Something Peculiar

2.10

"Holy hell!!" In-guk shouted and jumped back from the side of my bed. I'd sat up almost leaping out of bed, preparing to attack whoever had just woken up. It turned out to be In-guk, and I didn't understand what I'd done to him. As far as I knew, I hadn't even reached yet, other than sitting up. But In-guk stood off to the side of the room, pressing his palms to his temples. He was bent over, his dark hair falling over his face.

"In-guk?" I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. He didn't respond, so I stepped closer to him. "In-guk? Are you okay? Did I do something?"

"Yeah." He shook his head and straightened up. His eyes were closed, but he'd dropped his hands from his head.

"I'm sorry. What did I do?"

"I don't know." In-guk opened his mouth wide and stretched his jaw, reminding me of someone who had just been slapped in the face. "I came in to wake you up for your training. And you..."

"Did I hit you?" I supplied when he trailed off.

"No, it was in my head." In-guk stared ahead thoughtfully for a minute. "No, you were right. It was like you slapped me inside my head."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever done anything like that before? Maybe when you were scared?" He turned to look at me, ignoring my confusion to satisfy his.

"Not that I know of, but I don't even know what I did,"

"Hmm." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Your abilitiesvare still developing. They should fully present themselves soon, and maybe this is part of that. Or maybe it's just because I'm me."

"What?"

"Because I'm psychic," In-guk reminded me. "Your aura is very dark today." He couldn't read minds or anything, but he could sense things. I projected, so I could get in people's minds like Hye-kyo could and use persuasion, and In-guk received, so he could see auras and was more sensitive to emotion.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You're unhappy." In-guk sounded distracted, and he made for the door. "Hurry. Get dressed. We have much to do."

He left my room before I could ask him more, and I didn't understand what Nayeon saw in him. I wasn't sure if she really had a crush on him, or if her interest only stemmed from the fact that his family was powerful. In-guk's family, The Kroners were next in line for the crown, In-guk specifically, if I couldn't fulfill my duties.

In-guk was attractive, though. His dark hair had soft natural highlights coursing through it, although it was longish and unruly.l, settling below his ears. His skin had a distinct mossy undertone, the free complexion that occurred in some powerful Trylle. Nobody were had skin like that, except maybe his mother, hut hers were even fainter than In-guk's.

I didn't know why In-guk would be training me. I'm not sure that Hye-kyo approved of him, even if he had connections. Besides that, he was scatterbrained and a little strange. In-guk did have the strongest abilities out of any of the Trylle I'd met. This was particularly weird sinceen usually had weaker abilities than their female counterparts. But I wanted to get handle on my abilities, so I figured it'd do me good to spend the day doing something other that moping around. I dressed quickly and left my room to find In-guk chatting with Mino.

"Ready?" In-guk asked without looking at me. He started walking before I answered.

"Mino, you don't need to come with us," I told him as I hurried after In-guk. Mino followed me the way he always did, but he slowed.

"It's probably best if he does," In-guk said, tucking his hair behind his ears.

"Why?" I asked, but Mino smiled, excited to be included.