Nitewood | iKON Donghyuk

28

"Hi, Grandma Arin," everyone greeted politely.

She was a little lady who aged quite well, not appearing frail or old in any way. "I'm here to save Y/N." Her eyes cast a brilliant and sudden inspiration over the young crowd.

"Yeah!" Chanwoo cheered.

"Let's goooooo," Bobby grunted with his rough voice.

"I'm small, but I can save her, too!" Jinhwan cutely raised his hand, showing his eagerness to volunteer.

Above all the voices, the sweet angelic voice of Donghyuk managed to hush them. "Hold up! You all yelled at me for trying to save her, but now you're all jumping on the band wagon when her grandma comes. You're all unbelievable!" He scoffed at his friends and shook his head in disappointment.

Junhoe was the first to explain. With a shrug and a sorry smile, he explained, "but she's her grandma. She has the right."

Arin gingerly stepped into the room, noticing the children's tired faces and sporadic yawns. "First, we rest up. Tomorrow is the day to discuss matters."

With that, they nodded their heads in agreement. Their eyes slowly closed as they settled into each other's presence, allowing the exhaustion they kept blocking out to finally seep into their bones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun's beams peeked out into the windows and stirred the group sprawled out on the floor and couch. They each stretched and like little ducklings, perched themselves in front of Arin, who was sipping on a cup of tea.

"It's Donghyuk's girlfriend in danger, but he's the only one sleeping still," Hanbin remarked teasingly.

Donghyuk narrowed his eyes at Hanbin groggily before stretching and joining them in front of Arin. "So, Arin, what do we do?"

Arin's eyes scanned Donghyuk top to bottom, and guilt began to cloud her expression. She sighed, trying to fit her words together like a puzzle. "I'm sorry, Donghyuk. I was there that night trying to stop Y/N from going after you, but she was so persistent. I eventually let her go and went into my room to cast a spell, but-"

"A spell?" Hanbin's eyebrow lifted in curiosity, and everyone murmured in agreement.

Arin opened her mouth as if to explain, but no words came out. Finally she managed to string together her words. "Um... yes. You may not know, but some Fluorescents are capable of such magic. Anyway, I tried to cast a spell that would raise the 'sun' and scare off the Stricket, but I was too worried and ended up failing. I'm so sorry." Her hands clapsed Donghyuk's to convey her sincerity.

Being the sweetie he is, Donghyuk nodded in understanding. "It's okay. I'm just worried for Y/N..."

Arin nodded once more, agreeing, before continuing her story. "After the commotion seemed to quiet down, I ventured out of my room but remained hidden in case anyone would look for me. I then heard voices, which turned out to be Vincent's and the Stricket's, Donghyuk. That's when I came face to face with Vincent, but I escaped and veiled myself before anything could happen. I watched him take away Y/N." Her voice grew smaller, and she sadly looked down at her barely wrinkled hands, feeling hopeless.

The words seemed to absorb into everyone's minds slowly since they had to recover from the intial shock.

"Wait... what?" Donghyuk's voice was soft but angry.

"Are you saying my half brother has been conspiring with a Stricket this whole time?" Vanessa's wide eyes were masked with various emotions, but the prominent one was betrayal. It was as if her own blood had abandoned her. "But... why?" Her voice cracked at the end, showing her own disgust and sorrow.