“My brother. He’s here,” Soohyun managed to say as she frantically looked around for any signs of her brother. 

“What are you saying? How did you know he’s here?” Baekhyun asked. He wasn’t trying to free himself from Soohyun’s tight grasp anymore but instead he held her hand as he looked back at her. 

“The time—the houses—we’ve...we’ve passed this street three times. Baekhyun, I swear, this is my brother’s doing. He’s—maybe the King sent him to find me? What if he wan-“ Soohyun rambled on her words as she desperately tried to catch her breath. 

“Wait, slow down. I can’t understand what you’re saying,” Baekyhyun said. “Speak slowly.” 

Soohyun breathed in and out for a few seconds to try to calm herself down. Her tight grip on Baekhyun’s wrist loosened as she felt her knees almost dropping to the ground. Before she could even face a fall, Baekhyun has already caught her  and helped her stand up once again. They settled on the side of the street as Baekhyun waited for Soohyun to explain what was happening. 

“Jinhyuk, he’s one of my brothers, he controls time. He can do anything with it—but mostly he just plays with it. People won’t notice the changes when he does it that’s why you didn’t know we’ve passed this street for three times. He’s dangerous, Baekhyun. I-I can’t let him see me,” Soohyun said. She kept looking around, anxious that Jinhyuk might appear any time or he might play with the time once again. It will be hard to deal with him once he decided to stop the time. They need to go back to the ship as soon as possible—the faster the better. 

“How did you noticed we’ve been passing the same street?” Kyungsoo asked. Soohyun looked at him as she unconsciously grazed the cold ring on her finger. 

“He’s done a bond with me, so as for my other siblings. For some reason, I am not affected with the changes in time. He can stop, play with it, and do anything but I’ll still stay at the same time frame with him. He was turning back the time a while ago for a few times and I swear I’ve seen that house again and again when we should’ve passed by it already. We must hurry back to the ship,” Soohyun said. “We can’t let him stop the time while we’re still here at Azmar.” 

“Are you sure it’s him?” Baekhyun asked. 

“Yes, I can’t be wrong. I would be affected by the same magic if I don’t have a bond with the gifted doing it but I wasn’t. It just means that the person doing it has done a bond with me and the only people who has done that were my siblings,” Soohyun explained. She could already feel her heart racing once again at the sudden realization that it’s possible Jinhyuk couldn’t be the only one here at Azmar. 

“Let’s go back, please. I...I don’t know what to do if he stops the time and we’re still here,” Soohyun said. 

Baekhyun looked around as his hands rested on his waist. “That was the bad feeling I felt a while ago,” he said and he clicked his tongue after. He straightened his back as he looked at Soohyun. “We’re near the port. It shouldn’t take long before we reach the ship. Let’s get going.” 

Soohyun nodded at his words and they all soon started walking. She noticed the tight grip Baekhyun has at his cutlass. Baekhyun then asked what Jinhyuk might look like and Soohyun tried her best to picture him out in detail. He told her that her suspicions might be true—that the King might’ve sent him to look for her. She just wasn’t sure if it was to bring her back to the palace or to kill her. She kept glancing on her sides as she tried to hide herself from every person they passed. A few more walks and they already passed the entrance of the port and were now walking towards where their ship was. Soohyun was sure they would’ve reached the ship in no time until she felt everything slowly stopped right before her eyes. 

No. No. No. Soohyun frantically chanted on her mind, wishing that she was just imagining things, that time has not stopped just when they were a few meters away from the ship. She held her breath as she tried not to make any movement, may it be small or big. If the time has stopped, Jinhyuk must be near them. He couldn’t have possibly saw her, right? There was in no way he’d see her. She covered her face very well when they were walking. He wouldn’t have noticed her, right? It would be impossible.  

Soohyun’s heart pounded loud against her chest as panic rose over her whole body. She can feel her hands trembling at the thoughts running on her mind. She immediately tried to hide her hands as she wished to the heavens to give her luck this time before anything else happens. 

Soohyun closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. She peeked and saw that everything was still frozen. Just as when she closed her eyes back, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Her eyes widened at the sudden touch as she looked back and saw the person she dreaded the most looking back at her. Soohyun could almost feel the fear eating her and her body giving up on her as she looked at Jinhyuk. 

Jinhyuk had this smirk on his face as he looked back at Soohyun. “There you are,” he said as he took her arm. 

“No. Let go of me,” Soohyun protested but Jinhyuk’s grip was tight as he pulled her closer. 

“Father’s so disappointed in you. He was so mad after he knew you left. He wants you back at the palace...” Jinhyuk trailed off his words. “...right now,” he finished, making sure he has sent her soul chills. 

Soohyun tried to free herself from his grip but it was no use at all. “Ac