She climbed into the car and Jia floored it all the back to her place, not asking any questions, until they got there. Jia tossed her keys on the table and went through her closet for some extra towels, blankets and necessities.  

“Take a shower first, we can talk about it after.” Jia told her, taking her bag and tossing it in the living room. She didn’t have a guest room, but she had a pullout couch and Eunhee could work with that. 

Eunhee nodded, going to the solitude of the shower to collect herself. She had never gotten that upset with Jinyoung before. He had always been on her side, showing her kindness when no one else would. 

But he had never tried to keep her caged up, that was the one thing she could and would never tolerate. Her mother had told her many stories of the past, of their kind being used by humans.  

She would never be downgraded to that ever again. She frowned to herself, but was she reasonable when she got that upset with Jinyoung? He had just told her people were out killing her kind. 

He was probably just worried, but if people were killing her kind, then he had known for a long time. He just never told her, he was always doing that, keeping secrets for her safety. She stood a bit longer under the warm water, thinking about why her kind would be hunted and why Jinyoung would be so worried about her. 

She toweled dry and changed, where she found Jia waiting with the couch already pulled out for her. “So, what happened?” She asked, getting straight to the point.  

“It’s not Daeryong, just so you know.” Eunhee clarified quickly, sitting down on the couch beside her. 

“Okay, then what happened?” Jia asked her again. Not really having the patience to ask a third time if she could help it. 

Eunhee sighed, “My home for the past 10 years has been with the King and Prince of the Fae. Today, I left.” She stated simply, there was so much more to it than that. But she could go into more detail later.  

"Did something happen with Daeryong?" Jia asked her, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. 

Eunhee looked down at her hands nervously, "Yeah.. kinda.." She started, "I think we are a thing now."  

Jia laughed loudly, "You think?" She said between bursts of laughter. "That probably means you are. He doesn't seem like the type to half something." She laughed again. 

"Yeah.. well I said yes but I still don't know what's going on with him and Soyeon though." Eunhee said pointedly, "So I'm not sure if this is going to be a long term thing or not."  

Jia rolled her eyes at her, "You're an Elemental. A powerful one at that, you don't think you could persuade his father to let you stay with him?" She challenged. 

Eunhee frowned at her, it was like Jia just knew how to get under her skin, she had no doubt about her Charisma. She enrolled herself in school with it, avoided every Parent-Teacher conference, signed every form with it. She knew she could. 

But it was out of guilt that she wouldn't, the idea of tricking Daeryong's father made her worried sick. Having to continuously put up the Charisma to remind him it was his choice, his idea to change his mind. 

Jia's twinkling laugh interrupted her train of thought, "At least you've been raised right." She said.  

Eunhee looked at her, confused but Jia didn't elaborate further. "Oh, there was also something else they told me, Elementals are being killed." She said.  

Jia turned serious all of a sudden, "Yes, we are. We are being hunted." She confirmed.  

"Why?" Eunhee asked her, “No one’s told me anything.” She said, her tone coming out harsher than she actually meant it to be. 

Jia sighed and nodded, “There’s a new dead Elemental every day, our souls drained, bodies left discarded like trash.” She started to explain. 

Eunhee clenched and unclenched her fists to try and keep her emotions in check, Jia’s apartment was convenient in the sense that she could conjure fire without the smoke alarms going off. 

But she had too much pent-up emotions to be safe right now, she could probably blow the building up if she wasn't careful.  

"What. Why? How? Why would they take our souls?" Eunhee asked in a flurry. There was yet another reason why it was so difficult for her to exist in this world? She would have to hide for forever, if she was going to make sure this thing didn't find her. 

"They use it for energy. There is a legend that our souls can give the power to remove spirits of anyone, the fifth element. Control of spirit is impossible without sacrifice, with enough of our souls, one can give and take spirits from any living being on the planet.” Jia continued to explain, "I know it's a lot of process, but I'm here to protect you." 

Eunhee sighed, nodding her head, "I gotta do some things but can we go to bed?" She asked. 

Jia nodded, knowing what was wrong, she moved to her own bedroom and left Eunhee alone in the living room. 

She flicked her fingers over and over again, fire, then water, the pattern consistent as she just spent up her extra energy.  

When she was tired out enough again, she set up the pillow and laid down, immediately falling asleep. 

~ 

Daeryong headed home, a little too excited but nonetheless, Soryong and his father were still awake. He rushed into the house, exclaiming his arrival but also his happiness.  

"Something good happen?" Soryong asked him, a knowing smile already on his lips. 

"You could say that." Daeryong said excitedly. "But that's news for another time."  

"How's Soyeon?" His father asked him, "The same as ever?"  

Daeryong groaned, "Yes, she's really driving me crazy actually. Sometimes I wonder if she actually likes me or not." He said exasperatedly. 

His father nodded as well, sighing sadly, "I'm sorry that it came to this. The board simply overthrew my decision to allow you to marry by choice." He told him. 

Daeryong shook his head, "I know, it's okay, Father. If it ends up being that way, I won't harm the company." He assured him.  

"Thank you, my son. I have a meeting early in the morning to discuss future prospects, good night." He said, leaving the room to the twins. 

As soon as their father was out of hearing range, Soryong nudged his brother, "So what's the good news?" He asked him. 

Daeryong's grin practically spilled the news for him, "She said yes, she's all mine now, god it feels so good to say that aloud." He led out a happy sigh, tapping his cheeks. They hurt slightly from smiling too much.  

“What are you going to do about Soyeon?” Soryong asked, not wanting to ruin the bubble but he had to make sure Daeryong figured something out. 

“I’ll figure it out soon, until then Eunhee is mine.” Daeryong said, not letting Soryong get him down. “Besides, tomorrow is a new school day. I get to show her off tomorrow.”  

“I’ve never seen you so excited.” Soryong laughed, cleaning up his things and walking out of the kitchen.  

“I don’t know, she’s just..” Daeryong sighed happily unable to finish his sentence without going on and on and on.  

Soryong laughed again, “Good night, Daeryong. You’ll probably have sweet dreams.” He said, walking into his room. 

Daeryong chuckled, “You bet I will.”  

Author's Note;;
YUP. And then it begins~