~Chapter 25~

Slayers

Kai’s POV~

            I cry as I embrace Taemin hyung. I stay like that for a long time, just enjoying the fact that I know he is in my presence. “Do you know how much I miss you?” I ask him despite the fact that he cannot reply to me. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of the two halves of the bead reuniting. “I knew you were alive and that you would eventually return by my side. Thank you for not abandoning me, hyung.”

            “Kai, it would be great if you let go so I can breathe.” Taemin hyung finally says. I pull away from the hug and help him remain sitting by holding onto his shoulders.

            “You’re awake!” I say and embrace him once more.

            “Yes, and I would appreciate it if I can avoid passing out from lack of oxygen.” I pull back from the hug again and look at him.

            “What is oxygen? If it helps you stay awake, even if it is hard and dangerous to attain, I’ll find it for you.” Taemin hyung breaks into a cracking laughter after hearing my desperate offer.

            “Kai, oxygen is what you breathe in.”

            “Huh?”

            “You know, when you breathe in, that’s what the modern people call ‘oxygen.’”

            “Oh,” I blush, embarrassed. “Well I hope you’re getting a lot of oxygen despite the mask in your way.”

            “Yeah, it’s a bit hard breathing with it on, but I think I have to keep this on.” Taemin hyung tries to walk over to the table and chair in the center of his room, but his legs are still a bit wobbly from the lack of energy his body has. I help guide him over and sit him down. I pour him a cup of tea and help bring it to his mouth. He puts his hand up, signaling for me to stop pouring the liquid into his mouth. “Thanks, I’m still a bit weak. That sure drained a lot of my energy.”

            “Do you think you are going to be okay hyung? Also, when you woke up, why didn’t you try to hide the fact that you are Taemin, hyung? You tried to hide it for so long and when you woke up it’s like you gave up and admitted it.”

            “Pabo, you think you are the only one who feels the bead halves rejoining? Why do you think I woke up so early? The power of the full bead is helping me a lot. Since I’m sure you knew I had the bead inside of me, there’s no point in hiding my identity from you. Besides, you were so happy it would be cruel to make up a lie to deceive you.”

            “Really? I’m so glad!”

            “Wow, you sure changed from the last time I saw you. You were so serious when we were talking a few days ago.”  

            “Back then, I didn’t know you were Taemin hyung! Plus, we were focused on trying to help out the clan. There wasn’t much time to play around.”

            “True. So does anyone else know I am Taemin?”

            “Ani, just me for now. Heechul hyung flew in and told me to take care of you. I am not too sure what the other clan members are doing. Everyone is very thankful for you. You saved Key hyung and although you are still very new to the clan, you wholeheartedly helped out the clan with the best of your ability. But of course they don’t know you’re Taemin hyung, so that sort of ruins the praises.”

“I’m surprised how two people, a bird, and a tree could do so much damage to us. Our clan members are trained very well and yet we all left that mini battle injured. How are we going to manage if all of the people of the dark clans come and attack? I don’t even want to think about the monsters teaming up on us. We seem to be in a very tight spot right now.”

            “Hyung, I know you are very worried right now, but I can’t think straight with this on my mind.”

            “What’s on your mind?”

            “Why are you hiding from us? Why didn’t you just return and surprise us with the fact that you are alive?”

            “To be honest, I didn’t want to return yet. You see, I became very very very ugly because I am still healing from the poison. I was supposed to return when the clan needed me most, but the plan was that it happened after I healed. I just didn’t have the guts to return to you guys in my tattered state. I wanted to return as a powerful member of the clan that can do my best and have us all succeed in one piece.”

            “No more self-sacrificing?”

            “No more. I knew that it would hurt you guys to lose me and now that I returned, I am definitely sure of it. Minho hyung is devastated that I died and I know that sacrificing myself is useless because it is not a perfect happy ending if I were to die. The SHINee Warriors– the name we are called in the future life– and our friends –demon or angel or human– must remain together to be truly happy. As much as I want to sacrifice myself, I knew it would be wrong and even useless. Our goal is to end up in the next life and the next and the next with all of us friends together. I don’t want to take that possibility away from everyone.”

            “Thank you,” I embrace him loosely, making sure he gets enough oxygen. “I’m very happy that you are looking at the big picture. No type of sacrificing or death can make us end up being happy.”

            “The only reason why I didn’t admit to you guys that I am Taemin is because I came back at such a risky time that I’m afraid that if I were to die, there would be even more remorse. Also, I’m just not myself and I was mainly afraid that no one would believe me.”

            “What do you mean? I would’ve–” My words stop as Taemin hyung takes off his face covering, revealing his hideous face that lies beneath the mask. Nothing under that face covering belongs to the Taemin hyung we all knew. His soft, milky skin is now rough and cracked. Its flesh is raw and nearly oozing out pus. The only recognizable feature is his eyes, but even so, it is not the same as it used to be. Not only that, his voice is so rough and unnatural that even if his face remained the same, it would be hard to recognize as his.

            My heart drops as I realize that it was true. The fact that Taemin hyung is alive is hard to believe and even with the bead confirming that he is actually here, his appearance makes me want to think that the person in front of me is not actually my formal hyung. I lower my head and look down as I see sadness showing in his gaze. He knows that what he was afraid of is true– he is unrecognizable. “Don’t worry hyung, things will get better. Even if I have to go look for another antidote, I’ll make sure you recover.”

            “Don’t worry, time will be the cure. I just need to be patient and my body will heal properly. I just need to take care of my health and not abuse my body. Maybe by the end of the year, my face and voice will return to its normal state.” Taemin hyung says. “For now, can you help me keep this secret? I really don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

            “Yes hyung, I won’t tell a single soul.” I promise him. “How is your body by the way? You apparently absorbed all of the poison. Is your body okay?”

            “The bead is helping me a lot. Since we are together, I will heal nicely.”

            “Is that why Heechul hyung told me to take care of you? He made sure I was the one that stayed with you.”

            “Possibly; Heechul hyung knows a lot and is always in his own world. My past life which is in the future, he was the one that saved me and protected me when I was unstable. He seems to always have something up his sleeve.”

            Gong…Gong…Gong…The meeting gong sounds, signaling for all heroes to join at the meeting area.

I walk out of the medication room with Taemin hyung on my back. I stop on my tracks as I sense other monster beads nearby. “Hyung, I think that the other clan members who are like me can sense our bead. What if they know you’re Taemin hyung?”

“No one dares to take off my face covering and even if they do, they won’t be able to confirm it is me unless I admit to it. You could barely recognize me, let alone them.”

            “True that. Let’s go to the meeting before people start questioning where we are.”

Minho’s POV~

            Kai helps the hero off of his back and sits him down. Why did he go to the meeting? Last time I checked, he was still unconscious, meaning he just woke up not too long ago. I’m sure his body is very weak right now. Even several heroes are not here due to their injury and yet he is still here. What dedication. I think I gained a new level of respect of him. He is fairly new to our clan and yet he has risked his life to protect us. Even when he was injured, he tried to climb up the tower and aid the battle. He’s such an amazing person. If only Taemin was still here, he would love to meet a person so heroic and honorable. Taemin would’ve loved to make a new friend like him.

            “White Masked Hero, you are still injured. You didn’t need to come.” Jong Kook hyungnim says.

            “I know, but I want to make sure I am not unaware of anything. I need to make sure I am on the same page as everyone to ensure that my performance is appropriate for the clan,” he answers with a worn out tone. He must be very tired right now. “Besides, I think I have enough energy to spring into action.”

            “Thank you for the enthusiasm and determination, but I would rather have you rest.”

            “But now that I’m here, might as well let me hear.”

            “Very well,” Jong Kook hyungnim gives in. “I have received many letters from our allies and unfortunately, we do not have as much as we anticipated. Many clans do not wish to join our act in protecting the king. They believe that the martial realm should not be involved in political disputes, despite the involvement of many dark clans and monsters. On the bright side, they do insist on protecting the citizens and vulnerable bystanders. This means we are able to face the dark forces head on without worrying too much about the civilians, meaning there is one less major factor we have to worry about. If our messengers are accurate, the dark clans have all allied and monsters are involved as well. If we do not eliminate them individually, if they team up on us, we would be outnumbered.”

            “So what is your plan?” Heechul hyung asks.

            “Since monsters are easier to battle with magic and special techniques, I was hoping that you can give us a hand and train an elite group that can slay monsters while I train other heroes again the dark clans. For once, we will go against our motto and have different missions to focus on to avoid future damages. We need to prepare for this battle as efficiently as possible.”

            “Understood,” Heechul hyung nods. “So how are you going to pick people to join the elite monster slaying team?”

            “I recommend any of our top heroes, but the choice is yours.”

            “Good to hear,” Heechul hyung smiles, as if Jong Kook hyungnim has said something he wanted to hear. “Starting tomorrow, I want Joon, Onew, Minho, Jonghyun, Nam Kyu, Key, Tae–the White Masked Hero, and Kai to meet me in the back forest with their weapons. We’re going to make one kick-a** monster slaying team.” 

I finally graduated from high school! I have a lot of stuff ahead of me including rehearsals and performances for a musical, work, and prepping for college. I hope you guys will remain patient with me, as you guys already are. For my other stories, I will not update them as oftem as this story, although I rarely update this one. But don't worry, I will not abandon my fanfics, I just won't update them often! Please take care and anticipate the next update! Annyeong~! Comments are loved!! <3