on opposite ends | vsoo

STORM CLOUDS GATHER

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

The Auror's Office was so packed and filled with people, Jisoo had wondered for a split second whether she had stumbled in the wrong office. Every single Auror that the Ministry had left seemed to be in the room, talking amongst and with each other in serious, grave voices and with troubled expressions.

Jisoo knew some of them, but this is her first time seeing them ever since she came back a few days ago. When she spots Nayeon a few feet away, talking to someone with her eyebrows furrowed, Jisoo's body automatically moves on its own as if it were dying to find out what had happened because it's clear that something has definitely happened. If the atmosphere in the room wasn't enough evidence, then the conflicted look on Nayeon's face was even more confirmation.

"Oh, Jisoo, you're here," she sounded genuinely surprised when she turned around as Jisoo grabbed her elbow. But Nayeon isn't looking at her in the eye. "Jinyoung called for you in his office."

"What's going on?" Jisoo asks, even though some part of her knew Nayeon would probably just stay quiet.

Nayeon wriggled out of Jisoo's grasp and motioned to the hallway that lead to Jinyoung's office, its black mahogany doors waiting for her. "He'll explain everything. It's... pretty urgent, so you better go now."

Jisoo nods once before heading towards the office of the Head of the Aurors. She does not miss the way some of them turn to her direction as she passes, or how their hushed whispers die down and their expression grow more solemn and dark. Surely they must have known Jisoo was back for a temporary time, but still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever was wrong or happening, she was somehow involved.

Jinyoung sat behind his desk, his lips set in a thin line and his chin sitting on top of his clasped hands. Seulgi was also in the office and she was standing near the fireplace, looking down at the green flames with an unreadable expression.

Jisoo stood in front of Jinyoung and raised an eyebrow, her heart thrumming with curiosity and fear at the same time. "What happened? Did another Auror die?" Her voice sounds distant and far away even to her own ears, like she was speaking from the top of a well and her ears were at the very bottom.

"No," Jinyoung merely shakes his head.

He doesn't say anything more than that, which makes Jisoo feel even more nervous. "Then why is everybody so on edge?"

Seulgi glances at her from behind her back, before exchanging a look with Jinyoung. She grabs a roll of paper that was sitting on top of the fireplace mantel and she hands it over to Jisoo. "This happened."

Jisoo unfurls the newspaper roll and the front page headline hits her square in the chest; she almost forgot how to breathe.

BREAKING: INFAMOUS DEATH EATERS, KIM JOONHYUNG AND KIM TAEHA, FOUND DEAD.

She could tell that the photo they used was an old one. Two familiar faces that she has seen only a handful of times stared up at her with identical cold expressions that were void of any signs of warmth, not even a small smile or a glint in the eyes. They looked so regal and serious, like no joke in the world could ever make them laugh or much less, smile. It's hard to imagine that these two gave birth to such a cheeky boy with a smile that could outmatch the light of the sun.

Or, at least it used to.

Jisoo never formally met them, so she doesn't really know what to feel with this news. He would always evade questions about his family, particularly his parents, and she didn't want to push because she knew it was a sensitive topic. She also knew how they didn't like the notion of a muggle-born "tainting" their only pureblood son. She knew that they hated her guts deep down, but still, the news of their deaths is shocking. "Mr. and Mrs. Kim..."