hydra | svt

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE.

wonwoo

we returned to the inn during the early hours of the morning when the world was at her quietest, even in this island town. we'd accompanied seungkwan back to the hospital safely as he muttered constantly and anxiously about wanting to see his sister who-isn't-really-his-sister, before the four of us hailed a taxi and snuck in quietly. thankfully, we made it back to our rooms before suspicion had arisen; after a fleeting shower, mingyu and i passed out almost instantaneously, letting the day's events rolls off of our backs to disperse into the cotton threads of our comforters.

the sun cast her heavenly rays through our window the next morning, waking us up gently. at first, i fully braced myself for the onslaught of aches and pains i knew my body must feel after battling in the freezing cold against giant wild pigs and a crazed goddess of the harvest. yet, i felt as light as the air itself, better than i'd felt before we'd even left seoul.

as i shower, letting the lukewarm water wake me up properly, the events of last night run through my head, flickering and muted. i guess a side effect of seungwkan's magic (which is the only thing i remember clearly) is having some of the mental strain relieved too. i can barely remember what form demeter had taken as she came to battle us, the glinting of her scythe and the echo of her cackle the only memory i have of her.

oh, and her keychain of course.

it's our last day in jeju and we had been given free reign of the town by the teachers, although they were hesitant after what had happened at hallasan with minghao. but they marched on with the original plan after a brief health and safety talk about where we were allowed to go before they dismissed us, probably glad to finally have some time to themselves too.

soon the four us found ourselves standing in front of the hospital again.

neither hansol, mingyu, minghao nor i wanted to step foot past the dull sage walls; i guess that seungkwan is most likely confused and maybe even afraid of himself and the misfortune my friends and i seem to bring. i toy with the idea of giving him space, but quickly discard it at the thought that he at least deserves an explanation, and at least an apology.

so the four of us troop past the automatic doors, greeted by an unsettling silence; the waiting room and the reception desk are barren and we don't hesitate as we power-walk past, heading straight for the stairwell.

luckily, minghao seems to have memorised the building as we approach the floor of seungkwan's sister (and inevitably seungkwan) with relative ease. however, the absence of other people discomforts me greatly and i shiver multiple times, despite not being cold.

we shuffle towards seungkwan's sister's room, where the door is slightly ajar. two hushed voices mutter between themselves, one of them being seungkwan's.

that must mean...

mingyu doesn't even get the chance to knock on the door when the boo siblings see us approach and their conversation peters out. thankfully, seungkwan doesn't immediately scream for us to leave him alone, which is a good start in my opinion.

his hand is pressed comfortingly on his sister's shoulder and he motions for us to step inside. the poor girl looks utterly frightened and instinctively shuffles closer to seungkwan. i don't blame her though, as minghao gently shuts the door behind us, giving us all the privacy we need.

"seungwkan..." i start, before inhaling sharply. as the boy turns to look at me, i notice his natural ruddiness has slowly drained from his skin. not to mention the purple bags that blot the space under his eyes and how he's slightly shaking - my guess would be from overexertion.

"are you alright? don't tell me you spent the whole night here?" mingyu asks hastily, moving closer to observe him. seungkwan laughs forcefully and bats mingyu away, but he doesn't deny a thing.

"it's okay, he did it for me."

seungkwan's sister, who is named 'jinseol' by the hospital file at the end of her bed, speaks timidly but with a certain determination that has us nodding along in agreement. it's hardly any of our business to come between the two siblings and so mingyu steps back, having received the message loud and clear.

"how are you feeling?"

this questions is directed at both of them, but seungkwan replies first.

"i'm...okay. i wanted to heal jinseol first, even if we aren't actually siblings."

ouch.

at least he knows.

hansol coughs as jinseol looks at her lap sadly: it seems that we don't need to explain much as the majority of seungkwan's memories have returned to him.

i admire his effort and bravery to save a girl he doesn't really know and so i stoop down to embrace him again. he practically slumps against my body in a state of weakness and i pat him soothingly on the back.

"you don't need to come back to seoul with us, even for the ring. you can stay here until it's time to go," i explain softly. jinseol has begun to weep silently and hansol steps in to offer a comforting hand. seungkwan hums in reply through the tears of his own and i pull back, watching with concerned eyes as he wipes his tears dry and exhales deeply.

we don't want to impose for much longer and so we say our weighty goodbyes, at least comforted by the fact that we have seungkwan's social media account to keep in touch. we all shuffle back out reluctantly, no longer in the mood to explore the shopping centre or the fisherman's market.

my seafood allergies will start acting up anyway.

seventeen 2.0

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