Interwoven ✔️

15~ Enigma

I immediately felt nauseous when I drew up close to the counter. The Outworlders parted before me, like the Red Sea, obviously keeping their distance. I didn't miss the wariness and even borderline hostile skepticism in their eyes.

And who could blame them? There was an arduous divide between Outworlders and humans, now prominent more than ever.

When I reached the man on the counter, for a split moment I swore that the he wasn't breathing. Then I caught sight of the shallowest rise and fall of his chest. Blood oozed from his bronze Marks.

Jimin immediately took the bowl of water from my hands. "Everyone grab a towel." He tossed around the towels I'd brought to the other Outworlders. "Start wiping off this ghastly stuff. I don't know why you didn't think of that already."

"Maybe because we didn't have a convenient faucet and bowl in the back of the car, Jimin," a fiery orange Marked Outworlder snapped, voice tense.

"Sir, how do you know if water will even help?" An Outworlder with soft, Champagne-yellow Marks leaned forward, hesitant to press the damp cloth onto his injured companion's skin.

"Because I've seen this before," Jimin said grimly. He glanced pointedly at me and it clicked.

The way the blood was oozing out from the Marks... it was similar to Jimin's injury from when the superglue had covered his Marks. Except the injuries covering the bronze Marked alien's body were ten times worse.

"Namjoon, do you want to try and take a sample of this substance so we can figure out what the hell it is?" The black Marked extraterrestrial turned to a tall mauve Marked figure beside him.

"I already took a sample from his room the moment we found him," the tall Outworlder replied grimly. "Let's just try and get as much off him as possible."

Silence fell as everyone slowly worked their damp cloths all over his body, starting first where the yellow substance was attached to his actual skin.

A soft groan of agony escaped the bronze Marked Outworlder— I guess his name was Hoseok— though his eyes remained tightly shuttered.

"When was the last time he morphed?" Jimin glanced up at the others.

They all shook their heads, foreheads creased with worry.

"Probably right before he went to bed," one of them muttered.

Jimin cursed. It was already a little after noon. That had to mean the Outworlder hadn't morphed for at least ten hours, maybe more. If the extraterrestrials morphed an average of eight times a day, that meant they morphed about once every three hours.

And that was if they weren't 'exclusively classified'.

"Jimin you need to tell your father about what happened," the cerise Marked Outworlder leaned forward. "He should know what happened."

Jimin didn't answer, however I didn't miss the tick that appeared in his jaw.

Twenty long minutes after everyone had begun attempting to wipe off some of the blood and damaging substance most of Hoseok's skin was cleaned.

"Alright." Jimin stepped back. "Let's get him upstairs into the shower. Yoongi, Jin, you need to help him morph as soon as possible."

I stepped back to allow the others have room to lift Hoseok back in their arms and slowly made their way to the stairs.

I busied myself in the kitchen, trying to ignore the loud clattering and low murmur of worried voices that floated down from the second level of the Sharehouse. I tossed the disgusting towels in the trash and began cleaning up the mess around the house.