Hyunjoong

Hyomi greets me with a hug which stuns me for a moment. I respond back by hugging her gently. As she sits down, I notice a disgruntled look on her face while staring at the carpet.

''Is something wrong?'' I ask concernedly. She doesn't answer my question and I carefully call out her name; ''Hyomi-ya.''

She jerks her head up immediately; ''Neh, oppa?''

''I asked you if something was wrong. You look a bit down,'' I say. She waves off my comment and says; ''It's nothing oppa, I just zoned out. Ah, right! You wanted to tell me something. Mwo ye?''

Suddenly a strong energy rushes into my mind. What's going on? My head hurts...

I clear my throat, take out the file of documents and hand it to her.

''Look at them,'' I start, rubbing my forehead. ''My... imo gave them to me.'' Hyomi gasps and looks attentively at me; ''Jinjja?! How? Why? When?''

''Easy there, I guess you were right after all. I am the lost twin,'' I say. Hyomi crosses her legs and looks conceitedly at me; ''I told you oppa! You didn't believe me and now you do,'' she beams.

''And you're happy because...?'' I ask blindly, slightly annoyed of my headache.

''Babo, you can now stop the obsession that the village holds! No more worshipping the xian!'' she says blithely.

''It's not so easy as it sounds, Hyomi-ya,'' I sigh. ''You do realize that it's us against the villagers?''

As Hyomi realizes the danger of the situation, she slowly nods and ponders.

''By the way, does Seunghyun know? That I'm his hyung?'' I ask edgily, firmly clasping my hands.

''Ani, he doesn't know. Although, he told me that he met a newcomer a week ago, he said that he got a strange vibe from that guy. I assume that guy was you,'' she says.

''That explains why he's so distant towards me,'' I point out. Should I ask her now? Feeling the urge to go for it of what I've been thinking, I take her hands and hold them;

''Hyomi-ah, tell me,'' I adjure. She looks questioningly at me.

''Something's up with you, I can feel it. Tell me, you didn't just zone out for sure,'' I plead. Hyomi closes her eyes and takes a deep breath;

''When Seunghyun confronted me last night about our meeting, he threatened to take me somewhere else where he could... either kill me or defile me. I begged him to not go and that was when he forced me to kiss him,'' she croaks.

Anger silently boils inside of me, almost about to erupt when suddenly the candle on the coffee table ignites. Hyomi averts her eyes to it with a slightly open mouth. She points at it with a shaky finger; ''H-how did that happen, oppa?''

I look at the blazing candle, trying to keep my calm; ''I.. don't know.'' I look over at the clock and say; ''You should head home before Seunghyun knows you're gone.'' She hesitates but agrees to it. We give each other a quick hug and I whisper into her ear; ''Be careful. If something or someone bothers you, call me. I'll be there.'' Hyomi nods and leaves quickly, closing the door behind her.

I hastily grab some unlit candles and place them on the kitchen counter. I take a few steps away from the counter and observe the candles intently.

Before even realizing it, the candles in front of me flame up powerfully. The flames are almost threateningly consuming the curtains as I stare at them with astonishment and hurriedly blow out the candles. I lean towards the counter and try to take in everything that just happened. I definitely need to speak to imo.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness strikes me and my heart beats rapidly. My head thumps loudly and sweat is trickling down my back. I gasp for air, as I feel like I'm being choked. I hold my throbbing head in pain and I collapse onto the floor; everything darkening around me.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hyomi

I close the door quietly behind me, listening to any noises if Seunghyun's here. Tiptoeing around the rooms, I find that he's not here. Thank God.

Feeling my stomach rumbling, I decide to make a simple, western breakfast; blueberry waffles with a side dish of sweet berries served with maple syrup. As I'm about to spread the batter onto the pan, warm arms link around my waist. I gasp in surprise, almost knocking the batter over. I turn around seeing Seunghyun with a devilish smile. I try my best not to get into a fit of anger so I decide to ignore him, for my own sake.

''Is that blueberry waffles?'' he asks. Focusing on the waffles, he suddenly buries his face on the nape of my neck. I try to shake him off but he just won't budge.

''Let me go,'' I say coldly. Surprisingly enough, he lets go of me. I set the plate of hot waffles down on the table and I sit far away from Seunghyun. He scoots over next to me and grabs a plate of waffles, pouring a lot of syrup on them.

''Are you still mad at me?'' he asks quietly. I break the silent treatment and eye him; ''What do you think? How can you let my first kiss be a forced one?!''

''Yah, you should have known a long time ago that I have feelings for you. I've been sending you signals since the first time I saw you, how can you not know about that?'' he says and stuffs a waffle piece into his mouth.

''Because I'm not interested in you. I have feelings for someone else,'' I say warily. Seunghyun stops chewing and sets his fork down with a slam.

''You're going to be my wife, whether you like it or not,'' he announces.

''Mwoh?! I'm not going to be your wife. You can't force me, Seunghyun,'' I argue. He looks at me in a confident way; ''I sure can.'' With that, he grabs my wrist and forces me to look into his piercing, dark eyes;

''I never wanted to do this to you, Hyomi-ya.. but forget everything of what made you hate me. You are going to be my wife and you will happily accept it.''

A few seconds later, a fierce energy forces into my mind and clouds it. Something erases from my mind and is replaced with something else.

My expression changes and I smile warmly at Seunghyun; ''I'd be happy to be your wife, oppa.'' He grins and embraces me heartily.

''I knew you would,'' he says, caressing my lips.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hyunjoong

I slowly awake with a pounding head, blinking repeatedly to get a clear view of where I am. Still lying on the kitchen floor, I get up with wobbly legs and rub my eyes. As I grab a glass of water I notice a note on the kitchen counter. I open it and read;

Hyunjoong-ah,

You must have triggered your gifts, hence you lying on the floor unconscious. In about 2 hours, you'll wake up with a pounding head and a dry throat, drink lots of water to keep you hydrated and cooled down.

I would like you to see me as soon as possible. You should know why you have these gifts.

Go to my barn which is only a 5 minute walk from your house. It is small, decrepit and red-colored.

I hope to see you there.

Imo

PS. Make sure no one follows you.