Healing Castle | TXT Fantasy Novel ft. BTS

13 - Huening Kai

Topaz was more than impressed when Huening Kai was able to show off one of the skills he learned back in the fiery sauna.

He had closed his eyes, summoned all of his concentration, and waited until the muscles in his arms tensed. Then he opened his eyes and swung both arms as if holding a weapon. A sword made of golden light flew in the space between him and Topaz.

Huening doesn't know how exactly to describe the sensation—of magic coursing through his veins. Really, it's nothing like he's seen in the Harry Potter movies. It doesn't come so easily. Instead there's a dull ache after he performs a skill. Like his muscles are being used and his energy is spent, transforming into something outside his body.

Topaz was silent for a few seconds, although he coughed quickly to recover. He told them they'd need to act quickly. They have no time to waste, and fighting the Black Mage means being constantly on the move.

So after some answered questions—all which only confirm TXT's necessary role as fighters—Huening Kai receives his first official mission as members of the Resistance. His parents would either be proud or horrified, Kai thinks, to see him challenging a real-life mage.

Oh, who's he kidding? They'd be horrified.

Hongdae shows the same congestion as usual, except this time the members have decided not to wear disguises. Huening Kai shivers at the thought of passersby being controlled by the Black Mage. Before they left the marketplace, Topaz stated some facts about the monster that chilled the insides of Kai's bones.

"Yes, the Resistance may have a few hundred members." Topaz stood tall, showing his status as one of the elite. "But the followers of the Mage are equal or even greater."

Huening Kai follows his four members. He jumps a foot in the air when someone taps him from behind. "Ah!"

He turns, but instead of a Mage he only finds the hand of a girl in high school. He should've expected it. Now that he's paying more attention, he finds at least twenty smartphones pointed in their direction. Just as he was trained by his years of media training, Kai manages to find a genuine smile and show appreciation through curt nods and a few selfies. The rest of the members follow suit, glad that they've found a break from the mission they're undertaking.

"You have to keep performing," Topaz had told them. "The Black Mage hates when people find their true passion and use it to spread light throughout the world. You music has always been the thing that made you special. He wants to scare you so you'll stop singing for your fans."

"We're spreading light across the world..." Kai repeated. He never thought about his role in TOMORROW X TOGETHER in that way before.

Now, he's able to see some of the truth in Topaz's statement. These fans look up to them, finding love in their music. For the second album, Kai spoke very strongly about promoting "Run Away" as a first single. He believed that many of their fans were going through bullying or feeling like outcasts in a world that didn't want to accept them for every aspect. With that song, he wishes fans can always run away into the universe of TXT. The five of them will be warm comforts, clouds of blue shielding all the hatred MOA might face.

Somehow, they reach the busking area of Hongdae. There's no one performing, so Soobin quickly takes one of the circular stages and sets down their amplifier. As if they do this regularly, the boys help Soobin set up all five microphones. Kai hooks up his smartphone to the Bluetooth, ready to play any track they wish.

They settle on CROWN. Immediately, as the synths play like smooth tides, a crowd forms. Kai forgets about the darkness of the Mage and instead focuses on his vocals. Although they can't quite perform every dance move, Kai does include some of the hand gestures and jumping to the best of his ability.

When they're like this, all five boys singing as one, Kai can be happy no matter the dread threatening to overtake him.

Kai smiles in full force once they finish. "Thank you our Korean MOA!" he shouts out, unable to control his excitement. "We love you so much, we wish we could visit you more often. Also I'll show you a picture of our cat—"

He stops when one of the audience members, a girl in pigtails and red snowshoes, is covered in burning darkness. It captures her features and makes her skin seem poisoned. When she smiles, her incisors seem twice as large. Her eyes are black holes, and the energy she emanates is a pulling force—a thousand weights on Huening Kai's shoulders.

He knows immediately that the members are in the same state of shock.

As the youngest member, it's always been easy to hide behind the older members. For once, maybe he should try to protect them. He makes the decision quickly. After all, the year has passed, and he's an adult now. He is fully capable of fighting back—even if the enemy is a mage.

So Kai acts quickly, closing his eyes and using the skill of his golden sword. It comes surprisingly easy this time. And the weapon goes shooting down to the girl of darkness.

When Kai's weapon hits its target, the shrouds are banished. The girl returns to her normal self without a hint of struggle.

"Um. I—" Kai begins to mumble into the mic. Looking out into the crowd, he realizes that none of the audience witnessed the miniature battle that unfolded before them. They're blind to the fight against the Black Mage, only focused on the performance.

"Thank you again," says Kai, collecting himself. "We'll perform a few more songs! I hope you enjoy our next one, 'New Rules.' It's one of our best hip hop tracks and it allowed us to all try our hand at rapping. We wanted to make our hyung Yeonjun proud."

The performance goes a bit uneasy. At least they survived. Here in the city of their homeland, their voices and stage still belong to them.

Huening Kai swallows the cold realization that the Black Mage is truly trying to capture TXT and TXT alone. If their fans couldn't see the minion amongst them, how would they understand the true battle he's going through? It makes him feel alone.

He also can't shake the thought that the shrouded girl was simply a test. The Black Mage must be taunting him, sending yet another omen his way.

Kai isn't so sure about the next battle. There's no way it'll go as seamlessly.

A/N: Kai is the warrior we all need. Please vote and comment if you can! It will help me out quite a bit.