There was the feeling of déja-vu as more than two dozens pair of eyes stared at him when he appeared in the doorway to Jonghyun’s living room, the entire place becoming so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Then all he saw was a flurry of brown hair squeezing between Jonghyun and Minho, who had entered first, and the wet face of Taemin before he was bowled over by said boy, landing on his with the other squeezing his waist so tightly he thought he might faint.

“Taemin.” Kibum breathed and gently his hair while the front of his shirt was quickly getting soaked. The boy started shaking slightly from his sobs.

The other two turned around to look at them in astonishment while the rest of the crowd in the room rose to their feet, all starting to talk at the same time, some crying, some smiling, but all endlessly thankful. Kibum only looked from one to the other in confusion, feeling a little dizzy at the commotion.

“H-Hyung.” Taemin hiccupped.

He looked down at the boy who still had his face buried in his chest and put his arms around him reassuringly before looking up at the others helplessly while hugging the sunshine boy closer, noticing he recognized every one of their faces. His breath almost got caught in his throat and his heartbeat did nothing to help.

“Guys?” Kibum whispered.

Although he was sure no one had heard him over their own chattering, everyone had seen his lips move and they immediately shut their mouths, giving him all the concentration they possessed. Kibum just stared at them with wide eyes, his mind wiped completely blank with the realization that not only had he gotten Jonghyun and Minho back, but every single one of the people he had befriended from the mansion. And he couldn’t comprehend for the life of him exactly what was happening. He tried but his head started spinning because there was no way Lady Luck liked him this much. He caught Sekyung's eyes and she gave him a small, tired smile.

“Let Kibum get in here properly.” She commanded. “We all need to sort this out.”

Everyone did as told and went back to their respective places, however their eyes never left Kibum’s face and he blushed slightly at all the attention. He managed to get Taemin to stand up, but the boy refused to let go of his waist and Kibum kept his arm around him to reassure him that he wasn’t going anywhere while he tried to find them a place to sit. As soon as everyone had made themselves comfortable in their places Sekyung cleared . Kibum felt a small relief not having to be ogled at anymore as their attention was now directed at her instead.

“Okay, can anyone tell me what they experienced?” She asked with a slight sigh and Kibum noticed bags under her eyes. He glanced worriedly at Jonghyun, but the other was looking from one to the other intently, waiting for their response.

However, the room seemed to fall eerily quiet. There were conflicting emotions flickering across each and every one of their faces and the looked slightly lost, confused, like they were trying to collect their thoughts but not really knowing what thoughts they were.

Jinki was the first one to break the silence by clearing his throat, rubbing his neck with one hand and staring at the floor absentmindedly.

“All I know is that my body started hurting and I out for what appears to be a few hours. Then I woke up and all these memories started rushing in.” He glanced up at Sekyung and Jonghyun. “ Taemin was the same.”

“Me too.” Minho added in a murmur.

And suddenly a wave of mumbled agreements went through the room. Kibum bit his lip, his eyes sweeping over everyone’s solemn faces, hugging Taemin who was still squeezing his waist closer yet again. Although this was his ultimate wish he was still scared. Scared of the confused glint to their eyes, and the slight painful expression that would ghost past their faces every so often.

It had to be hard reliving everything again.

Sekyung searched their faces as well briefly and let out another sigh. “That is because we are all still connected by the energy of both Jonghyun and Kibum.”

“To me because of the curse and to Kibum because he released us.” Jonghyun added.

She nodded. “Kibum said the very words that once before had an enormous impact on Jonghyun and once again it managed to pull him through, releasing the blockage in his energy so that it mixed with Kibum’s and then spread through all of us because of our bond, knocking us all out by the force of unclogging our memories.”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun said in a slightly amused voice and held something up in his hand, “this couldn’t really take it that well though.”

Kibum frowned and looked closer. It was the pendant. But where it once had been simmering in all different colors, emitting a slight shine, it was now charred black as if it had been thrown into a fire.

“But, if we are all connected,” Kibum started slowly, realizing a fault in the explanation, “then how come I didn’t pass out like the rest of you?”

Once again the attention of everyone was on him and he squirmed a little where he sat. Sekyung and Jonghyun both gave him a thoughtful look before glancing at each other and nodding ever so little. Kibum opened his mouth to tell the to just get it out when he was interrupted by the most unexpected thing he had ever thought he would experience.

We will tell you later.

Kibum froze as both Jonghyun and Sekyung’s voices echoed in his head, his whole body going cold. He stared at Jonghyun, terrified of what had just happened but the other only smiled reassuringly and Sekyung started to speak again as if nothing had happened.

“I don’t know Kibum, but I’m glad you didn’t.” Sekyung said. “It was not pretty.”

He turned his gaze to her and swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. A storm had erupted in his head and he could barely make out what she was saying through it.

How had that worked?! What had they done to him?!

Kibum relax.

Kibum started slightly as Jonghyun’s voice once again was inside his head and he glared at him, fully blaming the other for the chaos that was now tumbling in his mind. Jonghyun met his eyes and there was a twinkle in them before Kibum, against his will, felt how his head calmed down and how the others’ conversation could be heard again.

“… and since the curse is broken, everyone is back to normal again.” Sekyung said. “The powers that came with the curse should be gone.”
The others nodded.

“Good.” She said and smiled at them before she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Now I think you should all go home and rest, get everything sorted out. It’s a bit dizzying, right?”

Some let out a half laugh but they all obediently got to their feet. Kibum felt a little confused seeing them all leave so soon, but he could see the worn out looks on their faces and he smiled at everyone as they passed him, saying goodbye. Taemin however, still refused to let go and even if Kibum’s ribs were starting to hurt he let the boy have all the closeness he wanted. Kibum had seen that desperate need for closeness and reassurment in Jonghyun and he had felt it himself. So if Taemin needed him to be a reassuring existence by hugging him, there was no way he could object.

It didn’t take long until only Kibum, Sekyung Jonghyun, Minho, Taemin and Jinki were left, silently laying around in the living room, letting their brains rest, drained of any energy after the events that had happened. Kibum was now sprawled out on Jonghyun’s mat with Taemin beside him, the boy’s face hidden in Kibum’s shoulder and his arm still around Kibum’s waist. He could feel him drift in and out of sleep and smiled slightly, pulling his fingers gently through his hair. Apparently Jinki noticed it too because he got out of one of the armchairs heavily and made his way over to them.

“Taemin.” He said, crouching down beside them and tugging at the boy’s arm. “Come on, we should go home to sleep.”

Taemin only shook his head, clinging to Kibum’s waist tighter and burying his face deeper into his shoulder. Jinki watched him helplessly, sending an apologetic glance at Kibum. He smiled back reassuringly.

“It’s okay.” He mumbled Taemin’s head again. “I don’t really want him to go anyway.”

Jinki let out a half laugh, half sigh before he stood up and threw himself back in the armchair he had previously occupied, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

“I guess we’re staying for a while then.” He muttered tiredly.

Jonghyun made a humming noise, peering down at Kibum with a slight smile from his position on the sofa, his legs propped up on Minho’s stomach.

“It feels like you were hit in the head with an iron bat, doesn’t it?” Minho murmured, sifting slightly under the weight of Jonghyun’s limbs.

Jonghyun, Sekyung and Jinki hummed in agreement. Kibum bit his lip briefly, wishing there was something more he could do. He looked down at Taemin worriedly, wondering if he also was hurting, only to discover that he had fallen asleep. Smiling softly, he tightened his arms around the boy slightly, protecting him the best he could.

“But I’m still glad to know you were my closest friend even back then, Minho.” Jonghyun chuckled slightly. “Although the relationship wasn’t as good as now.”

“Yeah,” Minho let out a tired, short laugh, “I really never get rid of you.”

Kibum closed his eyes for a few seconds still smiling slightly. He didn’t know what it was but the air around them had changed. It was very subtle, however the way they treated and spoke to each other had also ever so little become different. Although Kibum admitted that it also might be in his head since he knew that they now remembered.

Speaking about his head…

Kibum opened his eyes to shoot a glare at Jonghyun, who was still watching him with a small smile.

“What did you do to me?” He demanded.

Jinki and Minho looked up at him in confusion while Sekyung rolled her eyes amusedly. Jonghyun’s smile became mischievous instead.

“If this is about something you do in private, can you wait with this argument until later?” Minho said, narrowing his eyes at them suspiciously.

Sekyung started laughing while Kibum threw him a scandalized look, blushing furiously.

“N-no!” He said hastily. “It does not have anything to do with that! And stop laughing, Sekyung! It’s your fault too!”

Minho and Jinki looked more confused than ever which only made Sekyung laugh more, making Jonghyun let out a chuckle as well. Kibum huffed and sat up slowly, gently laying a still sleeping Taemin’s head in his lap.

“Well, first of all…” Sekyung started slowly, sitting up straighter, still chucking slightly. “You wanted to know why the energy blast you and Jonghyun created didn’t affect you, right?”

They all looked at her except Jonghyun, who instead frowned slightly, looking worried. Sekyung, now turning serious, threw him a glance before she opened again.

“The reason you didn’t get as affected as the rest, is because you are actually magically stronger than any of us.” She said, looking Kibum straight in the eyes.

Kibum’s mouth fell open and he stared at her dumbly, not able to process what he had just heard.

“I-I’m… w-what?” he stammered.

She nodded. “You know, even I got affected by the bond, although I already remembered. But you… you’re special.”

Kibum looked at Jonghyun with wide eyes. That was something he had heard before. Back in the mansion they had all said something was different about him, special even. At the time he had only connected it to his ability to break the curse or his bond with Lightwood.

Jonghyun smiled at him reassuringly but Kibum didn’t miss the worry that passed his eyes.

“But how come I didn’t know?” Kibum asked.

“Because your abilities have been staying low and leaving almost untraceable trails.” Jonghyun answered. “Which is as well, otherwise this whole thing would have become a lot messier.”

“Messier?” Kibum wondered in horror.

How could it become messier?

Jonghyun grimaced before nodding at Sekyung for her to explain.

“There is this society, even now, that deals with magic away from the eyes of ordinary people.” Sekyung said. “They don’t know about you, me or Jonghyun however, because neither of us have used magic consciously for these past years within their range of seeing.”

Kibum’s eyes fell on Minho and Jinki looking between the three of them worriedly. Minho met his eyes and suddenly he understood what made them uncomfortable. The prospect of another Lightwood being out there in that society was not so small. He was about to ask the questions he saw in the other’s eyes out loud when Sekyung continued speaking.

“And the reason you could hear us in your head is because your subconscious is starting to wake those powers up slowly. However, that is something we have to deal with after we have dealt with this whole situation regarding Jonghyun’s family.” Kibum eyes widened slightly and he felt his heart sink a little. He had once again completely forgotten about that. “And we can’t really use magic to solve that problem, I’m afraid.”

He bit his lip and looked down at Taemin’s sleeping face, suddenly at a loss as to what to say.

His subconscious?

Kibum had never really thought about having any magical abilities at all. He had assumed that he just had a stronger energy, not that he was the strongest.

“Well, that is the very reason I have been so busy.” Jonghyun said suddenly.

Kibum’s head snapped up to look at the other hopefully and he pulled up one corner of his mouth, shrugging slightly.

“I found a loophole.” He explained, getting a mischievous glint in his eyes.

A/N: I'm so sorry ;_;

I took so long and this chapter feels crappy and I don't know OTL

Anyway, I hope this isn't confusing... however I feel kinda confused myself so I wouldn't blame you...

But, yeah... the mother, father and grandparents are going to be dealt with soon :) although, they haven't really appeared that much

And once again, I just realized how long this story became O_O

Okay, so I love you all (if you're still there, haha) and I hope you liked this chapter a little at least! >_<

Bye~! <3