WORDS. |Kim Seungmin

Twenty Nine.

Seungmin's face started to twitch. His eyeballs started to roll underneath the sealed eyelids. He tried to open his heavy eyes once his ears started catching the whispers around him.

"Are you sure we don't have to take him to the hospital?"

"I don't know. Aria said no hospitals."

"Did you see that? He's waking up!"

"Really? Let me see."

Seungmin finally opened his eyes to be met by two pairs of curious eyes that were extremely close to his face. The poor boy was startled that he jerked up, hitting the two heads that were hovering over him accidentally. He groaned in pain and moved his hands to rub his bruised forehead. The two other heads were shoved backward and the owners started groaning too, grabbing the attention of the girl standing behind the kitchen counter.

Seungmin started to gather the pieces. He looked around to find himself on his own couch with Changbin and Felix gawking at him. He moved his head to find Aria making her way to them, holding a tray that he guessed it had food.

"Stop being weirdos, both of you." Aria scolded them.

"We are not." Felix protested while rubbing his chin where he was hit earlier. "We are worried. He looks way weaker than what we thought."

"And that's why I asked you to make him food," Aria said as she placed down the tray on the coffee table and then sat down on the couch beside Seungmin. The boy quickly pulled his legs to his body and crawled backward. "Why are you here, again?" Aria asked Changbin.

"Felix called."

"Why?" Aria questioned again.

"I thought we might need his help." Felix shrugged.

Aria sighed and then looked over the two boys. "Okay. Now you can leave." She said.

"What? Why?" Changbin questioned.

"He needs to rest." Aria said.

"He is resting!" Felix talked. "We are staying. He might need help. He's still weak. Look at his face!"

"That's why he doesn't need your curious asses around him now." Aria huffed as she stood up. She walked to her friend and brother and started pushing them towards the door. "Go! I will call if I needed your help. I can handle it from here."

"Okay! Stop pushing!" Felix whined as they reached the door.

"Get well soon, man." Changbin yelled to Seungmin who still had a blank face not getting what was happening around him.

Aria kicked the two boys out before she slams the door shut. She exhaled loudly and then turned to face Seungmin who was facing her with confused eyes. Just a few hours ago, those eyes held a strange dark look in them. Just a few hours ago, those eyes sent shivers down her body before they suddenly lose focus, roll back along with his head that swayed, and his body that hit the floor with a loud thud.

Aria panicked and didn't know what to do. When she came to her senses, she ran up to him and tried to lift him up but she failed. She then put his hoodie on his body and zipped it up before calling her brother to help her. A few minutes later, she found Changbin storming in too.

The passed-out Seungmin was placed on his couch and tucked into heavy blankets as his body was as cold as ice. Hot packs were secured to his freezing limbs. Felix started making some porridge and other foods. Aria started dripping water to Seungmin's dry lips. Changbin was suggesting stupid things that the two siblings ignored.

"You have to eat." Aria said as she walked back to the couch. "You are terribly dehydrated and starving. You should be hospitalized but I guessed you wouldn't like that." She sat down next to him. Her hand moved to his forehead but before she could ever make it, he moved back. Aria sighed, dropping her hand down. "As you wish, Seungmin. Eat now." She said as she placed the tray on his lap. "I'm trying my best to hold myself back from asking questions or throwing my anger on you since you are ill. But we'll talk. And by 'we' I mean both of us. Talking. Like normal people do."

That's when everything settled correctly in Seungmin's head. He was caught. She knew that he can actually talk. He talked back to her earlier before the world goes black in his eyes. Seungmin quickly looked down his body to find himself covered in his hoodie. His hands moved to his face.

"You have nothing on your face. And they didn't see your body. Don't worry, it's only me."

He sighed in relief. He rested his back on the couch and looked ahead of him. He didn't know what to say or where to start. She had a lot of questions that she asked before. He had the answers.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, looking at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" He talked.

Aria's eyes moved to his right cheek where the word 'Obvious' started to appear magically on his pale skin. It was the same way she watched his skin being painted with his words earlier. It looked as if some invisible pen was writing down whatever he says to his body. She wondered where the rest of the sentence was written.

"See?" He resumed. "You are scared." He said and just as he finished his sentence, the word 'scared' appeared on his right eyelid.

"I-I'm not scared! I'm surprised." She stuttered. "I've never seen anything like that before. It's.. It's magical."

"Magical?" He scoffed. "What the hell, Aria? What part of being cursed is magical to you?"

Aria was distracted by how words kept appearing here and there. She was sure that the words that missed his face were somewhere else around his body. Aria wasn't scared of how he looked. She was scared of what might have led him to that curse. She was afraid that she might judge. She was afraid that she might not look at him the same way. But she was still eager to know.

"I told you before, I might be the bad guy. I might be a Punished."

"How did you get that punishment?" She asked right away.

"I was the bad guy, Aria." He sighed as looked deep into her eyes. "I was the worst."