• candle light | nct dream •

2.8 | unorthodox

"How do you view me?"

I don't know if I'm making any sense now. I may sound like some idiot, but I don't really care.

Renjun stares at me, surprised.

We remained like that, staring at each other in silence, until his lips parted to speak.

"I—

"We're back, dear cousin. Where might you be?"

A familiar voice interrupts Renjun's next words.

He instantly looks away from me, and towards his room. I didn't need to think too much to know what just happened. Jaemin probably returned with Haechan through the mirror in his room.

The shuffling of feet gradually approaches where we are. And then, to my astonishment — not two, but three familiar faces appeared.

Jaemin appeared first in the doorway, followed by Haechan, then...a man with dark black hair and round eyes.

Mark, as I recall.

And just by the return of these three people, our previous conversation was dissolved.

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In the middle of the night, the five of us somehow ended up in this situation.

We were seated in Renjun's living room, the man himself beside me, and the other three on the opposite couch.

According to Jaemin, he was the one who called Mark over. Seems like the two of them are pretty close, so he's heard about how my aura was special.

"I'm glad you're looking well, Hye In."

Mark glances at me with a tiny smile.

I wasn't sick or anything, so it was odd that he said that to me. There were certainly other better ways to greet me than this.

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." He carefully begins. "It's about your aura,"

"Like I said the previous time, you have the aura of a human, a vampire and a werewolf. This means that you're clearly a tribreed, which is a very, very rare species."

"Wow, a tribreed?" Jaemin mumbles to himself in fascination. "I've heard of them, but...I thought they couldn't live for very long."

"You're right," Mark confirms. "Usually, a tribreed will start showing signs of anaemia, haemophilia, or both, starting at the age of sixteen. They become frailer, because the cells from the three different species are unable to coexist,"

"And because of these symptoms, tribreeds typically never live past the age of 20."

"I...see. That's why you said that."

Hye In nods slowly. She was now eighteen...yet, she never experienced any of those illnesses.

"Is there a reason why she's different, then?"

Haechan piques up, asking what she herself wanted to. Does it mean her symptoms would arise in the near future? Or...

"Well, I've never heard of a tribreed like her. Though, there's just one superficial reason I could think of,"

She looks up at Mark expectantly.

"This may be a sign that you're the key to allow all three species to coexist. It's even likely that your symptoms won't ever arise," He pauses, then continues,

"These are just possibilities, of course."

"Possibilities, huh." Renjun, who has been silent the entire time, finally reacts. "If you're right, then how is she going to accomplish that goal?"

The older male smiles wanly. "I believe only you all know that. Centuries ago, before your relationships deteriorated, you were able to coexist. Perhaps, you should mend what was broken then."

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a/n: mend what was broken then...what could that meaaaan? next chapter includes insight into the past :)