Taehyung paused on top of the stairs, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him. Yoongi's attention was directed fully at the granddaughter, his fingers lightly touching her cheek. His face was as expressionless as ever, but the tension in his shoulders was so obvious that even Jungkook noticed it. He had no idea what exactly was going on, but the demons' reactions made it more or less clear that it wasn’t a simple case of fainting. Which was just great - and possibly the last thing he needed today.

Taehyung made his way down the stairs, kneeling next to Yoongi. He didn’t seem interested in the granddaughter though, his eyes scanning the food and the cutlery instead. He raised a piece of shattered plate, thoroughly inspecting it with his eyes before shaking his head and putting it back down. The next thing he grabbed was a mug, one that had probably contained Jungkook's coffee until very recently and that somehow managed to stay in one piece. For a second or two Taehyung stared at it without blinking, and then his eyes slowly narrowed.

He dangled the mug in front of Yoongi’s face, Yoongi giving it a quick once over before fixing his gaze back at the girl. His expression didn’t change, but his shoulders visibly stiffened.

At this point, Jungkook’s patience ran dry. “What is it?” he asked, taking a small step forward. It was quite obvious by the demons' behavior that this was serious, and he could already feel the panic stirring in his chest.

Taehyung’s eyes flickered over to him before they returned to the mug. “Stay where you are.” he said. His voice was calm, but stern enough that Jungkook immediately froze on the spot. The alarm bells ringing at the back of his head got louder.

The fact that neither of the demons was explaining anything made it worse, and Jungkook was just about to ask again when Taehyung sighed. “It’s a curse.” he said, looking up at him.

“A curse?” So whatever happened to the girl had been done with magic. That was… bad. Truly truly bad.

“A very well hidden one.” said Taehyung, tapping the mug with his nails. Jungkook blinked once his gaze landed on it, slightly squinting. He hadn’t taken a good look at it until now, and once he did… That mug… it looked like a perfectly ordinary mug (or as ordinary as anything in the royal mansion could actually be), but something still seemed off about it. He wasn’t sure what, and it seemed that no amount of staring would help him figure it out. It was probably just his overactive imagination anyway.

Taehyung slightly tilted his head, glancing at the mug before looking back at him. “What do you see?” he asked.

See? Was he supposed to see something? Jungkook shook his head. “Nothing.”

The demon didn’t seem all that surprised by his answer. “Okay then” he said “what do you feel?”

“It just feels… off?”

Taehyung gave him a contemplative look. “Interesting.” he remarked before carefully putting the mug down, resting his hand on top of it.

It was clear he wasn’t planning to say anything else. Which was just… incredibly annoying, because he didn’t explain anything at all. His odd line of questioning made Jungkook conclude that the off feeling probably had something to do with the curse, but he still had no idea why. He didn’t even know what the curse had caused, and the demons looked like they weren’t planning to enlighten him anytime soon.

“What's so interesting?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Taehyung.

Taehyung absentmindedly tapped the side of the mug with his fingers. “The curse is designed to make everyone in close vicinity want to touch this mug.” he explained without looking at him, pausing for a second or two before clarifying; “Humans that is. It’s also personalized, so the reason why someone would want to touch it varies from person to person.”

“Okay…” That made sense. Jungkook could definitely see himself touching the mug because something about it felt wrong and he needed to come to the bottom of it. The curse would probably take effect once his skin came into contact with it, or – more likely – some time afterwards.

There was no way he was the target though. The curse might have been on the mug only he would drink from, but the servants would have to touch it before it came anywhere near him. So… who was the target? He found the answer wasn’t particularly hard to figure out. No one. Everyone.

He let out a quiet sigh. “Do you think it was made by a higher demon?”

Taehyung nodded. “There’s no way a medium or a lower demon could do something like that.”

Yeah, that’s what he thought. “So…”

“So which one of your absolutely charming relatives caused this?” asked Taehyung as he met his gaze, his lips curled slightly upwards. His smile was sharp and kind of terrifying, and Jungkook swallowed, trying to ignore the shiver running down his spine. He knew the bloodlust radiating off of Taehyung wasn’t directed at him, but his flight or fight responses were kicking in anyway.

Jungkook lowered his gaze to the ground, unable to look at Taehyung for longer than a second at the moment, at least not without wanting to run away and hide. “I wish I knew.” he muttered.

It wasn’t that hard to figure out that either Kangmin or his father was behind this. The curse had been made by a higher demon, and it wasn’t like anyone else had access to them (apart from Jimin, but he would never do this). Which of the two was the perpetrator though, that was much harder to tell.

On one hand, it happened right after his father’s visit, so all fingers quite clearly pointed at him. On the other, there was no doubt Kangmin had his spies at court. It probably wouldn’t be that difficult for him to sneak a higher demon in the King’s entourage.

The motivation behind it was pretty clear as well; to get him to the palace. Mrs. Kim’s granddaughter collapsed, and while Jungkook wasn’t familiar with the details, he knew there was a procedure in place in case a servant got sick. Or at least it was when there were royals or nobles in the house at the time, because everyone was really paranoid about assassination attempts.

If he remembered correctly it went something like this; if a person was in imminent danger they would be brought to the hospital, and once they were stable enough, a specialized doctor would be called to check on them. If there was no imminent danger, the doctor would be called to the manor or the house the servant worked at. These doctors were employed by the crown, and they were all magicians. Checking for magical interference was a part of their job description.

So… They almost definitely wouldn’t miss that Mrs. Kim’s granddaughter had been cursed, and since the curse was on the mug Jungkook was meant to drink from, someone could come to the unfortunate conclusion that he was the primary target. His father would doubtlessly grab the opportunity with both of his hands and immediately drag him back to the royal palace, claiming the person behind the curse was Kangmin.

And the thing was… it could be Kangmin. Jungkook still had no idea what his brother wanted with him or how much influence he actually had at court, so he couldn’t confidently claim that getting him to the palace wouldn’t benefit him.

He sighed. This was a mess.

“So…” he started hesitantly. “what exactly is wrong with her?” He couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty that his main reason for asking was so he could figure out how to avoid being dragged straight to the palace after this, not because he wanted to make sure Mrs. Kim’s granddaughter would be okay.

Taehyung snapped his fingers. “Snow White.” he said. Which… what?

Jungkook gave him an incredulous look. “What?”

The demon sighed. “You know, a princess cursed to sleep for a hundred years?”

“That’s the Sleeping Beauty.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. Snow White ate a poisoned apple.” Jungkook couldn’t believe he was actually having this conversation right now. And neither could Yoongi if the highly unimpressed look he leveled at them was any indication.

“Eh.” said Taehyung, waving his hand in dismissal. “Unimportant details. They were both cursed to sleep.”

“Is that what happened to…” Jungkook looked down at Mrs. Kim’s granddaughter. She did look a bit like she was sleeping, but it definitely wasn’t a peaceful sleep. Her face was completely white, and Jungkook assumed her breathing was off as well, her chest barely moving.

The one who answered this time was Yoongi. “Yes.”

“Can you undo it?” Jungkook asked, looking at Yoongi. He had been the one to check for his injuries after he'd been attacked by Violet, so he assumed he would be the one undoing the curse as well.

“Yes.” said Yoongi, not removing his eyes from the girl. “But it’s going to take a while.”

“She'll be okay though, right?” asked Jungkook. He really needed her to be okay. If she died… Well, if she died he would probably be dragged straight to the palace by his father.

And he felt responsible for this. Whoever was behind it, clearly wanted to get to him, not caring who else got caught in the crossfire. In a way, it was his fault.

There was a short pause and then Yoongi nodded. The pause didn’t fill Jungkook with confidence, but he bit his tongue, deciding not to comment. It certainly wouldn’t help things.

“Do you think there’s more?” asked Jungkook, looking at Taehyung. He doubted there was since one curse was plenty to achieve their purpose, but he could never be sure.

The demon slowly got to his feet, patting down his trousers. “Probably not.” he said. “But we’re still going to take a walk around and check.” he paused for a moment before adding; “And you won’t touch anything.” His eyes moved from Jungkook to something behind him. “Same goes for you.”

Or someone. Jungkook winced, suddenly overcome by a strong sense of foreboding. He wasn’t sure if there was something in the demon’s eyes or he was just expecting bad things to happen at this point, but he knew. He knew who was standing behind him even before he forced himself to take a deep breath and turn around. Namjoon. And Mrs. Kim. Both pale and staring at the scene in front of them with wide eyes. Jungkook had an unpleasant feeling they had been standing there for a while, and he couldn’t help letting out a quiet sigh. Did he have the energy to deal with this right now? No. Did he have a choice? Also no.

He sighed again, looking at Mrs. Kim. “Can you tell everyone to go to the living room?” he asked. “And that they shouldn’t touch anything?”

Mrs. Kim’s eyes needed ages to move from her granddaughter to Jungkook. Her lips trembled as she bowed, deeper than usually, her fingers already searching for her phone. Namjoon stoically stood next to her, and it was obvious he was barely stopping himself from saying something, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were completely white.

Taehyung decided to search the servants’ living quarters first, which was something Namjoon seemed to be quite opposed to, at least if the stormy expression on his face when Taehyung’s intentions were revealed was any indication. Somehow, he managed to keep his mouth shut, but he still closely followed Taehyung and Jungkook down the hallway instead of staying with his mother.

Jungkook could practically feel the other's eyes boring into his back, radiating icy fury. It wasn’t like Namjoon was incapable of hiding his true feelings – no, he could act – but it was pretty apparent he didn’t want to. Jungkook wondered what exactly he thought he was going to achieve with it. No matter how he looked at the situation, Jungkook was still the one with more power over Namjoon than Namjoon had over him. And Namjoon was definitely aware of it as well, so why…?

He sighed, coming to an abrupt stop. There were other things he should be worrying about right now, he knew that, but it was obvious that this day was going to be awful from the beginning to the end. It was past saving, so he might as well do another unpleasant thing and get the conversation with Namjoon out of the way. “Should I be wary of any assassination attempts?” he asked. Given the level of anger the other was giving off, he wouldn’t be surprised if he actually tried to stab him.

“What did you do to my niece?” asked Namjoon. There was ice in his eyes, his lips pressed into a thin line. He tucked his hands in his pockets, and Jungkook truly hoped he wasn’t hiding any weapons. He wasn’t sure what Taehyung would do to him if he actually tried to hurt him, but there was no doubt it wouldn’t be pleasant. Even the Orders forbidding him from physically hurting people without Jungkook’s permission probably wouldn’t save Namjoon from suffering.

He glanced at Taehyung. He wasn’t sure how long Namjoon had been standing there, listening to their conversation, so he didn’t know if he needed to explain what had happened to him or not. Taehyung shook his head, and Jungkook sighed. So Namjoon had heard more or less everything, he just didn’t believe them. “Nothing.” he said.

“Or so you say.” said Namjoon. Despite the clear anger in his eyes, he somehow managed to sound completely nonchalant, looking straight at Jungkook without blinking. It was unsettling.

“Why would I want to hurt her?” asked Jungkook.

Namjoon didn’t exactly scoff, but it was close. The meaning was the same either way. “Maybe she prepared your tea wrong.” he said in the same unbothered tone.

Jungkook gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath. His first instinct was to point out that he didn’t even like tea. Which – of course – wouldn’t solve anything. It was pointless to beat around the bush, so he might as well get straight to the actual issue. “What is your problem with me exactly?”

“My niece…” started Namjoon.

Jungkook didn’t let him finish. “You disliked me before.” he pointed out. “Practically ever since we met.” That was true. Namjoon hadn’t been downright antagonistic towards him or anything - he hadn’t even been rude as far as Jungkook could remember, there was just… Jungkook had always had a strong feeling the other didn’t like him, but considering this was the Lerantham academy, he'd never really paid it that much mind. Everyone was constantly trying to one up each other anyway, so Namjoon’s dislike wasn’t out of the norm.

Namjoon pressed his lips tighter together. “I could tell you were hiding something.” he said. Which… yes, Jungkook definitely believed that. Namjoon was insanely observant, as proven by the fact he’d somehow managed to figure out Jungkook was the Summoner.

Still… Jungkook was almost entirely sure that wasn’t the whole story. Everyone at the academy was hiding something, and considering who the students were, most of it probably wasn’t even close to innocent. Some people there were literally in cohorts with Kangmin for God’s sake. “Really? That’s all?” he asked, slightly narrowing his eyes at Namjoon.

Namjoon crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes even icier than a moment before. “I know a manipulator when I see one.” he said.

Jungkook felt like the air had been punched out of his lungs. “What? I didn’t…” he started, sounding a bit breathless. Which was logical considering he definitely wasn’t getting enough air, his breathing suddenly too shallow and quick. There was a strong sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, and he could feel the panic rising, slowly but surely. I’m going to have a panic attack, he realized absentmindedly. Something he truly couldn’t afford to have in front of Namjoon.

He just never thought… Was he like them after all? Was he like his father? Like Kangmin? Was he manipulating people without even knowing it? He didn’t think so, and he definitely tried not to, but… He'd never really known anything else, had he? He'd been surrounded by manipulators from the very beginning, and he'd had to participate in their games to stay ahead. Maybe he never really had a chance.

The panic was washing over him in waves, and he was trapped so deep in his thoughts he was barely aware of his surroundings. What snapped him out of it somewhat was Taehyung putting his hand on his shoulder and gently squeezing. “That’s enough.” he said firm and calm, and Jungkook had no idea whether he was talking to him or to Namjoon, who was now looking at him with a puzzled expression on his face.

The next thing Taehyung said was definitely meant for Namjoon though. “One more word from you and I’m going to tear your tongue out of your mouth.” he said, his voice unsettlingly cheerful and upbeat. Jungkook couldn’t see his face, but he was still quite sure his lips were curled into one of his sharp and highly unpleasant smiles. There was an obvious danger radiating off of him, and Jungkook couldn’t help shivering in response to it, even while knowing it wasn’t directed at him.

Namjoon could feel it as well, his eyes wide, all the color draining from his face. He backed into the nearest wall, looking like he was about to faint. Jungkook was impressed that he didn’t – he was sure he would have if their places had been reversed.

Taehyung’s hand moved from Jungkook’s shoulder to his wrist, and he pulled him inside the nearest room, pushing the door closed behind them. He let go of Jungkook almost immediately, leaning against the door and crossing his arms over his chest. “Don't listen to him.” he said. “He’s wrong.”

“How would you know?” asked Jungkook, doing his best to keep his voice steady. The panic was still there, and it didn’t seem it was planning to ease up any time soon. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to breathe through it.

“I did hear you talking to a few people.” said Taehyung, staring at him with an indecipherable look in his eyes. “You were no worse than the others.”

“No worse.” echoed Jungkook.

“Your academy isn’t exactly a pleasant place.” said Taehyung. “If you didn’t use dirty methods from time to time you'd be eaten alive.”

Jungkook took a deep breath. That was true, but…

“Do you look like Kangmin?” asked Taehyung.

Jungkook blinked at the sudden change of topic. “Why?” The demon didn’t answer, just raised his eyebrows at him. Jungkook sighed, wrapping his arms tighter around himself. “I guess.” he said quietly. The resemblance definitely wasn’t big enough for somebody to mix them up, but it was unfortunately still there.

Taehyung nodded, looking like he expected the answer. “Then that’s what’s bothering Namjoon.” he said. “He subconsciously connected you to Kangmin.”

“Oh.” muttered Jungkook. That… might be true? He wasn’t sure it was, not even close, but he hoped so. He really hoped so, because the alternative was…

“We can go ask Yoongi if you don’t believe me.” said Taehyung. “He's known you for longer.”

Jungkook took another deep breath before shaking his head. Yoongi was busy – Jungkook certainly couldn’t bother him with something as trivial as this while he was trying to save Mrs. Kim’s granddaughter. “Let’s just…” he swallowed. “Let’s just check the mansion for more curses.”

“Kookie.” started Taehyung, something indecipherable flashing in his eyes. For a moment it seemed that he was going to continue, but then he just shook his head, pushing away from the door. “Let’s go then.” he said.