-Arc 17-

 Sungjong sipped his banana milk as he looked at Eunmi, "Something is bothering you isn't it?"  Sungjong placed his milk down on the table and looked at the girl, with a worried expression on his face.  Myungsoo arrived when they were talking to Hoya about Jihoon and their suspicions of him being behind the first attack on the sisters.  Sungjong bit his lip and wondered why Myungsoo hyung disappeared when they were talking about what Hoya witness.

"Why are we always being attacked? I do not fully the reasoning behind it, Sungjong.  Are we that important?"  Eunmi asked as she looked at her same age friend,  hoping that Sungjong would be truthful with her.  She knew that people were not being truthful with her and it was making Eunmi feel extremely uncomfortable.  Why would they keep secrets from her anyway?

Sungjong took another sip of his milk before placing it down on the table and looked at Eunmi. "I guess no one explained anything to you yet, Eunmi..." Sungjong bit his lip and could not believe Myungsoo hyung forgot to tell Eunmi about her family.  Sungjong knew for a fact that Seomin noona knew  a least something about the importance of the Song Family.  

"Tell me what? All I know my family was important, but that is all." Eunmi looked down at the ground.  "I hear others talk about me, and at first I thought it was because I was close to Myungsoo oppa, but I soon found out that they were talking about my family."

"What about your family?" Sungjong asked. He wondered what others were saying about them.

"That my sister and I should have died with them..." Eunmi looked at Sungjong and watched him rise to his feet, slamming his hands down on the table, causing half the lunch room to stare at them.  Sungjong did not care that he was garnering unwanted attention. He was pissed at his classmates being so heartless, they were not supposed to act this way.  They were alchemist and when one of their own his hurt, they are supposed to care, not talk poorly about the other. Eunmi quickly grabbed onto Sungjong's wrist and pulled him back into his seat, "Yahh Lee Sungjong what are you doing?"

"I am going to destroy the people who said you and noona should have died.  They are the ones who should not be allowed to live." Sungjong said with anger in his voice. Sungjong knew he should not be thinking this way, but he could not help it. "They are running their mouths too much and the students here should know why you and your family is important, not say terrible things."

"I am not going to let you destroy anyone. Jonggie.  Violence is not the answer, you of all people should know that." Eunmi sighed.

"You are very kind Eunmi, but be careful with your kindness. People may take advantage of it." Sungjong sighed and took Eunmi's hand in his, "Your family can control two of the seven metals. The seven metals are connect to the seven classical planets."

"I see, so my sister and I are connect to a planet and a metal?" Eunmi asked as she looked into Sungjong's big eyes.

"Yes..." Sungjong bit his lip.  "You are connect to the moon." Sungjong said as he reached out and grabbed onto Eunmi's wrist, turning it over to show her the crescent moon symbol that was no permanently tattooed on her skin.  "The moon rules over the metal, silver."

"And my sister?" Eunmi asked.

"She is the sun and her classical planet rules over gold." Sungjong released Eunmi's wrist and picked up his banana milk once again.  The families that are associated with the classical metals are the only ones who can defeat the great beast that the Homunculus mentioned."

"I see...that is probably why that creature wanted to drain my energy."  Eunmi looked down.

Sungjong sighed when he saw Eunmi look down.  He walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her. He placed a hand on her chin and lifted if up, "Chin up, Eunmi.  You do not want people to think you have given up.  If they think that, they will give up as well."

"Why would care if I give up? They will be happier when I am gone!" Eunmi looked at Sungjong. "You..."

"I know I said I wanted to destroy them for talking poorly about you and your sister, but now that I have given it some thought, I think they are only saying those things because they are scared."  Sungjong sighed, "They are scared that we are going to lose this war, and return to the dark ages."

"The dark ages?" Eunmi titled her head.

"That is a story for another day." Sungjong rose to his feet and held a hand out for Eunmi to take, "We should head to class, break period is almost over."

---

"What do you mean that you cannot remember?" Dongwoo asked Sunggyu with a worried expression on his face.  If Sunggyu would not remember something, it was never a good sign.  "Hyung..."

"I don't know if I took it or not." Sunggyu sighed, "Thank you for giving me my Elixir...who knows what would have happened to me if I did not take it." Sunggyu slowly rose to his feet, but collapsed moments later, being caught by Dongwoo. The younger male placed two hands under his arm, holding him up.

"Hyung, I think you should lay down for a bit." Dongwoo led Sunggyu to the bed that was next to Seomin.  He sat the older man down and placed a hand on his forehead. "You still have a fever, hyung. Why the hell are you walking around when you have a fever."

"Don't say hell? Hell is a bad word." Sunggyu said in an annoyed voice.  He knew he was guilty in saying hell sometimes, but he could not help it.  "I have to monitor things.  I have to..." Sunggyi coughed. 

Dongwoo snorted, "Are you the only person allowed to say hell?" Dongwoo crossed his arms and glared at the older man. "Stop taking on too much, hyung. You of all people should know that your health is not the best, and you are relying on the Elixir to keep you alive. Do you really think any of us are prepared to lose you."

"It is keeping me from going into a coma." Sunggyu rolled his eyes.  "I know the consequence of not taking the Elixir, you do not need to remind me."

"I have to remind you hyung because I am sick of seeing your life in danger, and you are now responsible for two more lives. We cannot have anything happen to Seomin and Eunmi."

"I know..." Sunggyu said as he took off his white blazer and folded it neatly and placed it on the bedside table.  Sunggyu laid down and fell asleep instantly.  He did not realize how tired he was. 

Dongwoo watched the older man fall asleep and sighed.  He walked over to the chair that Sunggyu was sleeping in before and sat down.  Dongwoo watched the older man and Seomin closely and knew that this was not going to be their last time to the infirmary this year.

---

Myungsoo leaned against the wall outside of the infirmary with wide eyes. He could not believe what he just over heard.  Myungsoo could not believe that Sunggyu hyung was unwell, that he had to take an Elixir a few times a day in-order to stay out of a coma.

What is wrong with hyung?

Is this sickness from the coma he was in when he was seventeen?

Myungsoo remembered clearly that Sunggyu was in a coma for a few months when they were younger.  He cried for days when people kept telling him that they did not even know if Sunggyu was ever going to wake up, but he did.  Sunggyu woke up on his eighteenth birthday.

"L oppa..."

Myungsoo thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.  He looked up and noticed that it was Jiae, an old friend of his was standing in front of him.  Jiae  has been on special assignment with her team, Lovelyz that was led by Baby Soul.  "When did you get back?"

"Early this morning, my leader told us to rest for the day, but I wanted to talk to you about something that we came across on our assignment.  I think it may be related to the two sisters that you and your brothers are protecting.  Do you have time to discuss it with me?"

"I can always make time for you Jiae." Myungsoo said as he stuffed his hands into his uniform pocket.  "What would you like to talk about Jiae?"

---

Jongwan looked at Jihoon with his arms cross. "Are you just going to sit there and remain silent or are you going to tell us why you tried to harm Miss. Seomin?  Sunggyu is not the type of person to use his abilities on another student."

"Why does it matter if I harm that girl or not? Why is everything always about Sunggyu and his brothers?  I do not understand what is so special about them?" Jihoon said with anger in his voice.

"We are not talking about Sunggyu right now.  We are talking about why you attacked Seomin!" Jongwan asked. 

"Why? Are you really asking me why I attacked her?  I am not working for Beast if that is what you are asking? I am just trying to teach the Princess a lesson about disappearing when you are needed.  I bet Seomin will just disappear again like her parents did when we needed them the most." Jihoon said with anger in his voice.  "My parents would still be alive if it was not for them. They abandoned us to protect their own."

"They did not abandoned, you or your parents!" Jongwan said as he looked at  the man who was sitting in front of him. 

"YES THEY DID! DON'T TELL ME OTHERWISE!"  Jihoon yelled.

"I think I should take it from here Jongwan." Jungyeop said as he leaned against the door and looked at the young man who Sunggyu informed him about.  Jungyeop was unsure if he should trust the man's words or not.  He was not sure about anything anymore.

---

"Are you sure it is wise to leave Jongbie on protection duty alone?" Sungyeol asked as he walked down the hallway with Woohyun and Hoya.

"Sungjong will be fine.  He can handle more than you know." Hoya crossed his arms and sighed deeply.  He of all people knew what Sungjong was capable of and did not understand why others underestimated him.

"I wonder why Myungsoo ran off."  Woohyun said changing the subject to the second youngest.   

"The kid is strange, what do you expect!" Sungyeol sighed as he came to a stop when Woohyun and Hoya came to a stop. "Why are we stopping?"  

Hoya walked over to the window and looked out at the rain, "I sense something terrible is going to happen."

"Are your animal instincts tingling?" Woohyun asked with a smirk on his lips, "But your right, we need to keep a closer eye on things.  I think something terrible is going to happen soon."

"Just stay alert." Hoya crossed his arms and walked away from the two.

"He seems tense." Sungyeol sighed.

"Isn't he always tense?"

---

Sunggyu sat up quickly and almost banged his head against the person who was shaking him away moments ago.  He could feel the sweat dripping down his face.  Sunggyu looked at the person who woke him, thinking it was going to be Dongwoo, but he was wrong, it was Seomin, sitting on his bed.

"Are you alright?" She asked Sunggyu in a worried tone as she looked into Sunggyu's eyes.

"I should be the one asking you that question." Sunggyu said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked over and noticed that the chair that Dongwoo was sitting in before was empty.  "Where did Dongwoo go?"

"I told him that he should get something to eat.  His stomach was growling loudly, and I did not want to force him to stay here to protect me, and risk his own health.  He tried to protest, but I stopped him." Seomin smiled at Sunggyu and looked at him and sighed moments later.  She could see the sweat dripping down his face.

Sunggyu sighed, "Do you know how dangerous it is for you not to be watched? I do not want another incident like last night to happen or this afternoon."  Sunggyu said as he removed his hand from her shoulder.  "You still did not answer my question! How do you feel?"

"I feel fine, but I know you are not alright Sunggyu.  You were tossing and turning in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?" Seomin asked as she bit her lip.  She was studying Sunggyu closely and could not help but feel attracted to him.  He was in his white button down shirt with a black v-neck sweater over it.  The button down had a few buttons undone, revealing part of his collar bone.

Seomin bit her lip as she continued to stare at Sunggyu's collar bone.  She noticed something strange on his skin, it looked like he had a golden a tattoo of something there.  She suddenly felt Sunggyu's hand on her chin and he made Seomin look at him again.  "Why are you staring at my collar bone like that?"

Seomin blushed a deep shade of pink when Sunggyu caught her staring at him inappropriately. "Um...do you have a tattoo?"

Sunggyu sighed and placed a hand on his shirt and moved it to the side to give Seomin a view of the gold Infinity symbol tattooed.  "Yes and no. It is not one of the tattoo's you know in the human world."    

"Then what is it?" Seomin asked letting her curiosity take over.

"Well, you technically get this special tattoo when you become an full fledge alchemist, but my brothers and team are the acceptation. Students are not supposed to be blessed until graduation, but my brothers and I have already been blessed because our father requested it."

"Why did you father request it?" Seomin asked.

"I'm unsure, but being blessed is nothing special.  These tattoo's give us limitations." Sunggyu said as he placed a hand over the tattoo.  "If we lie, the tattoo burns, it came make us sick if we are not careful.  It also prevents us from revealing secrets about the alchemy council."

"If what you are saying is true...why was Beast able to betray the Alchemy Council?" Seomin asked as she watched Sunggyu lean closer to her.

"You're full of questions today aren't you?" Sunggyu sighed, "Beast was never blessed.  When you are not bless you have more freedom."

"Then why become an alchemist if you lose your freedom with that tattoo?" Seomin looked at Sunggyu who suddenly placed two hands on her face.  "Sunggyu what are you doing?"

"This discussion we are having are about matters that not many know about. We need to keep our voices down.  I do not want word of this to get into the wrong people's hands." Sunggyu bit his lip.  "The tattoo may be a curse, but it is also a blessing.   The tattoo also enhances our abilities and it slows down our aging process."

"So it is similar to the Philosopher's stone?"  

"Similar, but not quite the same." Sunggyu removed his hands from her face, "We cannot live forever." Sunggyu said as he looked out the window. The sun was starting to go down, "We should head to dinner.  I think we have rested enough. We can talk more about this some other time, but I think it is wise to start your training sooner than later."

"When should we start?" Seomin asked as she rose to her feet, but the pain in her body gave out on her, and she fell forward. 

Sunggyu caught her in his arms and sighed at the girl who was now sitting in his lap. "I think you need to rest more before we even think about starting your training."

"SUNGGYU OPPPAAAA!"

an - hi everyone I was finally able to udpate this I hope you like this chapter.  I plan on having the training chapters next and after that I will write about the harvest moon dance. ENJOY