ELVEN | K.TH

15

And I think I've kept him safe when he steps away, back towards to where I am. I think I've done the distraction.

How wrong I'd been.

Jimin screams. His body jerks back horribly, expression twisting into an agonized cry. Seizures wrack his figure as I see my father's magic tear him inside out before leaving him as fast as it had come.

"Father!"

Jimin crumples, eyes blank.

"He is still incompetent." He says tonelessly, before nodding at a guard standing by.

"Take him out of my sight."

My hands tremble behind my back. They tremble with murder, and he comes closer, amusement in his pale eyes.

"Are you angry, my son?"

I can't breathe. My body feels like it might just snap with the fury, turning my eyes darker by each passing second. Crackles of my magic run down the lines of my knelt figure.

"Looking at me like this just because I've given a rightful punishment." He muses, his fingers harsh as he grips my chin. My eyes slant even sharper, burning at him when he smiles at me coldly.

I wish I didn't have you as my father.

I wish I could kill you.

And I will.

I will.

"Unacceptable."

He clicks his tongue. Then his magic flashes once more as he presses his hand against my forehead. Pain explodes down my body.

The last thing I remember is the coldness of the floor against my cheek, and my brother's gleeful expression behind my father.

________________________________

RINEI

A week.

An entire week had passed since I'd last seen him. Even on the first day of the week, when he'd always bring us his hunt, he'd been nowhere to be found.

I knew, because I'd waited that night. Until the sun rose and the skies turned light with sunrise.

Sighing softly, I fix Father's covers, gently handing him the mug of Arlen. He gives me a weak smile, before looking at Mother next to him.

She's still fast asleep.

"I'm feeling much better." He replies with a smile, when I give him a questioning look. "Thank you, Rinei. I don't know how we could've possibly done this without you and Jungkook."

I smile back at him, before leaving him to rest again. This illness had taken so much from him, but at least he was alive. That was enough to be thankful for.

And it was all thanks to Tae.

He'd brought the flowers that had saved my father.

But now he's gone. The night from a week ago is still too clear in my mind, the last time I'd seen him. He'd signed an apology.

He'd asked me for forgiveness. As if...

As if he was never going to come back.

Was he never going to come back?

"Rinei!"

My head jerks up. Jungkook's staring at me from across the living room, a tray in his gloved hands.

"...pie?" He asks, searching my expression. "It's cranberry."

I'll eat it later. Thanks, Kook.

"No, wait." He says, catching my wrist when I turn away for my room. "What's wrong? Is it that elf? I noticed he didn't come yesterday. Is he alright?"

I hope he is. I really, really hope.

But I don't know. There's this feeling in the back of my heart that tells me he isn't. That he isn't okay.

I...don't know.

"Do you think he is?"

...no, I sign, my head hanging. The shape of my feet grow blurrier with the tears slowly thickening in my eyes.

I don't think so.

Jungkook's eyes harden. His face turns quiet and serious, and that's the last thing I see before I turn to head for my room. The tears are just getting heavier.

What had happened with Tae?

It felt worse, to not know than to know.

______________________________

JUNGKOOK

This time, I'm the one waiting.

It's deep night. I'd listened to the sound of Rinei crying until she'd finally fallen asleep, her room silent now. And I look out to the Elven Forests, my knees tucked loosely against my chest.

Would she come tonight?

I wasn't sure. But I needed to try.

I think I've dozed off for less than a minute.

"What are you doing?"

"Holy—"

A slender hand wraps around my mouth the moment my eyes flash open. And I curse a string of words straight into her hand, before looking up at the blonde-haired elf I'd been waiting for.

"Easy." She says, at my wide, stunned eyes. "You do not want to be waking anyone, do you?"

I shake my head, still staring up at her.

"Good."

She's wearing a hood again.

"So you were waiting for me." She says, her voice woven with pleasure. "For what? It's cold tonight, human. What if I hadn't chosen to come?"

"I had to try."

"Try?"

Her blue eyes meet mine. And a part of me is afraid, that she will kill me the instant I do this. But I'd seen Rinei today, and I had never seen her cry like that. As if she couldn't hold herself back.

I had to try.

"You're an elf." I murmur, my fingers clasped over one another.

"Aren't you, Arlen?"