DUAL

//04

"All right, dear sister," Jimin said with his signature smile as he pulled her wrist toward wherever he was heading to. "I was told that there'll be no practices for today. As a responsible and a loving older brother, I won't let you have your rest."

Chaeyoung grinned widely, quickened her steps to match his and Jimin finally let her go. Ever since he had gained a position as one of the official Healers responsible of very serious injuries, he barely had time to help her.

"Are you not going to tell me where we are heading to?" she asked.

Jimin's smile only widened. "It's a surprise." But a moment later, he groaned and laughed. "I'm so excited myself I don't think I'm able to keep it a secret for long."

"Oh, you are bad at being secretive anyway," she scoffed playfully. After a while of walking, realization fell on her when the surrounding became full of trees. The path was familiar to her, although it had been so long. Chaeyoung and her brother used to frequent the path, a small path with trees lining up on each side leading to a place where they used to play with a good friend. Her pace slowed down. "Jimin?"

Jimin turned to look at her. His smile almost tore his face into two. "Why are you stopping?"

"Are we heading to –"

Jimin grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he ran, giggles floating around. "We can't let him die!" she heard him shout over the wind blowing excitedly at her ears.

They stopped running when they were in front of a house. The house was bigger than she remembered. Large trees still surrounded the house. Dried leaves everywhere on the ground. She spotted new trees, too. Her eyes flickered toward the front door of the house and a figure appeared.

A familiar face that she had last seen years ago, Kim Taehyung stood at the threshold of his house. His features had changed so much. He was taller, broader than she remembered. It seemed as though everything about that place went through changes. What once was small had enlarged. All happened in a little over five years.

Taehyung displayed a smile at them, the same smile he had years back. His friendliness was just like before, never changing. Her lips pulled into a smile, returning him with one just as big as his.

When Taehyung stepped out of the threshold, leaving the darkness of his house behind, her eyes reflected shock, her smile faded in an instant when the daylight finally bathed his entire body.

His whole arm had large cuts all over the place. Dried bloods somehow still looked fresh and new she could almost smell them. The cuts looked too deep to be true. For one moment, she wanted to believe that it was all red paints and Taehyung was just being himself, playing tricks on others.

"What happened?" she asked when he stood before the two of them.

"I picked the wrong plant to breed. A wild herb that feeds on meat. Stubborn one, indeed. It gripped my arm, ate my flesh and it wouldn't let go even when I was already bathed with blood," he explained, chuckling at the end.

Chaeyoung's face crumpled, eyes widened in horror. Jimin, on the other hand, laughed gently, congratulating Taehyung for surviving.

"You make me wonder if you are even suited to be a Cultivator, Taehyung," Jimin teased and Taehyung pushed her brother's shoulder, laughing out loud as if his arm wasn't nearly cut off by the horrible plant.

Chaeyoung's eyes lingered a little longer, and if she was anyone but a Healer, she would have puked upon the little display of Taehyung's bone in between the dark red of his wounded flesh.

"I topped in almost all of the lessons, nonetheless," Taehyung defended himself. "Enough reasons to prove I am indeed suitable."

"The plants will kill you sooner before you even get to be in any battle if you're not careful," Jimin told him with a chuckle and a smile, but Chaeyoung was able to feel the concern in her brother's voice.