"I'm fine, really. Thank you" I finished my moment of laughter, looking at the four people in the room before bowing. "There's no need to do that! You passed out, you shouldn't move too much" Jiwoo ran over, panicking as he was grateful for the expression of thanks but also worried about my well being. After all, I suddenly threw a fit, ran away, and was found passed out in my bathroom. If anything, it's really concerning. Especially for Inhyuk who's in charge of taking care of me during the whole trip here at the awakened academy. "...just don't tell my father anything about this. He has too much on his plate already" I shuffled out of the sheets, standing up off the gurney only to wobble. "Be careful" Jiwoo luckily caught me, helping me stand up straight. A dizzy spell. "Thanks" I said again, letting out a shaky breath. Kain told me the moment he sees a chance to take over his body again, he'll hurt anyone around me, using the power my brother passed down to me. Having the benefit of the doubt for him was far too kind to him. I'm not sure how bad he had it, but how could a baby that acted as a knight, smiling and laughing heartily become so cold and uncaring? It slightly hurt to be honest. Whatever it was that changed him must've been just as bad or worse to what I went through.
The thought of it made my stomach queasy. No one should ever go through that. Having to lose what you love most.
"Kain, you know it's my job to let him know everything," Inhyuk said back. "I'm just really tired. I guess I overexerted myself a bit. That's all, nothing too serious" I assured. Making Inhyuk sigh, reluctantly agreeing to not speak of what happened to Ilseong. Once he had, I let out a relieved sigh, moving away from Jiwoo then paused, seeing a cat on the other gurney. I blinked. What's Kayden doing here? "Hey~ it's been awhile" I put on a smile, walking over and patting his head a couple of times. "I'm sorry, I don't have any snacks on me" I acted sorry, pouting. "He's such a sweet cat. He never tries to scratch me or push me away" I commented, moving away after feeling the death glare he gave me as well as the tail swishing behind him. Obviously I was pushing Casein Nitrates buttons. "Haha-" everyone in the room laughed nervously. After having witnessed that very cat beat up one of their fellow instructors, they couldn't help but be a little surprised but also nervous for me. Scared it'd attack me at any second.
Thankfully, Casein nitrate remained still, staring at Kain the entire time until he left. "Jeez" Inhyuk sighed, rubbing the back of his head as soon as he left the room. "That kid worries me," he admitted, looking at Jiwoo, the other one that worries him just as much. "I'm not sure what happened. But Kain looked terrified when he woke up" Seongha said next. "Terrified?" They questioned. "He cried after hugging me. He wouldn't let go" this made everyone in the room quiet. It's honestly really hard to imagine someone like Kain Hua crying. Let alone look terrified. After all, he's as brazen as any they've ever met. Probably worse.
...
Later that day, the instructors called for a meeting but I decided to sit this one out. "Giwook will relay anything important to me anyway" I yawned, stretching as I got ready to go for a run. "You're all ready too" I chuckled, kneeling down to give Kemono some pats. After, we ran a few rounds on the island, stopping in the park for a moment to take a little break. "Whew" I sighed, hands on my knees as I huffed. Mind running on many things. What caused the barrier Kain spoke of to break? Or momentary lapse? I ran through many different things that might've been the reason and there was only one I concluded. My anger. Or at least when my emotions become hysterical . "It makes sense, right?" I asked myself. "Maybe there's something unstable in me I don't know about yet...ARGH it's times like these I wish I had hyungs brain" I whined, seriously not knowing what exactly it is. Hyung would've found out within a heartbeat. And that's what made me realize just how amazing hyung was again.
"For now. I have to keep my emotions in check. I can't risk having a slip up again" Kemono whined once he heard my words. I smiled, leaning down to pet him when his eyes zeroed in on something in the distance. Following his gaze, I noticed Jisuk, Subin, and Wooin hiding behind some bushes and trees as they stalked Jiwoo talking with Iseul. I blinked, tilting my head in confusion. Slowly, me and Kemono approached them. Once beside Wooin, I peeked to where they watched the two converse. "Why are you guys hiding?" I whispered. "SHIT YOU SCARED ME!" Subin was the first to react. Wooin simply flinched and turned my way, relaxing once he knew it was me. Jisuk yelped for a moment only because Subin yelled so loudly but calmed after noticing it was me. Although he didn't acknowledge me for long. I only raised a brow, wondering why they're stalking Jiwoo so openly like this. "Shhhh!!" Subin covered my mouth with her hand. I flinched, feeling the how cold they were.
Seeing this, the other two simply furrowed their brows. Not even they would dare touch Kain so easily. Especially Jisuk who only ever made physical contact to scare him. "Mmmm- mm mmm?" They heard as I tried to speak through Subins hand. "What part of being quiet do you not understand!?" She whisper yelled. Finally, I grabbed her hand from my mouth. "You're the one who screamed. I just asked a question" I retorted. Making Subin freeze. I'm not wrong so she couldn't say anything more to counter my words. "Tch. Just stay hushed" she turned back around. I sighed. Looking down to see Kemono sitting there silently.
...
I sighed. Sitting besides Wooin within Jiwoos dorm. It's my first time stepping foot in his dorm, so I took the chance to look around a little. Honestly, I'd much rather have this smaller dorm than the huge one they provided me. Everytime I need the bathroom, it feels like I have to run a mile just to get there...
"Wow you look so cool~" I turned to Subin and Jisuk both re-enacting the whole Iseul and Jiwoo scene from before. Making fun of how she stuttered when speaking with Jiwoo. Obviously liking him. "Hahahahaha!!" They both laughed aloud. As me, Wooin, and Jiwoo sat there unamused by their theater play. "Hey Jiwoo. Be honest. Since when did you and Iseul have a thing going on?" Subin asked. "It's nothing like that..." Jiwoo responded. I leaned back into the couch, shutting my eyes for a moment. "You didn't come to class yesterday. Are you okay?" But I jumped heading Wooin whisper into my ear. His warm breath tickling my ear, making me squirm away as Kains body, as usual, was sensitive to any kind of human contact. At least subtle ones. I can handle excited hugs and handshakes but little things like this seem to have more affects on Kain.
"I just over did it. I guess the exhaustion kind of...caught up? Haha" I laughed it off, hoping this much of a simple explanation will do only to pause seeing Wooins serious expression. He may always have the same look but after hanging around him a little more, I've become accustomed to seeing the subtile changes in his expressions. And right now, he's giving me a motherly glare. "Haha- Uhm-" I avoided eye contact. "Wooin let's go!" I turned, watching both Subin and Jisuk walking out of Jiwoos dorm. Wooin pursed his lips, glanced at me, then got up. Following them out. "You guys are leaving?" Jiwoo asked. "Yeah!" But Jisuk stopped just before exiting. "What about you? You coming?" He asked. "Ah, no. I have to talk to Jiwoo a little" I smiled, waving for them to go as his huffed, tutting then finally leaving. "See you guys later then" he spoke. Wooin glanced back before shutting the door.
"Whew...I can never get used to them." I relaxed once all three left the room. "What did you want to talk about?" Jiwoo was the first to start the conversation. "Oh, right. I wanted to thank you for finding me. If you hadn't, I probably would'nt have recovered as fast as I did" I chuckled. "...don't you rememeber?" Jiwoo asked. "Hm?" I asked questionably. "Rememebr what?" "..." Jiwoos silence worried me. What did I do? What happened? Rememebr? All I remember was meeting that basterd. "Well, I broke into your room when I heard a crash. I saw you on the ground in the bathroom. So I rushed over to help you but you woke up. But as soon as you saw me...you..." he stopped, rubbing his neck. Gulping. "...Jiwoo. What did I do?" I asked seriously. "You- you grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. Asking me who I was. When I didn't answer, you threw me on the ground. Then you fell over again, groaning. I was too scared to go near you again but you sounded like you were in pain becasue you grabbed your head like this-" jiwoo demonstrated how "I" grabbed a handful of my hair, squirming on the ground. "Once you came to. You said you finally knew who I was. And who you were...then you passed out again..." I blinked. Shit.
"Jiwoo...I- I'm sorry I did that. Uhm, I have a split personality. Every now and then my other personality comes out. But very rarely. I'm sorry" I bowed. "Huh!? No no it's okay! It's my first time meeting someone with a split personality" Jiwoo admitted. "Really? Haha...can I ask you for a favor?" Jiwoo paused, nodding his head. "Let's keep this between us. I don't want my father to find out about my condition, yet at least" Jiwoo blinked. Nodded his head. "Okay, I'll keep it to myself" I smiled. Ruffling his hair. "Thank you" I said. "Of course hyung" he smiled. "I need to get going now. See you" I waved, leaving his dorm with Kemono following behind. Luckily, the entire time we were in Jiwoos room, Kemono simply laid down in a corner, snoozing away until I left. "We should go to Giwook" I said, starting to jog again.
...
"So Jiwoo is considered top level like Jisuk, Subin, Wooin, and Sucheon? Wow! I expected as much, Jiwoo is a talent that comes once a century" I awed. Both me and Giwook sat in an empty meeting room. Discussing the next few lessons regarding the unaffiliated awakened ones and him informing me of the meetings contents. "Yes. He truly is" Giwook smiled. I turned to look out the window. Catching sight is Seongik Han and Jiwoo chatting in the distance. I blinked. Right, Seongik Han is going to offer Jiwoo to become his apprentice.
"He sure is a brilliant kid..." I chuckled. Seriously. Now I understand why Hyung was always pushing me to do my best in everything I did. This cheery bubbly feeling of accomplishment for someone I view as a younger brother. I want Jiwoo to live a happy life with his friends. I frowned. But, I'm not willing to risk my life to help him to achieve that goal. I haven't grown so attached to him. "Kain" Giwook my attention again. "Is there anything bothering you these days?" I blinked. Tilting my head. "No? Not that I can think of any. Everyone either just ignores me or says sly comments as I pass by. But no one's given me a hard time" I shrugged. "I see..." he tapped his finger on the table. As if he expected a different answer. "Is there something else you wanted to ask? It seems like you already have a specific answer you want from me" I said, leaning on the table. Waiting for him to continue. "Well..." Giwook sighed. "I saw what happened after Jiwoo found you passed out. If I'm going to be honest, I didn't expect you to be so strong" I flinched. "Im sorry. I don't know what your talking about?" I said.
"Kain...I felt it" my blood ran cold. "Can you be a little more detailed? I don't know what your talking about?" I laughed. "Be honest with me. Do you have...an ability? I was closest to you when you randomly got angry. So I grabbed you. And...because of our contact, I felt something in you. I can't be for certain. So I wanted to ask right now" right, Kain activated my power when he tried to take over. The spark. Although I stopped it immediately, Giwook is a senior awakened one that has a lot more experience. He probably...he probably felt my power surging in me within that half a second.
Seeing how I didn't react at all. He sighed. Being more straightforward with his next question.
"Are you an awakened one?" But I was too shocked to even react. Hearing him ask me if I was awakened, I swear I almost passed out again. All my efforts. Was it all for naught? Hyung, did I fail?
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A/n: 💀💀💀💀 mic drop
Kain when he found out he hurt Jiwoo:
Kain after Giwook asked if he's an awakened one:
How I'm feeling rn LMFAO (debating if I should make y'all wait longer on this next chapter 030 bc why not):
Also a bonus? Another Eunwoo picture! (If y'all forgot Eunwoo is Sehyuns older brother 😭)imma just randomly insert pics of them in case y'all forget how they look lol: