Book 3: One

Ultimate Balance
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

The journey to the city where the Ultimate was supposedly residing was quick and uneventful. The rest they had received was less than enough, however, and so the lot of them searched through the roads tired, restless, and hungry.

"Hwajae do you want to eat something?" Mira asked after catching him gaze rather fondly at the rack of cotton candy displayed on the inside of a candy store.

Hwajae paused for a few seconds before finally shaking his head. He tore his gaze away from the window and smiled up at her, "No."

Mira frowned and glanced at the fluffy sweets, "Are you sure? I can buy some for you."

Instead of answering, Hwajae tugged at her hand and began to drag her after the other boys who hadn't noticed their brief stop.

"Hwajae," Mira called his name disapprovingly after they had continued to walk on for a few minutes.

Hwajae flinched at her tone and glanced up at her cautiously.

"You trust me, right, Hwajae?" Mira frowned as she folded her arms across her chest.

Hwajae nodded his head without any hesitation, "Yes."

Mira's face softened and she reached down to gently ruffle the front of his hair, "Then next time I'll trust you to be honest with me, and tell me when you want something, okay?"

Hwajae bit down on his bottom lip and glanced sheepishly up at her. He paused for a few moments but eventually nodded his head shyly, "Okay."

"Here," Baekhyun’s voice suddenly piped up from behind them.

The pair of them turned around to be met with two large fluffs of cotton candy. Hwajae's eyes brightened at the sight of the treat, but he immediately forced an uninterested expression on his face. He absolutely refused to give anybody except for Mira and to some extent, Haiku, the satisfaction of knowing he accepted the group of unknown boys.

Baekhyun held out one of the cones with a blank expression on his face, “You wanted it, didn’t you?”

Hwajae glanced up at Mira for approval, and when she nodded her head he hesitantly reached out to take the sugary treat away from Baekhyun.

"What do you say to Baekhyun?" Mira asked with an arched eyebrow.

Hwajae froze momentarily and grimaced at the thought. He stared down at his candy as if contemplating whether it would be worth it or not before finally uttering a mumbled, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Baekhyun cracked a grin, resisting the urge to reach out and dishevel the youngers hair; Hwajae surely wouldn't be happy with that. He watched as Hwajae took a cautious bite out of the candy, and chuckled under his breath when the younger struggled to conceal his expression of delight.

"Hyung!" Sehun whined after catching a glimpse at the treat that was now in Hwajae's hands. "You didn't get me one?"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and held out the other stalk to Sehun, "Here, you oversized child."

Sehun snatched the candy eagerly away from Baekhyun and practically ripped apart the plastic covering, "Thanks Hyung, you're the best!"

"Smart move," Jongin nodded his head approvingly. "Getting on the good side of all the Ultimates now are you?"

"Believe it or not, some people can actually do things without ulterior motives, Jongin," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

"Noona," Hwajae called out, holding out a tuff of his cotton candy when she glanced down at him. "Eat."

Mira's expression softened and she gratefully accepted the sugary portion, "Thank you, Hwajae."

Hwajae beamed at the praise he received before stuffing another fluff of sugary cotton into his mouth, humming with satisfaction.

"Now where do you think the Ultimate is?" Suho asked as he glanced around the market grounds. There were hundreds of people streaming through the side streets, and it would be rather complicated to find the correct person.

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Jongin shrugged, ignoring Sehun’s cry of protest when he stole some of the other’s cotton candy.

"Can you sense him anywhere?" Mira asked Hwajae as he fed her another bit of his cotton candy.

He shook his head, more focused on enjoying the treat than searching for the other Ultimate.

"What about you Mira? Do you feel anything?" Baekhyun asked as he glanced at the said girl.

Mira paused for a few seconds in attempts to sense anything, but eventually shook her head, "There are too many people here to sense anything. When I think I do, it fades away a second later."

Jongin heaved a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, "Where the hell are we going to find this damn Ulti-" 

"He's here! The Ultimate of water is here!" A shrill female voice cut across the air. The sound of stampeding feet pounded across the ground, and Mira's head shot towards the mob that was running in their direction. She and Hwajae were immediately pulled to safety by Haiku, and the group of them watched as the women continued to run down the street, disappearing once they turned the corner. 

"My cotton candy," Hwajae pouted as he stared at the blue treat that laid flattened across the middle of the road.

"Well," Chanyeol added weakly as he smoothed down his hair that had gone flying from the commotion. “I think we found him."

"They said the Ultimate of water, right?" Suho asked as he glanced at the others for confirmation. He turned to Mira, "Is it normal for so many people to know who the Ultimate is?"

Mira shrugged her shoulders, "I've been on an abandoned island for nearly my entire life, remember?"

"Do you think that guy's the real deal?" Haiku asked as he scratched the back of his head. "Cause it seems a little fishy to me."

"It's the only lead we have now, so it's worth a shot," Suho nodded his head. "Even if he isn't the ultimate, maybe he knows where the real one is."

"Lets head over there," Barkhyun agreed. He glanced at Hwajae who was still staring sadly at the ruined treat, "I'll buy you another one later, okay?"

Hwajae stiffened and turned his head, "No one asked." He let out a whine when Mira knocked him on the back of his head with her knuckles. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly, "Hwajae, don't be ru-" 

Mira abruptly cut off her words when a sudden shock shot down her spine. Her head snapped around, and her eyes scanned the road to find the cause of the sudden feeling. The road was nearly empty now that a majority of the citizens had rushed to see the so called "Ultimate". She zeroed in on the man who was walking down the street laughing loudly with his arms wrapped around the shoulders of two different girls.

"Mira what's wrong?" Baekhyun frowned as he followed her gaze over to the said man.

"Him," Mira nodded as she trained her eyes on the man who was completely oblivious to her gaze.

"He's the Ultimate? You're sure of it right?" Chanyeol asked with wide eyes.

Mira paused for a few seconds before shaking her head, “No, I’m not, but he feels… different. He feels kind of like Hwajae, but not really. Anyways, there’s only one way to find out if he really is or not.” She began to make her way over to him, ignoring the cries of protest from the others.

"Hey," Mira called out as she stepped in front of him.

The man looked up at her with brief surprise, but his expression immediately melted into a charming smile. "Do you need some help pretty lady?"

Mira stared at him for a few seconds in silence, focusing on his presence to confirm that he was an Ultimate. Even at a close range she couldn’t quite tell, but she knew there was something funny with the aura he gave off.

”Come with me," Mira demanded with folded arms.

The boys behind her heaved sighs at her bluntness.

The man looked momentarily taken aback before he arched an eyebrow of interest, "Don't you think you're moving pretty fast? You should at least bring me out for dinner before you try to take me home."

"Back off shrimp, Minhwa's ours for today," one of the females, who Mira had already forgotten about, snarled as she wrapped her arm around his waist protectively.

Mira's eye twitched in annoyance, and she resisted the urge to use her magic on the annoying females. "Don't meddle in business that is not relevant to you, human," Mira stated as she tossed an indifferent look to the woman.

"Sorry for her bluntness," Suho apologized, stepping forward when the woman looked as if she wanted to hit Mira. Baekhyun quickly tucked Mira safely behind him just to be careful. Suho smiled brightly up at the trio. "What she means is that we have to talk to you for a few minutes in private."

Minhwa’s eyes narrowed at Suho with disinterest and he let out a low scoff, "I'm not int

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
littlebaek7 #1
Chapter 15: Came back to reread this story! This is one of my fav ff :)
gogogirl26 #2
Chapter 22: This reallly good story.. with strong female charachters. And the adventure and mystery is perfect...
-hypnotized
#3
Chapter 22: Really love this story! Hope you’ll update it soon xoxo
Devon12345
#4
Chapter 22: update more please :)
lilyexobts
#5
Chapter 4: Cool
PunkRock123 #6
Chapter 22: Mira so baddass!! I like it!! Lolololol. I dont know if you're going to update this story again when its been over a year, but you should know that your fic is a great one! And i'll more than happy if you happen to update it somewhere in the future ^^
Macire #7
Chapter 22: Omg this is so good! And a different spin on what I thought this was gonna be like! I cannot wait to see why happens next
Joker_ #8
Chapter 22: Heyyyy author-nim can you give us updates if you’re continueing the story??
JinChannie
#9
Chapter 22: aww man. I was curious to how this story would go
Ooglay #10
Chapter 22: LOL "little squirts of water" hahaha how to belittle another ultimate xD but damn... things are picking up again! literally on the edge of my bed while reading