Casper's body trembled. His mind blanking into an expanse of white as his eyes remained trained upon her face. They traced her features, memorising the dips and turns on her beautiful light pink skin.
The cute squish of her nose, the gentle square of her jaw, the pretty pink of her cheeks. The way her lips were almost perfectly round dollops of chocolate kisses, the length of her eyelashes, the messy eyebrows, the cute little tip of her ears.
She was wrapped in JieMi's embrace, his arms holding her up by the roundness of her perky ass. She looked so small like that, with her head pressed into the crook of his shoulder, eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly as she slept curled up against his body. Somehow, she looked as if she belonged in his embrace, her smaller body moulding to his larger, masculine frame.
His soulmate was in JieMi's embrace.
His eyes darted upwards, shocked at the incredulous situation. Why was she in JieMi's arms? Asleep despite the awkward position? Casper fumbled at the sight of the youngest, his heart pounding hard in his chest as he desperately attempted to decipher the look on JieMi's face.
JieMi's expression was dark and steely, his jaws clenched together so tightly that the muscles jutted out, fluttering with the grit of his teeth. His eyes were far away, his mind spinning and brewing within the depths of those dark orbs. He was bristling, churning with something within him that made him angry and tense. His grip on her tightened, his fingers digging into her skin, so hard that Casper—
Casper wanted to tear her out of his arms.
"Casper, Oliver," JieMi greeted them both, his voice gruff and a little rude. He was stomping straight into the house with her in his arms and Casper stood, his feet immediately moving after him.
Oliver was hot on his heels, pattering after them. Inside, Casper's mind was spilling with questions that brought with them thousands of varying emotions. Some burned him, hot with lust, others hurt him, cold and frosty with their emptiness.
His thoughts were spinning in his head, and there were hundreds of questions on the tip of his tongue. He didn't know how he managed to pick one but he did.
"JieMi, what's going on?" Casper called, chasing after the boy. He watched confused as JieMi stormed into his own room. Casper skidded to a stop, standing at the door of JieMi's room to the sight of him laying her down on the bed with a gentleness that hitched Casper's breath.
JieMi propped her head on the pillow, shifting her body into a comfortable position. Once he deemed her comfortable enough, he turned to go. Casper watched as he froze, his muscles clamping at the sight of his elder.
They first met when the younger male had just turned twelve. JieMi had been a shy, tiny and awkward teen, just a kid who loved to sing. JieMi had been Casper's baby brother once, someone that Casper had taken care of and perhaps played a part in raising.
The dynamics changed the older he got. Their friendship had morphed into something of equal footing, but that didn't mean that the memory of those days were gone. JieMi was incapable of lying to Casper because Casper knew him better than any other member in the household.
Casper was his older brother in everything but blood.
JieMi's eyes darted away to escape Casper's gaze, unable to look him straight in the eye. Casper read him, carefully cataloguing the shifty eyes and the nervous tics. His best friend was guilty, confused and trapped in the prison of his own thoughts.
On normal days, Casper would draw the answers out of him carefully with gentle questions and loads of patience. But the situation called for a change in tactic and a harsher hand.
"JieMi!" Casper gripped his arms, shaking him and jolting him out of his thoughts.
Finally, the guy looked at him and Casper's breath caught in his throat at the sight, watching as the baby of the team broke just a little. His expression transformed from the hard, stormy anger to something of guilt and sorrow.
He swallowed, pressing his lips into a thin steady line, biting into the trembling bottom flesh. It was as if he were struggling to put on a strong front, struggling to keep his emotions intact as he stared into Casper's eyes.
But Casper knew him enough to know that inside, JieMi was breaking, stumbling and eager to cry in someone's embrace. The redness of his eyes, glistening wet with unshed tears was enough for him to know that something had happened. Something horrible.
Something bad.
It wasn't easy for someone as strong-willed as JieMi to break like this. Casper inhaled sharply, gently rubbing JieMi's shoulders soothingly. After all, JieMi had stayed in the bowels of an industry that spat one out the moment one showed even the slightest hint of weakness, much longer than anyone in the team had.
JieMi had always been stubborn, but that was how he survived. He knew his goals, and he didn't care about the opinions of the entire world. He didn't care what was right and what was wrong. He worked to get whatever he wanted and he threw aside everything that stood in his way.
Casper admired that.
"What's going on?" Oliver spoke from behind them and the look on JieMi's face morphed back into their concealed hardness. His teeth clamping together so tightly that the tremble of his lips was forced into submission.
Casper's brows furrowed, his heart twisting in his chest. Something within his gut warned him that something was amiss. That he needed to stay alert and careful. That something was not right. He needed to be mentally prepared. For what? He did not know yet.
"She-She's—My classmate?" JieMi stammered out, his voice odd. It sounded wrong, the pitch was off in more ways than ever. His words were more of a question than an answer. He was confused. Definitely confused, maybe lying. Casper's frown deepened. What kind of relationship did he have with her? "She's sick."
"And you brought her here instead of the hospital?" Oliver sounded horrified, his voice high pitched with his alarm. There was something off about the way his best friend reacted, Casper realised, turning to look at him.
The terror radiated across Oliver, his concern glistening far too strongly in his eyes to be normal. It was weird because Oliver didn't give a fuck about people he didn't love. He was cold in that sense, wicked in his own way. And here he was, concerned over a stranger.
Concerned over a stranger.
"I don't know..." JieMi shrugged angrily, pulling away from Casper's grasp. He was fuming, his own emotions were in turmoil. Casper could tell that the guy would blow up soon, and like a tornado, he would destroy everything in his path.
He was young. Still selfish, demanding and a little hot-headed. He said the most horrible of words and tore at the throats of others without a second thought. JieMi fucked up first, then regretted it later.
Casper knew that better than anyone in the team because he has always been the one to clean up the mess. They gave in too easily to the youngest, the brothers. They did it because he was their baby.
He shot Oliver a look, telling him to stay calm. An angry JieMi was enough for him to deal with on his plate, he didn't need a pissed off Oliver to cope with too. The guy didn't respond, his own emotions surging too strongly within him to give a fuck about JieMi. Casper could see it in his eyes. The way he teetered and hovered at the door with his eyes on her.
On her.
"Oliver, go call our doctor," Casper instructed the authority seeping naturally into his voice. A voice that was surprisingly steady and calm. "He'll decide if she needs the hospital."
Oliver nodded, dashing out of the room to make a speed dial without another word. They had an on-call doctor for MinJae just in case he needed it at odd hours in the night. It was a precaution that the company had installed for them and using it for her wouldn't hurt, especially since she was his.
Casper took JieMi's hand, pulling him to stand outside of the room. "Hey, talk to me. What happened?" He asked, his voice low and soothing. He smiled, keeping his eyes kind even if another part of him wanted to ask a thousand different, harsher questions. Why is she in your arms? Who is she to you? How did you meet? What did you do to her?
Did you hurt her?