Chapter 9 - MARRIAGE??

The crisp afternoon air blew as the warm colors of the setting sun shone upon a crowd of teenagers walking back to their sanctuaries.

Most of them chattering away. Planning where to hang out.

Hwa-Young strolled along the sidewalk behind Yeona. She watched as the adorable brunette's hair bounced with each of her steps. Drowning out the sound of multiple heart beats to focus on something else. The chattering of students for example. But it seemed to have failed.

Hwa-Young sighed, rubbing her temple. Trying to ease the incoming headache.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

while being able to hear any heart that's still beating in 80 feet radius is a huge advantage in battle, it also is a huge burden.

It's a good thing that she can locate an enemy and a little bit of their emotions by heart beat but the disadvantage is that she can never stop hearing them.

Their isn't a switch that she can just click and it'll all stop.

𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. ૧(ꂹີωꂹີૂ)

In her time at the World Academy, she had experimented with many things. This is one of the many not-so-pleasant results of said experiments.

Before she could only hear heartbeats in 10 feet radius, which she kinda wants to go back to. Or maybe find a way to turn it off.

Sometimes even sound canceling headphones don't work.

It's such an annoyance.

And at the moment with so many people around she can feel a headache coming.

Hwa-Young let out a little groan. Proceeding to put on headphones to blast her ears with music.

While it will hurt her ears a bit, she really just wants a little bit of escape from the constant boring and annoying sound of ba-dump.

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘺.

𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦.

𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

She sighed, making a mental note to not make the same mistake again.

As she was turning the volume up, she heard a particular heart beat quickening.

Turning the volume down and taking her headphones off all together, she closed her eyes. Trying to locate the owner of said heart.

Who knows? It could be an enemy. A very foolish one at that.

Which awakened in their right mind would use their ability in the presence of common folks?

𝘖𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.

Or maybe they are just following her.

Or she's just overthinking and it's just a normal person.

Anyhow, she for some unknown reason, wanted to check what it was.

𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 10 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

Hwa-Young glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes catching sight of a familiar blonde.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

Then she noticed the bullies and Jisuk standing beside, talking to Jiwoo about something.

This piqued her interest.

Her lips curled into a mischievous smile, eyes narrowed.

𝘈𝘺𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯. (≧∇≦)/

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵..... 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘖𝘩, 𝘑𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘪𝘸𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?

𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘑𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘸.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘑𝘪𝘸𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘑𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘬 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺?

Hwa-Young mused with a smile of amusement. Turning to tell Yeona that she has a few matters to take care of and if she's okay with going home alone.

Yeona nodded a bit confused as Hwa-Young handed her the keys before sprinting in the opposite direction.

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦?

She questioned herself, frowning when she was unable to find an answer.

She ran past the bullies, the wind wisping through her white hair, the warm colors of twilight hitting her face just perfect. The bullies watched as she ran past them, awing at her beauty while looking like tomatoes. Failing to notice the tracker she attached on one of them.

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

~~~~~~~

Hwa-Young watched from the roof top of a nearby building as Jisuk and Jiwoo talked for a bit before they began fighting in the isolated place.

She couldn't really hear them so, she tried getting closer without them both noticing.

She watched from behind a stacked pile of three giant concrete tubes as Jisuk blocked Jiwoo's punch with absolutely no effort.

She winced as Jisuk landed a devastating blow on Jiwoo, the blonde cat lover falling to the floor.

She noted how predictable Jiwoo's moves were. Cringing as he kept getting hit.

She felt pity for him, coming to the conclusion of him being a complete newbie.

She felt a tad bit disgusted that Jisuk, one of the Four would pick a fight with a weak and clumsy newbie.

She let out a breath of relief as Jisuk told Jiwoo that they're gonna fight again when the latter's leg is fully healed before trudging away in a carefree manner.

It's as if he was completely confident that he would win on their next fight.

Jiwoo seemed depressed and ashamed of himself on the other hand. Which she found to be completely understandable.

𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

"Bzzzzzz! "

She fished out her buzzing phone from her pocket and immediately hopped on to the roof top of the nearest building, once there she stepped away from the edge to avoid being seen.

She huffed as she checked the caller's ID. It was her old man.

She looked down at Jiwoo from the roof top. The cat lover was looking around, as if trying to find something. He had heard the buzzing too.

A few moments later he seemed to have brushed it off. Moving to get his bag and out of sight with his head hung low.

She glanced back at her phone, the expensive device still lightly vibrating in her hands.

She smirked as the thought of waiting for a few more moments before picking up came to mind.

But she brushed it off, remembering how busy her old man is.

She quickly just picked it up, bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello.? "

She said, prepared to be greeted by his gruff voice.

[Took you a while to pick up, you must've been busy right?(≧∇≦)/]

She recoiled a bit at that, her eyes widening, mouth agape.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸. 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥.

It was unusual for her to not get scolded at or at least for him to be a bit grumpy whenever she's takes too much time to pick up.

So, while this warmness was setting her at ease, it was also unnerving her.

From past experiences she can tell this wasn't going to be a good thing.

"Ye-yeah. I was a bit busy. "

She stuttered out, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her face.

[Come to Shinwa Headquarters right now. I want to have a talk with you face to face~ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ! ]

From his excited tone of voice, she felt a bit relieved but still didn't dare let her guard down.

It's not like he's always grumpy and strict but that extra bit of cheerie in his tone most often tends to have a deeper meaning.

She recalls the first time he spoke to her in that tone and guilt tripped her in to going on a date with a stuck up bastard.

Why? Well, he needed a piece of info that only that guys family could give him. When he asked that they wanted in return the heir of the family requested for his granddaughter to go on a date with him. The old man having no choice agreed.

Hwa-Young didn't really say anything as she thought of herself to not be in a position to protest. Plus, this could be a way she could pay old man back for his kindness.

Not to say that she enjoyed the experience, oh hell no. It was horrible and borderline disgusting. Not to mention how misogynistic the guy was.

"I-i'll be there in a minute! "

~~~~~~~~

"Sooooo, what did you have to say? "

Hwa-Young drawled wearily as she watched steam rise from the cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

"What? (◍•ᴗ•◍) Can't I to want to see my granddaughter? "

Seongik replied from across the table, wearing a suspiciously wide smile.

Hwa-Young just stared at him, which didn't effect the latter in the slightest.

~~~~~~~~

"So, you're telling me three families are asking for my hand in MARRIAGE?? I'M NOT EVEN 18 YET! "

Hwa-Young shouted wildly, making many motions with her arms to emphasize her speech.

"Yeah, you caught on pretty quick. (ʘᴗʘ✿)" Seongik praised, smiling innocently.

"But why? " She whined, slumping down on the sofa. Facing the ceiling.

"Why won't they? Yothe one of the highest female rankers at the academy. Not to mention it has been reported that you are friends with these three fine gentlemen.( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) " he smirked, his eyes narrowing, making the corners of his eyes wrinkle. Giving her a knowing look.

"Fine gentlemen my ass.

(￣へ ￣ 凸 " she scoffed, looking back at him, sitting up straight.

"Come on, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad.☆(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ* " the old man tried reassuring her but it just stressed her out even more.

"Wa-wait! So your actually accepting them? " Her voice seemed to tremble, scared of what his answer will be.

"I mean, ヾ(＾-＾)ノ They are three of the most prestigious families in the world. It's a once in a lifetime chance-"

"Yeah, I know but-"

"Hwa-Young, my child. Think of all the benefits! " He exclaimed, taking a sip from his cup.

It's not like she doesn't see the benefits of it all, it's just that her heart is having a hard time accepting this.

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘉𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘸𝘢-𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵.

"Are you really gonna accept all three of them? " Hwa-Young raised a weary eyebrow, her voice soft. Her emotions surfacing and showing on her expression.

Seongik wanted to say yes but looking at the image of desperation on her visage, his mouth went dry.

"No, I'll let you choose which one you wanna marry when you turn 20 and if then you still have problem choosing I'll choose for you. " Seongik said, hoping this would lift her mood.

"Oh thank goodness! "

Hwa-Young sighed in relief slumping back into the couch.

~~~~~~~~~

{8:01pm, at Hwa-Young's apartment}

Hwa-Young was doing her math homework while Yeona was in the bathroom, showering.

Hwa-Young listened to the peaceful sound of the running water, doing her best to ignore the sound of heart beats.

𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦.

She thought, lightly chewing on the back of her pencil. Before quickly spitting it out when she realized there is an eraser attached to it.

It not like she doesn't have feelings for him, she has but it's just that she doesn't know how to deal with it.