Mixed Blood

24: Wrong Timing

It was Monday morning and rain was falling. Section Rose Quartz was in a state of commotion as soon as the Paragons arrived. Both vampires and human alike huddled around them after the news about the Moissanite invasion and their successful defense of the kingdom shocked the entire population.

"Hey guys, are you alright?" Mark was the first to speak.

"We just heard the news last night. Is everybody okay?" Zico followed.

"The four of us are okay. Seungcheol-hyung and Jun-hyung, on the other hand, suffered heavy damages," Vernon revealed.

"WHAT?" Minghao and Joshua exclaimed at the same time.

"Are you alright?" Minghao asked Jun.

"I'm completely fine now," Jun ruffled Minghao's hair.

"Thankfully, ARMY, ERI and WANNABLE were there with us so their members were able to heal us," Seungcheol calmed everyone down.

"So, the Royal Defense Forces were there?" Donghyuck was full of interest. "I always wanted to be a part of the Royal Defense Force."

"But if they were there, how did you get injured?" Chungha was confused.

"Because of the sheer number of invaders, the main forces managed to slip past ARMY, ERI, and WANNABLE so we were tasked to intercept them," Soonyoung narrated. "The main forces also had a considerable number and with them was a general and a Moissanite prince.

"Jun-hyung faced the general while Seungcheol-hyung battled the prince," Seokmin continued.

"The general was the one who attacked you, so I killed him off," Jun whispered to Minghao.

"Seungcheol-hyung forced the prince to retreat. That's is how their invasion ended," Wonwoo finished the story.

While everyone continued due to everyone's curiosity, Joshua retreated back to his seat. He knew that he can still get the news later; he was friends with Paragons after all. He pulled out his phone and noticed the amount of notifications he had on his SNS accounts. Clicking the screen, the app opened. Ironically, the very first post he saw was from Jeonghan's mother and it was picture of Jeonghan, his parents and Seungcheol with the caption: "Welcome to the family, our son's soulmate!".

"Mingyu-ya..." Joshua secretly called for Mingyu.

"What is it, Joshua-hyung?"

"Are Seungcheol and Jeonghan really soulmates?"

"Yes. Didn't they tell you yesterday?"

To say that Joshua was shocked was a complete understatement. Deep inside, he was really hurt. He was hurt because neither Jeonghan nor Seungcheol told him about it. He felt betrayed. But more than that, he knew why he was feeling hurt. It was because he was harboring feelings for the two.

"Shua, are you okay?" Seungcheol's voice broke Joshua's thoughts.

Before Joshua could respond, the bell rang. Classes proceeded as usual. Joshua, on the other hand, was physically present but mentally absent. His mind was wondering off because of the news he just knew a couple moments ago.

Hours just passed by rather quickly for Joshua who was still deep in his thoughts. He did not even know what transpired in their History, Art and Music classes. The next thing he noticed was the sound of the bell for their lunch break.

"Shall we go to the cafeteria?" Jeonghan suggested.

"Sure."

"Sorry, guys. You go ahead. I will go to the library and read," Joshua informed his companions; he had no appetite to eat.