MinJae's lips trembled at his words. The two were the closest in the team and Sieon's words would always affect MinJae in a different way. "It's just a dream Eonnie", His voice was softer, almost as if he had lost his will to fight back as if his guard and his shields were breaking.
"No it wasn't! I'm sure. I'm sure! My parents had soul dreams! It's exactly as they said when I was a child! It's exactly the same as what my grandparents told me!" Sieon shook his head as he spoke, with more conviction than ever. Sieon held on tightly to anything related to his parents, their memory was what had kept him going in his loss and sadness.
"Sieon! Please!" MinJae snapped his eyes flashing with his anger. They were going to fight if this continued. The two were the best of friends but also the worst of enemies. Oliver exchanged glances with Casper. This wasn't going to go so well.
"Listen, we'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" Casper soothed, raising his hands. "Let's all sleep on this tonight."
"Is she going to sleep here tonight? Because if she is I'm not fucking coming back!" MinJae growled. He was like an animal pushed to the corner of the cage and he had no choice but to bite at whatever he could. He was being childish and Oliver was angry at him for being like this. "You all are insane, believing her?"
"Minnie..." Hikaru murmured, a soft plea in his voice. Oliver was glad that at least they had gotten Sieon and Hikaru on their side. But not everything could be perfect and it would take a lot more convincing for all of them to come through.
"Tell me. Tell me now. Why are you so sure? Huh? A dream? What about you? She makes your heart warm?" MinJae laughed, his eyes painfully judgemental.
He looked at everyone with eyes of pity and Oliver had never pitied him more. His world now was so dark and so filled with the lack of hope that MinJae could not see the truth before him. He was like a man who had lost all his senses and screamed to go home when in truth he was already at home.
"We're just a bunch of broken men. We'll always be alone just get it in your fucking heads and stop dreaming. STOP DREAMING!" MinJae screamed the last words, panting as he spoke. His words were more for himself than anyone else and Oliver knew that in the tremble of his lips. "Give up already," he sniffled, the beautiful boy biting his lips as he spoke.
The unease that he stirred within the group was clear and Oliver could see that they were all second-guessing themselves. Their minds swirling as self-deprecation, self-loathe and the belief that they weren't worth someone else's love swirled in their heads. Oliver watched Amber feeling worried.
Her voice was small as she spoke, weak like a leaf in the storm. It was tossed and thrashed about by the rain and the wind. "I didn't have to be here. I could have studied at home. I could have stayed but I- I was forced to be here."
She swallowed, glancing down at her feet. She looked up at Ezra. "Something went wrong. The soul suppressants I ate, the soul suppressants MinJae ate. I-I have proof." Her voice perked up as she looked at the youngest in the group. "JieMi."
The guy flinched at her words, his shoulders shifting not enough for the others to notice but Oliver could see it.
"I teleported to Korea and appeared behind him. Behind JieMi. Please, JieMi tell them. Tell them."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied stubbornly and Oliver wanted to slap the kid.
JieMi remained defensive because he was proud and Oliver knew he didn't want to admit to all the mistakes he had made in front of everyone. It wasn't exactly old news that he had decided to not find his soulmate in favour for Ha-Eun and if he admitted anything now. It was a blow to his pride.
"Then the body exchange!" She said. "Tell them about the body exchange at the concert, at school. Please." Oliver's eyes widened at her words. So many times?
"I didn't see you. I don't know who you are," JieMi continued, his eyes nervous but his voice did not betray his emotions. No one else would be able to read the truth in him except Oliver and perhaps Casper. "So you can fuck off. Fuck off."
JieMi was lying. He must be, but at that moment even Oliver began to second-guess himself and he watched as confusion flickered across the members.
"Go," MinJae sniffed, rolling his eyes as he wiped at tears as if the situation was solved. He pulled out his phone, sliding his fingers across the screen. "I'm calling our manager and the team."
"Come on, JieMi!" She pleaded her voice rising with her panic.
"Don't talk to him. Damn it!" MinJae snapped back. "I told you I wouldn't go easy on you the second time! I told you to stay away!" MinJae growled. "Get away from us! Leave! LEAVE! I'm calling the police and they are going to fucking deport you back to your country!" He threatened, his voice rising. "Why do you think someone like you would deserve us? YOU DON'T! YOU DON'T DESERVE US! YOU'RE FUCKING WORTHLESS."
The words rang. It rang across the apartment and even Oliver was shocked at how poisonous and how hateful MinJae's tone was. It grated on his nerves, each word a cut in his own heart. Even if those words weren't directed at him, he grew cold with his shock and his fear.
Chills were running up his spine as his heart thudded with those words. He blinked, shaking himself a little as his mind jumped back to her. To her tears and her nightmares, and her need for their touch in her sleep. And dread filled him.
She would break.
He must have expected it because it didn't come as a shock when she stumbled back into his arms. His body dropped into a kneel as he caught her in her dead faint.
Fuck.
She was cold, too cold. Her body was like ice on his fingers. He was scared because it was starting to remind him of his past. The way his father had dropped to the floor when he ran with Oliver in his arms. Cold, lifeless. Dead.
Dead.
"Amber? Amber?" He checked her pulse. It was slow. Weak. Too weak for his liking and he brushed a finger on her cheeks, running his hands on the tears that dripped from her eyes. When his hand left her cheeks, he spotted the flecks of gold in the beads on his fingers. "Fuck, call the ambulance. We pushed it too far." His words escaped him before he knew it and he was far away in his shock.
"Fuck. I'm on it," Casper gasped, fumbling for his phone.
Oliver barely registered his words, his mind moving over every other sound.
Casper's. Our soulmate, she fainted. We had a fight. Yes? Yes, we have seven. No eight. Eight people. She's bleeding gold, she was hurt. Violated last time. What do we do? Help us. Please!
Sieon's. Why did you have to fucking say that shit, MinJae? And you? JieMi, what the fuck!
JieMi. B-but it was the truth! Truth! It-it—I'm not—
Hikaru. Please, please shut up now. Please. Shut the fuck up.
"Amber? Hey, hey. Wake up, please," Oliver shook her gently, then harder.
She was beautiful in his arms as always, but he didn't like how pale she was now. How the gold flowed down to her neck in tiny rivulets, staining her waxy skin.
"Please my sunshine. Please."
He drew her closer, holding her body to his. He pulled away in horror at the warm wetness that stained her clothes. His hands were coated in that gold. The gold that seemed to shimmer and glisten with an otherworldly quality, its reflection was iridescent.
No, no, no! He shook her harder, pulling her into his embrace. Touch works right? Right? He rubbed her arms but she dropped like a doll, slumping in his arms.
"What's going on? Why is she crying gold?" Sieon gasped, already on his knees.
Oliver was detached from the situation. His body felt as if it were floating. He was sitting in a pool of gold that dripped and stained his jeans. What did he do? What could he do? Touch? Kiss? He kissed her cheeks, her neck, but it didn't work. It didn't.
Casper knelt, his talkative side appearing with his panic. "She's bleeding from her soul, we need to get her to the hospital. She's hurt badly. We might have broken another bond. I don't know. This isn't good. She isn't even awake for us to stop it. Oh my fucking God."
Oliver was in a sea of gold as he held her and then he smelled it. The sickly coiling scent of rust and sweetness.
"Do something!" Hikaru cried, his voice loud and pitched in his panic. "There's blood!"
Oliver watched horrified as the gold and red spilt from her and stained the floor in a puddle. It was too much. She was dying in his arms. She couldn't. She couldn't die in his arms. He didn't want to lose the last puzzle of his family.
In the background, the clock ticked loud and ominous.
The paramedics were pouring in after what seemed like years of waiting. They were pulling her from him and he screamed, battling to not let her go but Casper tore him away. Some part of Oliver was afraid that the minute she left his arms she would go. She was on the floor and there were wires that they attached to her. Tags and needles, an oxygen mask over her face.
They were stripping her off her shirt, snapping at her bra to reveal her chest and Oliver hated himself. He hated himself for lusting for her even in this situation, his cock swelling in his jeans at the sight. At the centre of her chest was a splintered crack that dripped with rivulets of gold and red. They pooled around her staining the marble.
The paramedics pulled out a defibrillator, one of them pumping at her chest and Oliver distantly heard the sound of Hikaru howling. He was repeating the words, "No, oh God. Please no. NO!"
Everything was happening so quickly that Oliver couldn't—couldn't wrap his head around it. He wanted to look away but he couldn't. He couldn't and all he could do was stare at the resuscitation process. They applied the pads of the machine to the side and he watched horrified as their fingers left her.
Stand Clear. Shock.
She spasmed, her body jerking forward lifeless in its movements and Sieon wailed behind him. Was he screaming too? Oliver didn't know. He was hysterical. He was so fucking stupid for standing back. So fucking stupid. He would regret everything forever.
The clock continued.
Again.
How could she look so beautiful, so ethereal in that pool of red and gold?
We're restarting the bond now! Administering Soul Drug A3289.
A needle pierced her skin.
Administering Restarter Drug now.
An injection to her heart.
Where is the broken bond? The broken bond?
Oliver snapped. He grabbed MinJae and shoved him forward. His body was light and energy filled him from the adrenaline and fear. In his eyes, Oliver could only see her.
"Here!" Oliver yelled. "Here!" MinJae was trembling as Oliver forced him to his knees and he knelt in that pool of gold, his face a vision of horror, shock and fear.
Sir, on our count. You must kiss your soulmate.
"Kiss? B-but, But—"
Sir, now!
Oliver would have pushed him forward if MinJae didn't react. But he didn't need to because, in his fear, MinJae was instinctively leaning forward. His body trembled as he pressed a kiss to her lips.
The moment their lips met the gold on the floor transformed into a field of lilacs. Lilacs that blossomed all over, tiny little bundles of purples and pinks. They were in her hair and MinJae's hair and Oliver watched stunned as she took a breath.
A breath that relaxed his body and MinJae—
—MinJae wept.
The clock stopped.