water. You agreed to hear me out. For what?”

“Maybe Junsu me to bring you food. Maybe I’m listening to you because I pity you and the fact that you came here for nothing because you placed all your hope on getting my help, and that was a foolish gamble.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you want an alternative.”

His eyes darkened, and Hei waited, heart pounding. She wouldn’t admit it (or show it), but Jungwoo still frightened her. He was predictable and unpredictable at the same time—she could grasp more or less why he was doing what he was doing, but she couldn’t tell what he would do or choose, and it bothered her more than anything. Then there was the fact that he could very much take away her power then and there and tell Junsu why she was there, and then everything would be over. Just like he said, it was dangerous—and terrifying—to place all her bets on him and her ability to convince him.

He didn’t reply for another fifteen seconds, and well aware of the fact that her time was slipping away (if it could count as slipping away, given that time was technically at a standstill within the time stop), Hei continued cautiously. “You said that I should know better than anyone the families are cruel.”

Jungwoo’s gaze turned slightly unfocused. “If the rumours are true, the Song family refused to truly teach you your power, then they made it seem like it was your fault. They were going to use the test on your twentieth birthday to cover up for killing you. Am I wrong?”

“No.”

“So shouldn’t you understand?”

“I understand why you want to, but I don’t think this is what you should be doing. There’s more children right now—and there will be in the future—like you, or like me. The families aren’t going to stop just because you throw your all at your father for revenge. Or against my family. If you don’t get yourself killed in the process, you’ll…”

“I’ll what?”

“You’ll lose yourself,” Hei managed quietly, “to revenge. And to hatred. And when you finish, you’re not going to feel anymore fulfilled or happier than you were in the beginning. You can't rely on the people to hurt you to make you feel better, Jungwoo, but that's what you're doing. Thinking you can never rest until you hurt the families back.”

“So what are you suggesting? That I join you and your husband’s righteous cause in fighting against the families?”

Hei hesitated. Then, “Yes.”

Jungwoo’s eyebrows furrowed. “You don’t understand.”

“The man from my family who took you in. Did you see him as family?”

“Why does it matter? He’s dead. Even if I did, that was—that was years ago.”

“There are four of your half-siblings in Baekhyun’s crew. I’m sure you know Minseok, at least. And Jongdae.”

Jungwoo’s expression didn’t change. “Being blood related means nothing.”

“It doesn’t,” she agreed. “I’m sure I’d give the same response for most of my siblings. I don’t know them. They don’t mean anything to me. But if you could—well, if you could just see what it can be like.”

“Can what be like?”

She took a deep breath. “Family. Actual family. I know the word has so many associations with—well, with the five families, but it’s so much more than that. There’s—there’s Minseok, though he didn’t come this time. The cartographer. He’s really responsible, so it kind of makes up for the other three. At least, Jongin and Jongdae.”

“I’ve heard of Kim Jongin,” Jungwoo said slowly, his expression melting into something that seemed to be a bit like intrigue. Hei was pretty sure it had been more than five minutes in the time stop, and she crossed her fingers. “But not a lot. I think my family tried to keep his betrayal as quiet as they could.”

Hei nearly laughed. “You should hear him tell the story of how he and Baekhyun met. Anyway, Junmyeon—he’s Jongdae’s older brother—is kind of like Minseok too? I’ve just talked to him more. He’s…he’s really kind. You don’t really realize at first because he’s kind of brooding—don’t call him that—but he cares a lot, and he somehow always manages to put other people first. I think you’ll like him.”

Jungwoo’s expression darkened. She hurried on, “Then there’s Jongdae. You’ve probably heard about him.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Most people know about him.”

“He’s one of a kind. But once you get to know him, he’s a handful, but he’s… great to be around, and he has a certain way of talking that’s just right and can make you feel better.”

Hei trailed off, unsure of what else to say. She wanted to mention Yoona briefly, then Baekhyun and his father and what had happened, but before she could say anything, Jungwoo started, “There’s no reason for any of them to welcome me.”

Hei blinked. “What do you mean?”

He pressed his lips together. “You’re right. It sounds great. But I’m the reason you’re stuck in this place, and blood family means nothing. All of them would probably run me through with a blade if they had the chance. Not… not family.”

Jongdae had suggested killing Jungwoo, but she wasn’t about to bring that up. “Jongdae and Baekhyun weren’t off to a great start either,” she offered. “I mean, Baekhyun kind of kidnapped him and tied him up and threatened his cooperation by using his brother for ransom and I’m pretty sure both of them wanted to throttle the other for at least two weeks, but they still managed in the end. If you did help me, you’re already in better graces than most were of each other in the beginning.”

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