The Connect

Chapter Eight

The last seven weeks were really good. They were happy weeks. I spent time with my friends, with the man I love, with the kids. The guys and I had movie marathons, played with the little ones, played games, had dinner parties and got drunk together. It was like I had never left. Like no time at all went by. I was impressed by how quickly things went back to normal and how eager they were to spend time with me. I felt like I belonged, like I haven't felt like that in a long time.

Hoseok and I spent more time together than we were before. My doctor found out there was an infection on the stitches on my head so Hoseok got overly worried, of course. He took care of me at all times, made me food every time he was home, skipped work to watch over me, asked me to stay in his room with him, even bathed me a few times. Which of course ended in sex.

Even though I was fragile and he was worried, we still had sex, a lot of it. It wasn't like before, though, things didn't get wild, there weren't any kinds of rough sex toys, it was soft and slow, he touched me gently and made me feel good, as always. He made me feel loved and cared for.

In these weeks, Jooheon and Hoseok helped me train my powers. We sat in the guest bedroom for hours at least twice a week, sharing thoughts, memories, fears. It was hard, because the three of us got to see everything in each other's heads, even Jooheon saw what was in Hoseok's had. There were tears among the training, laughter, anger. We saw things we ourselves didn't even remember. It was really intense.

Our goals were to figure out how to stop unwanted connections, how to start wanted ones, what we could stop, exactly how far people had to be for my powers to stop working and if I had any other powers. We tried many different approaches, accessed very different parts of our minds, it was really hard and exhausting but we ended up learning a lot. At first, before training, using my powers could get really exhausting but then I could do more and more little by little without getting tired of getting nosebleeds. I felt stronger and more powerful the more I trained my powers.

Eventually we figured out how to control the part of my powers that was known. We debated on whether more powers could surface and we were pretty sure more would. And that really scared me. But at least now, with the help of my Hoseok and Jooheon, after a lot of training, I can fully control the powers that have emerged but I promised Hoseok I wouldn't read people's mind or connect with them without permission and that I'd avoid connecting, since it had made me really weak before.

I felt confident with my powers but scared, and little by little I got more and more scared of how these powers could affect my life. The more powerful I felt, the more scared I got. Things are perfect. I can't help but wonder how long it'll last. I worry I'll hurt someone, worry my powers will be too much. Worry all this happiness will end in the blink of an eye. How long will it last? Six years like it did before? Six months? Six weeks? Six days? Six...

It's Sunday. Hoseok and I are on the couch together, he is sitting down and I am lying down with my head on his lap. A movie is playing on the TV but we aren't paying attention to it, we are just looking at each other. He is running his fingers through my, massaging my chest with his other hand, leaning down to kiss me now and then...

"Do you know how much I love you?" I whisper, covering his hand on my chest with my own and looking into his eyes.

Hoseok smiles but doesn't say anything.

"You are my everything." I tell him then he leans down and kisses me, this time his tongue brushes against mine slightly and the kiss lasts longer. I smile against his lips and give it a soft bite.

"You say it just like that? So suddenly?" He whispers.

"I'm just really happy." I tell him as we tangle and untangle our fingers playfully.