Chapter Eleven; 

      Black Pawn

Luhan was playing with his chess pieces when Lay entered his room.

“Another pleasant reunion, I suppose.” The oddball grinned, referring to Lay and his sister. Lay shook his head as he tried to make his way through the room that took the appearance of a tropical rainforest. The oddball enjoys changing his surroundings – reason why the healer refused to enter it unless absolutely necessary.

“She was quite…flustered. She wanted me to stop you from following your vision. It’s fake.”

“I know,” the oddball replied indifferently. “I’m thankful though, really I am. I only realised three hours before you, actually.” The tip of his finger touched the white rook. “Do you know what it feels like to be wrong?”

“Infuriating.”

“Ecstatic,” the oddball corrected. A disturbing smile crept onto his lips. “Though I must admit, I am slightly troubled. Despite knowing a lot of things, I still haven’t figured out Sehun’s curse.” He pouted like a six-year-old, and the healer couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his behaviour.

“How is it related to your vision?”

“Everything happens for a reason, my friend.” His hands then moved towards the black pawn. “What you thought was white was black. What you thought was harmless, happens to be the most dangerous as it reaches the other side of the board.”

Lay sat on the other side of the chessboard. “Enlighten me.”

The oddball flashed his infamous grin. “It’s Kim Jongin.”

“A human boy?”

“Half - his other half is a demon. Reason why he became the messenger for the demon dimension.”

“How come you’re only saying this now?!”

Luhan grinned proudly as he wore his glasses before shoving a pile of paper into Lay’s hands.

“Because I only found out now from this pile of paper! Smart, huh? It’s my first time doing human-like research! Aren’t you so proud of me, my friend?!”

“So smart-, have you figured out what they’re after?”

“My precious vepria gene, of course. My gene is enough to make me king of any dimension. I just don’t like to flaunt my superiority.”

“Right, your highness,” Lay said sarcastically. “So how will they get your gene, exactly?”

“Well, dear Lay. One way is to get me to fall in love with a suitable candidate, because not all females can carry a child with this gene…”

The healer’s eyes twitched. He was tired of Luhan’s silly games.

“Apart from that way,” he seethed through his clenched teeth.

“Take us all to the demon dimension, and then our battle starts there. I’m not prepared for that, you see. So please, allow me to continue this lovely act. I’m a mind reader, not a fighter.”

“How fun,” the healer sung mockingly. The oddball adjusted his fake glasses like how Lay always did with his. Apparently it was ‘smart-looking’.

“The demon dimension and the Shadow Realm are thinking of merging, as the two dimensions often associate with each other.”

“Despite their names, they’re not exactly evil dimensions.”

The oddball let out a disturbing cackle.

“They’re not. They just lust for power.”

The spirit stared at his own body on the hospital bed, motionless as ever.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and a bunch of people swarmed in. The spirit tried hard to recognise their faces, but he simply couldn’t. He had yet to find the three people who could help him lift the curse. He knew he wouldn’t be able to find the one that cursed him or someone who would be willing to share their minds from him, but he felt he could at least try to find someone who loved him. 

Surely with a face like his there would be some people that loved him when he was alive.

A woman in her forties sat beside his body and touched his hand. Sehun instantly felt a sense of warmth despite not being able to touch her directly. After watching the same scene repeat itself for the past year, he was certain that she was his mother. The others were his family, he presumed. He could never quite figure out who was who, since they never seemed to talk much, and Sehun was always too afraid to be too close to them. Luhan once told him that he had the ability to absorb energy from other people because his energy levels were higher than a normal spirit.

Soon, a young girl in school uniform entered with a bunch of flowers in her hands.

“You’ve come to visit him again?” His mother smiled benevolently at the girl.

“Mother, who’s this girl?” Sehun asked, regardless if he was heard or not. He just wanted to feel alive. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“Hello there. School ended early today, so I thought I would come to visit him.”

“Miya, you’re such a lovely girl. Sehun would be so happy if he knew.”

Sehun gasped in delight. “Is it you? Do you love me? I knew there must be someone!”

“I-I don’t know. We’re not that close.”

The spirit’s happiness faded. Gentle chuckles filled the room, and Sehun felt so alone. It was unbearable.

“You guys seem close to me. Did you like him?” his mother asked. She enjoyed talking about her son as if he was only sleeping – it gave her hope.

Before she could answer, the electrocardiogram that was attached to Sehun, began to produce an irregular set of sounds.

“W-what’s going on? Is he in danger?!” the girl called Miya, asked.

“Even though he’s in this condition, he can still hear us. After all, he’s only sleeping. Maybe, he liked you too.” Sehun’s mum giggled. “The heart doesn’t lie.”

A faint shade of pink was visible on her cheeks.

“I liked you?” Sehun asked himself. “But…did you like me?”

The spirit’s world suddenly turned black and a voice whispered in his ear.

“Are you that curious? Oh. Se. Hun.”

It was the first time he heard his full name being said.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“The name you know me of is Kim Jongin. We’re currently at the boarders of Human and Demon Dimension.”

“We knew each other? The girl at the hospital, did she love me?”

“I can’t say, but I know one thing…

…She’ll never love you back after what you did to her.”