"Caner…?" I said as I looked up somewhere in the sky, but I didn't see anything.
"Caner? Where is he? Why are you looking up—gasp! —is he dead?!" Sypher exclaimed, exaggeratingly gasping. This woman's whole existence is probably exaggerated, and I like it.
"What?! No! I just…thought I saw him for a second there." I glanced up again, but there really wasn't. A breeze passed by, and it sort of whispered to me. It was, again, mana. Deep inside me, I know I can feel it...or at least I am starting to.
"Speaking of Caner, I just got a text from him, I'll go pick him up," Kolin said, making his way toward the Uber car rather hurriedly. He made eye contact with me before going inside, in which I heard a sound in my head. 'I think your friend is in trouble, I'll go with Caner.' His voice sounded. The tone--albeit the voice was just telepathically communicated, sounded worried.
"Oh…" I finally realized why there were voices in my head. It was Caner and Kolin talking…albeit it was just Caner that I heard. 'Oh wait, which friend?'
'The lanky one.' A child-like voice sounded again.
As I again heard his voice, I frowned, 'Are they reading my thoughts?' That's creepy. Super freakin' creepy.
Choccy scratched her head, "Well, do you guys wanna go inside?"
"Sure," Sypher said, and I nodded as well.
The front garden was clean—I noticed. Smooth pebbles covered the ground, and what isn't covered with it is Bermuda grass. The pathway was lined up with lantern style like the roof of the mansion itself which was pointy. It definitely was a mansion; I like this design better, to be honest.
"So, Seung Jee, right? Do you have an English name?" Sypher asked with a gentle smile.
"I don't, since my actual name is quite easy to pronounce, but my friends call me Choccy." She replied.
"Choccy?" The former tilted her head with a brow raised. 'Gosh, even her eyebrows are perfect.'
"It's because she likes chocolates," Lux said. Her sudden contribution to the conversation surprised me. That's new. Usually, she just nods, but she's been awfully sociable lately.
"Oh." Sypher poked her own cheeks which had a dimple, and she proceeded to reach out to her bag and pull out a bar of chocolate—a premium one at that. "Here you go." She proceeded to hand it to Choccy with a cheerful glee.
Choccy then happily took it and immediately unwrapped it to take a bite. "Wow, what a glutton." I couldn't help but comment--it was a funny sight.
"Whot?" She said, her voice was funny since she was munching on some chocolate. "Thanksh by the way." She said to Sypher, and the latter just smiled. 'She'd make a great mom...if only Kolin could pull such a chick.'
"I really don't know how you don't get fat or even have diabetes," I said, rubbing my chin while looking at her curiously like a lab rat. It's not worth mentioning, but that is just plain unfair! How can someone have a body like that? But then I thought of Kolin who never gets sick and is possibly immortal. 'Well, I won't have to mourn then' I chuckled at my own dark humor.
"I don't really eat that much. Just because I like it doesn't mean I eat it all the time." She said.
"Good point."
We are now making our way to the dining area where we will have an early lunch since we haven't really had a meal on the way here to Seoul. "I ordered the food, it should arrive any time now," Lux said, scrolling through her phone, and occasionally tapping.
"Great," I said, rubbing my grumbling stomach. While waiting for the food to arrive, I thought over what Kolin said. Tobin is in trouble? How? Should I tell Lux? I'm quite hesitant since I don't really know enough details to explain. 'I probably shouldn't…he'll be fine.' I thought, and I really believed that, since Kolin was on his way—not to mention Caner. 'But what happened?' I shook my head to get rid of these thoughts. It doesn't really matter right now.
"Food's here. You want me to pick it up?" Lux said to Choccy, and Seung replied,
"No, I got it." She then ran outside to get it, but what went along with her was the noise of talks that was previously her for an awkward silence prevailed between the three of us.
"So…Kolin's a scientist, huh?" Sypher made small talk, and I naturally went along.
"Yea—wait, what? He's a barista, he owns a café in Cali." I said, caught off guard by the sudden question. A scientist? Who? That guy is a magician.
"Really? He definitely said he's a physicist." Sypher frowned.
Seeing my bewildered expression, Lux jumped in, "I remember Kolin saying he does it on the side," She said as he made eye contact with me, conveying something. 'Oh, I get it. What is that guy up to again?' I thought. He's definitely up to something…he only lies if he is.
"Oh, that makes sense," Sypher said as she seemed to remember something, looking up somewhere distant. "…he asked me to do some experiments with him, and uhmmm…does he have a girlfriend?" Sypher added, asking a question--so obvious to what it conveys, out of the blue.
I squinted my eyes, 'So she likes him.', and I replied, "As far as I know, no, he doesn't—well, not that I know much about him." I said.
"Not much? You're his sister." She said questioningly.
"O-oh, well, yea, but you know he moved out early and stuff." I quickly said as an excuse, but it does have some truth in it.
"I see." She nodded. There was silence again, and I think only Lux was comfortable with it.
Lucky. However, before the atmosphere get any more awkward, Choccy came back, "Guys! I got the food, let's eat!" Her presence relieved me for she can lighten up a dim, dark, and gloomy room with just her presence. We then proceeded to gorge on some Chinese food for the next 30 minutes.
…
Three hours later, we were just in the living room—the TV was on, but everyone seems to be doing something on their own. Sypher and Choccy were playing checkers, I'm just watching a show, but my mind wasn't on it—I'm still thinking of Tobin, and what happened now. I texted them a while back, but they haven't responded. I'm getting quite bored, but we've been out all day yesterday and just this morning so I wasn't really in the mood to go out. And I noticed Lux…she was mindlessly tapping on her phone, occasionally scrolling through. "Lux, what are you up to?" I asked.
"It's…nothing." She said, and her usual expression was replaced with a hint of worry.
"What's up? Did something happen?" I asked, taking note of her expression.
She looked at me, but averted her eyes, "Nothing, really."
'Ho?' I smell something….
"Really~?" I asked, sitting close to her.
"Urgh, here you are again, and I don't like it...It's Tobin! He hasn't texted me back in 6 hours now…" Her voice gradually turned to a mumble as she talked. 'As I thought, she was hiding something.'
"Maybe he's asleep? There's a time difference after all." I said, but I already know the reason…well, not entirely. "—wait, are you guys dating now?!"
"What? Who's dating?" Choccy replied suddenly as she heard my voice.
"No!" Lux let out a pipsqueak squeel, "We—we were just chatting!" She said, and they continued to bicker. Choccy teasing her, and Lux trying her best to deny it, all the while Sypher just watched over them, laughing.
As this was happening, I went out--sneakily. 'I could pass off as a ninja'. The sun was past the middle, so I would guess it was the afternoon. I took my phone out and called Kolin, I just wanna know if Tobin's okay.
Brrrtt…Brrrtt…Clack!
"Kolin! I have been texting you! What's happening? Any updates?" I asked, he was sipping on some beverage—booze, probably.
"Yo, why'd you call?" He asked
"What Happ—"
"He's fine. Well, he did turn into a mage." He said, and I was stumped. I felt like was hit by a boulder by what he said.
"He what?" I asked again for clarity. Maybe I heard it wrong. 'A mage? How is that possible?' I chuckled at the thought.
Kolin, my very respectable brother, did not find it humorous, however, for he snickered. "Kolin, that brat, turned into a mage."
I flinched, 'h-he did?'. "But how is that possible?!" I couldn't help but shout, and I know the three hooligans inside heard it because all the bickering noises ceased. "Y-you! Kolin! What did you do?! Didn't we said that we do not want to be part of whatever you're thinking of?!"
"Calm your over-assuming ass down. I did not do anything. He gained rule over mana without me even--us even doing anything. In fact, we weren't even in his proximity. We were miles away--wait, I actually remember that dude being crass and disrespectful, so I don't mind taking his mana away."
"You can do that?" Asked Caner through the phone, "Wouldn't that kill him though?"
"Oy. Oy. Oy, Kolin, you twisted bastard, don't even think about it," I said to him, and I trust...I trust--I at least know that he's sensible enough not to do that.
"I won't, since it doesn't really concern me."
"You better not." I hear Lux's voice behind me, a crease on her forehead can be seen. Her fist was also clenched hard.
"You heard that?" I couldn't help but ask. The phone was over my ear, and you usually can't hear something like that.
"You're on speaker." She said, and I checked my phone which was in fact NOT on speaker.
"It is not." I looked at her.
"You su--"
"Hey Lux, what else do you feel?" I was startled by my brother's voice as he cut off Lux's question. His voice sounded somewhat perturbed.
"What do you mean, exactly?" Asked Lux, all the while, the two behind her just watched and listened; they did not bother asking what even was happening. There was a bit of silence when she asked the question, both on the phone and around us.
"You might turn into a mage soon." Said Caner in a child-like voice.
"What?" I frowned, "She didn't even go throught the mana nightmare!"
Kolin then replied with a tired voice, "I don't know what's happening as well..."