Dozen of heads turned, dozen pairs of eyes widened in shock and dozens of mouths fell open as Kibum stepped through the door to the dinner room, pulling Jonghyun behind him by his hand. As soon as they were inside it went dead quiet, pin-dropping quiet, and Kibum was sure he could hear the cogs in everyone’s brain turn as they tried to realize exactly who was standing at the door. Then a wave of murmurs erupted and all the visible faces lit up in the biggest smiles he had ever seen. Exclamations of ‘Jonghyun!’ were heard here and there and the hand holding his squeezed harder out of anxiety as the crowd hesitantly moved forward. The first to reach them was Minho, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. And maybe he had.

“Bastard!” He yelled as he was right in front of them.

Both Kibum and Jonghyun flinched as he lunged forward, then Kibum started laughing when he pulled Jonghyun into a bear hug. The whole room erupted into gleeful shouts and laughs and soon Kibum found himself in the middle of an excited crowd, almost squeezed to death. He wriggled himself out of it with a big smile on his face a little relieved that his plan had went well and, he wasn’t going to deny it, he was extremely proud of himself.

He had somehow managed to force Jonghyun to follow him down to the dining room, as he knew that most of the others would be there preparing lunch. He had wanted, which he now also had accomplished, to end the idiotic alienation of Jonghyun and actually prove what he had told him.

He laughed again when he saw Jonghyun's shocked and bewildered face as everyone talked at the same time, pulling him into group hugs and telling him that they absolutely never would hate him or let him be alone again.

As he watched the scene, a smaller figure broke out of the crowd as well and came running towards Kibum. Soon his face was filled with blonde hair and his ribs squeezed to the point of breaking.

“Taemin.” He breathed and put his arms around the boy’s shoulders, a sense of relief going through him. He hadn’t managed to talk to Taemin but somehow he knew that the boy understood him as Kibum understood that Taemin really liked him as if he were his brother. Minho gave him a pointed glance and he nodded at him, receiving a small smile in return. “I’m sorry.”

The sunshine-boy squeezed him closer.

“I know it isn’t risk-free being here and I know that if you’re going to break the curse for us you’ll have to put your life on the line,” Taemin mumbled into his clothes, “but I…”

Kibum patted his head gently when his words ran out. “You know, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Taemin looked up at him with a big smile and shining eyes. “Really?”

“Yes.” Kibum nodded and then he wrinkled his nose. “But you’ll have to share that spot with Jin.”

The boy let out a tinkling sound in the form of a laugh.

“No problem.” He glanced over his shoulder at the crowd. “And you managed to get Jonghyun here!”

Kibum shrugged and bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling stupidly. “Yeah, but I kind of forced him.”

Jinki appeared beside them.

“That doesn’t matter, he’s still here.” He smiled at him. “This place has certainly turned a bit brighter ever since your arrival!”

“Yeah,” Taemin agreed, letting Kibum's ribs go to grab his hand instead. “Except for that time in the library, he hadn’t spoken to anyone for several years except for Jinki, decades even. He only played his piano and lurked around on the third floor.”

Kibum let out a snort of laughter at the image painted in his head and glanced at Jonghyun. Their gazes caught and he could see the slight panic in the other’s eyes.

That’s what you get for not socializing for years.

But the happy, warm and bright moment was interrupted by a sudden strange whooshing sound that could be heard throughout the room and somehow it looked like everything was shaking although nothing moved. Jonghyun's head snapped up to look at the ceiling immediately and his eyes narrowed. Jinki grabbed Kibum's arm and pushed him, together with Taemin, against the wall. He swept his eyes over the room, looking like he was counting heads, and then proceeded to stare at Jonghyun to catch his eye. Jonghyun felt his gaze and they nodded at each other before disappearing together to god knows where.

The rest of the crowd moved a little restlessly although no one seemed especially shocked and Kibum looked around at everyone in confusion before turning to Taemin with a pounding heart.

“What’s happening?”

Taemin had his forehead creased and he squeezed Kibum's hand tighter, but he was looking at Minho who was approaching them.

“It was noticeable this time.” Taemin murmured to him and Minho nodded.

“What?” Kibum hissed.

They looked at him but it seemed like they didn’t want to say anything. Kibum glared at them.

“So, I give you Jonghyun back and you’re still going to keep me in the dark?”

Taemin's face fell. “It’s not like that Kibum, we…”

“You what?”

Minho sighed, closing his eyes for a second. “We don’t really know how to tell you. We don’t know either.”

Kibum's eyebrows rose.

“Well, that’s fine then.” He said sarcastically. “I’ll just go find someone who can tell me.”

Minho nodded again. “That might be better.”

Kibum scoffed and stomped over to the door, having to drag Taemin behind him since he was still clutching his hand tightly.

“Let’s find Sekyung.” He muttered and Taemin made an agreeing noise.

He picked Jin up along the way, finding him sitting on the stairs up to the third floor, and they arrived in Sekyung’s room without encountering any obstacles.

“Kibum!” She said as soon as he entered. “That was a very stupid thing to do! There are so many outcomes for your future and I can’t be certain which one is going to happen and you need to be careful because I’m stuck in here and can’t be at the right place at the right time and… and…”

She huffed as she ran out of air. Kibum sat down on the sofa with Taemin beside him and Jin in his lap, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

“Are you done?” He asked, earning himself a vicious look from her.

“I am not!” She almost shouted. “Do you have any idea of what is happening here?! You don’t know a single thing about protecting yourself from Lightwood and still you go and put yourself in his path! How stupid are you?!”

“Then teach me!” Kibum shouted back. “Tell me! I can’t do anything, let alone break the curse, if I don’t get the right information!”

Jin jumped over to Taemin's lap as he stood up and went closer to the mirror.

“That’s why you need to listen to me.” Sekyung said with a sigh and put three of her right fingers to her forehead.

“I will, if you tell me.” He answered.

She threw him an angry glance before she puffed up her cheeks and sat down.

“Okay, this is what’s happening.” She rubbed her temples and took a deep breath. “Lightwood has realized that you are not as easy an opponent as he previously thought which is making him uneasy. You have, on top of proven your worth, pulled Jonghyun out of his isolation and destroying of himself quite forcefully by managing to make him feel more emotions in ten minutes than he as for a hundred years.”

Kibum's heart skipped a beat and his cheeks heated. He supposed he should worry about Lightwood, but hearing his effect on Jonghyun somehow mattered more.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat and tried to focus on the more important matter, “So the shaking…?”

Sekyung looked behind him at Taemin, chewing on her lip and Kibum almost stopped breathing when he saw the slightly scared look on her face.

“Sekyung?”

“I don’t know…” She whispered sadly, despair lacing her voice. “I actually. Don’t. Know.”

He placed his hand against the smooth surface and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay.” He said and Sekyung tried to smile back at him. “I just need to learn how to protect myself from Lightwood well enough to break the curse, right?”

She nodded.

“And you can help me?”

Once again he was answered with a nod. “But we’ll need Jonghyun as well and it needs to be in here. For some reason this is the only room that Lightwood can’t enter.”

Kibum felt his cheeks heat a little. “Why do we need that sniffer? And he disappeared with Jinki, by the way.”

“He did.” She agreed. “But he’s not going to be away forever.”

“So, where is he?”

She tilted her head, looking up to the ceiling. “There is actually a kind of protective field around this mansion to keep Lightwood from getting out as well as innocent from getting in and entangle themselves in this mess. Jonghyun and Jinki are checking if it is intact.”

“Oh…” Kibum said. “And Jonghyun put it up?”

“Yes, since I was trapped in here and no one else knows how to use magic.”

Kibum nodded slowly, gaze becoming distant. Jonghyun actually really cared about the people in this mansion and outside of it. His thoughts would have wandered off if it hadn’t been for the sudden warmth of Taemin beside him. He turned his head and the boy gave him a smile, making Kibum smile back at him unconsciously, before he turned to Sekyung.

“If Jonghyun is starting to remember how to feel more will that make Lightwood’s grip on him loosen?”

Sekyung smiled and nodded at him. “It has already loosened quite considerably thanks to Kibum's straightforwardness.”

Kibum's cheeks got even hotter and he kept his eyes trained on the floor.

“You would have done what I did too if you were there.” He muttered, scowling at the floor and making both of them chuckle. Then he felt Sekyung’s eyes on top of his head and looked up at her. She studied him for a moment before opening .

“Are you starting to fall for him?” It was said like a question but sounded like a statement.

He started and felt like sinking through the floor out of embarrassment. Taemin let out another small chuckle at his expression of discomfort.

“What has that got to do with defeating Lightwood?” He mumbled awkwardly.

She shook her head. “It doesn’t. But I’m afraid it’s going to hurt you even more if you are in love with Jonghyun.”

“I don’t care.” He muttered embarrassedly staring down at his hands. “And it might not even be love, just the feeling of protectiveness. I’m not sure.”

She let out a little laugh, but it sounded strangely empty. “Just remember to go easy on him. He’s from a hundred years ago and you didn’t fall for the same gender then.”

Kibum grimaced. “Can we stop talking about this and get to the point of what I’m supposed to do to break the curse?”

“Of course.” Sekyung nodded and Kibum looked up at her.

“So?”

She bit her lip.

“You’ll have to go and get Lightwood’s diary.”

A/N: This chapter felt a little unprocessed so I apologize if it wasn't that great -.-

I won't be able to write anything for about a week I think? I'm preparing for my graduation on friday and that means I'm busy! So, you know...

I decided to put this up at least so that all of you didn't have to wait forever for a new chapter ^_^ Aren't I nice? xP Haha

Anyway, it's late in my part of the world so I think I'll go to bed before I start rambling about unnecessary things here (which I am prone to do when I'm tired >_<)

As always: I hope you enjoyed, thanks to all the subscribers and commenters and have a great time whatever it is when your reading this! :D

Bye~! <3