CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Unexpected Return

THAT SUNDAY MORNING had brought with it such a pleasant weather that made birds chirp merrily from tree branches and the dews from last night clinging on green leaves glimmer prettily.

Haeyoon’s eyes fluttered open as gentle beams of sunlight danced gracefully on her face. Yesterday’s incident was deemed to be forgotten just like one’s bad dream. Dwelling on it won’t do her any good and she decided to gather herself to fulfill a promise she made to Minseok. She smiled at the thought; surely Joonmyeon and the others would be so glad to see their brother.

It was quarter to nine in the morning when she emerged from her room, all fresh and washed up, and she went down to find Yoongi browsing through the channels for something good to watch as he sprawled across the settee.

She opened to greet her brother but it seemed like her presence on the living room’s threshold was enough to alert him and he sprung up with a mixture of worry and surprise plastered on his pale face.

“Haeyoonie,” he spoke as if he can’t believe that she really was there and standing in front of him. He had been so worried about her that he was checking on his sister every now and then to see if she was up or not. “How are you…feeling?”

The smile that made its way on her lips was enough to untie the tight painful knot in Yoongi’s heart and before the girl could even respond, he crossed the room to pull her in a hug.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, smiling against the fabric of his cotton shirt. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

He heaved a sigh of relief before pulling away to hold her in arms length away. “You hungry?” he asked. “There are pancakes and bacons.”

Haeyoon’s eyebrows rose in amusement, giving him a playfully doubtful look. “You cooked?”

Rolling his eyes, he ruffled his sister’s hair. “It would be the lie of the year if I said I did. Jin made it.” He started pulling her towards the kitchen.

“Jin’s here?” she asked and her brows furrowed when she saw no one in the kitchen. Then upon realizing that she hasn’t seen Jungkook yet, she felt slightly worried because the kid is always an early riser. “Is Jungkook still asleep?”

Yoongi made her sit on one of the high stools as he grabbed a plate and a stack of pancakes. He placed it in front of her with a fork and a glass of orange juice from the carton sitting inside the fridge.

“The whole gang was here,” he told her as he perched himself on the seat from the other side of the pristine marble kitchen island. “They left at eight. We’re supposed to hang-out at the park and go skateboarding but since I can’t possibly leave you here alone, they took Jungkook instead.”

The silver fork stopped half-way to , the piece of pancake hovering close to her lips. “They took Jungkook?” There was a tone of disbelief in her voice. “But it’s the first time they’re meeting each other. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Yoongi chortled. “Well, when they came here so early in the morning, I thought that they would go berserk once they see the kid, but Taehyung must’ve given them a heads up because they were pretty much calm about everything.”

“Really?” she asked in between mouthful of pancakes. She realized how famished she was when the delightful food invaded her taste buds. “That’s a relief.”

“That kid has a way to warming people up,” Yoongi said as he watched her eat with a fond smile on his lips. “I was surprised when Jimin took an immediate liking to him.”

“Well, I wouldn’t find it much of a surprise because Kookie is such an adorable sweet kid,” she said after swallowing another piece of pancake and gulping half the glass of her juice. The twinkle on her eyes as he thought about the young boy tickled Yoongi’s interest. 

He narrowed his eyes at Haeyoon and was about to ask her a question when they heard a sudden noise from somewhere inside the house. They both held their breaths, eyes going wide as they strained their ears to listen carefully.

There was a loud thud, like something heavy falling on the wooden floor then there was the sound of drawers being hastily pulled out. Panic flooded their systems but neither of them showed it.

“What was that?” Haeyoon whispered in a shaky voice, her eyes darting pass the arced entrance of the kitchen.

“I don’t know,” Yoongi answered, voice deeper than usual. He hopped off the stool and stealthily treaded across the kitchen floor with Haeyoon close on his heels. “Stay behind me, okay?” He told her in a quiet voice as they cautiously crept towards the source of the noise.

Haeyoon swallowed hard, suddenly dry and scratchy. Familiar fear crawled under her skin and her heart started hammering against her chest. Someone had snuck into their house and she could only think of it being a robber. Her trembling hands unconsciously clutched themselves on the back if Yoongi’s shirt for she was so worried that the burglar might hurt them the moment he realized that he had been compromised in the middle of his act.

“Yoongi, shouldn’t we call the police now?” she hissed at her brother.

“It’s here,” he announced under his breath, loud enough for Haeyoon to hear his words. His muscles were tensed and his jaw was taut as he gritted his teeth.

Words were stuck in when she realized that they halted in front if their father’s study. The noises were definitely coming in the said room because the shuffling of footsteps got louder, just like Haeyoon’s heartbeat. It hadn’t been opened in while and she wondered what the thief must have wanted in there. Aside from their family’s collection of books and some case files that their father had been keeping, there are no valuable things in there. No gadget, no appliances and definitely no jewelry nor money.

Yoongi carefully pulled out the baseball bat resting along some colorful umbrellas on a waist-high vase situated against the wall beside the door of the study. Their father had kept it there incase of emergencies and the boy found it extremely convenient and useful at their current situation.

“I’m going to open it now,” he whispered, cold clammy hand hovering above the door knob. He took a deep breath to brace himself before twisting the knob and slamming the door open.

With his bat raised in the air, he was prepared to attack the invader but everything seemed to freeze in place when they saw who the person was.

“Dad?” Haeyoon’s jaw hung open, eyes popping out of their socket, when they saw their father rummaging through a drawer, books and papers messily strewn all over the floor.

Yoongi blinked rapidly, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t dreaming. He lowered his weapon, all the while thinking how in the world their father appeared in his study without them knowing. And why did he look…so weird?

“Dad?” he muttered in bewilderment. He was sure that their father was truly in front of them and it wasn’t just his eyes playing tricks on him because Haeyoon saw him, too, but the man’s appearance sent him into a spiral of confusion. His brain stuttered and words are failing him. “W-what’s…happening?”

Their father looked like he was projected into the room, like a hologram. They can see through his body as if he was a ghost or something. The way his outline glowed with bright white light and flickered like a dying light bulb summoned goose-bumps into their skin and they stood there with eyes wide in disbelief. It was akin to watching a person through a television with very, very poor reception.

“Yoongi, Haeyoon,” Jaeyoon said in a hushed tone, as he, too, halted in his adamant search. His eyes reflected longing, relief and a bit of sadness as he stared at them. After a few seconds of unspoken-question filled silence, their father resumed his frantic searching.

“What’s happening, dad?” Haeyoon echoed her brother’s question, trying hard to keep the panic out of her voice, as she walked towards the man. “And where’s mom?”

“I can’t explain, right now,” the man replied in a rush, hands working hard to dig onto some drawer full of old files and other objects. “I don’t have much time left.”

Like Haeyoon, Yoongi’s brow furrowed. “What’re you talking about? What’s happening?” he demanded. “How’d you got in here, dad?”

“I used my magic,” he answered amidst he’s frantic searching around the room. “Or spirit—in our real world.”

The siblings exchanged shocked glances. “Magic?” they blurted in unison as they shot their father a disbelieving look.

Jaeyoon let out a humorless chuckle. “I would’ve loved to explain things to you but I don’t have much time left.” He chanced a mysterious glance at them. “But to make the story short, we are sorcerers.”

To say that they were astonished was an understatement. They wanted to ask their father so many questions but they don’t know where to start.

“How…?” was all Yoongi can manage, dumbly trailing off for he don’t know the right question to ask.

Haeyoon, on the other hand, was reeling with what their father had unceremoniously dropped on them like hot potato. She was stunned into silence as what Joonmyeon, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo said to her about her not being a human but a sorcerer like them surfaced in her mind.

‘They were right,’ she thought, taking deep ragged breaths to control her emotions. ‘I’m no ordinary human.’

“Yoongi,” Jaeyoon’s deep voice caught both of the siblings’ attention. He turned away from the bookshelves and towards the boy while the flickering of his image worsened like he would disappear anytime soon. “Come here, my son,” he motioned towards Yoongi as he leaned against the mahogany table for support. Haeyoon noticed how his breathing became labored. “My projection can’t last much longer.”

“Dad,” Yoongi trailed off, his tone confused and almost pleading. “Please, just tell us what’s happening.”

Their father smiled ruefully before reaching out a hand and pressing it flat on Yoongi’s forehead. “I am now removing the seal that we’ve put on you since you were young.” He took a deep trembling breath. “I am returning what is yours for I am sure that you’ll be needing it from this point onwards.”

Blinding white beams emerged from Jaeyoon’s palm as he closed his eyes. Brightness exploded throughout the room as everything went completely still for a few seconds, before it retracted back quickly and concentrated on Yoongi’s forehead.

“What the…” the boy breathed, feeling the inexplicable warmth spread from his forehead towards every fiber of his being. His body tingled as he inhaled and exhaled through his mouth. The pleasant burning sensation settled on the pit of his stomach and he never felt so strong before. Lifting a hand in front of his face, he can feel the strange surge energy that seemed to flow on his very veins.

“You are now officially a Gieldan, my son,” Jaeyoon spoke, making his son look up at him.

Before Yoongi could question him, the man walked towards Haeyoon and held out a shiny black wooden box about the size of two palms. He was flickering more erratically now.

“What’s this, dad?” Haeyoon was still quite in a daze and she was having a hard time comprehending all the things that was happening right before her.

“It will answer all your questions,” he rasped and it was painfully obvious that he was barely holding on. “Find Kim Myungsoo and show him the thing inside that box. He’ll help you.”

“Dad, I—I don’t understand anything!” she started panicking when she saw how the edges of his image started disappearing. “Where’s mom? Where are you going?”

“Find him and the Guardians,” he told her, desperation lacing his tone. “You are the only one who can save us all.”

Her eyes shook in dread, she can’t understand anything. “Why? Tell me what’s happening, dad, please!”

“Everything will be revealed on the day of your birth and what’s rightfully yours will be returned,” he told her cryptically before turning to her brother. Jaeyoon’s image was close to completely vanishing. “Yoongi, I need you to protect her.”

“Dad, you’re disappearing,” Yoongi pointed out. He was sporting the same horrified look as his sister.

“I can’t hold out much longer, I’ve used too much of my power,” he was heaving now. “This is the least I can do to help you accomplish your mission.”

“Mission?” Haeyoon was flustered, hands gripping tight on the box.

“Remember to never trust the Oraculum,” the man looked straight into Haeyoon’s eyes before uttering the last words that confused her the most. “Your Highness.”

Yoongi and Haeyoon were left dumbstruck when their father completely vanished right before their very eyes.

The room was plunge into a deafening silence as the siblings stared at the spot where their father had disappeared.

“What in the world just happened?” Yoongi spoke, running a frustrated hand down his face. His mind was swirling in utter bafflement, refusing to accept his father’s words. He knew how crazy everything sounded but he also knew that no matter how insane it was—it was also the truth. The change he felt within him, the sheer power that seemed to fill him up, was proof enough that what their father had told them was anything but a lie.

“They are right,” Haeyoon blurted more to herself than to her companion. Saying the words out loud seemed to solidify the fact that she was indeed no ordinary human just like what the Guardians had predicted. There are no reasons for her to deny the truth now that their father, himself, told them what they truly are.

Her head was throbbing with so many unanswered questions but one thing was clear to her now.

She’s a sorcerer.

“What do you mean ‘They are right’?” Yoongi’s eyebrows were pinched together.

The girl took a deep breath before facing her brother. “The Guardians, they are right all along.”

“The…Guardians?” Yoongi looked at his sister with narrowed eyes that soon morphed into wide realization-struck eyes. “You mean…”

“Yes, I met them, Yoongi,” she told him in a firm voice. “And I think it’s time you meet them, too.”

RESTLESSNESS WAS ALL Yoongi could feel the moment they stepped inside their aunt’s café and Haeyoon could tell it by the constant way he’s running his hand through his brown locks.

“Yoongi, relax,” she told him with an amused smile, gripping his hand resting on top of the table to offer some comfort.

“Relax?” Yoongi faced her with anxious expression. “You’re telling me to relax when I’m going to meet those Guardians that we read from the book and are said to be heck of powerful sorcerers?”

His panic looked almost comical and it made Haeyoon giggle. “Trust me, they’re far from what you’re imagining,” she leaned back from her chair as her eyes darted towards the coffee bar being manned by one of the old crews. Apparently, Sunday was a day off for Minseok so they had to wait for him, too, as well as the other Guardians. “I bet you’ll be surprised when you met them, especially, that one particular person.” She grinned meaningfully at him, thinking about his expression once he learned that his friend, Joonmyeon, was a Guardian, himself.

The boy shot her a curious look but before he could even ask her, she spoke again.

“Besides, don’t you have a magic, too?” she said though they are still both having a hard time adjusting with the fact that they are indeed sorcerers. “No need to get nervous at all.”

Yoongi bit his lip, seemingly deep in thoughts. “Yeah, he called me a Gieldan. I wonder what does that mean.” He took a deep breath. “And what exactly I can do with my magic or power or spirit or whatever the hell this is.”

She shrugged. “Well, the Guardians might know the answer.”

“What about you?” Yoongi said.

“What about me?” she asked with raised brow.

“You should have magic, too right?” he stared at her with an unsure expression. “I mean, dad did tell us that we are…you know, sorcerers.”

Haeyoon was silent for a while. “I…don’t know. Unlike you, all dad gave me was a box.” Upon the mention of the said object, her mind drifted to where she left it on the top of her vanity. She wasn’t able to open it yet and she made a mental note to do it once they got home. “Anyway, Yoongi, have you heard his last words right before he vanished?”

Her brother gave her a clueless glance. “I don’t think so. What about it?”

She blinked and shook her head daintily. “No, it’s nothing. I must’ve heard it wrong.”

‘Yeah, I must’ve heard it wrong,’ she repeated the words in her mind to try and convince herself. ‘After all, why would dad call me...Your Highness?’ 

A few minutes later, Minseok came through the door and it was quite a surprise that he arrived early considering the short notice for a meet-up that she sent them through a text message.

“Haeyoon,” the boy greeted her with a pleasant smile before his eyes drifted towards Yoongi.

“Hey,” she greeted him back with a sweet smile of her own. “Take a sit first. “

When Minseok settled himself on the chair across from her with his back facing the front door, she spoke again. “This is my brother, Yoongi,” she gestured at the boy sitting beside her. “Yoongi, this is Minseok, a Guardian.”

The two boys looked at each other for a moment, awkward silence settling upon them, before Yoongi spoke.

“This is…weird don’t you think,” he remarked. “But, hey, nice to finally meet a Guardian like you”

Haeyoon can’t help but chuckle at the bizarreness of it all. “Yeah, this is weird.”

Minseok broke out into an amused smile, “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Here’s your order,” Minah’s high-pitched voice floated through the air as she placed an Americano and a frappe on their table. She winked playfully at Yoongi while she sent a cheeky smile on Haeyoon’s way before turning to Minseok. “Hey, Minseokie, wanna order anything?”

“Uh, yeah, just mocha coffee,” he smiled amiably towards the cheerful girl.

“Coming right up,” she chirped before retreating back to the counter to place the order.

“I can’t believe that after so many years, I’m going to see them again,” Minseok said as he gazed at Haeyoon with a grateful smile, eyes turning up into a pair of dark crescents. “And it’s all because of you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled warmly back at him. “Though I’m not entirely sure of how am I doing that, still I’m glad to be of help to you and your brothers.”

A confused frown marred Yoongi’s handsome face as he observed the little exchange between Minseok and his sister. “Okay…I feel left out, mind explaining, dear sister?”

Haeyoon chuckled before she started explaining, though not with all the gory details such as the time when she was almost killed by a so-called Tainted one and the other incidents that almost severely harmed her. She was sure that it’ll only elicit a negative reaction from Yoongi so she just settled on telling him how they were sealed and how she happened to lift it for them unintentionally, thus, bringing back their memories as well as their abilities to use their spirits.

“I hope you’re not mad that I kept these things from you,” she said sheepishly.

“I’ll let it slide for now but you have to promise me that there’ll be no more secrets again, alright?” Yoongi told her in a stern voice.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I promise.”

He ruffled her hair and said, “But you know, maybe your power had something to do with all of that.”

“What do you mean?” Minseok can’t help but in out of curiosity. “What power?”

Haeyoon parted her lips to answer him but was interrupted by the soft tinkling of the bell hanging on the door. It was immediately followed by an assortment of voices.

“They’re here,” she announced to her two companions the moment she saw Jongin and Chanyeol’s lithe figure entering the door, the other boys following after them.

Haeyoon heaved a heavy sigh. She got a lot of explaining to do.

 Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, guys. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to comment down your thoughts. :)