Swan Lake {skz fanfic}

chapter fifteen • the storm

"𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘."

{ - AJR 

His voice calls to me when I sleep. Since the day he disappeared, I hear him call out to me, to find him and to save him. I wonder at times if I shouldn't have left his side when he'd been slumbering for days. I regret the days I had treated him like I hated him, but I couldn't take them back. Maybe I would regret that for the rest of my life.

"Chan!"

I awoke in an instant at the sudden shout. It was him again, but as always, when I expected to see him looming over me like the last day I'd seen him, he was never there. My room was dim, the early sun causing the dark world to brighten slightly. I let out a heavy sigh, I can feel my body tremble for a moment longer. I hear my brain begin to wake and the soreness of my shoulders return to me. Today was finally the day, the day when we take our army and our swords to battle Gwijae at Swan Lake. It felt like a race against time now. Felix was allowed barely two hours in the night to be human now and he's confided in me about heart pain. I wasn't sure what that meant for him, but I have to push any assumptions aside to keep him from panic. Even so, I worry that an even worse fate awaits him than turning into a swan permanently. 

On the bright side, Minho is nearly cured so there is no looming fear that his emotions will take control and kill him anymore. And on the even brighter side, Minho and Han have made up. In fact, they'd finally told each other how they feel for one another. Though it is left unspoken and I've had to read between their openly affectionate lines. There was no more worry about having to go through with Hyunjin and I's very .. crude plan, to get them friendly again. However, as this past week has been going by, it's been harder to keep myself from marching into the woods to get after Seungmin. I wasn't sure what compelled him to go there, if he was kidnapped, or if he was being mind controlled. Dahyun says that she can no longer feel their link, so she assumes Gwijae has cursed him for the second time.

I will admit, I've been moping ever since his disappearance in between meetings and when I took breaks from paperwork. I was a jerk and I wasn't even sure why. What was it about Seungmin that made me absolutely hate him? I don't think he had a choice in my capture and it'd be immature to completely blame him for that, or blame him at all. It was obvious he was under a spell when I had encountered him. So why did I continue on to pretend like I hated him? Was it... His perfect hair? His sharp brown eyes? His strong will and intelligent brain? His soft sk- Wait a second.. Oh. Oh. I am infatuated with him, aren't I? No wonder Minho looked at me the way he did at times. But if it's just infatuation, why am I so overcome with worry? Shouldn't this feeling last only for a little bit?

I shook off my thoughts and tugged at my hair for a moment, feeling frustrated. No, now isn't the time, I need to get ready and then i need to get everyone else ready. My feelings and thoughts will just have to wait...

***

Swan Lake was more eerie and quiet than ever. A fresh snow had fallen overnight, so the snow was new and untouched. The broken castle across the lake seemed to taunt Hyunjin as he stared at it with cold eyes. He felt nothing for this place, while Minho perhaps felt fear or the swan had only peaceful thoughts, as it was now gliding along the lakes surface. Hyunjin watched him from a far, noting that despite how torturous Felix's curse was, he made a beautiful swan. Or perhaps it was the thought that a beautiful man lay dormant in that swan that made it so much more beautiful. He kept watchful eyes as he scanned the area for anything suspicious. The entire guard were spanned out along the forest line, waiting for Chan or Minho's order. Hyunjin noted how hard it was to actually spot any of them, despite the shiny armor he knew they wore.