~Chapter 12~

Threats

Taemin’s POV~

            We decided to mark areas we passed by in case we ever got lost or needed to retrace our steps. Since we already traveled for two days after we met, we can’t risk getting lost. There are many cliffs and areas that could have been the ahjussi’s lair; therefore, we cannot aimlessly walk. I take my spear and every time we pass by a good chunk of trees, I swipe it across hard enough to draw an obvious line that doesn’t damage the tree.

            I stop walking and clutch my chest. It suddenly feels like it is getting tighter and my breathing is getting more difficult. A bit lightheaded, I ask for a rest and others obliged. Jiyeon gives me a drink from her water container and wipes my sweat with her sleeve. “Gwenchana?”

            “Gwenchana,” I reply forcefully. I can tell that the others are also staring at me. “Just my body acting up.”

            “Leader, I mean Taemin, do you want me to carry you instead?” Shindong hyung offers.

            “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Sorry for holding you back,” I frown.

            “It’s not your fault you are poisoned. It’s our obligation to help you out. We can take turns carrying you,” Kimbum hyung nods.

            “No thanks. I’m not handicap. I’ll be fine.” I get up and immediately regret it. My vision spins and I fall back down.

            “We insist. Besides, you look very slim. Carrying you is no biggy,” Shindong hyung bends down while some other clan members help me on.

            “Thanks everyone. I’m sorry I am burdening you guys.”

            “You saved us in the first place. Technically we burdened you!” Yesung hyung says. I look at the twenty-or-so-faces and smile at them. Everyone is so kind. I feel like I owe them since they are so kind. They act like my goal is theirs and actually care wholeheartedly. I guess both the clan and I were lucky to have met each other.

Naeun’s POV~

            “It’s been three days…Jong Kook hyung is going to fret,” Gun Tae signs.

            “I know it doesn’t sound like a good idea, but we need to spit up. Since I wanted to find him, how about I keep searching and you guys return?” Jonghyun oppa says confidently.

            “Yeah, no…I am not letting you wander alone, not to mention that you are foreign! Let me at least come with you.” Key oppa insists.

            “Hey, Taemin is my dongsaeng too–”

            “Yeah but from what I saw before, you don’t seem to care if he’s dead or not. Don’t you dare bring out the hyung card and expect me to listen to you,” Key oppa cuts me off. “Now you and your monstrous lover can march your way back to the clan and inform Jong Kook hyungnim that Jonghyun hyung and I will be late before I make you do it.”

            “Don’t you dare talk to Onew like that,” Joon oppa growls.

            “Don’t you dare take a step closer to my friend,” Minho oppa says as he places his flute in front of him. “As much as I don’t like the idea of splitting up, I know that we need to. Right now we have seven people. We at least need to have four go back so Jong Kook hyungnim won’t be angry. Gun Tae needs to stay since he knows what the mountain looks like and Jonghyun and Key hyung already called dibs. As much as I want to go too, I know that we don’t have a choice. Jonghyun hyung, Key hyung, Gun Tae, I trust you three to bring my friend back.”

Taemin’s POV~

            “Taemin-ah!” I hear a familiar voice and see Heechul hyung with a basket of herbs. Enthusiastically, I jumped off of Kimbum hyung’s back and run to him. “My master knew you were coming so he told me to look for you.”

            “Thank goodness, I was so lost I didn’t know that I’d even find you guys!” I hug him out of excitement.

            “Well,” he whistles. “Who are these…uh…cuties here with you?”

            “They’re my new clan members. I need to see your master as soon as possible.”

            “Problem is, master was feeling ill yesterday so he had to enclose himself to heal. You know, since he’s a magic user, he can’t just rest like normal people. He needs to focus and heal himself. I’m afraid you can’t see him until at least a month.”

            “A month!?” I yell. “You have got to be kidding me! I have already passed the clan’s three days of absence rule!”

            “Maybe you can come back in a month? You can stay the night in the cave.”

            “Mind housing my buddies too until your master is healed?”

            “I don’t and my master agrees with all of your decisions so I guess it’s fine. Follow me!” Heechul hyung holds up a tall weed and leads us up the correct mountain.

            “You’re rotting.”

            “I’m what?” I ask.

            “You’re rotting from the inside,” Heechul hyung repeats himself. “The poison happens to be the poison used by the dark clans. The dark clans use poisons and dirty tricks to kill people. This type of poison is called “Living Corpse.” Your body will eventually give out on you. This poison makes your body decompose and rot slowly until you die. I can’t really tell what stage you are on, but eventually, it will appear externally as well. At that point, I don’t know what I can do.”

            “Is there no cure?” I ask.

            “This poison was made by the darks clans to kill their undefeatable opponent. They only give this to people they must kill…”

            “Meaning there isn’t a cure, is there?”

            “Not that I know of…The only reason why it activated so slowly was because Kai gave you half of his wolf bead. The thing is, you already dissolved it in the poison.”

            “So does this mean Kai can’t have it back!? He’s surviving on a half a bead? No wonder why he’s so weak.” I gasp.

            “He can’t survive with half a bead.”

            “What do you mean? He is!”

            “Not for long…I know you don’t understand the concept of animals turning into humans. Kai’s type is special. The longer his line survives, the fuller the bead is. Since he lost half of it…he can’t stay human for long. He might turn into a wolf or even a killer. There’s no way knowing.”

            “I did this to him…” I close my eyes, full of guilt. “I ruined him. He has done so much for me.”

            “What makes it worse is that you can’t even survive with his sacrifice. You both might just die…I really don’t know. My master isn’t here and I can’t give you every answer.”

            “Can you at least guess how long we’ll survive?”

            “For Kai, he has about a year max. Whereas you, you won’t past this month.”

            “And when I die…does this mean that I die in the present time too?”

            “We won’t know until it happens…” Heechul hyung says slowly.

            “Did your master know about this?”

            “No, he did guess that a big crisis will happen, but he didn’t tell me what…I’m sorry you came all this way and I couldn’t help you.”

            “No, you did. At least I know how long I have to live.”

            I finally returned to the clan with my new crew. Jong Kook hyung happily let them join and it was as if everything was back to normal. The only difference is that I know I have one month to live, Kai has about a year, and that Key hyung, Jonghyun hyung, and Gun Tae aren’t back yet. Ji Yeon has become our number one cook and the others have become heroes after passing the test. I mean, they are all over eighteen years old…which reminds me…I will turn eighteen soon, which means I have to battle against the other members  as well. Stress…Will I even turn eighteen before I die?!

            “Finally stopped running away from me?” I turn around and see Joon hyung, calmly leaning against the building pole with a smirk across his face. “What? Are you mute?” I shake my head. “Good to know. So, let me just say this as straight forward as possible. I do not care that you guys foretold that I will die because of you. If I become a demon in my next life, then oh well. I shared my love with Onew as much as I can and I don’t regret it. Besides, I already am luckier than others. I at least die knowing that I can have another life with him.” I stare at him and he stands up, folding his arms. “You and Onew are basically brothers. I don’t want your relationship to be ruined because of me. You understand that?” I nod slowly. “Good. Now don’t you dare look all depressed around my Onew. I don’t want him to feel guilty for not trusting you.” I nod again. “See you at dinner.” With that, he leaves me alone on the front steps to my room. I sigh and lay down on the unswept ground.

            “What’s with the long face?” Minho hyung jumps down from the low roof and sits down next to me.

            “Just thinking,” I reply and sit up. “Hyung, can I tell you a story?”

            “I’m all ears.” He nods.

            “I’m not really good at telling stories, but here goes…There were a group of friends that died for love and the injustices of the world. They became these…beings with wings.” Minho hyung’s eyes suddenly widens, as if I mentioned something shocking. Maybe he was surprised that such beings existed? “The humans called them angels. The older friends would fly down to Earth and try to protect humans from the demons. The demons spread evil through Earth whereas the angels would try to protect the humans. That left only the maknae and the second youngest in Heaven. They would train in Heaven and share quality time together. The hyung would care a lot for the maknae. Whenever the maknae got hurt, the hyung would feel hurt as well and care for him. Whenever the maknae made progress in training, the hyung would congratulate him. Whenever the maknae would be scared or discourages, the hyung would cheer him on. They were the best of friends.”

            “I see that,” hyung smiles.

            “But one day, things changed…”

            “What happened?”

            “You see, the five angel friends were human once. In order to become angels, their human sins needed to be locked up so they can stay pure and away from evil. The hyung that was with the maknae had the charm that held their sins. The charm was cracked and it released their sin of love…and then they all reunited on Earth.”

            “So what happened?”

            “They fell in love with each other.”

            “They were all…male?” Minho hyung asks uncomfortably.

            “Yeah they were...Two of the friends fell in love with each other, the maknae and the youngest hyung fell in love, while the eldest…he fell in love with a demon.”

            “But aren’t demons and angels enemies?”

            “They were…Well the point is that the demon that the hyung loved was one of their lead fighters. They tried to recruit him to the angels’ side, but he told them that their maknae ruined it for them…”

            “Then what did the maknae do?”

            “He just hated himself…he really didn’t know what to do…”

            “That’s terrible.”

            “But then, everything started to work out when they realized that they were all past lovers.”

            “You mean…from the time they were human?”

            “Yeah. They then dropped the mission and prepared for war. They all promised to run off together and live together happily after the war.”

            “And did it happen?”

            “Ani…”

            “Wae?”

            “One day, there was blood raining down from the sky and black snow, there was a face in the sky, and the humans were nowhere to be found. War broke out. One of the new demons fighters pulled off a good battle and the youngest hyung ran off to fight him. The maknae stayed behind to protect the second and third oldest hyungs, who were the other couple. He got hurt in the process. Nonetheless, the injured maknae went searching for his hyung.”

            “Did he find him?”    

            “He did…but it was too late. The hyung was possessed by a demon and he was forced to kill him.”

            “He must have been heartbroken,” Minho hyung says.

            “He wanted to die. The eldest hyung came and suddenly, the body came back to life. The maknae took the stab from the possessed body and they both were captured. The new demon warrior and the demon lover tore off the maknae’s wings. He fell down to Earth and had no way of returning.”

            “Damn demons.”

            “Turns out, they were trying to help out the angel warriors. They weren’t that bad. They all had to suffer the same fate of getting used in battle as well.”

            “I see…So did that help?”

            “Well, the hyungs all split up their bodies and became human. The maknae took a lot of time and effort to find out what happened to his wings. Eventually, they all remembered their pasts and reunited as their couples, but they had to return to finish off the war. Unfortunately, after all of the hardships they endured together, they all died and reincarnated.”

            “That was a tragic story…maybe they will get to find each other once again in their reincarnated life? Maybe it will give them a chance to end up happily together.”

            “I wish it were that easy…the demon lover disintegrated…”

            “Meaning?”

            “Meaning the eldest hyung and the demon can never be together again.”

            “That ! Man, if it wasn’t for the maknae ruining everything, maybe they could have had a chance.” His words stung.

            “You really think so?” I ask him, hoping that he will dismiss his thoughts.

            “I mean, you did say that the demon lover said the maknae ruined it for them. Maybe it was true.”

            “I see…” I get up and turn my back to him. “I want to take a nap before dinner.”

            “Alright, don’t forget to stay after. There is a meeting with the heroes and the soon-to-be-heroes after dinner.”

            “Okay,” I reply. I enter my room, close the door behind me quietly, and lay down on my bed, thinking about what hyung just said. It was all the maknae’s fault…

Jonghyun’s POV~

            “Where in the world is this damn mountain!?” I growl as we nearly fall down the wrong mountain…again! We have been traveling for over a week now and I am sick and tired of go to the wrong mountain! If I can’t find it, then how in the world did my clumsy maknae find it?! He can barely remember the last place he put his phone, not to mention a mountain in the middle of a bunch of other mountains!

            “Can you stop whining? It’s making me even more tired than I already am!” Key yells.

            “Well I am the one carrying the freaking kid!” I yell back.

            “Shut up, you will wake him up!” Key knocks my head.

            “Are you seriously hitting the one doing the hard labor? Why don’t you do it instead!?” I literally want to pass Gun Tae to him right now. My ankle has been swollen since yesterday and it has been hurting to walk normally on it, not to mention hiking with a kid on my back. But no~ Mister Key wants to leisurely walk instead. You are so lucky I love you enough to not make you carry Gun Tae. I rant in my head. Sometimes I question myself if it’s even worth it, but man, the minute I look into his eyes, his dazzling smile, his–  

            “Do you really want me to carry him? You deserve a break,” –expression when he is worried and caring…I just melt.

            “I’m fine. It’s getting pretty dark. If we don’t get down this mountain by sundown, we might be stuck up here.” I try my best to walk faster on my hurt ankle, showing off my manliness.

            I stretch and rub my eyes. Damn, my ankle kills. I sit up and see Gun Tae starting a fire. “Sleepyhead finally woke up,” Key says. “Help start the fire so I can cook breakfast. There was a stream nearby and I got us some fish.”

            “Oh,” I reply and hop over to Gun Tae on my left foot.

            “What’s wrong?” Gun Tae asks.

            “My leg is numb,” I lie.

            “Thanks for carrying me yesterday, I was exhausted,” So was I kid, no one carried me…

            “It was nothing.” Of course it was something! My ankle hurts~ Sometimes I feel like I am so stingy. He’s Taemin’s closest companion from the clan…I should treat him better.

            “To be honest, I was getting worried,” Key says. “It was getting dark and there are lots of rumors about monsters lurking around after sunset.”

            “I doubt it,” I reply. Come on, I found out my past as a warrior angel and went back in time unwillingly, I doubt my life can get any more problematic…I hear a rustle in the wood and froze. I didn’t just jinx myself, did I?

Taemin’s POV~

            A bolt of pain nearly made me scream. I untie my sash, open my right lapel, and examine the area that hurt. I nearly gasp as I see the rotting flesh on my chest area. The flesh was darkening and yet it was a sickly pink, like it was eating itself alive. The area around it was a dark purple. I quickly cover my chest again and tightly tie the sash. I close my eyes to compose myself. I can’t have anyone see my rotting flesh…Knock. Knock. “Taemin-ah, it’s Minho hyung. Let’s go eat dinner.” I was about to reject him, but it would be very suspicious if I do so. I’m normally a pig. I love eating…

            “Be right out!” I yell back and look in the mirror, making sure all body parts that can be seen isn’t rotten. After a thorough check, I open the door.

Minho’s POV~   

            “I’m sure all of you must have heard the news about the rival clans stirring trouble,” Jong Kook hyung says. “Clans are choosing sides and it’s about time we reveal to them where we stand.” Hyung steps forward and looks at everyone in the area. “We will fight for the king.” My heart nearly leaps with both excitement and frustration. I am glad that Heroes’ Rebellion is on His Majesty’s side, but this means that Key hyung’s killing spree and investigation was useless. Also, this means that the other clans are planning to overthrow or at least simply harm the king. Not to mention that Key hyung, Jonghyun hyung, and Gun Tae are not around. If we declare ourselves as the king’s followers, the other clans might aim for them as bait or simply kill them to scare us off. But…no one from the outside would find out correct? Our clan is very secretive and has great security; I don’t think any outsiders can catch on…unless…there’s a spy. 

~Comments are loved~