I snapped my eyes open with a gasp, lunging upwards in a single yank of my limbs. I sat up panting, my hair breaking loose out of the band I had previously wrapped around it in a ponytail, and framing my face. I stared at my hair peculiarly, wondering how it came to be around my face, before lifting my shaken hands to brush it aside.
I stared around me with haze, my eyes half-lidded as a feeling of immense exhaustion surged in every root of my core. I found myself sitting around a small circle, enough to cover my entire body, made by the boys's cards. I widened my eyes, before looking for the boys themselves, to find them all kneeling around me where they were previously sitting down.
They weren't kneeling out of respect, because their faces were contorted in pain, and Jongdae, whom was the closest to me, furrowed his eyebrows, while gritting his teeth at the same time. I counted the heads around me, realizing that beside Tao, there was another new head.
The new person was kneeling wholeheartedly, his hand placed over his heart as a sign of respect. He looked large, even while he was kneeling. He towered everyone, even Tao whom was tall himself. His eyes were closed, and his soft looking eyelashes hung over his fair cheeks almost magically. I found my heart fluttering. He resembled a prince, a handsome one.
"Guys..," I muttered hoarsely, my voice coming out groggy and laced with sleep, although I was more nauseous than drowsy. The boys all lifted their heads to me simultaneously, winces on their faces. "What happened?"
"You called Kris," Joonmyeon was quick to explain, and I noticed he was the least pained. He climbed up from his kneeling position, before wincing and dropping back down to his knees. "And then this happened."
"We don't know what this is," Xiumin murmured hoarsely, and even then he still shot me a playful look, his eyes twinkling in mischief despite everything. I wanted to give him a hug. "But it hurts like a bitch."
"H-Hani..," I heard Chanyeol groan out, and I shifted my eyes to him to find him trying to collect himself and stand up on his les. "Y-you are b-b-buzzing with power.."
"I feel like I'm in the presence of the witch. I haven't felt like this before," Sehun was quick to finish Chanyeol's sentence, and my eyes widened. His words were similar to Chanyeol's words, when he was able to call out his wings. What does this mean? Why do they feel like the witch is in their presence? "It's incredible, and a little creepy."
Then, the Kris guy that I had summoned stood easily on his two legs, his piercing, jet black jewels staring down at me almost ominously, even though I knew nothing dangerous was about him. He had a comforting aura, like Joonmyeon's, despite his expressionless face, and I wasn't scared. Why was he the only one unaffected by this? Was it because he was just summoned?
"My lady, you need to collect our cards," Kris muttered softly, no feeling behind his words. He was burning with aloofness, the type that doesn't hurt yet still there, swallowing his soul to the brim. I stared around me at the cards once again. "It's not safe for them to be scattered around."
"Can you help me?" I asked him softly, guiding my eyes to him and softening them not to shock him. It still made his eyes widen, though, but he was quick to compose himself into his blank demeanor.
"I cannot, my lady, I'm not allowed to touch the cards."
"But I'm kind of sore," I murmured, which was the truth. I tried to move my body up, but my legs protested, and there was an empty feeling in my stomach that made me feel nauseous. I was sure I will throw up if I moved an inch away from my place. It was a miracle I could even sit up.
"My lady.. I..," Kris seemed lost, and I didn't fail to notice the continuous stares he kept shooting his friends, filled with confusion, awe, and absolute excitement. Although he tried to suppress the last emotion, and I realized he wasn't someone to show his positive feelings so easily, or rather liked to show them, for an odd reason I wasn't able to decipher. He appeared just now and I'm already buzzing with curiosity over him. He was intensely mysterious. "I'm not allowed," he continued then, after he gathered himself well.
"I'm sorry, but who is not allowing you to do that?" I feigned a curious, lost expression, and Kris looked at me as if I lost my head. "I just told you to help me collect the cards, which means I'm allowing you to do it. So would you?"
"Nice going, Hani," Sehun, of course, snickered, and I shot him a playful grin he reciprocated right away. I found my heart swell with emotions. Sehun was much more endearing when he was smiling and being genuine.
Slowly, Kris stepped forward, his pants glinting when he passed by the window, the sun reflecting over the sparkling material of his ugly pants. He crouched beside me, shooting me a quick, a bit appalled look, before reaching for the cards closer to him (Jongdae's, Baekhyun's, and Joonmyeon's) at first, his hand froze, as if unsure he should do it or not, but when I started to help him out – I had to crawl a little closer to reach him – he slowly did the same.
Then, when I was about to swivel around to collect the remaining cards, Kris shot his eyes towards me, a curious yet cautious look flashing by his orbs, and I found him to be adorable, despite his sharp, and masculine features.
"Who are you?" that was a question that a lot had asked me, a repeated one that I was getting annoyed with. But, I lifted my head up at Kris and smiled.
"I'm Moon Hani."
-
"You okay?"
I smiled at the boys, after finally getting up on their legs after the pain wave that attacked them. Most of them opted to massage their legs, while Chanyeol and Sehun continuously patted their stomachs, as if the source of pain came from there.
Jongin raised two thumbs up at me, while stealing a hoodie and jeans from Chanyeol's side right besides my side of my wardrobe, and then throwing them towards Kris's side. The taller boy ended up blinking at the pair of clothes, absolutely stupefied.
"We are alright," Jongin said, closing the closet with a sweet smile. My heart thumped at the beauty radiating off of him in waves. "Although, we're not sure what exactly happened, I can tell it's something about all of us together, creating a deck."
"The Exo deck, right?" I mumbled, shooting Tao, whom was staring at me with awe on his face, his hands still absentmindedly patting the soothing fabric of the hoodie he had finally put on. Tao turned entirely red, his cheeks flaming and his body shaking. He was so adorable, like a child.
"Hmm," Yixing hummed in agreement, checking his friends and continuously asking if they were okay even though he couldn't heal their words – I could. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Kris pulling Joonmyeon aside, talking with hushed voices, expression serious. I could tell that whatever they were talking about is something I already know, it was more like Kris was filling up the holes in his brain by discussing whatever he missed while he was locked in his card. This wasn't the first time for me to see Joonmyeon so serious, but I got to say serious Joonmyeon is my absolute favorite. He was undeniably attractive like that.
"So..," I drawled, catching the attention of the scattered boys around. I was trying to tie my hair back to how it used to be. "Shall we go eat something before we discuss everything that happened?"
"Oh, oh, Hani, I would like some bubble tea, please," Sehun raised his hands (both of them, mind you) very obediently, a small, puppy smile tugging the corner of his lips. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Are you being polite? What has come to the world?" I teased, already fishing for my wallet, momentarily wincing when I thought I needed to confront my parents sooner or later. I was worried they'd be worried for me, because they've known what kind of cards mine are, and now that they've finally been reunited together, I'm pretty sure the energy they radiated was immense.
"Don't be fooled," Kyungsoo scoffed, swatting Sehun on the head once he shot him a glare, murmuring something about respect. "He's only like that because Kris terrifies him and he worships manners."
"Ah-ha!" I pointed at Sehun accusingly after Kyungsoo's explanation, and the younger pouted at his hyung, who only smirked evilly. "You're scared of Kris—" I looked at the said guy, finding him finally collecting Chanyeol's clothes that Jongin had provided him with. He shot me a look when he noticed my intense stare, and I only smiled at him, making him blink. "—who is as harmless as a fly!" I continued, because that's genuinely what I thought of Kris. A fly!
"Oh God, Hani," Baekhyun groaned, and I looked at him with a bitchy face. It made his lips curl the slightest. "None of us are a harmless fly, I thought you've already seen that."
"You're all some harmless flies to me," I gave him a bored look. "You have something against that? Come and fight me."
"Oh, I will, I'll make sure to break all of your pretty little fingers—"
"Oh, Baekhyun, just kiss her already," Xiumin slyly interrupted, a smirk so huge adorning his face. My eyes widened at what he said, while Baekhyun whipped his head to him with a heavy scowl. "This heavy sexual tension is something I can no longer stand."
I'm pretty sure he doesn't know Baekhyun's loathsome was genuine, and I'm not sure I wanted to confirm that by mentioning Baekhyun's attempt at choking me to death. I shook my head a little and decided to step out of this conversation, it was clearly something dangerous.
"Sexual tension? That's what you could come up with?" Baekhyun counterattacked with a bored look gracing his face, although I noticed his ears were flaming. Was he.. shy?
"That's all I needed actually. I remember that time when you had a crush on this girl in school and you bullied her into oblivion—"
Baekhyun didn't let Xiumin finish, as he threw a light ball to his head. I gasped, but thankfully Xiumin was quick to avoid it by tilting his head to the side, letting the light ball merge inside the wall behind him, leaving a soft trail of smoke. Xiumin ended up laughing.
"Baek, its fun to tease you. Chill out, sweetheart."
"Don't call me that," Baekhyun murmured softly, giving up on Xiumin knowing he was both older and stronger than him. I found myself smile, because it was such a rare sight to see Baekhyun relenting in the name of respect.
"Revenge is a bitch, right? How does it feel being called that way?" Jongdae, whom was leaning on the wall on Xiumin's side smirked, and Baekhyun shot him a dangerous glare.
"Hani..," I stared at Tao, surprised that he would actually call me, and found him fiddling with the sleeves of Jongin's hoodie. He continuously stared back at Sehun and Chanyeol, whom were encouraging him with thumbs up and smiles, before looking back at me with crimson cheeks. I smiled at him softly, trying not to scare the boy away, and Tao slowly blew on a deep breath. "Where are we.. going?"
"Oh, a nearby restaurant. To eat," I easily answered him, giving him another tender smile. He gulped.
"All of us?"
"Uh-huh!" I nodded my head playfully, before shifting my expression into a teasing one. "I'm going to buy you everything that you want, but firstly I'll need to steal some money from my mother's bank account, you'll help me, right?" it seemed that this statement shocked Tao to the core because his small eyes widened exceptionally big, and he drifted his eyes to Sehun and Chanyeol fearfully. I laughed.
"I'm just kidding," I gently prodded him in the shoulder. "I already have the money. We just need to leave."
-
I descended the stairs slowly, the boys following my steps in the same pace I was using. I peeked at the living room, and as I predicted, my parents were there, watching TV.
"Hani..," I heard Luhan call to me in a whisper, and I turned to him immediately, holding in my squeal with how adorable and squishy he was with the sweater Sehun had lent him. Since the older boy was small, the sweater practically dwarfed him entirely, and he looked like he was drowning. It was incredibly cute. "I can manipulate their minds so they won't see us. We could escape then," I didn't know how Luhan knew I was dreading to meet them, but then again, he manipulated mind in itself. He could read my mind easily.
"No.. it's fine," I murmured back with a weak smile. He looked worried, his clay-colored eyes shining in the amount of feelings they reflected, and it made my heart flourish inside. "I need to face them sooner or later, might as well just do it now." Luhan nodded at me softly, and when I turned back forward to move, his hand easily slipped through mine, giving me strength.
My heart squeezed at the gesture, and I unconsciously squeezed his hand tightly, my lips curving into a small smile. I found myself at ease, and I was now pretty much ready to face them. I continued to walk forward until I reached the opening of the living room, dragging Luhan after me (I was pretty sure the rest were behind me) and my parents looked up to me right away.
"Hani..," my mom gasped a little, and my dad gulped. My mom's eyes were wide, filled with gathering tears. I felt bad for her, but not as much as I felt bad for myself. They'd lied to me, not once, but all the time by keeping my cards from me till this moment. They weren't even going to tell me if I hadn't confronted them, and that made me feel.. upset.
"Hani, you feel different," my dad said what my mom couldn't, and I winced. I already knew I was feeling different, and I already knew everyone would feel it, I just didn't expect it to sting this much. "You feel a lot stronger. What happened—oh, you've found the entire deck, haven't you?"
I meekly nodded at my dad, saying nothing at all. I turned to my boys, finding them all looking down at their feet, avoiding my parents entirely. The scene broke my heart, because it was a huge slap to me. The reality they lived in was horrible, and even if I provided them with everything they needed – including emotions, it wasn't enough. Because they don't own themselves, and if they don't own themselves, it automatically means they own nothing.
"Hani, you need to be careful," my mom hurriedly said, "They are a strong bunch and other Wielders will come to get them—"
"No, they won't," I interrupted boldly, my face morphing into a blank expression. "Because I will set them free."
"Hani," my dad exclaimed with an intense tone, gritting his teeth. "What nonsense are you saying?"
"You heard me, father," I tried to sound as fearlessly as I could, and I sensed Luhan's grip around my hand tightening. "They've lived enough—three hundred years. It's time they return to what they originally were and live their lives. I don't understand how someone could take advantage of the curses implanted upon those helpless humans and create an entire society without once considering how they must feel. You all fool yourselves with the concept of them not feeling pain, or remorse, or love, or any of the feelings we feel, that you started to genuinely believe it. Dad, they're not any different from us. So yes, they have powers and they poof out from cards, but they are not any less than we are, and I'm going to break the curse, and you don't even need to help me. I'll do it by myself."
"You're just a child," my mom tried to lower her tone and control her facial expressions, but I knew that she was upset with the way she was biting her lips. "You're just a child. You don't yet know of the world we are living in, and you don't know of these.. beings. How do you even know they can be set free?"
"I may be a kid to you," I said, my eyes exploding in a foreign flame. It surprised my parents greatly. "But I realized something you grown ups forgot to remember. Everyone deserves to live their lives as they desire, everyone deserves to make their own mistakes and do whatever the hell they want they do, especially these beings, because of the monstrosity that you humans made them go through."
"And that witch," I completed before my parents could say anything, my expression determined. "I'm going to make her pay for what she did. No evil thing should stay unpunished. So if you'd be generous and let me do whatever I want, I'll forgive you for hiding things from me."
Of course, my parents didn't say anything, even though I knew they wanted to say a lot of things. My mom cradled her face into her hands, and my dad stood there, my playful and adorable dad stood there, sternly watching me as if I'm the biggest disappointment he had ever had in his life. It broke my heart.
"How do you think you'll succeed in this?" he finally asked, and I gulped the growing lump that had quickly escalated to my throat.
"You don't have to worry about that," I replied, even though I was positive he would still worry about me. "I have a plan. I just.. want you to understand me, and don't stop me with this. I'll be alright," I knew I was asking the impossible from them, because no parent would watch their daughter face danger and worry not. I just hoped they'd be supportive and understand how willing I am to help those boys.
-
"You do know the witch already passed away? No one lives for three hundred years—except us, of course."
I narrowed my eyes at Sehun, my mind and body both still upset about my parents that I was in no mood to entertain the younger, especially with how wide and Cheshire-like his smile was. I gave him an unimpressed look, and he cackled. Rolling my eyes, I quickened my steps forward, and suddenly I was walking beside Kris and Tao. They simultaneously shifted to look at me. They were pretty tall compared to me, so it took them a small bend of their heads to stare at me. It was a little humorous and I found myself smiling.
"Sorry," I apologized, although I didn't know for what reason. "Sehun is getting on my nerves. Is it okay to walk with you?" Oh, for that.
The boys were all around me in a big circle, Sehun, Chanyeol and Jongin, were behind me now, talking amongst each other and pointing out anything they couldn't decipher or understand, Kyungsoo a little ahead of them rolling his eyes at their stupidity with not figuring things out, even though he himself was oblivious. Beside me, right in the middle, were Kris, Tao, and Baekhyun, who was talking to no one, merely shifting his bored eyes around. Right upfront, were the remaining guys, and they were all so polite and clueless that made the passing girls, giggle at their cuteness. I smiled, Joonmyeon looked adorable with his blinking eyes.
For a whole minute, Kris and Tao remained silent, while I softly pointed out the direction to the restaurant we were going to eat at. Joonmyeon had noticed how quiet I become, of course, and continued to shoot me worried looks. I only beamed at him, pretending to be fine (which I was.. I think)
Reaching the quiet restaurant, I pointed at the last tables, that could take a lot of people, and mentally thanked God no one was sitting at it. I walked ahead and the boys immediately followed me. I sat beside Kris, since he was closest to me than the rest, while Tao was pulled by the two youngest to sit beside them. I imagined him to be the same age, because his whole face lightened up when he was dragged away. On my empty side, sat Yixing, and he gave me a soft smile that made my insides turn into mush. He was beautiful, all of them were.
"So, does any one of you have any idea of what and why that happened?" I asked right away, going back to business. The boys, thankfully, didn't seem to mind, and paused all of their conversations to look at me. It was Xiumin, that had answered me.
"We know why it happened, or at least I think I do, but we are not sure we recognize the rituals," I gave him a clueless look, and I was pretty sure my face was a clear giveaway. Xiumin cracked a genuine smile.
"When we were first created, it had taken the witch a few rituals to finish the whole process. I'm thinking this is similar to that, because when you summoned Kris, a large amount of powers had exploded out of you, and it was similar to the witch," he continued talking, a gentle look taking over his face and I realized he didn't want me to panic. I sneaked a look at Chanyeol at that, and the boy was already staring at me, and he gave me a small smile. I looked back to Xiumin.
"So why did it happen?"
"It's simple," Xiumin said, scratching a spot on his neck unconsciously. "You've unlocked our Exo deck, meaning, you've collected us all. Nobody exactly knows what happens when the Exo cards are together, so we didn't realize it was some sort of an unlocking ritual, that knocked us all on our feet."
"Yeah," I clicked my fingers, remembering something. "Why did it hurt for you? And why did I fall unconscious."
"We.. are not quite sure," Luhan answered this time, looking uncomfortably around him and scrunching his face. Right, the new three additions weren't used to the human world – or the new generation of it, at least. "But I'm guessing it's because of the surge of powers that attacked us."
"The what?" I blinked my eyes.
"Hani," Joonmyeon called, and I shifted my eyes to him. He had a soft look on his face, and that made my heartbeats' pace increase. "Do you remember when we told you that our powers is restrained, and not completely.. there, within us?" I simply nodded at him, and a memory of Chanyeol's flamed wings crossed my head for a second.
"Well, now its different, now we feel complete. Every part of our powers is here. Also..," Joonmyeon paused to gulp, staring at me with such intense pair of eyes that made my body freeze with tension. "Also.. my card had glowed, again, and I think I now know what that means."
I merely raised my eyebrows at him, and I noticed Joonmyeon's small peek at the rest, whom were just as clueless as I am, before shifting his eyes back at me.
"My card, as you know, is like a detector of strength and stars. When you attained me, it glowed with five stars, but along the way, whenever you went through an excessive explosion of powers, it glowed, like when you first unlocked your Aura, and I think.. I understand why it happens.."
"Which is.." I impatiently drawled, and Joonmyeon gulped.
"Because, Hani, your aura is not only ranked with five stars.. your aura is not supposed to be ranked, because your aura is infinite."
-
Author note:
More Kris and Tao and Luhan, lol. There would be a whole chapter (or two) with fluff around these three cards, so don't worry about bonding time.
The secrets of Hani, will all be explained, although I think most of you already realized a thing or two.
By the way, did you see that this story reached 13K views and 1K votes? You guys, this is because of you! I can't explain how much I love you right now T-T