All That Shimmers [Seungmin]

13

Seungmin snapped us back, and we sat awkwardly at opposite ends of his table as we ate dinner.

He'd thought I could be right about the fairies' reasoning for changing hybrids...

And what would that mean? That so many had died for nothing other than fairy control? That our short conversation being had 2 days earlier could've saved my father? Maybe my sisters? It was too much pain to bear. I choked out a sob and rushed away from the table.

For once, Seungmin didn't follow me.

I scrambled into my bedroom and hid under the comforter as I huddled toward the edge of the bed again. It still felt too big here. I hated this place.

I hated being safe while my mother was who knows where grieving for all of us. I hated being half fairy. I hated being here in luxury while humans suffered just to get by. And I hated this stupid mattress that was too big. I got up and pushed it off the bed frame. From my palms emerged an unexpected fire. I gasped and tried to put it out frantically but nothing was working.

Seungmin rushed in and extinguished it in seconds with his own water magic.

"I-I don't know what happened," I shook my head feeling incredibly scared. How could I have summoned something so destructive by accident?

"It's okay," he said calmly as he snapped away the bed and replaced it with a smaller one.

I looked up to him in surprise.

"You like this one better, yeah?" he asked.

"How did you..." I wondered.

I thought back to all the times he'd answered my private thoughts. The way he always seemed annoyed when I imagined killing him. The way he'd smirk knowingly at me the rare times I had a compliment for him I didn't dare speak. He was in my mind.

I turned to him furiously and feeling incredibly violated.

"Oh no," he backed away. "Aerin, please listen..."

"You've been reading my mind?" I accused. I raised a hand towards him and a wave of fire rushed out. It missed him and fizzled away on the floor somewhere.

"Yes but not on purpose..."

"You've been reading my mind!" I repeated even louder.

"Aerin. I..."

I shot another fire bolt towards him, and he dodged it again. He rushed towards me and reached for my hand.

I swerved and made the floor wet so that he slipped and fell. I crawled on top of him and tried to choke him, but he held my hands off. I felt his finger tap my ring and he visibly relaxed which pissed me off more. He'd stalled my magic again.

"Does this ring help you do that?" I accused. "Is that why you won't take it off?"

"Please just let me explain," he begged.

I got off of him and kicked him in the groin. He groaned and rolled over in pain.

"Well?" I asked impatiently. "Aren't you going to explain?"

He stayed on the ground, and I rolled my eyes. Fairies could be so weak. I hadn't even known mind reading was something fairies could do.

"How come I can't read your mind, Sky?"

He looked up with a sad expression and knelt in front of me, "Please don't call me that."

"Why Sky? Does it hurt your feelings Sky? Does it suck to have someone doing something intentionally wrong Sky?"

He sucked in a breath, "I didn't try to access your thoughts, Aerin. You gave them to me."

I laughed. "Why would I do that?"

"If you were a fairy you'd be able to read mine too," he continued his vague responses that provided no context.

"How?" I'd never heard of this form of magic before.

"You just would," he shrugged, his face still swollen.

"Why? Why yours?"

"For the same reason, the ring won't come off of your finger or mine..."

I looked down at the shimmering sapphire and back up to Seungmin's waiting gaze. If he expected me to be able to fill in the blank with these ambiguous details, he was sorely mistaken.

He sighed and tried to reach for me, but I backed away.

"The ring doesn't read your thoughts for me, Aerin. It won't come off because we're soulmates," he confessed with apologetic yet adoring eyes.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry and the result was a weird combination that had me gasping for air through tears on the floor.

"Absolutely not," I finally managed to get out.

"It's true," he muttered. "Soulmates are rare, but this ability to connect telepathically is part of it."

"Is the other part lying through your teeth? Because there's no way you're my soulmate," I spat.

"I've never lied to you," he whispered. He looked completely broken as he tried to explain this to me.

I don't want to be mated to a fairy, much less one that had killed my father.

"I had to..." he reminded me, answering my thoughts. "I hadn't meant to kill him in front of you though. I'd meant to bring you here, make sure you were safe, and deal with it myself. But when your father attacked... I needed your family to know they couldn't come after you. I'd rather he be made an example of than risk the rest of your family. I hadn't know what would happen but...But when now Aerin you can't control your powers. You almost burned down the bed. Imagine the guilt you would've felt if you'd hurt someone you cared about. You had to come train with me and the King wouldn't let me do it any other way. But for what it's worth, Aerin, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the pain it has caused you."

"Why don't I feel it? Hmm? This bond or connection is obviously one-sided."

"You do but you just don't notice it. But it's probably why you haven't actually tried to hurt me..." he said. "....even though you're thinking about it constantly," he added in a mumble.

"Or that's self-preservation. If I killed the prince of the fairies I'd be killed, too."

"And when I brushed your hair yesterday? You were thinking about how nice it felt," he reminded me.

"That doesn't mean anything..." I argued.

"And why you had defended me against my brother instead of just letting me be mocked," he added.

"That was just so I could have a glimpse."

"And when you saw me as a fairy you thought I looked beautiful," he recalled.

I had no defense for that one. He had looked beautiful. The way his ocean eyes had shimmered against his shiny skin...his massive wings that stretched out behind him fluttering gently.

As if to remind me, he turned off whatever magic mask he'd been using to disguise himself and revealed his true self again. Just like before, I was in awe by the way his features sharpened. His eyes were brighter and willed me to feel what he felt.

His lips were plumper and parted prettily as he spoke, "Don't you feel it?"

His wings trembled as he spoke, revealing his nerves. I reached out to touch one, curious what it would feel like, but he pulled back and hid them from me again.

I blinked and glanced at his face which was back to being human-like as well.

"Don't you feel it, Aerin?" he asked pleadingly.

"Just because I think you're attractive doesn't mean I want to be your soulmate."

Seungmin sat back. He looked heartbroken by what I'd said, but it was true.

"You'll feel it when you're a fairy."

"Would you force me to become one?" I questioned him.

"No..." he answered right away.

"Then I'll never feel it."