Roseborn | Hwang Hyunjin

❃ Chapter 9

Your Kizāri caught Hyunjin's in the air, and you pulled the two of them toward the ground. Your muscles sang with the strain as you swiftly dislodged and touched the edge of the Kizāri against the soft skin of his neck.

One round, over.

The steady rhythm of your inhales and exhales filled your ears, sonorous, as you jogged back to your place, readying to start anew. When you looked up again, you found Hyunjin unmoving in his place.

His stare was curious, almost like a child's. He parted his lips as though to say something, but no sound left him. He pressed them shut again.

Perhaps he thought better of it, you reasoned, watching as he treaded gracefully to the other side of the square.

You decided to shrug off his strange behavior, beginning to draw a new half-moon instead. Hyunjin started to mimic you, his Kizāri cutting through the sand toward yours before it halted suddenly.

"Are you not mad at me?"

Hyunjin's voice was rich velvet, smooth unlike the confusion that wrangled your mind. You matched his narrowed eyes with a plain frown. What has gotten into him?

He had made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with you. Your last interaction in his training court said as much. Yet, there he was, initiating conversation when there was none to be had.

Was this some sort of test? You maintained your silence until you couldn't bear the heaviness of his gaze anymore, tightening your grip around your waiting Kizāri. "Why would I be?"

He hesitated as if he didn't know how to phrase it. "I intervened in your duel with Juyeon last night."

Right. That.

You diverted your eyes, recalling the dread that overcame your mind when the Sōrsānt of House Sapphirine requested to spar with you. You weren't stupid. His intentions were unmistakable. Your tone was frayed with anger and shameful helplessness. "He was going to kill me."

"I know."

You scoffed. "Don't think that I would believe, even for a moment, that you did it to spare me."

"Oh?" he tilted his head, raising a brow, to which you reminded him pointedly, "You had threatened to do the same only hours prior."

"Ah," he mused drily. "Clever, human."

You made no effort to hide the roll of your eyes. Exasperated, you tapped the ground with your Kizāri to remind him of the purpose you were there for.

Hyunjin didn't budge. His Kizāri didn't move. He was waiting for something, though you couldn't quite place a finger on it. Standing there and watching you, that child-like curiosity resurfaced again.

You sighed quietly. "Sōrsānt, if you wish to end today's training session, then I will take my leave."

"But we've only begun," he glanced at the young azure of the morning sky, and you nodded. "Indeed."

But that didn't spur him on. His face remained a blank slate, save for the strange twinkle in his beautiful eyes.

You prayed for patience, placing both hands on the handle of your Kizāri and leaning forward. "Is there something you wish to tell me, Sōrsānt?"

His mouth formed a 'No', but he hesitated, and it never sounded.

You muttered a curse under your breath. Fine! the thought rang in your head. Since you had wasted so much time already, you didn't see why you couldn't feed your curiosity about the previous night's events.

You lifted your Kizāri, jutting it at Hyunjin inquiringly. "He called you Unclaimed."

That snapped him back into his senses, it seemed, for he made a disgruntled noise and began mindlessly twirling his Kizāri in the pale sand. "That is the term they use for Nilfyn whose Tilts haven't shown yet."

"But you..." you trailed away as the pieces lined up for you. Hyunjin's Tilt had shown, but no one knew about it because he hid it. You remembered his bitter words. A Flowering Tilt is of no use to an Azārāhi.

"Does the Ērmār know about this?" you whispered, regretting your reckless curiosity.

"Of course she does," it was Hyunjin's turn to scoff. Then, he added in a lower voice, "She's the one who wants it hidden."

Your blood ran cold. If the Ērmār knew, and she wanted his Tilt hidden, then why were you in this mess? Why did Hyunjin let you see his magic?

Dragging your Kizāri with you, you marched up to him and demanded in an irate whisper, "If this is such an important secret then why did you show me yesterday?"

"I didn't want to show you." Hyunjin's taut features broke into a scowl, and he pulled his Kizāri closer.

"What, then?"

He didn't answer you at first. Then, so softly you almost missed it, he spoke while avoiding your gaze, "I can't control it."

As soon as those words slipped out of his lips, he brandished his Kizāri, locking his mask of indifference back in place as he ordered, "Enough idling. Return to your position, Azārāhi."

You broke your promise to never feel sorry for the Sōrsānt before, yet there was your unwise heart, foolishly mourning over the meaning behind his words.