[title song: i won't mind - zayn malik]
[it's late so I'll edit this better tomorow]

chapter 19;

“Nope.” Hyemi shakes her head, backing away slowly, “No, no, no, no, no.”

Jongin and Minseok both exchange amused looks before they give her matching cat-like grins. “You’re in no shape to be refusing training.” Minseok points out.

“Not with both of you.” Hyemi glares at both of them.

Neither of them listens, Jongin already disappearing in a cloud of smoke while Minseok starts to gather up his usual ice spears, expression highly amused as water starts to condense in front of him, forming slick spears made of ice.

Hyemi shrieks when Jongin suddenly appears right in front of her (her attention had been solely focused on Minseok and his deadly ice spears),  a lazy grin falling from his lips, his nose an inch away from hers. “Boo.” Jongin breathes, snickering when Hyemi clutches her chest in shock.

Hyemi kicks him.

He disappears before she manages to land the hit and ends up kicking at empty air, dried grass scattering under her foot.

“ing hell.” Hyemi grunts as she scans the training grounds warily, Jongin gone.

That’s when Minseok sends three icicles flying in her direction, all of which she’s barely able to dodge, the icicles lodging into the ground, cracking at the force of the impact.

Hyemi keels over on the ground, her palms and knees scratched up as she whips her head upwards, warily watching as Minseok reforms his icicles from behind her.

“Use your powers.” Jongin calls out.

Hyemi closes her eyes, but she’s immediately pelted in the arm with a shard of ice, pain shooting up her arm when she feels a cut form.

“We practiced this, Hyemi.” Minseok calls to her, voice stern. “Concentrate.”

Unfortunately, she finds it super ing difficult to concentrate when Jongin appears, crouching next to her. Hyemi barely has time to react, Jongin grabbing her arm and teleporting her across the clearing. The air gets out of her lungs, the familiar sensation of being through a tiny tube hitting her too suddenly. Hyemi feels her whole body drop the moment air returns to her lungs.

Hyemi curses, flailing, as Jongin makes her free fall from about a meter in the air, barely able to curl her limbs into her body as she braces for impact, rolling just as she hits the ground.

“This is unfair.” Hyemi hisses.

“Life is unfair!” Jongin calls from the other side of the clearing. Hyemi’s head snaps up and Minseok grins, snapping his fingers.

Dull ice shards as heavy as rocks literally rain down on her from above and Hyemi winces when she’s hit repeatedly on her back, groaning as she rolls away, avoiding a rock of ice the size of a basketball making its way straight at her head.

They’re going to kill her, Hyemi thinks as she focuses on avoiding both Jongin and Minseok entirely, completely abandoning her plan to muster up enough energy to carry out the things Minseok had been teaching her.

But with each pull into teleportation that Jongin forces her into, dropping her from different heights and even leaving her hanging upside down on a nearby tree (while he giggles like a madman, leaning on a grinning Minseok for support), and with each onslaught of ice daggers Minseok sends her way, Hyemi’s energy begins to deplete, exhaustion taking over.

She can’t keep going like this, she realizes, as she keels over, hands clutching her knees as she tries to catch her breath, sweat dripping down her face.

Hyemi’s mind reels, but she gets no chance to think, not when Jongin, the little , grabs her by the back of the shirt and teleports her once again, depositing her on her a good three meters where she had been standing earlier. Hyemi’s stomach churns at the nausea.

And then the icicles come hurtling and Hyemi has never rolled faster in her life, practically somersaulting off to the right before she finds herself sprawled out on the ground, dead grass itchy against her skin.

If only she could stop Minseok and Jongin, somehow, especially those damn icicles.

Then it clicks and she has a sudden, incredibly dangerous, idea. Minseok was right, though. They had been practicing this.

Hyemi avoids one more attack from both Jongin and Minseok, figuring she has a good thirty seconds of reprieve before Jongin swoops in.

Hyemi closes her eyes and imagines that ball of light she likes to imagine whenever she’s training, its warmth encompassing her as it curls into her palms, shining brightly.

And then Hyemi imagines the ball of light soaking into her skin and spreading through her veins. She feels warm, the pit of her stomach flipping, as the ball of light encompasses her very being, swallowing her whole. Hyemi’s eyes flutter and she feels power pulsing through her veins, the bracelet in her hand flashing, hot against her already warm skin.

Hyemi breathes in and out three times before she unclenches her fists, allowing herself to relax. The light seems to spill from her pores, then, as she slowly lets it pulsate beyond her physical form, creating a sort of growing barrier all around her, like dome shaped bubble.

Hyemi feels something disturb her bubble, like an object is pushing against her skin, though not quite piercing it.

Hyemi’s eyes flutter open and she sits up, her skin feeling incredibly hot. She sees Minseok and Jongin a long distance away, Minseok’s eyebrows furrowed. Three giant icicles hang in midair, a few meters to Hyemi’s right, in front of Jongin and Minseok.

Hyemi watches with curiosity as the icicles seem to struggle in its path towards her, slowly melting as they come closer to her. It’s as if they’ve collided with a wall of heat before they could hurl in her direction, a stream of water trickling down its sides, the dry dirt below slowly turning into slick mud.

Eventually, all three icicles melt from existence, Hyemi watching with wide eyes from where she’s seated on the ground, bruised and covered in shallow cuts.

Jongin glances from Minseok to Hyemi, a slow grin spreading across his face.

That’s when Minseok spread his arms and raises his hands, a determined expression flitting across his face.

Hyemi’s eyes widen in horror when she notices an incomprehensible amount of ice shards forming all around Minseok, glinting in the sunlight menacingly. Jongin steps back, then, his eyebrows furrowing into a worried look.

Hyemi has no time to protest when Minseok flicks his wrist and shoots a flurry of ice shards in Hyemi’s direction, wave after wave.

Hyemi throws an arm up; wincing each time she feels that peculiar sensation at the edge of her consciousness, as if someone’s pelting rocks at a screen door that she can feel the impact of, despite not feeling any pain. It’s like she’s in a fish tank and someone’s tapping at the glass insistently, much to her annoyance.

Slowly, she opens her eyes and watches as each ice dagger melts into lukewarm water before her eyes, the moment they reach within a certain distance of Hyemi.

Hyemi watches until the last one bursts into a warm spray of water, her heart beating in her chest rapidly due to the adrenaline.

Slowly, Hyemi raises her eyes and frowns, wiping at the droplets of water sprinkling her face.

The warmth from her ball of light seeps out of her bones, exhaustion hitting her so hard that all she can do scoff in annoyance, voice weak as she glares, “That was completely unnecessary.”

Minseok shrugs, eyeing her apologetically, “I had to make sure how effective that is.” He gestures at her vaguely, obviously referring to her little bubble of destruction.

“Thanks.” She mumbles sarcastically, sighing tiredly as she drops down on her back.

With careful steps, Jongin makes his way towards her, his hands outstretched in front of him. Jongin stops where a ring of mud surrounds Hyemi in almost a perfect circle and slowly, carefully, pokes at the air.

Nothing happens. Hyemi, herself, could have told him that.

Jongin teleports forward then, leaving a cloud of smoke in his wake that leaves Minseok scowling as he strides forward.

Jongin kneels at her side and grins. “Good job.”

“I try.” Hyemi snaps back, too tired to roll her eyes.

Jongin snorts and exchanges a glance with Minseok.

Minseok smiles, eyes blank and face generally expressionless. He digs around in his pocket until he pulls out a little bag filled with small scarlet red pills. They’re tiny, the size of half Hyemi’s thumbnail, but they look familiar.

“Medic pills.” Jongin says, reassuringly, watching as Minseok kneels beside him and hands Hyemi one of the pills. Slowly, Hyemi pulls herself upright, gaze wary as she blinks down at the pills.

Minseok smiles icily, eyes glinting in that peculiar way of his, reflecting in the sunlight. “In about two hours, you should be ready for another match.”

Hyemi’s eyes widen, “Oh, hell no.” Hyemi doesn’t think she’ll survive another training match.

“There’s a war coming, Hyemi.” Jongin looks serious, then, his eyes boring into hers. “You don’t have time to rest.”

The silence that follows his words is deafening. Hyemi holds his gaze, eyes flickering to Minseok, who seems preoccupied with the sky, his holding a sort of peaceful blankness Hyemi finds she is momentarily envious of. Minseok never seems to have worries and she wishes she was like that as well. She glances back at Jongin, whose eyes are filled to the brim with a strange seriousness she doesn’t think suits him well.

Hyemi tears her eyes away from them, glaring at the pill in her palm, knowing deep down that Jongin’s completely right. She mentally curses both of them, before swallowing the pill. Minseok produces a glass of water out of nowhere that she doesn’t even bother questioning; she’s used to him producing things from out of nowhere.

Minseok just pats her head, expression still generally blank despite the amused quirk to his lips, and Jongin laughs like he finds her entire situation amusing, the serious look in his eyes disappearing almost instantly.

~.~.~.~.~

Hyemi peers into the dark hallway warily, her eyes drooping with sleep as she tiptoes through the winding halls. She isn’t completely sure why she’s hurrying through the halls like this, but something at the back of her mind kept nagging her until she had finally thrown her covers off in resignation.

It has to be some kind of vision, she decides, because her feet are moving on its own accord and she feels like her body unconsciously knows exactly where she needs to go.

She tiptoes through winding corridor after winding corridor until she finds herself back in the giant sitting room she had been in when she first entered this castle, Kris’s ancestor’s portraits peering down at her over their noses, judgmental and suspicious.

Hyemi looks around, her toes cold against the wooden flooring. Her vision flickers and Hyemi wonders why it’s becoming so much easier for her to fall into a vision, the transitions becoming alarmingly smoother.

When her vision readjusts, she instantly realizes she isn’t in the drawing room of the palace anymore.

She’s in a dark, cold room, the sound of water dripping continuously flooding her ears. Her body, whatever body she’s occupying at the moment, feels heavy, tight pressure at her wrists.

There’s a knock that echoes throughout the room and Hyemi’s head lifts slowly, as if weighed down from years of exhaustion, the sounds of bolts unlatching catching her attention.

Light floods into the dark room, nearly blinding her, and Hyemi wonders how long the person in this vision has been left in darkness.

There’s the sound of scraping and Hyemi looks up, watching as a hooded figure drags a wooden stool across the stone floor. The sound is grating on her ears, drawn out and loud. Her wrists ache and her neck hurts the longer she cranes it to watch the hooded figure.

They hold out the bowl and Hyemi’s stomach growls at the smell of fresh food invading her senses. It’s heavenly and that’s when she realizes just how hungry she had been. Her stomach roars and it’s embarrassing how loudly it echoes throughout the room.

Hyemi can’t figure out who the hooded figure is and it’s even harder to figure out who the imprisoned person’s body she’s occupying the mind of is either, no matter how hard she strains to figure it out.

A voice interrupts her thoughts and Hyemi frowns at the sound of it. It sounds eerily familiar to her, but there’s an underlying current of unfamiliar in the voice. It completely throws her off when the hooded figure speaks in that strange voice of theirs. “Eat.”

Their voice echoes in the room, commanding and final.

Hyemi’s head moves on its own, head slowly turning to the far left before swinging to the right. No, the prisoner is saying while refusing to look at the hooded figure any longer.

Hyemi can feel the prisoner’s heart flip in her own chest, twisting violently, and she wonders why her visions force her to become so emotionally connected to people she’ll never even know. She can feel the onslaught of emotions, that aren’t even hers, swirling through her veins even as she diligently stares at the cold, stone ground. She can feel the hurt and betrayal and she wants to cry at the emotional pain piercing her heart.

But then, nails dig into her chin and twists her head up to meet the hooded figure’s gaze, until she’s forced to stare at the covered face straight on.

“Eat before I make you.” The hooded figure snaps back, leaning forwards, tone thundering; too loud.

Hyemi’s body doesn’t budge. She doesn’t even flinch, even as the fingers holding her chin tighten significantly. Hyemi watches in fascination as the hood starts to inch back, revealing a pale chin. The hand around her jaw tightens so forcefully, Hyemi’s mouth falls open in pain. A gasp leaves her lips just as the hood starts to fall further back and she begins to see—

“Hyemi.”

Hyemi jerks into an upright position, heaving for air as she scrambles in her spot. There’s a hand at her back, rubbing it soothingly, and she flinches a bit, eyes fluttering before she manages to focus on the person hovering over her.

Baekhyun stares down at her with careful, gentle eyes. He stares at her appraisingly, watching as she tries to catch her breath. “Since when did you sleepwalk?” He asks in a worried tone, his palm touching her forehead, as if he’s checking for a fever.

Hyemi looks around, noting that she really did end up in the drawing room she had first entered the castle in. Hyemi shakes her head, accidentally focusing on the way Baekhyun’s fingers draw circles against the curve of her spine, the routine and feel of it calming. She’s so exhausted from the constant training that she could fall asleep right then and there, to those circles he’s drawing into her skin alone.

“I…I don’t know.” Hyemi mumbles, rubbing her eyes.

There’s a moment of silence before Baekhyun snaps his fingers and the room is flooded in blinding light. Hyemi looks up at him and tiredly observes his hallow cheeks and tired-looking eyes for a long moment.

“What?” He murmurs, reaching up to touch his face in such a self-conscious way that she can’t help but describe it as anything but cute.

“You just look,” Hyemi pauses, searching for the right word, before she rubs her eyes. “Tired.”

“An injury and a couple days of bedrest can do that to a person.” Baekhyun tells her, a little sarcastically, and she rolls her eyes. His expression dissolves back into one of concern. She forces herself to squash the initial guilt at his words.

“No way, who could have known?” Hyemi mumbles, just as sarcastically. This time Baekhyun rolls his eyes, his lips quirking up into a genuine smile. His eyes travel down her face, his hand suddenly stilling at the small of her back. She blinks up at him, startled, when she realizes he’s just staring at her, an apprehensive expression clouding his features. The soft amusement in his features immediately melts away, revealing wide, focused eyes. “Baek?” Hyemi mumbles, frowning at him.

His eyes snap upwards for a second, meeting her gaze, before he reaches out to gently touch her jaw. “Is this another injury?” He asks, an undercurrent of cold annoyance threading through his tone. “Again, Hye?”

Hyemi tilts her head and reaches up to touch her jaw. Her own touch is a thousand times heavier than Baekhyun’s and she winces at the tender skin beneath her fingers. Baekhyun’s right, though. The injuries inflicted by the King didn’t reach all the way up to her face. She presses her fingers against her jaw, wincing again, before her eyes widen and her hand drops to her lap.

She thinks of the hooded figure and her hands grow limp in her lap, her eyes widening into the size of saucers.

“The vision.” Hyemi tells him, quickly struggling to her feet. Baekhyun, despite the way his jaw clenches, obviously angry, helps her up, fingers snaking around her wrist, the warmth of him against her strangely cold skin sending shivers down her spine. “These are from my vision.”

She whispers the words, aware of how ridiculous and unbelievable they sound.

Baekhyun blinks, rapidly, expression morphing into concern and something else she can’t quite place. He watches her steady herself on her feet. “What kinds of visions are you having?” Baekhyun asks, tone wary, careful. He doesn’t doubt her words though, no matter how strange they sound, and that makes her heart swell the tiniest bit.

“I don’t know.” Hyemi murmurs, because she truly doesn’t. It terrifies her how obscure her visions are and it’s been scaring her how easy it’s become to fall into her visions now, the frequency of them rising as time passes.

But now she’s actually feeling the injuries from her vision, not just the emotions whomever she’s occupying was feeling.

Baekhyun stares at her, watching her changing expressions carefully. “Your visions are starting to physically hurt you?” Baekhyun asks, a hand finding her elbow as if to steady her. It’s a question he has to ask, although they both know the answer to it; the proof is right on her face.

Slowly, Hyemi nods. “It was never like this before.” Hyemi stares at him, a knot twisting in her chest.

Usually, she wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she’s too exhausted to be stubborn and filter herself. She’s unable to meet his gaze, however, her eyes drifting to the tapestries over his shoulder. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me, Baekhyun.” She murmurs, her tone barely louder than a whisper. She plays with the hem of her t-shirt and suddenly she doesn’t want to be in his presence anymore.

All she wants to do is lie down in her bed back home and bury her head beneath her blankets and sleep.

Fingers brush her hair out of her face and she closes her eyes when he tucks loose strands of hair behind her ear, his touch warm and gentle. “It’s okay.” He murmurs back, tone firm, steady like she always remembers it to be. “I’m here to help you.”

His words are a soft reminder that they both know he doesn’t have to repeat anymore.

She’s scared of what’s happening to her, of the growing likelihood that one day she could easily slip into a vision and actually die, and she guesses Baekhyun has a vague idea of how she’s feeling. That has to be only explanation as to why the anger turning his face into sharp planes quickly softens into something that’s so much easier for her to look at. It has to be why  he leaves his fingers on her face, cupping her cheek gently, carefully, like she’s a delicate vase teetering on the edge of certain doom.

She wants to resent it, because she’s neither fragile nor delicate. But his touch brings her comfort and stability during a moment in time where she has nothing of the sort. Still, she is not made of glass. “Stop looking at me like that.” She murmurs, her voice so soft it’s a wonder he even hears her.

But he’s standing so close and it’s so quiet that it’d be amazing if he didn’t hear her. She internally shivers at the way her voice echoes in the sitting room, the vastness of her surroundings making her feel incredibly small, right then.

He stares at her real hard, gaze searching her face like he always does. “Like what?”

He breathes out his words in a tone that matches hers and it sends a series of shivers down her spine, her toes curling. Her cheeks inexplicably heat up at his incessant staring. Her eyes fall from his face and she finds sudden interest with the sofa over his shoulder.

“Like I’m going to break.” She blurts out, suddenly, as she shrugs his hand off her face with a light hand. “Or explode or cry or…or something destructive or impulsive or…anything.”

Her eyes dart back only to find him watching her, a small smile on his face. “That’s not how I look at you.”

Hyemi’s eyes dart upwards then and she swears he chuckles at her roaming eyes.

“It never was.” Baekhyun tacks on, a gentle afterthought he knows she’s already beginning to mull over.

She doesn’t like to think about her earlier school days, about her childhood and the two and half years of high school he had been there with her for, before he had just disappeared, taking so much of her with him.

She wonders if he knew that she had harbored feelings for him, that she had tried to drown those feelings with relationship after relationship after relationship, almost every boy cheating on her because she was never fully invested in them to begin with.

After each one had ended, he would look at her the same way he’s doing at this very moment, as if she’s a ticking time bomb on the brink of explosion.

(And she’s always hated it; his behavior has never sat well with her.)

She continues to study the high ceiling, her eyes focused overhead, when she speaks. “That’s not true.” She murmurs, memories and feelings from the past that she’s tried so hard to bury away surfacing all at once. She remembers how he would knock at her window, as if he knew she was wallowing in self-pity, and she would curl into his side and talk about the most mundane things while he her hair. She remembers the way he used to look at her the next morning and hover. Yet she’d always find him wrapped around someone else at parties, despite how close they were. She breathes out, shakily. “You know that’s not true.”

“Hyemi.” Baekhyun’s voice is the softest she’s ever heard, an underlying edge of care in his tone, the same edge she’d heard in voice for as long as she could remember. She’s only reminded of how he’d always treat her like a little sister or something and she flinches at his voice. He’d always adapt to her needs, as long as she felt better, and she can’t help but wonder if he’s only been kissing her because he knew it’d make her feel better.

(She’s always had this inexplicable feeling that he hated her somehow and that he only took care of her because he had felt obligated to. At least, that’s how she felt when she was in high school, and now those emotions are bubbling back up, never having found the full closure that those thoughts needed.)

“You’ve always looked at me like I needed you.” Hyemi says, suddenly, her emotions manifesting into anger. She grits her teeth, her gaze dropping from the ceiling to Baekhyun’s dark eyes. “Maybe I did need you, long ago. But. But I don’t need you anymore. I don’t need you to take care of me or act like I’m going to break or. Or.” Hyemi swallows, “Treat me like someone to be pitied. Like I’m an obligation of yours.”

Baekhyun holds her gaze, unwavering, and watches as his mouth turns downwards and his eyes turn to steel.

“Are you actually listening to yourself right now?” Baekhyun’s words are sharp, cutting through the tension between them like a knife. “Do you honestly believe that I look at you as nothing more than an…an obligation?”

Hyemi nods, setting her jaw when his eyes flash with anger and a hint of hurt. Hyemi stares at him, with her own level gaze. She refuses to back down from her words just because he’s stepping closer, a look in his eyes she’s remembers he used to have when he’d find her sitting in the park a block from her house, after a bad breakup or a fight with her father. Hyemi hates the emotions swirling at the pit of her stomach because they remind her of how she used to be, back in high school, before and after Baekhyun had left. She had felt small and helpless, back then, her father making her feel like some kind of burden when he’d tried to send her to yet another psychiatrist. All her locked up emotions and all of these stressful situations and visions have begun to catch up to her, leaving her mentally exhausted, and she can’t help but return Baekhyun’s glare (because it reminds her of the look her father had given him when she screamed refusal at being sent to another psychiatrist, begging him to believe her for once, and she had hated that look on his face).

“What else am I supposed to believe?” Hyemi snaps back, her eyes narrowing. The magic in her is at a minimum and she figures she’s just too exhausted from her constant training to even accidentally set off her powers like last time. “Even before all this supernatural stuff, I couldn’t even take care of myself and my problems without you. When you left I was…I was a ing mess. And all I could imagine was the way you used to look at me, like I would break without you, and I hated it. I hated how dependent I was on you, how lost I was after you were gone. I hated you. Because you were right.” Hyemi can feel her eyes stinging and she furiously brushes at her cheeks, her eyes burning as she stares at Baekhyun’s blank expression. “And then you came back and I felt like that sad little girl all over again. I feel like I’m regressing, but this time it’s worse because I understand nothing about this place. I have to depend on you and burden you because I’d be alone otherwise.”

Hyemi laughs, bitterly, breathlessly, the tightness in her chest loosening with each word that spills from her lips. “But then you go and kiss me because I’m sad and losing control of everything. It was nice then, your touch is so nice. It was all I ing wanted for so long. But it’s beginning to…it feels like you think I need fixing or something. I’m depending on you too much again and you’re looking at me like you used to again and I’m not some broken thing that needs fixing, Baekhyun. I don’t need you.”

Hyemi’s chest feels light then, like she’s just dropped a heavy burden off her heart. When she meets Baekhyun’s eyes, however, all she can see is incredible hurt intertwined with anger and regret. She blinks away the last of her tears, her chest rising and falling from the force of her tirade.

“You were never a burden to me.” Baekhyun says, his tone soft but full of sharp contempt, cold anger that has her searching his face carefully. His expression is taut, steel in his eyes. “How dare you twist my actions around and tell me that my caring for you was something so…cold and disconnected? How ing dare you?”

He never raises his voice but the rage in his tone is incredibly potent. His image flickers in her sight and she blinks, rapidly, wondering if she’s imagining it. His voice sends shivers down her spine and she bites her lip, watching as his chest rises and falls in anger.

“I have never thought that you needed fixing. And I tried to distance myself when you started to become dependent on me, especially when I knew what I had to do. But, for ’s sakes, Hyemi I’ve always thought you to be the strongest person I’ve ever known. Just. Tell me.” He steps forward then and she notices the way the lights are flickering dangerously throughout the room, a soft buzz in her ears. He’s so close she can feel his breath on her cheek, his jaw clenching so tightly. “Tell me why it’s wrong for me to kiss you when you’re sad.”

He snorts and it’s the bitterest sound she’s ever heard. “Do you know how hard it was for me to watch you cry over those s? How hard it had been to stop myself from telling your own father to go to hell? How I wanted to kiss you until you were smiling again? Do you understand how hard it was?”

“Why was it so easy, then, to leave? Why was it so easy to come back and speak to me as if those two years you were gone had never happened?” Hyemi mumbles, her eyes searching his.

 Baekhyun exhales deeply, closing his eyes, and she watches as a lightbulb explodes over his shoulder sparking brightly in the dark, the sharp angles of his face growing more defined the more he clenches his jaw. “I had no choice in the matter. I thought we already went over this.”

His tone is snappy and her anger grows at the annoyance coloring his voice. “Two years is a long, long time, Baekhyun. Maybe not for your kind, but for me it is. Two years of psychiatrists telling me that every other memory had been a figment of my own imagination. Two years of family and friends looking at me like they wish they could be anywhere else. Two years of falling apart on my own for the first time in my life. Two years of learning how to put myself back together again. On my own. It ing changes a person.” Hyemi eyes fill with angry tears, “And I’m not going to let you brush it off like it’s some kind of tiny, insignificant road bump in our friendship.”

Hyemi breathes heavily, staring up at him. Baekhyun stares right back real hard. “And I’m sorry for those years, Hyemi. I’m so sorry. If I could, I’d take it all back.”

“But you can’t.” Hyemi whispers, smiling a bit. “That’s the point. I’m not the same Hyemi you used to know and you need to stop treating me like I am.” She exhales softly, “I don’t want to need you anymore, Baekhyun. Please, stop making me feel like I need you.”

(She just wants to stop feeling like the foolish little high school girl she used to be, so wrapped up in Baekhyun that she couldn’t even focus on herself.)

“Don’t you get it?” He’s standing so close to her that she can’t quite focus, her voice softening with each glance down his face. Baekhyun closes his eyes and looks off to the side. After a long moment, he looks back at her, his eyes glassy. “What if.” Baekhyun’s voice is quiet, but she hears the subtle crack in it. He inhales and it’s so shaky that Hyemi can feel her heart jumping in her chest. “What if I’m the one who needs you?”

Hyemi’s heart breaks at the softness in his tone, at how badly she wants to forgive him. But her stubbornness breaks free and she remembers her mother’s words. It’s about time she relies on herself, at least until she manages to get through this in one piece, on her own.

Hyemi blinks, once, twice, three times, before she reaches up and curls her fingers along his cheek, brushing away strands of black. Her fingers tremble against his soft cheek and she blinks rapidly when he reaches up to place his own hand over hers.

His eyes are glassy with tears and hurt and she’s taken aback by the emotions in his eyes. She’s never seen him like this before and it’s a change she can’t quite wrap her head around. Baekhyun had always been the emotionally stable one in their friendship, like a steady rock or an anchor when things would become too much for her.

“Do you remember what I told you the night Cha Hakyeon broke your heart?” Baekhyun asks, his eyes growing distant.

Hyemi blinks at the hazy memories, of Cha Hakyeon, her first boyfriend, her first kiss, her first everything. Cha Hakyeon, the boy who had took her by the hand, the night her first became a memory, and told her that he wasn’t feeling it anymore, regret in his eyes and apprehension in the small downturn of his lips. She remembers calling Baekhyun afterwards and just rambling on and on about the mundane parts of her day, about the recent gossip she heard around school, until Baekhyun had interrupted her with a carefully hesitant ‘Are you okay?’ that she couldn’t help but choke up at.

For someone who had sworn to her best friend that she’d never cry in front of him, she had been one hell of a crier.

“When you started apologizing like a madwoman after you realized you’d ruined my favorite shirt with your tears and you swore you’d never do anything like that again?” Baekhyun prompts, his fingers tightening around Hyemi’s hand on his face.

Hyemi shakes her head, slowly, a small smile still managing to find its way onto her face.

“I told you that I’d always be a call away, that I’ve always got you.” Baekhyun sighs, his fingers slipping from Hyemi’s hand and down to his side. He looks at her tiredly, with resignation in his eyes. “I didn’t say that because I felt like I had to. I said it because…I needed to know that you were happy.” Baekhyun looks at her, eyes glassy and soft. “You’re right. Two years is a long time, even for my kind. And I’ve needed you a lot more than you think. I still do.”

Hyemi stares at him, her eyes searching his, only to find nothing but genuine concern in his face.

“You can’t do it, can you? You can’t trust me like before.” Baekhyun voice is quiet, contemplative.

She thinks about it. Does she trust Baekhyun?

Trust is something she can’t seem to disassociate from Baekhyun. She trusted him for so long and then she hated him. But ever since she had shown up at this damn planet, he’s done nothing but make sure she was safe. He may have kept things from her, but seeing the way she had reacted, she can tell that he was just trying to protect her. She had always told herself to stop trusting so easily after Baekhyun had up and left, but here she is, trusting him all over again. She, without a doubt, trusts him with her life.

If she were to answer truthfully, she’d say yes, I can trust you like before, I think I already do.

But with the release of her repressed emotions a sense of vindictiveness spreads through her. She wants him to feel the way she had. A tiny, minuscule part of her wants him to hurt as badly as she had for two whole years. Another part of her argues that she had hurt him enough when she had exploded on him, literally.

But the vindictiveness takes over and she wants to hurt him more with her words, her eyes darkening as she takes in the sight of him before her, glassy eyed and tired.

She opens , prepared to confirm his statement, to tell him that she will never trust him, when the castle doors swing open with an ominously drawn out screech and Hyemi’s attention flits over Baekhyun’s shoulder, clamping shut.

Baekhyun gives her one last long look, his eyebrows furrowing and resignation flooding his eyes (and for half a moment she feels incredibly guilty at the spiteful words she was prepared to unleash on him), before he turns away from her, his back facing her. They’re so close his back grazes Hyemi’s chest when he turns.

A hooded figure stands there, both hands clutching the giant castle doors, the night sky and strangely colored stars twinkling overhead through the meter long crack between the doors.

The hooded figure kneels forward, breathing hard, before he throws his hood back.

Baekhyun waves his hand and light floods the room, dousing them.

It’s Joonmyun, she realizes, her eyes widening as she takes in the sight of him over Baekhyun’s shoulder. Sweat runs down Joonmyun’s chin, glistening on his forehead and his nose. Joonmyun’s breathing is ragged and there’s something so unsettling about his ragged appearance, blood glistening on his hands, his robes torn.

He leaves bloody handprints on the doors.

A moment later, Kris and Zitao stride into the room, Zitao looking alert while Kris seems exhausted.

Kris freezes at the entrance, his eyes fixed on Joonmyun. “What are you doing here?” Kris’s voice booms, demanding.

Zitao reaches for the metal spear attached to his back, eyes unwavering.

“Lu—” Joonmyun gasps, straightening up. His eyes are filled with despair, so much so that Hyemi shudders. Baekhyun looks down at her, at the sound that leaves her lips, before he looks back up at Joonmyun.

Joonmyun locks eyes with her over Baekhyun’s shoulder, however, and Hyemi feels a harsh tug at her stomach, like she’s being yanked forward by a rope.

Her vision swims but this time she’s prepared for the sudden tug into a different reality.

This time she’s prepared for her vis—

~.~.~.~.~

She’s in a clearing, that’s the first thing she’s able to make out in the darkness. Her eyes slowly adjust to the lack of light and she hears a voice, uncertain and careful. “There’s something out there.”

Hyemi’s head swings to the side and she realizes that’s Sehun speaking. She feels an irrational sort of relief at his voice, glad he’s doing fine after she accidentally hurt him. “I know.” moves but it’s not her voice. It’s Joonmyun’s voice, soft and centered, barely able to hide the worry.

“It’s moving.” Sehun adds, a long moment later. There’s a hint of panic in his tone. “They’re moving.”

Sehun’s correction makes Joonmyun’s heart beat faster in his chest.

“You need to get out of here, Sehun.” Joonmyun speaks softly, carefully. “They’ll need all the help they can get at the castle and you’re strong. They’ll need you.”

He expects a struggle, a fight, an argument of some sort. Joonmyun doesn’t think he can handle an argument with Sehun right now.

Sehun just exhales softly and growls out a soft, “You want me to leave you here, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Joonmyun’s tone is final. Hyemi feels her heart tighten in her chest, determination flooding through her.

Sehun exhales into the still night. “I swear to every god, if you don’t get out of here in one piece, I will ing—”                           

“Language.” Joonmyun mumbles, almost instinctively. He throws Sehun an annoyed look that Sehun returns with a glare and a giant frown that makes Joonmyun’s, as well as, Hyemi’s heart twist.

Sehun chuckles, drily. “You’d better find Luhan and Yixing in there.”

“I will.” Joonmyun tells him.

“And come back.” A moment later Sehun tacks on a whispered please so softly, Joonmyun almost misses it.

“I will.” Joonmyun responds, tone assuring, “Promise.”

Sehun snorts, loudly and disrespectfully. Joonmyun knows he’s just covering up how he actually feels.

And then the air pressure around him drops. Before Joonmyun knows it, air blasts down on him from above, nearly making his knees buckle (he doesn’t put it past the brat to have done it on purpose), and wind blows all around him, dried leaves rustling in the wind and Sehun floats away overhead, his wind gusts much more powerful than necessary, the brat. Joonmyun can’t help but smile fondly at the attitude, despite the situation.

Until a twig snaps, just beyond the perimeter between the clearing and the grey ash trees. Thunder claps in the distance, lightning shooting through the sky, and Joonmyun vaguely wonders if Jongdae is okay, wherever he is.

A glinting face flickers within the trees, lit overhead by the flash of thunder. Rain starts to pour and Joonmyun is grateful for the extra ammunition, his wrists moving fluidly as he gathers up the liquid around him, forming a bubble of dry air.

Lightning flashes again and when Joonmyun looks, there are more glinting red eyes in between ash grey tree trunks, completely surrounding him as they sway back and forth like pendulums in the dark.

Joonmyun calms his breathing and Hyemi feels a gentle peacefulness spread through her.

Lightning flashes one more time and the faces, the monstrous things, are closer, in the middle of the clearing, their floating forms morphing into black jagged claws, their white teeth bared. The biggest one a few meters from Joonmyun’s water bubble opens its mouth wide, its black tongue long as it hangs from its mouth. Its red eyes turn to slits and a piercing scream leaves its mouth.

Hyemi shivers at the cruel sound; it sounds like a human is dying in agony.

Hyemi’s ears ring, but Joonmyun doesn’t stop swaying his arms to cover his ears, his eyes pinned on the thing screaming.

Slowly, the monster start to grow limbs, a sickening crunch echoing throughout the clearing as each monster, a good three dozen of them, begins to snap and curl in on its self, growls and screeches echoing in Hyemi’s head. Long, jagged pincers begin to form, scythe shaped as they claw into the dried ground, tearing up dirt and grass, dust rising in the clearing.

Joonmyun exhales softly, eyes darting from monster to monster, almost analytically.

The one in the center, the biggest monster there, stands a good six feet tall, mouth hanging open. An echoing voice leaves its mouth, one Hyemi recognizes immediately, her skin crawling.

Yeonma, she realizes, and suddenly she wants to leave this vision. She doesn’t want to hear Yeonma’s voice echo in her head, she doesn’t want to hear the ethereal mixture of the voices of men, women, and children pound against her thoughts, too powerful to ignore and horribly invading, but she’s trapped; helpless.

“Don’t worry about the boy…Luhan, is it?” Yeonma’s voice echoes in Joonmyun’s head, subsequently doubling in volume in Hyemi’s own thoughts. “We have a very important task for him. We’ll keep him nice and safe. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for you, can we, Kim Joonmyun?”

“You’re supposed to be gone.” Joonmyun responds, voice raspy and strained, a bare susceptible tremor in his voice. “You were destroyed by…by my fri—”

“Soon, my dear boy, you'll learn that Gods cannot be destroyed.” Yeonma’s voice booms through the clearing, his monsters clamoring in their spots, teeth bared and tongues lolling as if they’re anticipating for the command to kill, quivering in their spots. “Not forever.”

And then the monster clamps his mouth shut, with a dull thud that echoes through the clearing.

Joonmyun flexes his fingers the instant the monsters charge forward, swaying in terrifying unison as they descend upon Joonmyun.

Hyemi has never felt so damn helpless before, trapped in Joonmyun’s consciousness as Joonmyun waves a hand, sending a wall of water crashing down on a dozen monsters, whipping them into the trees with a crash. Despite his best efforts, one of the monsters tear through his defenses, clawing at him with its scythe limbs, and Joonmyun screams, pain running through his body. Hyemi feels it then, a sickening crunch filling her ears as seething pain shoots up her side, warmth pooling.

Joonmyun doesn’t stop however, rolling over as he water whips the monster off him, determined as his eyes flicker upwards, towards the full moon shining in the sky, a faint pink color. Joonmyun looks back down, eyes darting from monster to monster, and she hears him recite a soft prayer.

(Hyemi’s never been one for believing in a higher power, since her father wasn’t very religious, and she’s genuinely surprised that Joonmyun does believe in some kind of God.)

“Forgive me.” Joonmyun mumbles, a frown tugging at the muscles of Hyemi’s face. “I swore I’d…I’d never do this again.”

Joonmyun’s movements turn rapid and sharp, then, his limbs still fluid as he sweeps his arms and legs in precise, graceful movements.

The monsters before Hyemi start to convulse, their dark jagged limbs twisting with each flick of Joonmyun’s fingers. Hyemi watches, in fascination and horror, as Joonmyun seemingly controls these monsters into turning on each other, limbs piercing through their own kinds heads, sometimes even repeatedly jabbing itself in the head or through where its heart should be. Hyemi watches as Joonmyun’s hands clench into fists and the remaining dozen of monsters curl in on themselves, horrible human-like screams piercing the quiet air, rain pouring all around them.

Hyemi tries to breathe, tries to remember that these are not people, these are monsters. But why do they sound like people?

Joonmyun makes them implode on themselves, dark blood splattering across the mud, soaking Joonmyun’s shoes.

One by one, Joonmyun wipes out the monsters, until he’s surrounding by blood and mud, rain washing him clean of blood.

Joonmyun exhales softly, gasping painfully.

Hyemi squeezes her eyes shut at the pain, the adrenaline subsiding until Hyemi can do nothing but become painfully aware of her injury. She hates the fact that she can still somehow feel the monsters screaming as they fall, soaking the dried dirt with their blood. It reminds her of the souls she could feel screaming around the Tree of Life, souls restless and haunting.

But those were people while these things are sure as hell not.

Joonmyun starts to move, turning in the clearing and Hyemi feels lightheaded at the sharp pain shooting up her side, blood pounding against her—

~.~.~.~.~

Hyemi blinks, her eyes opening.

She’s lying on a couch, but when she tries to sit up, she’s hit with an unbelievable ache in her side, liquid warmth pooling there and dripping down her side.

“Stop moving.” Baekhyun’s voice draws her attention and she notices him kneeling beside her, her shirt pushed up as he bandages her side. There’s blood all over his pretty hands, her blood.

Her gaze snaps past him, landing on a ragged looking Joonmyun sitting gingerly on a couch, his eyes flickering between Hyemi and Baekhyun before he glances at Zitao and Kris. “Fix him too.” Hyemi croaks out, pointing a finger.

Baekhyun ignores her, of course, hand pressing into her side and making her wince. “Shut up and lie back.” Baekhyun snaps in a gentle tone that completely offsets his rough words.

Joonmyun blinks, frowning. “I’m fine.” He says, dismissively.

“These are your damn injuries.” Hyemi snaps, angrily, groaning when she squirms and Baekhyun ends up pushing down too hard again, a gasp of discomfort leaving her lips. Baekhyun pats her knee, as if to soothe her. Finally, Baekhyun hands her a pill she gratefully swallows, her pain receding into a dull ache.

Joonmyun stares at her with alarm in his face. “My injuries?”

Kris looks just as confused as he raises an eyebrow at Hyemi.

“Whatever happens to me in a vision,” Hyemi sits up, noticing the fact that Baekhyun isn’t helping her sit up like he usually would, instead leaning back on his heels, eyes pointedly trained on Joonmyun. Hyemi looks between Zitao, Kris, and Joonmyun, “Happens to my actual body, too.”

Hyemi has to give Joonmyun credit, though. He doesn’t even look mildly perturbed by her words. Zitao, however, gives her a sympathetic grimace and Kris narrows his eyes, expression calculating. “You saw what happened, then.” Joonmyun states, expression thoughtful.

Hyemi nods, wincing when she moves, her pain flaring. “How can you stand this?” Hyemi mutters in disbelief, her eyes flickering down to his side.

Joonmyun just smiles, kindly, “I’ve built up an incredible tolerance for pain. Besides, I have some medic pills handy.”

“Why were you attacked?” Kris interrupts, his eyes locking with Joonmyun’s.

Joonmyun looks tired, then, his eyes a million miles away. “It’s the God of Death, Kris. He’s back.”

Kris doesn’t respond right away, an uncomfortable look in his eyes as he glances away.

Joonmyun frowns, slightly. “You knew?”

“Of course I did. I wouldn’t have asked for the girl otherwise.” Kris snaps, discomfort still clouding his eyes.

“I don’t know where Yixing and Sehun are.” Joonmyun glares then, eyes glinting darkly. Hyemi winces at the sight because she knows what Joonmyun can do now and she’s more than a little intimidated. “But he got Luhan.” Joonmyun all but growls.

Kris frowns, confused. “Why would he want Luhan?”

“I don’t know.” Joonmyun groans, ribbing his face tiredly, “But whatever the reason, it won’t be good. Luhan’s telekinesis has gotten stronger. He’s…whatever Death is planning with him won’t be good.”

“Then we get him back.” Another voice cuts in before Kris can respond. It’s curt and icy and Hyemi immediately looks up in recognition, her stomach flipping.

“Minseok.” Joonmyun murmurs, eyes softening despite their taciturn interactions in the dungeons when Hyemi had first met Joonmyun.

Minseok walks into the room, steps slow and deliberate. She can hear soft crackling with each step and when she looks closely, Hyemi spots thin sheets of ice spreading from his bare feet wherever he steps. He’s unstable, Hyemi realizes, shivering at the sudden draft of cold air, despite his calm demeanor, Minseok is upset.

“I was just heading over from the barracks to inform you that the commander along the outer villages left the King a message.” Minseok crosses his arms, his glinting, icy eyes turning on Kris.

Baekhyun is the one to ask the question, still kneeling beside the couch Hyemi’s half sitting up in. “What did they say?”

Minseok’s eyes slide from Baekhyun’s dark eyes, to Zitao’s, to Joonmyun’s, to Kris’s, finally coming to rest for a long moment on Hyemi before he returns to Kris. “The enemy has taken over the entire outer ring of the kingdom, stopping just at the Ash Forest before the wall. But the commander has noticed that they’ve stopped moving forward. They just seem to be growing in numbers and watching his troops, but they haven’t tried to push past the wall. It’s been a full week. They’re only attacking the outer cities and villages.”

Kris blinks, his eyebrows furrowing, “But why?”

It’s quiet for a long time, the sound of ice crackling in Hyemi’s ears. She watches Minseok clench and unclench his fists, warily.

Then Zitao unexpectedly breaks the silence. “They’re building an army out there.” Zitao says, voice quiet but sure.

Minseok nods, stiffly, “And Luhan’s power will be invaluable in keeping his army of monsters in control. Even the God of Death can lose control of his creatures. It’s happened before.”

Minseok clenches his fist again, splinters of ice falling from his knuckles and clinking against the ground, shattering only to gather at his bare feet, spreading slowly along the floor where Minseok stands.

For some reason, Hyemi can’t stop thinking about the monsters screaming, their voices eerily human. The one she had met in the clearing with Jongin and Sehun had been the same exact way when she had killed it.

Hyemi blinks, realization dawning on her then. She sits up, so suddenly she manages to catch the room’s attention. “How many people live out there, beyond the walls?”

Kris eyes her like her question is irrelevant, despite answering almost automatically. “The majority of our cities are beyond those walls. It’s easier for them to spread out. I’d say a little less than three quarters of the kingdom’s population resides beyond the walls. The rest live within the walls, mostly in Capital City.”

“Those…things. They… I don’t think Yeonma just makes them out of thin air.” Hyemi explains, haltingly, her mind fixed on one horrifying thought. “They are…were people.”

Kris blinks, “That’s impossible.”

“We’re literally facing the God of Death, Kris.” Hyemi frowns and points at Joonmyun. “He can control water. Nothing is impossible here.”

“That is normal here. Turning people into those things is not.” Kris bites back, eyes flaring at her sarcasm.

“You’re trying to say that the God of Death is turning these people into those things?” Joonmyun asks, interrupting Hyemi’s response, his frown deepening. “How?”

“I don’t think anyone wants to know the logistics of how.” Baekhyun mutters, his expression disgusted.

Hyemi nods in agreement, wrinkling her nose. She’s ninety-nine percent sure he kills them and then brings them back to life, what else would the God of Death do?

“The point is Zitao is right. He’s making an army out there and three quarters of the kingdom’s population is currently being recruited. He has Luhan.” Hyemi’s eyes wander to Minseok, who looks beyond pissed, eyes glinting frostily as he watches her speak, “Luhan’s telepathic. If Yeonma…if he manages to fully control Luhan…we’re ed. And once he has the tree, this planet isn’t the only one in danger.”

It’s quiet as everyone soaks in Hyemi’s words, contemplating her statements.

“I’m sure you’re all clamoring for some good news, then?” Jongin’s voice startles Hyemi. He appears in the midst of their group, grinning as he glances from face to face. “Thanks for inviting me to this meeting, by the way.” He adds, narrowing his eyes at Hyemi as if she’s at fault.

Hyemi frowns and a sly grin drips from Jongin’s lips. “I’ve managed to gather every Child of the Second Moon into the city. Probably missed a few, but I’ve recruited a lot more.”

He eyes them all seriously, then, his voice bouncing off the walls in a way that sends shivers up Hyemi’s spine, “They’re all willing to fight.”

Hyemi feels the tension in the air, the war looming over their heads, and her heart beats against her ribs.

Kris stares at Jongin, “Where’s Chanyeol?”

“Training them like you asked.” Jongin responds. Kris nods, slowly, eyes filling with deep thought.

“We need to find Luhan.” Minseok finally speaks up, tone final. Hyemi watches as a sheet of thin ice begins to slither up his forearms, crackling softly.

Kris opens his mouth, no doubt to refuse, when Joonmyun touches his arm, shaking his head. Kris blinks, pulling his arm out of Joonmyun’s grasp. “Don’t touch me.” Kris hisses, eyes narrowing into slits.

Hyemi stares between them, curious, while Baekhyun, Zitao, Jongin, and Minseok barely bat an eyelash at their animosity. Joonmyun ignores Kris’s reaction and speaks softly, “Minseok’s right. We need to get Luhan out of there. We can’t give the God of Death an advantage like that.”

Hyemi has an overwhelming feeling that Joonmyun is correct in his statement. She hears a soft humming in her head, thrumming against her eardrums, as Kris opens his mouth, ready to shoot Joonmyun’s suggestion down, no doubt.

No words leave his mouth, not when Hyemi’s suddenly pushed into another vision, her breath leaving her lungs as if she’s been pushed underwater.

It’s not a vision based in someone else’s past, she realizes that when she finds herself hovering over the crumpled, wilting Tree of Life, golden light glinting near a clump of leaves just above her head. She reaches above her, her arm a pale translucent color that she can see straight through. She touches the leaves, her fingers slipping through the leaves, and she gasps, watching as golden lights begin to flicker down the tree, creating a path of sorts that trails down the thick trunk and towards a single, protruding root, forging a path right out into the forest. Hyemi looks down at her bare feet, a pulse of energy making her toes tingle, and she has the sudden urge to follow the light. So she does.

Hyemi follows the trail of energy, warmth filling her translucent bones until she’s running through the forest, wind blowing through her hair. She feels like she’s moving faster than the trains she used to take with her father to get from her home to the doctor in Seoul, the colors around her blurring and smudging into one waving blob.

She lets out a laugh, the feeling of being so free making her feel giddy. She’s felt so trapped lately that this kind of freedom feels heavenly

She tears through the forest, plants in every color blurring by her, the dirt she’s running on soft against the soles of her feet.

And then she hits a fence, a wall of darkness that has her jerking to a halt, so fast her limbs feel like they’re being yanked off of her. She feels like she’s been yanked back by the collar, the momentum of her run tossing her into the ground hard, sprawling out on dead brown leaves and even deader, browner grass. Leaves tangle into her hair and she’s sure she’s just gotten a mouthful of dirt.

The golden trail continues down past the dark wall and she can see it trail off into the distance, leaving her behind in darkness.

Hyemi shivers, her fingers unconsciously clawing at her sides. Her fingers curl around soft fabric as she stares off in the distance, unsure what to do.

Baekhyun’s voice cuts into her thoughts, his voice distant and quiet, echoing in her ear. He sounds like he’s a million miles away. “What did you see?”

Hyemi feels darkness and death beyond where she stands stock-still. But that’s where the Tree wants her to go, she’s sure of it. “A trail.” She murmurs to him, hoping he hears her. She doubts he can; her tone is barely a whisper, her voice tremoring the tiniest bit at the cold sensation of dread running up and down her spine. “A trail through darkness.”

Hyemi takes a single step forward and is hit by a rotten smell, like burning flesh and she has to choke back the urge to vomit, her senses overwhelmed. “And death.” She adds, her hand pressed over her nose. “Great.” She adds, sarcastically.

She thinks she hears a small snicker, but there’s no one around her.

She can taste burning flesh on her tongue and tears spring to her eyes. It reminds her of destruction, of what she’s capable of if she puts her mind to it. One day, she could be the cause of carnage like this.

Hyemi closes her eyes and tries to concentrate, her mind continuously wandering.

Something tells her that she could get lost out here, in more ways than one, if she loses sight of the trail. But when she tries to turn around, the Tree bars her way, inviting golden leaves now caging her back, vines sprouting up and curling into leafy golden walls.

Hyemi’s fingers curl around the vines, tightening as she feebly tugs at the steadfast vines, and her heart beats so fast, she mistakes the sound for a bird’s wings.

The Tree doesn’t want her to turn back.

An image of a boy runs through her thoughts, then, like a message or an incentive for her to turn away from the golden vines, his wide doe eyes staring back at her kindly. “Luhan.” She whispers, surprised.

For some inexplicable reason, something tells her the path through the darkness will lead her to Luhan.

Hyemi groans, closing her eyes.

When she opens her eyes again, everyone in the room is staring at her. She’s sitting up, one of her hands Baekhyun’s shirt tightly. “Uh.” She blinks, glancing at each person, growing incredibly self-conscious at their stares. She can feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment at the extra attention. “Hi?”

Jongin snorts, then, sighing as he falls back on the couch beside Joonmyun. Minseok makes an unamused face.

“I guess my orders don’t matter, then.” Kris says, exasperated. Joonmyun throws Kris an even more exasperated look.

Hyemi looks over at Baekhyun, who glances between her face and the hand she has curled against his chest. Hyemi thinks she should let go, because she sure as hell doesn’t need him for any kind of reassurance. But she doesn’t let go, her eyes searching his face. (She does need his reassurance, despite everything she said earlier.)

“Did I say something out loud?” She asks, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Baekhyun nods, eyes lingering on her face for much too long, dark gaze incredibly intense.

Her cheeks heat up and she blinks, rapidly. Hyemi blushes, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “This is getting ridiculous.” She mumbles.

Baekhyun’s lips quirk up into an amused smile of his own, which never quite reaches his eyes. He looks at her with the blankest of eyes and it makes her stomach churn.

Hyemi doesn’t bother letting go of him, though, finding comfort in knowing he’s actually there and real (when so many of the things she’s beginning to see is not), his blank gaze flickering down to her hand, a flicker of something she can’t quite place crossing his face.

~.~.~.~.~

They make plans to leave two days later, so Joonmyun (and, subsequently, Hyemi), have enough time to heal before Baekhyun, Hyemi, Joonmyun, and Minseok head off beyond the walls.

(Jongin opts to train the army of Second Moon Children stating that’d he’d be more valuable by Chanyeol’s side.)

Minseok’s so restless and upset that the aura around him is nothing but freezing temperatures and slick ice, slivers of thin ice shattering and reforming on his face whenever he moves or talks, tinkling as they hit the ground.

Jongin keeps him company, no doubt disappearing to the training grounds so Minseok can let off some steam.

A few hours after Joonmyun had shown up at Kris’s doorstep, Sehun arrives, a few shallow cuts running across his face but otherwise alright.

Hyemi looks Sehun in the eye when he stumbles in, his frantic eyes subsiding when he spots Joonmyun over Kris’s shoulder, the wild gusts of wind sweeping the room quickly coming to a halt.

Sehun does not come with a horrifying vision and Hyemi is so relieved that she could cry.

(Hyemi doesn’t think she’s mentally prepared for another horrifying vision filled with screaming or Yeonma’s echoing voice.)

Sehun blinks multiple times, his eyes lingering on Hyemi while Joonmyun and Kris explain what they had all discovered the night before.

Sehun blinks, eyes flickering between Joonmyun and Hyemi. Then his eyes drop to his lap before they return to Joonmyun, determination coloring his soft features. “I’ll go with them instead.”

Joonmyun blinks, frown wrinkling his handsome, kind features. “Sehun, don’t be rash.”

“You can’t go with them.” Sehun shakes his head and crosses his arms. “You need to stay here with…”

Sehun glances at Kris and Joonmyun sighs while Kris glares.

“If anyone can make an evacuation plan and keep the rest of the kingdom safe, it’s you.” Sehun states, wholeheartedly, a genuine little smile on his lips.

Joonmyun actually blushes at the compliment, mumbling a quiet, “You’re just kissing up so I’ll approve of this.”

“Of course.” Sehun grins and reminds Hyemi eerily of Jongin’s sly little grins.

“That’s a little insulting, seeing as the future King is standing right here, Oh.” Kris interrupts, the scowl on his face almost humorous in its irritation. Sehun snorts at Kris and Kris fumes, scowl deepening when Zitao hides a poorly concealed laugh with a fake coughing fit. “ing brats.” Kris throws Sehun and Zitao a grimace, crossing his arms, his deep red robes flurrying all around him. “I should get you both flogged in public or something for always bothering me.”

“Fine.” Joonmyun intervenes before Sehun can say something worse, Zitao rolling his eyes beside Kris. “You go in my place.”

Joonmyun’s looks over Sehun’s shoulder, locking eyes with Hyemi. Hyemi can see the slight pleading look in his eyes, the gentle please hanging unsaid between them. Joonmyun’s eyes flicker over Hyemi’s shoulder and she glances back. Baekhyun’s at her side, a short distance separating the two of them, and Hyemi watches as he subtly nods.

Only later that night, after everyone’s separated and Hyemi’s lying in bed in the dark, does Hyemi realize what that look from Joonmyun had meant. Take care of him.

Hyemi feels a weight drop on her chest at that and she tosses in her bed, eventually throwing the covers off.

Her vision begins to swim and Hyemi stumbles out of bed, yanking the door open with shaky fingers.

She sees a series of images, all interspersed between images of the dark hallway she’s standing in. Her head spins and she tries to breathe, but she can’t.

She sees an image of a sleek black casket, a star shaped white symbol etched onto the top, spread across the center like a marker. Then her vision warps back to the present, her bare legs and rough wood floors. Next, she sees a building turned to ash, a familiar lanky limbed boy sobbing into his hands, giant ears poking out from beneath the fringe of his hair. Her vision morphs back into a familiar door, her fingers pressed against the smooth wood, fists curling. Her vision swims and she sees that same grave Amber had shown her, fresh flowers scattered across the freshly dug dirt. Her own fists come into view, knocking weakly at the door. She sees red, a beautiful crimson red, all-encompassing and paralyzing in how close it is to her. And then she’s watching as the door swings open and she's gasping, her eyes roaming up, up, up until she settles on Baekhyun’s face, his brow curled with concern but his eyes blank. Finally, her vision morphs into a hooded figure, standing stock still in front of her, her body immobile despite how hard she tries to surge forward. The hooded figure steps forward, movement hesitant, before she hears a voice.

Then she’s pushed out of her vision, resurfacing back to what she can only hope is reality, her eyes swimming and her head spinning.

“Baek.” She gasps, reaching for him. She’s shaking, her fingers grasping for some kind of reassurance that she’s really back in reality and not lost in a vision.

He reaches out and clutches her fingers, his grip so steady, anchoring her back into reality.

She opens to say something, anything, but nothing comes out. She just feels like she’s choking on her own words, her fingers clenching and unclenching around his limp, pretty fingers.

“Baekhyun.” She tries again, her tone soft, needier than she’d ever like to admit.

Baekhyun looks at her then, all steely eyed and careful and guarded, and Hyemi finds herself drawn in by his intensity.

“You don’t want to need me anymore, right?” Baekhyun asks, tone concise and factual, cold.

Hyemi blinks rapidly, her hands unconsciously wrapping around his. He doesn’t return the favor, his grip steady yet completely unyielding. Hyemi nods, slowly, because that’s exactly how she feels. She doesn’t want to need him anymore.

(Because she knows she’s in too deep. She needs him much more than she ever wants to admit aloud.)

He leans close, then, so close she can feel his breath on her cheek. He looks her right in the eyes as he speaks, gaze unwavering. She finds some sort of comfort in his steadiness, her jumbled mind finally managing to piece back together. He pulls his fingers out of her grasp, disappointment coursing through her at the lack of contact, and one of his hands dances up the side of her neck, along her jaw, fingers feather-light as he gently brushes her messy hair out of her eyes. His chocolate brown eyes move back and forth between hers, searching.

“You want me to stop making you need me, right?” Baekhyun asks, the rough pad of his thumb brushing along the line of her jaw. She shudders at his touch, at the way his intense gaze follows the movement of his thumb, watching the way his thumb trails its way to the corner of , flicking ever-so-slightly at her bottom lip. Hyemi unconsciously opens , her eyes transfixed on the planes of his face, the tic of his clenched jaw, and the way his fringe brushes at his eyes. His other hand cups the back of her neck, resting at the nape of her neck carefully, grip gentle but heavy, as if to remind her that he’s there, fully and completely there.

His touch reminds her of the time he kissed her, his touch soothing and gentle, trailing over the planes of her face as if she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. This time, there’s an edge to his touch. His words are like double-edged swords, reminding her of the things she had said to him, in the heat of the moment.

His thumb presses into her bottom lip and she watches as his pupils dilate, his eyes fixed on Hyemi’s lips. Hyemi gets an awful urge to on his fingers and watch as his pupils dilate even more, his eyes growing hooded. But she doesn’t. She just watches him watch his fingers trail down and trace the outline of her lips, the planes of her face, the line of her jaw, as his lips hover over her face, his eyes never quite focusing in one place.

Until his eyes snap up to lock with hers and he breathes out a soft, “I asked you a question.” His breath fans her face and she shudders at how close he is, the pit of her stomach prickling uneasily.

She mulls over his words before she whispers a soft, “Yes.”

There’s no point in lying, she had said exactly that to him not so long ago. He looks down at her, his hand stilling on her cheek, and he smiles. It’s neither soft nor sweet, but it’s not quite angry either. It’s blank, steely.

He pulls away, pushing her back as he untangles his fingers from her hair. She tries to catch her breath and he watches her heave, his gaze still unwavering. “Then stop coming to me when things become too much for you.” Baekhyun’s tone is sharp and Hyemi can’t help but flinch at the sudden shift. “Unless you really want me to show you what making you need me feels like.”

His tone is full of malice and before she can respond, dropping open in shock he slams the door in her face so hard Hyemi flinches.

Hyemi stares and stares and stares at his door, half-hoping he’ll eventually open it back up and try to apologize.

Except he doesn’t. She knows he won't.

She crawls back into her bed without another word and feels completely guilty at the fact that she had brushed him off, when he had admitted that he was the one who needed her, instead throwing his kindness back in his face.

Hyemi stares at the ceiling and makes a face, her heart twisting in her chest. She may be stubborn but she knows when she’s ed up. She knows when she’s hurt someone’s feelings.

Hyemi sighs into her pillow, the guilt absolutely devouring her.

---

a/n: Thank you so much to everyone who has commented and subcribed!! I love you all!!! Please let me know what you think below. I hope this wasn't confusing. It's weird writing her go back and forth between reality and visions and I feel like it could get really confusing :/ but now that we're entering this adventure part of the story a whole lot of answers are going to come and I hope to clear a lot of confusion and plot stuff tbh it's gonna be exciting (plus more concise world building!!! yay!!)

xoxo