Kibum froze as he opened the door to the dining room the next day and saw Jonghyun sitting at the table, deep in conversation with Jinki, Minho and Kangin. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep, so it took his brain a bit longer to register his presence although when he did he couldn’t help but blush furiously remembering what had happened in the small hours of that day.

Taemin looked up at him as he entered and gave him a big smile, patting the chair next to him. Kibum was thankful that he sat quite far from where Jonghyun was seated and obediently joined him at the table. As he sat down Jonghyun glanced up at him and their eyes locked for a moment before they both averted their gazes embarrassedly.

Stupid.

He looked around the table instead to greet the others. Strangely, something felt wrong. Kibum couldn’t put his finger on it, he didn’t know if it was the seating or the fact that Jonghyun was in the room, but something definitely had changed and he didn’t like not knowing what it was. He turned to Taemin, but was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Did you sleep well?” The boy asked cheerfully.

Kibum caught something off in his eyes as well. Although when he blinked and looked again it was gone and he started to question his tiredness.

“Yes?” He answered uncertainly. Then he pursed his mouth and pinched both of Taemin's cheeks, moving the boy’s head from left to right a little. Taemin looked at him in surprise and Kibum gave him a gentle smile. “Did you sleep well?”

Taemin smiled at him too, although it looked more like a grimace with his pinched cheeks, and Kibum chuckled.

“Ah dihd.” He said with difficulty because of his outstretched face.

“Good,” Kibum sighed and let go, smile disappearing, “because you’ll be going with me to Lightwood’s study again.”

Taemin blinked at him and rubbed his cheeks a little. “Okay, but Jonghyun…?”

Kibum glanced at the mentioned and bit his lip. He was back in deep conversation with the other three.

“Uuh…” He hesitated. “He… probably has other things to do. Besides, well get Sekyung in there too, so it’s enough.”

Taemin looked at him weirdly but nodded and started putting food on Kibum's plate.

Kibum ate his breakfast as fast as he could, extremely conscious of Jonghyun's presence at the other side of the room, although they never looked at each other. When he was done gobbling down his meal, he stood up quickly and pulled Taemin with him towards the door, still chewing on his last bite as they started climbing the stairs.

Taemin looked around when they had reached the third floor and frowned.

“Hey, where’s Jin?”

Kibum sighed. “Probably off somewhere, doing his thing.”

“Oh.” The boy said, sounding a little disappointed.

Kibum looked at him over his shoulder and stopped right outside Sekyung’s room, smiling slightly at the boy but not saying anything.

Sekyung looked up at them as they entered the room, her welcoming smile turning into a smirk as her eyes landed on Kibum. The latter bit his lip and blushed furiously while Taemin skipped over to Jin, who was lying curled up on the sofa.

“Good morning, what’s happening?” She asked, smirk only growing as Kibum's blush deepened.

“I don’t know.” Kibum answered grumpily, crossing his arms and sitting down on the sofa. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Sekyung laughed and Taemin looked between them confusedly from his position on the floor in front of Jin, who was enjoying the boy’s attention with a loud purring.

“I would say you’re on your way to something at least.” The woman in the mirror said knowingly.

Kibum squinted at her before letting out a loud groan and sinking deeper into the cushions. Sekyung laughed again.

“Kibum,” She said after a while when he didn’t give any sign of starting a conversation, “when Jonghyun got close to you yesterday, or rather, earlier this morning, did you feel the coldness you usually have done?”

Kibum blushed helplessly again, but when he thought about it he hadn’t felt the cold that always seemed to surround Jonghyun and give Kibum goose bumps.

“No.” He muttered, scowling at the floor.

“That’s your doing.” His head snapped up to look at her and she smiled at him. “He’s breaking away from Lightwood’s grip.”

Kibum glared embarrassedly up at her. “I don’t even know what I’m doing. And I don’t think Jonghyun does either.”

She laughed. “Believe me Kibum, you’re doing something right. I have tried to find a way to help all of us, I’ve been thinking for a hundred years about what to do, but with you here there is some sort of relief. Somehow Jonghyun is starting to realize that he doesn’t have to give up and that makes it easier for us not to give up on either him or ourselves.”

“It’s true.” Taemin said and grabbed Kibum's hand. “It’s nice having you here and seeing Jonghyun turn back into what he once was.”

Kibum got tears in his eyes. No one had ever treated him this way except his parents. He hadn’t realized that he had felt so lonely until he met these people and now he could actually feel some sort of connection to them. They had wormed their way into his heart to stay and Kibum felt slightly afraid of what would become of them if he didn’t manage to break the curse.

“Kibum.” Sekyung said in a low tone, apparently aware of what he was thinking. “We’ll always be with you, one way or the other.”

He nodded, swallowing down his tears and smiling. “I’ll never get rid of you, will I?”

The other two laughed.

“No.” They said in unison and laughed even more.

“What are you doing?”

All three of them stopped moving, momentarily frozen in shock, and then turned to find Jonghyun looking at them with raised eyebrows from the middle of the room. Kibum and Jonghyun's eyes met, both of them looking away quickly with burning cheeks. Sekyung caught Kibum’s eye, smirking at him, and he grimaced at her. Jonghyun cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I, uh… I just came to tell you something...” He said, his reflection in the mirror looking slightly sheepishly at Sekyung. “But I forgot.”

She smiled at him with a glint in her eyes that Kibum wasn’t sure he liked. “Oh?”

“Um, yeah…” Jonghyun frowned, probably trying to remember what it was.

Kibum chanced a glance at the man behind him, but regretted it immediately as Jonghyun also chose to look at him at that moment and their gazes locked.

Kibum immediately forgot about the others in the room. Instead his mind was filled with what had happened yesterday and he had no doubt he was looking like a human tomato at the moment. His chest was filling with warmth and his stomach with butterflies and he hade the strange urge to giggle, although he stopped himself before it was too late.

Jonghyun stared back at him, his cheeks tinting slightly but otherwise looking quite composed. Then he let out some air through his nose and looked down at the ground. Kibum didn’t know if it was supposed to be a scoff or a laugh.

“Nuisance.” Jonghyun muttered and disappeared without telling them what it was he had thought of, leaving Kibum with red cheeks and an angry frown.

What nuisance?

“Oh my.” Sekyung snickered.

Kibum turned to glare at her. “Does he have some problem with me?”

Taemin laughed from his spot on the floor. “I don’t think he does.”

“Damn sniffer.” Kibum growled lowly, setting the other two off and trying not to smile himself, but failing miserably. Then he stood up, serious again. “Anyway, we’re going to Lightwood’s study. Now.”

Sekyung’s smile disappeared at once. “Do you think that’s wise?”

Kibum shrugged. Truthfully, he had absolutely no idea of what he was going to do or how wise it was. But prolonging it probably meant making Lightwood stronger.

“I don’t know if it’s wise but I’m going anyway. And don’t think you can take control of my body again!” Kibum said as Sekyung opened to protest. “I will fight you with all I’ve got if I have to.”

“But I had the impression you didn’t want to go there.” She said with raised eyebrows.

“Wanting to and having to are two different things.” Kibum sighed. “And I don’t really want to prolong it any more than I have to.”

“Okay, wait just… Jonghyun…” She squeezed her eyes shut, opening them after a few seconds and looking at the other two angrily. “That idiot. He shut me out.”

“We don’t need him.” Kibum mumbled.

“We do!” Sekyung hissed. “I can’t tell what is going to happen. Haven’t I already told you that there’re too many outcomes?”

“I’m going.” Kibum said defiantly and made for the door, actually managing to get out without Sekyung taking control of his body, dashing down the stairs with Taemin at his heels.

“Kibum, I’m not sure you’re-”

“I’m not sure either, Taemin, but I’m going to do this for that idiot’s sake as well as yours.” Kibum cut him off, sounding grumpier than he had intended and the boy fell silent.

They made it down to the entrance of the library in silence before Kibum sighed not wanting to feel guilty for snapping at the sunshine boy.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled.

Taemin shook his head as they stepped inside the library. “It’s okay. We put a lot of our hopes on your shoulders, so I don’t blame you.”

Kibum groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “That didn’t really make me feel more at ease.”

Taemin let out a small chuckle. “Sorry.”

They entered Lightwood’s study and stood just inside the opening in silence for a while. It definitely was less scary during the day when rays of sun fell in through the window behind the desk. It was almost cozy but Kibum quickly got rid of that thought as he looked at the broken glass of the oil-lamp and remembered just what had happened in there.

Squaring his shoulders, he took a few quick steps to the nearest bookshelf as quietly as he could. Somehow he got the creeping feeling that something was sleeping in the room and that if he made too much noise it would wake up. It almost felt like there was a slumbering bear in the middle that they had to make their way around and get back in one piece. Taemin did exactly the same as Kibum but went to the shelves on the other side.

“You seriously never listen.” Sekyung grumbled from her mirror and the two boys jumped. Kibum turned halfway to find her glaring at him. “And besides, taking control of your body was a one time thing. I can’t do it again.”

Feeling a little worried, Kibum straightened slightly from his bent over position examining the books and turned to Sekyung fully.

“Why not? Are you getting weaker?”

She bit her lip, contemplating for a fraction of a second. “No, but there’s only so much power I can get in this mirror and right now I don’t have any saved up.”

Kibum narrowed his eyes at her, not convinced that that was the whole truth but let it go. He knew Sekyung would tell him eventually and he had another, more pressing matter to attend to.

The two boys spent well over two hours in the study, quietly flipping through books and searching for something of use while Sekyung kept a watching eye over them now and then grumbling about Jonghyun, who was still apparently blocking her out in their telepathy.

Giving up on the bookshelves with a heavy sigh and leaving the rest to Taemin who could go through them much faster than Kibum with his magic, he approached the desk full of papers. He took a few up and stared at them but couldn’t understand what the strange letters or symbols meant. Then something caught his eye. He suddenly saw a word he could read on another paper that had been covered by the ones he had picked up. Letting go of the papers he was holding he sat down in the armchair and pulled the paper towards him, palms getting clammy with anticipation and nervousness.

“I think I found something.” He whispered looking up at the other two.

They gave him their attention immediately, staring at him with big eyes.

“What does it say?” Taemin whispered back.

Kibum glanced at him before taking a small breath. Then he started to read.

He came through the door

On a quest to find his own

He left through the soul

Nothing about him is longer known

Trapped in a place with a mind full of shadows

His soul forever caught

Never dreaming of again seeing blooming meadows

Trying not to make his existence for naught

May him find his way once more

May him find his being

Take him out of this world filled with gore

Into the world he has gone so long without seeing

The rest was gone as the paper had been ripped and Kibum let out a small, irritated sound.

“Why isn’t anything ever going smoothly?” he grumbled. “It’s ripped off at the end.”

“Let me see.” Sekyung demanded and Kibum stood up holding the paper in front of him so that she could read.

The room became quiet as she read through the lines, narrowing her eyes slightly and moving her lips to silently mouth the words. Then se looked up at Kibum, meeting his eyes with a pondering expression.

“To my knowledge, you have already read the last part.”

“Huh? When?” Kibum said looking at her in bewilderment. She frowned at him.

“Betray your own flesh and blood.” She cited. “Nothing else will ever do him good.”

Kibum gaped at her, remembering the paper he had found in his room and put away in one of the drawers of the bedside table.

“What… the paper I found on the floor?” He asked, although it was quite obvious to the both of them.

She nodded and bit her lip, looking slightly confused. “But this isn’t the reversing of the curse.”

“Then what is it?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, looking as if she was thinking hard.

“I have a feeling that I wrote that, when I had a vision.” She mumbled. “But how could I have forgotten about it?”

“Lightwood?” Kibum asked.

She opened her eyes to look at him. “Probably.”

Suddenly the room became dark and they were surrounded by blackness. Kibum staggered a little as the cold that came with the darkness hit his skin with full force and his gasping breaths came out in small puffs of smoke. A strong wind made the papers on the desk fly around in circles, pulling at Kibum's clothes and making a small storm of black, watery smoke.

“Wh-what’s happening?” He said, sounding as panicked as he felt and swiveling around on the spot.

He heard Taemin shout his name from somewhere but couldn’t locate him.

“Lightwood.” Sekyung shouted from behind him.

Kibum turned around and suddenly there was the shape of a man standing in front of him, looking into his eyes with a gaze that made every cell in Kibum's body hurt. He screamed in pain and clutched his head in his hand when there was a loud whooshing sound in his ears. Then there was the tugging at his chest again and he could hardly breathe from the force of it.

And this time it was different. This time Kibum couldn’t fight, because the shape of the man he was facing had already his energy out of him. Tumbling to the floor as his knees gave out, he started heaving for air, his lungs not getting enough to keep him functional.

Then everything inside Kibum became quiet. Although the storm of black smoke continued around him it felt strangely distant and he barely heard any sounds. His body moved as lightly as a feather and he felt himself stand up again. However there was still that pull from inside his chest and even if it didn’t feel as strongly as before he felt like clawing at it, to get it out.

He suddenly found Taemin sitting curled up on the floor by the desk. He looked up at Kibum as he approached him and relief passed his face before his expression turned scared. Kibum couldn’t understand why until he saw with horror his own two arms rise, his own two hands take Taemin’s throat between them and his own two thumbs pressing into his Adams apple to strangle the sunshine boy.

A/N: Uuuuuuuh, what is happening? @_@ I don't even know anymore... :(

I don't even know what to write here... I'm completely out of it, sorry...

This might've been uploaded slightly later than I planned, but that was because my friend and I got the great idea of starting a new story together, haha, and I've been focusing on that so yeah. You can check it out if you want :) It's a yulsic fic. Wow, that rhymed >_<

Also, I'd like to once again apologize for my lack of imagination when it comes to naming chapters, but really, there's only so much I can do... xP

Anyhoo, thank you to everyone really. I hope you enjoyed! ^_^

Bye~! <3