Soul Bound

02 | Out In The Open

Turned out that Narae was indeed daring enough to leave the safety of her voluntary prison.
Truth be told, it was only in the security of the entire coven huddled together but she hadn't been in the world outside for nearly four years now. A little fear was definitely warranted.
...or maybe even a lot of fear.

Narae's eyes — now muddy-brown thanks to the contact lenses — were fixed on the large buildings they passed by as Mark drove the part of the coven that included Narae to the campus. The other coven mates were in the car in front of them. Truth be told the world itself hadn't changed much in four years. It was Narae who had changed drastically and that made all the difference.
As her mind went haywire with anxiety and stress and she barely felt the reassurance practically flooding the bond with her coven mates, Yugyeom leaned across her and pointed at a beautiful building they passed.
"That's where you need to go", he said lowly, soothingly. "It's the building housing the Performing Arts departments."
Narae only nodded but when Yugyeom leaned away again, she grabbed his hand tightly. Yugyeom squeezed her hand in silent comfort and didn't let go of it.
Not when they exited the car and not when they all walked to the campus together. He missed her aura so he too wanted to have at least some skinship.

One might have thought that Narae's aura would be cold and hard and that her magick would be hostile due to the nature of her gifts. But Narae's aura had always been passionate and fierce and wild.
A very strong contrast to the cool, collected mask that had slipped onto her face the moment they had left the wards back home.
Yugyeom knew that his coven mate was scared. But he also knew that she was strongheaded and a fighter quick to adapt to changing circumstances. He had no doubt that Narae would damn well slay this entire getting back into the world thing.

"Only one class today", Jaebeom said from where he walked at the very front of their group. He looked over his shoulder with a gentle smile. "We don't want to overwhelm you."
An arm wrapped itself around Narae's shoulders and a heavy weight settle on her side.
"Means you'll be with me today, duckling", Youngjae grinned widely at her. Narae looked at him with a straight, cool face.
"Jaebeom-oppa", she said without taking her eyes off Youngjae. "I want to change my major." The boys broke out in loud laughter while Youngjae pouted.

The laughter drew eyes on them. Well, more eyes than usual, anyway. The Im coven was well-known across campus to humans and mages alike.
They did mingle with a lot of other covens and were good friends with some humans as well. In a way, they had become the bridge between humans and mages at campus.
Something that had made itself come in very handy when Mark graduated and founded a film studio together with Jaebeom. Due to their reputation of being friendly with both humans and mages alike, it was easier for them to pull in jobs for their new studio.
It would also make it easier for Narae to blend in with them. It wasn't entirely unusual to see them mingle with others during breaks after all. And to throw a human into the mix of their coven didn't seem all too far fetched. Definitely something that had made Jaebeom's decision to find a way for his youngest to attend university easier.

All that, however, did not deter the eyes from lingering on Narae longer than warranted. The coven bond of the Im coven flared with protectiveness and slight amusement from Narae's part. A shift went through the group as they entered the campus and the staring got more intense.
Yugyeom's fingers became more clingy as he interlaced them tighter with Narae's. Youngjae pulled her closer to his body, frame trying to shield her although he was only half a head taller than her.
"You do know that I have once been a fully integrated part into human society, right?", Narae couldn't help but to tease. Then she continued, voice softer and gentler as she let them feel her gratitude for their protection.
"As much as this scares me and as happy as I am to have you with me. I'm not a fragile doll that will suffer from a few curious glances."
"They weren't curious. They were lewd", Bambam replied tightly. Expression pinched as he sent a particularly nasty look at one of the gawking humans they came across as they walked to the Performing Arts building where they had unanimously decided to drop Narae and Youngjae off together.