*𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟠𝟜

-나는 그들의 것, 그들은 내 꺼야-

"i was worried about you," he said, leaning down and picking me up, hugging me tightly, my legs wrapped around his waist and one of his hands was around my waist and the other underneath my bum. he took in my scent and i hugged him as tight as i could.

"god, i missed you," he growled into my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

having him back, having the three of them back, was enough to put me in good spirits again. after what happened the day before i was on a low, i was paranoid at every sound and anxious, but with them around, those worries always seem to disappear.

he walked us to the bed and laid me down, without letting me go.

we laid there.

in each other's silence.

i could hear every breath he took in and feel his heartbeat against my chest. his hands tracing circles on my back, occasionally running through my hair.

-wonwoo's pov-

thank god i'm by her side again... i let out a sigh.

i thought she would be the same areum she was before, but she's different.

she has a different aura, she doesn't get shy or flustered as easily, there was clear proof when mingyu picked her up and kissed her. she would usually get red, her breathing would become frantic and her heart would beat like crazy. but no. she was calm.

it was unnerving to see the difference a few weeks could make on her. what could have possibly happened between them for her to be so different?

what did he do?

after laying there on the bed for a few minutes in each other's embrace i realized the difference.

from how close i was to her, i could smell it.

her blood was different.

it had a different scent.

"he took your virginity," i bluntly said, pulling away from her to see her face properly.

(a/n the woman was too stunned to speak-)

she was too stunned to speak at what i said.

when she came to, she finally spoke. "w-what?" she stuttered at me.

i wasn't exactly mad at her, but i still bore my cold expression. i was envious. not angered. it was always going to happen. she was always going to lose her innocence, but i never imagined it would have been seungcheol, and most certainly under these circumstances; when we're away from our family and separated, to protect her.

(a/n by "family" he means seventeen. wonwoo considered all of them to be family, not specifically sibling or cousin kind of family, but the friendship type of family. i'm not sure how to explain it)

nevertheless, i'm still a jealous man, just like the others. i would have wished to have been her first, but it's ultimately her choice.

i peeled away from her, looming over her stunned figure on the bed. i carried my red eyes and cold glare with me.

"i-i," she tried to explain, but could string any coherent words together. "it was- i." she stopped and regained her composure, taking in a breath. areum stood up and looked away from me, looking at the closed curtains and avoiding my gaze. "yeah, he did," she muttered.

for some reason, there was a sad expression on her face, like she was ashamed to be telling me with.

"i know it'll probably make you angry, but it was my decision." she rubbed her arm, her eyes dancing around the room until they fell onto mine.

her voice was as sweet as ever. she continued speaking, but none of the words registered in my mind. i was too preoccupied with her lips. they looked so soft and just underneath her collar, i could see hickeys and love marks leaking through.

that was the only thing i could focus on. she was going off on a tangent trying to explain herself, but i only cared about the marks he left in her body.

"did you like it," i suddenly said, furrowing my eyebrows at her. jealousy was evident in my voice and it sparked in me. the fire of my passion for her only grew from this.

i leaned down, my arms falling at her sides, forcing her to lean back ever so slightly.

this time she was flustered; her cheeks going red like they always do, her breathing picking up and her heart going crazy as ever.

there she is, i smirked.

"what," her eyes went wide at my question. "i'm asking if you liked it," i leaned in closer to her face, my breath tickling her face at the closeness. "did he at least treat you right?" i continued.

"i would have thought you would have chosen mingyu or vernon to be your first. but why seungcheol? was it just because you two were alone? he's hurt women that way, killed even." i narrowed my eyes, "so i'm asking, did he hurt you, and did he treat you right?" i bombarded her with questions, with each word i spoke growing closer to her.

jealousy is a green-eyed monster that feeds on greed and envy, wanting something someone else wants. the monster makes you do impulsive and foolish things to others and to the only thing you envy for.

eventually, she laid on the bed once more, my body hovering over hers again.

"i know what he's done," she whispered, not tearing her eyes away from mine, "he told me. but i continued to insist that i wanted him to be my first." one of her hands grew towards my cheek, "he didn't hurt me, he would never," she breathed, her hand gently and so was her expression.

i looked down at her with an empty expression, not sure of how to respond. she answered my questions so calmly.

she's different...

i'm not entirely sure of how to feel about this new areum, but the thing that i'm sure of is that she's confident and calm. she seems to have matured, grown out of her shell.

maybe this is for the best.

"i'm sorry if it angers you, but it already happened," she smiled a bitter smile.

i let out a sigh once i realized that it truly is for the best. this is now areum.

"i'm not angered," i narrowed my eyes once again. "just jealous." i let myself go and lay by her side.

"he loses control over himself, gets overzealous, and he hurts people this way. unintentionally, but it still happens." she turned to look at me. "he shouldn't have been your first. i would have pegged you to choose mingyu or vernon, maybe even soonyoung," i arched a brow, "they're more gentle than him."

"how come you haven't mentioned yourself?" she brought her hand to trace circles on my chest with her fingers.

"i'm not a gentle lover," i narrowed my eyes at her, my voice going dark at the thoughts running through my mind.

what i would do to her if i could.

her eyes went wide and she cleared her voice, too stunned at my response to say something back, an audible chuckle leaving my lips.

"anyways," she coughed, her eyes drawing away from me and looking anywhere in the room beside me. my hand drew closer to her cheek, softly grazing it with the back of my hand.

"let's change the subject," her lips thinned into a line, finally turning her head to look at me again. it's funny how she can still be flustered by a small comment like that.

her eyes softened when she saw my tired eyes, the dark circle underneath my eyes, how pale my skin was compared to normal. she noticed the difference in my demeanor as well. i too was different, but for different reasons.

"are you going to tell me the real reason you look so weary?" her hand swept back my hair, her hands combing through it, "or are you going to lie to me again?" she arched a brow.

"you caught that, heh?" a strange smile fell on my lips.

"have you..." she hesitated for a moment, "have you been getting enough blood?"

-areum's pov-

"no," he said

it hurt to know that he was silently suffering. he has a problem that no one can fix. he lied to me to spare my worries, but i could tell something was off, that something else was bothering him. he has a different air to him, a normal person wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but i could, and i'm sure the others also knew what was going on with him.

"we still haven't been able to find much at hospitals," his eyes turned red. one of his hands went to the side of my head, right behind my ear, his locks between his fingers.

"how're your nightmares?" he asked, concerned.

"they um, they've been happening less," i nodded my head a little, looking down at his chest, "i still get them sometimes, but not much," i smiled a little, wishing to change the subject.

my nightmares have changed since they first started. before they felt like blocked memories or something that had happened in the past. they're different now.

now, it's kai terrorizing my dreams, warning me of the day i turn into the woman he loved once. but, other times, it's like i'm living as selene and i see her memories of him. i've had dreams of every era, century, and decade. almost like past lives.

in every single one, they are arguing. kai and selene are screaming at each other, throwing things, and threatening each other. selene would say that she wouldn't reincarnate again and kai said that he wished they never met.

it all felt so real, but the way kai has always described his love for her and her love for him, makes this seem like fiction.

"wonu," i whispered, unsure of the question or answer i would receive, "have you ever met other selene's?" my voice was small compared to before.

"to be honest, when seungcheol first told us of what kai said, i couldn't believe it." he furrowed his brows for a moment, "because, in all the years that i had known jongin, he never mentioned a woman named selene, nor has he ever had anyone by his side," he stopped for a moment.

"then i figured, he kept her a secret. just like we did you," a small smile formed on his lips when he mentioned me.

🌷

when night came, seungcheol decided that he would sleep on the small couch in the room and left me to have my own bed and wonwoo on the other, even though i argued, saying that i would be fine if he slept by my side.

the entire night i felt an uneasy feeling, like something would go wrong soon. i was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. the first shoe was them pursuing us in the car, but i was very unsure of what the other would be.

when morning came, we spent the entire day in the hotel, and when the sun was going down, we moved to a different hotel.

it was like this for a week before seungcheol said that the people most likely lost our trial. he said that i would go to a different high school, under a different name and information. the only silver-lining of this situation was that i had all of them with me... and they let me decide my new name.

i thought about it for a while and i finally decided on ava smith. it wasn't exactly my favorite, but it was very inconspicuous compared to what i had before. it blended in with the other people here.

this time around vernon joined me in school. he looked the youngest out of the four of them and it wouldn't be a stretch to say he was in his late teens like me. before when all of them were in my school, i thought that they wouldn't fit in, thinking they looked too old, but somehow they were fine.

vernon also had to change his name, and out of all the names i suggested to him, he chose thomas jones...

(a/n does anyone else think that tom holland and vernon look alike?)

i argued with him with the name, but he wouldn't change his mind.

and so, life went on.

a/n guys, please stay safe. i got covid the first week of 2022. i'm asymptomatic so i'm fine. PLEASE STAY SAFE. on a happy note: i discovered a man named lee soohyuk... i am head over heels!

by the time i posted this i already had my negative result.

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