Arcus // ATEEZ ✔

9: when the plan gathers a crowd

"No."

It's a firm one-word reply from her brother, who is now taking off his reading glasses and putting it on the open encyclopedia. Seonghwa rests his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers before shaking his head.

They're in Seonghwa's reading room, where Narae and Wooyoung had sheepishly poke their heads in between the open doors to ask whether they're allowed to come in. When the older allowed them in, they stood in front of his desk, hands clasped in front like children being disciplined, before Narae quickly spilled the idea to him.

"Told you," Wooyoung whispers to her, in which she quickly shushes him with a glare coupled with a rough nudge with her elbow.

"You are not about to go on an adventure without even knowing your destination."

"But Wooyoung is going to be there-"

"I never said I would follow," but the lilt of his voice sounds as if he's already packing his luggage to follow her.

Seonghwa sighs, pushing back his chair but he doesn't stand up. Instead he taps his knuckles against his temple before his eyes flick to his sister. "That idea in itself is ridiculous. You don't even know where you hid it, and thinking you can get back your memories? Sounds like something Song Mingi would suggest."

"It was," Wooyoung butts in, before realizing the gravity of his mistake.

"It was?" Seonghwa looks surprised before he turns his head to stare sharply at his sister, "and when did he actually suggest this?"

Narae presses her lips together before shooting daggers at Wooyoung from the corner of her eyes. She figures that lying to him would push back the idea even further, so as to stop making things worse than it already is, she relents. "We met him yesterday."

"Specifically?" Seonghwa's voice is hard.

"We went to Aesa yesterday night because I couldn't sleep."

"We," Seonghwa deadpans. "Of course Wooyoung was there, because how else were you going to get to Aesa in a few seconds?"

"She couldn't sleep so I thought bringing her to someplace else can help her clear her mind."

"Right, just like you always do, ignoring my warnings to not sneak out of the palace. You never learn, do you?"

"How long are you going to keep on holding her back?" Wooyoung snaps, much to Narae's shock because it seemed that her cousin had been very passive. "You need to stop thinking that you have the rights to watch her every move. She's a person on her own, for crying out loud. So if she wants it, let her be. Gosh, you're so damn irritating."

"Let her be, and see what happened to her," Seonghwa says through gritted teeth. "She lost her memories because someone tried to kill her."

"We don't even know for sure what happened during that night! For all we know it could be pure accident, and you're just thinking that by her losing her memories, you can control her much better as her brother because she can't fight back. Or maybe you know something about that night so you don't want her getting her memories back."

Narae's eyes flick nervously from her brother to her cousin, thinking about that maybe, this is what Wooyoung meant when they used their powers against each other. It does look like the two men are about to start rearing back their hands, tangling themselves in a battle that she can't participate in.

Seonghwa scoffs in disbelief, but he sinks back into his leather chair before looking away. His body language shows that he has calmed down, but the fire in his eyes is there to stay.