Zitao takes a couple of steps back, surprised by Sehun’s words as he struggles to figure out if it indeed had just been their language barrier, or just Sehun’s managed to figure out something about their jade—his and Kris’—and that it might’ve been a bad idea to volunteer for this exchange programme. He winces when the edge of the bathroom counter presses against his tailbone, realising that he’s not exactly doing himself a favour by backing away. “W-What?” Zitao stammers over his words, eyes blinking a little too fast for his own liking. “What are you talking about?”

“I said, that jade you have on? Is magic.” Sehun murmurs while darting out his tongue to wet his lower lip.

“...We should be leaving now.”

Zitao turns around to reach out for the door handle, but not before Sehun pulls him back into one of the cubicles. “Listen up, I know you fully understand me. I’m not going to beat around the bush but my family deals with traditional heirlooms and our ancestors dealt with black magic. That jade you’re wearing? There’s a spell casted on it, and we know what are the dangers of carrying such voodoo around so casually.”

Either way, Zitao figures that he’s unable to play that communication issue card again, knowing that Sehun has it all figured out too. The thing is, even if he does understand what the other’s telling him, he doesn’t exactly understand what he’s trying to tell him. Grabbing Sehun by the collar of his shirt, Zitao pulls him in closer, only to turn them around and push Sehun against the toilet.

“You’re not in your right mind.”

“Go on—go on and lie about not knowing about the jade at all!” Sehun exclaims in a hushed voice, anger obvious, yet desperate in keeping calm. “Anyone who inherits that jade dies a terrible and lonely death, and you, out of everyone should know of that!”

Sehun’s seething with anger, and it terrifies Zitao; knowing that someone else out there knows about his jade. That there could be dozens and hundreds of those someone else. More importantly, Zitao’s attention has made their focus on Sehun’s last sentence.

‘Anyone who inherits that jade dies a terrible and lonely death,’

How much credibility could be placed in that one fact? Yes, it’s true that his grandmother had died of a mysterious disease which causes her muscles to tauten over time, and her nails peels off by themselves making them vulnerable to bacterial infection.

...But that’s just mere coincidence!

“Look, Zitao, please trust us this once.” Sehun’s begging, eyes slightly lidded as he clasps both hands together.

Zitao wishes he could speak in a situation like this; yell and scream at Sehun because exactly what does Sehun want him to trust him in? He’s barely known him for a day, and here comes his whole family, telling Zitao that there’s something wrong with his jade. Sure, Zitao has known all along that their jades were more than purely love tokens, that beneath the beautifully washed out green, there’s an underlying potential that has been muted out. If it has the ability to bring both Zitao and Wu Fan together even though they’re five thousand miles apart, then it’s not just a love token.

With a defeated sigh, Zitao glares at Sehun while reaching up to grab onto his jade pendant tightly.

“I’m giving you ten minutes to explain just what you’re talking about.”

“Thirty minutes, with my whole family.”

“Twenty, that’s all.”

“...Fine.”






“And that’s why I said you’re mental!”

“Shut up!”

Things weren’t going that great with Kris either; what with his chest burning up and that splitting headache he has whenever he tries to press his hand against his chest. His friends have been trying to cheer him up for the past forty minutes but to no avail.






The ride back is quiet—neither the Ohs’ nor Zitao mentions another word about his jade piece. His cheek muscles are cramping up from all the teeth gritting and tension on his face—eyes boring holes into the back of Mr Oh’s car seat. All of his doubts dissipates and fizzles into the air-conditioned space when Sehun rests a gentle hand on his wrist, the latter’s eyes filled with just as much scepticism as his, even though Sehun’s trying to come off as calming.

Zitao shakes his head, telling the other that he’s fine, just a little nervous because deep down? He knows almost nothing about the jade, and the whole idea of having someone else other than Kris and him know about it makes Zitao uncomfortable on a new level.

It’s their secret.

He really doesn’t wish to know more about the jade from strangers even though he’s dying to, yet Zitao knows that it’s not an option in this case. He doesn’t want to die, literally. He’s seen how terrible his grandmother was before her passing (despite being a peaceful pass in her sleep), as her waking hours were generally painful to even watch.

It’s even more difficult when he arrives at Sehun’s house; Zitao smells the soft scent of incense being emitted even before the door opens, a pair of marble qilins greeting them once they step in by the side. It’s as though he’s never left China--everything about Sehun’s house reminds him of Luhan’s place, and a cold shiver runs down Zitao’s spine. “Make yourself at home; you can put your luggage in Sehun’s room, then we can start our little discussion.” Sehun’s father informs him, leaving Sehun to familiarise him with their house.

With a glance, Zitao knew that the Oh’s were rather wealthy--translucent quartz of different colours held up in a solid 24k gold frame, hung up right above the couch in their living room. Not to mention about Sehun’s room being decorated with jade materials (there’s a pyramid made of jade, with a sculpture of the Goddess of Mercy seated in the middle placed on Sehun’s nightstand), along with a dozen other tell tale signs of wealth in their house.

Zitao gets ushered back out to their dining area, where two empty seats have been pulled out and awaiting for the both of them, and he feels so small, so tiny. It’s as though he’s being interrogated with the accusing eyes being casted at him.

“Sweetie,” a soft voice from the side cooes, causing Zitao to glance over.

He hasn’t really taken much notice about Mrs Oh, but Zitao finds that she has a pair of eyes that could you in easily. They were dyed a soft brown, and he realises that he’s staring more than he should be when she lets out a light-hearted chuckle. Snapping back into reality, he blinks and turns over to look at Sehun. “So--“

“It’s jadeite covered in the blood of vengeance.”

Another chill runs down Zitao’s spine. Not only because it’s creepy as hell, but because they were speaking in mandarin.

“W-What?” His eyes widens at Mr Oh’s words, confusion laced.

There’s a low sigh of exasperation, then it’s almost like a unison of movements when all three of the Ohs’ leans forward on their arms.

“Jade, in its most natural and purest form is called a ‘jadeite’, and they command a high value in the market if sold into the right hands. The one you have right now is a beautifully made piece back in the olden dynasties. It is very much obvious that it had belonged to the royal family, as the form of skilled craftsmanship was only available to the western countries. However, it wasn’t a secret that Kings and Princes would seek for such services to please their ladies.”

A moment of silence dawns upon them before Zitao speaks up, stumbling on his words.

“Y-You... M-Mandarin... Chinese?”

Another sigh gets emitted from his left, and this time, it’s Sehun. “Look,” very much like his father, Sehun’s speaking in Mandarin. “All of us speak Mandarin. We specialise in Chinese Feng Shui, Zitao.”

“And... What has specialising in Feng Shui have to do with knowing how to speak the language?”

“Could you just not ask so many questions and listen to what my father has to say?” Sehun snaps, slumping back into his seat when Mrs Oh tells him that he’s being rude and Zitao’s still a guest no matter what.

“Fine.”

“Well,” Mr Oh starts once again, but not before clearing his throat and crossing his arms over his chest. “As I’ve mentioned, about your jade... It’s cursed. Not just with any form of voodoo, but it’s a death curse. People who’ve gotten in touch with it usually starts off with a skin decaying problem, and neither medicine nor herb would be able to cure of it. If we’re not completely wrong, that jade comes in a half. Rumour has it that an enraged Consort placed the curse when the King favoured a concubine over her.

His Majesty was smitten with the concubine, and had the Consort banished into the cold palace when she had attempted to murder his beloved. However, he did not realise that where the Consort had hailed from dabbled in black magic. That was where it had all gone wrong. With her last breath, she had informed her loyal eunuch to send a glass of her blood and to spill it on the jade, where it would curse both pieces of jade as it were a pair... That whomever held onto the piece would either die terribly, or have a lack of children for the rest of their lives.”



...



Say what?

--
hoho sorry for the late and short update in...4 months!
And yes, even though I don't really sound like it, this lazy of an author is really apologetic, actually. 
Hope all of you liked it >__< I know I'm really rusty T__T
Please subscribe and upvote if you can! I really hope to promote this fic someday oTL ;~;

***Qilin = 麒麟 aka the chinese equivalent of an unicorn. well not exactly but it's a mythical creature too, and it's said to guard and protect.