CHARM | original story

Call Jeon Jimin

The next day, you were met with a variety of different problems. At 5 AM in the morning, a shout was heard from the kitchen. You immediately sat up in bed, ushering Same to go back to sleep as you irritably headed down to the kitchen. Upon arrival in the small space, you saw Necromancer in his usual attire, holding his hand in agony. 

Rubbing at your eyes, you stepped towards him and narrowed your eyes, trying your best to comprehend the situation. 

"Necromancer? What the f*ck is going on? It's 5 in the morning," you said lowly, looking at his bent over form. A part of his hand was swollen and burnt, most likely from the breakfast. Eyes widening immediately, you quickly headed to get first aid, but not before turning off the fire. 

"Ssst," Necromancer winced for the hundredth time as you applied a cold ice pack to his hand. His weird sounds made you annoyed—causing you to press the pack harder onto his hand. He yelped, almost jumping off of the couch. 

"Chill out will you?! It's your fault that you decided to cook so early in the morning all the time. You could just ask us to make breakfast instead!" you sighed out as you dipped the ice pack into cold water and grabbed another one. 

"I'm so done, Mary. That pun was not even mildly hilarious. Ironic, considering that watching the rest of you cook is hilarious but dangerous. You could literally burn down the kitchen yourself Mary," Necromancer replied as he bit his bottom lip, trying to withhold the pain. 

"What can I say? I'm just bomb at cooking," you said teasingly as you chuckled at your own pun. You looked up,  meeting face to face with Necromancer's disapproving frown. He almost looked like that frowny face that they used on phones back in the day. 

"I swear to the Lo—Mary, you better not be picking up after PM or I swear there's going to be some HELL to pay," he said as he leaned back on the sofa. Not noticing that he was making puns himself, you returned his disapproving emoticon frown. He glanced over at you, confused. 

"What?"

"Nothing. Just don't use your hand for the day. I'll call for takeout," you said as you sighed and threw the ice pack into the cold bucket of water. You then stood up to get the phone. Once you had finished ordering jjajangmyeon, you got a blanket and threw it at Necromancer. 

"Keep yourself warm. I'm going back to sleep. Open the door when the delivery man comes," you said as you ran your hands through your disheveled hair and headed to your room again. 

~

Three Brother's POV

"Do you think she'll let us in?" asked Shizuku, who was fidgeting with nervousness. 

"She'll let us in. She doesn't hate us that much. At least, not as much as she hates father," said Akira, who held onto his twin brother's hand with reassurance.

 But even he was anxious about meeting his older sister, who he hadn't seen in so long. He remembered her caring and loving smile and how she always told them she'd be by their side. Even while father took him and Shizuku away, she had tried her best to not allow father to take them away. But when Mark joined them a couple years later, even he knew her influence couldn't affect father's rash decisions. He gulped, unsure of what to do. Finally, he heard a sigh from behind him and Shizuku. 

Mark stepped forward and pressed the doorbell, which rang with a message from a particular woman. 

"Hello. Welcome to the HD Sect residence. If you are a higher official from the league, please go the f*ck away. If you are someone else, then I apologize for the vulgar language. But you see, our member Mary dislikes the higher officiates which is why we must use every tactic to get them to leave. Please wait until someone answers the door, thank you."

"What a unique doorbell," said Akira as he tried to hold in his laughter. A moment later, a muffled voice echoed from behind the door. 

"Coming!" 

"Hello, sorry to keep you—" said a familiar voice as the front door creaked open. The person's eyes widened as soon as she came face to face with the three brothers on their front doorstep. Akira and Shizuku looked immediately to Mark, who's eyes had widened with shock at the person who had opened the door. 

~

Taejun's POV

On her front step, you saw Akira and Shizuku, her younger twin brothers. But why were they here? That man would never allow them to come here. But her mind was blank as you looked upon them. The only thing you could do was bend down and pull them into a hug in which they returned. 

"Sister, we've missed you so much!" cried Shizuku as he held onto his older sister's form. Akira also teared up as he held on dearly to the familiar person. You wrapped your arms firmly around the two as you shut your eyes, holding the two dear forms to you. Once the three of you had finally let go, the other members of HD had already come to watch the reunion. 

Akira and Shizuku turned to look behind them, where Mark stood. Although his expression didn't show it, his hands trembled with both excitement and fear. His knees felt as if they were about to buckle when looking at his sister. 

Looking at him, your eyes began to blur as you saw the grown face of the younger brother which you had taken care of since his birth. You gave a saddened smile as you held out your arms. Tears wet his cheeks as he ran towards you and into your outstretched arms. You cried as you held onto him tightly. 

"I've missed you so much..." you said as you dug your head into his small shoulder. You stroked the boy's familiar head as he clutched at your sweater tightly. 

"Sister...sister, I've missed you too," he said as he dug his head into your shoulder. The other members began to tear up a little as they watched this scene play out in front of them. Mark had only ever known you. When he was born, you were the first one to hold him. You had raised him alongside mother and had cared for him when your brothers were dragged away by father. Even when father had taken him, you had refused to let go until the end. Finally, the two of you were reunited and together; but not for long. 

~

"So you're saying Father has already been taken over?" you said, your tone darkening as you listened to your brother's words. 

Akira nodded.

"We saw Father inject the serum into himself the other day. According to Mark's investigations, the artificial Charm should take effect any time now; when that time comes, everyone will be in danger."

"Do you know what Charm it is?"

"Destruction."

"But that's—" said Same before she was cut off by BOSS. 

"We know. It's Mary's Charm. He must've gotten her DNA samples somehow and combined Citrix's knowledge with that to create the ultimate Charm," said BOSS.

"Does that mean his Charm is stronger than Mary's?" asked Puppet Master worriedly. 

"It's in its pure form, so it probably is the most enhanced form of the Charm of Destruction. He made it so that even the most powerful of Charms couldn't defeat him. Not even Necromancer can do it. It's artificial after all," said BOSS, as she rubbed at her temples. 

"So? What are you going to do Mary?" asked BOSS as she turned to gaze at the younger, who sat hunched over, her bangs covering her eyes. 

Moving her hair out of the way, Mary looked BOSS dead straight in the eye. 

"I'm going to call the only person we can trust right now."

"Jeon Jimin."