The Purple Eyes | Kim Seungmin

33

  Seungmin placed a plate in front of Miyu, making sure she had a fresh glass of ice water before taking a seat next to her.

  She took one bite.. and another.. and another.

  "Don't eat too fast. I won't be offended if you don't finish it either."

  Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke.

  "S-seungmin?"

  He let out a hum. Keeping his eyes on her, he wanted her to know she had his full attention.

  "Can I ask.. you some questions?"

  Previously being informed by Byeol, he had a good idea of what her questions might be. He nodded. "Ask me anything. I'll tell you everything."

She looked down at her food, suddenly becoming shy under his gaze. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

  "Tell me your story. I w-want to know in more detail of who you are and.. what your experiences have been.."

  A small smile crept onto his lips as he nodded. "What do you want to know about first?"

  Shyly looking back up at him, her cheeks flushed red. "What.. what was your life like before joining Bangchan?"

  He pressed his lips into a line. "Lonely."

  "Lonely?"

  "Yeah. After the hex was placed and I survived what should have killed me.. I no longer had anyone around. I had one near death experience after another and somehow overcame each one alone."

  "How did you meet Bangchan?"

  He smiled upon remembering something. "He saved me during one of those near death experiences. It was about fifty-two years ago. I didn't trust anyone at first as that's what I was taught. Until he proved himself to me that he would infact help me. He did exactly that."

  "How long after that did you join his group?"

  He shrugged. "Perhaps about two months after I woke up from the coma. It was after I was more aware of what I could do."

She thought for a moment, biting her lip. "Do.. do you ever miss your family?"

He warmly smiled towards her. "All the time. My mother, father, older sister and younger brother.. they are all precious to me."

"I heard from Byeol that you didn't open up to the boys for a good while.. was it because you didn't trust anyone?" She frowned, pushing the almost-finished plate out of the way.

He nodded. "Partially. The other part of it was fear. I truly thought everyone I would love was destined to die. The friend I was out training with when my family was killed.. died while protecting his own family from a demon named Shimajo."

"A d-demon?"

He nodded. "Majo is a hunter now. Not many demons will associate with humans. About twenty years after I joined the group.. it was Felix that got me to relax a bit. After about five more years I realized I cared for them all deeply. I still to this day struggle to show that."

"I struggle to show my care for others as well. It's more normal than you think. Hell, I worry my own sister doesn't know how much I love her." Miyu huffed, causing the male to smile.

"Can I ask.. how old you are?"

  "I am one-hundred-forty-five. I'm an old man, huh?" He nervously scratched his neck. She let out a tired giggle, shaking her head.

  "Aren't you one of the youngest in your group?"

He nodded. "But to a human-"

"Why does that matter?"

He looked down with a small smirk, shaking his head. "You're right. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

  She let out a hum and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess for now. I did want to ask you though.. how you felt about Kimiko and Akari accusing you and Jinae of being bad people.. I still don't really know-"

  "I deeply care about you, Miyu. I'll do my best to keep you safe and healthy as well as your sister. If your friends still don't see that.. I'll be next to you to convince them otherwise." He lightly smiled, a pink hue showing on his cheeks in the dim light.

  Also being a blushing mess, Miyu avoided his eyes and thanked him. She let out a deep yawn, shyly covering her mouth.

  He got up to clean any left over food, insisting on walking her up to her room. He helped her get comfortable in bed, taking a seat not far from her.

  "Do you think Moon and Sujin will be coming after us?" She asked in curiosity as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's possible, but now that the other two aren't coming after us.. I'm not sure."

  Their eyes met as she held the blanket close to her face, feeling her heart race through her chest.

  She wasn't sure when this tension began to arise between them-

  But she wasn't complaining.

  "Miyu-ssi.." he let out in a whisper. Responding in a small hum, he lightly pulled the blanket down from her face. Leaning in, he left a peck on her forehead before getting up from the bed. "Sleep well. The sun will be up soon but feel free to sleep in."

"Thank you, Seungmin."

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