“Sungyeol. We must go.”

“They’re not back.” The said man whispered nervously.

“Sunggyu said that we have to go by dusk. They’ll find their way to us.”

“But we can’t just leave them out there!”

“Sunggyu and Woohyun know the paths of the forest like the back of their hands. They can find us.”

Sungyeol kept silent staring at the autumn leaves as they rustled beside his feet.

“He’s right, Sungyeol. Sunggyu can find us. He can- Hyung?” Sungjong asked, his eyes widening in curiosity. Myungsoo looked at the younger man before turning his head, confronted with a blank, hostile expression from the angel. His brown orbs slowly turned to an ruby gem which reflected the creature he had saw before.

“Sungyeol?” He asked.

The other snapped his head to the hunter before his eyes widened and the red faded away.

“W-What was that?” Sungjong whispered.

“I was turning.” He whispered back.

“But… you just turned 3 days ago!” He exclaimed.

“I-I don’t understand.” He replied with his brows furrowed, “I’m supposed to turn only once more the day before my 21^st.”

“Because that’s when the curse is unleashed.”

The angel nodded.

“But. Why did you stop? You can’t control it right?” Sungjong asked in confusion.

“It was him.” He replied, pointing to Myungsoo, “I looked at him and the demon just disappeared.”

“Just like that?”

“It happened last time too. I didn’t attack him even though he was too close.”

Myungsoo stayed silent watching the other converse quietly. Rapid, uneven footsteps were heard from afar and he immediately turned to see a familiar face. “Woohyun!” He shouted, seeing the other collapse onto the ground. He ran towards the man, and upon approaching him, realised that he was had been muttering something. “Woohyun are you okay?” He whispered. Once closer, he had realised that the injured hunter had been muttering a name repeatedly.

“What happened?” He asked again.

“I lost him. I lost him.” He said, before continuing to mutter the name.

“Where is he?”

“He told me to run. He’s gone. He left.” He mumbled, his eyes widening in fear. “He promised he’d be behind me.”

I’ll be right behind you. Myungsoo thought, remembering his childhood, “He’s okay. He’s a strong guy.”

“No. I’ve lost him.” He looked around frantically as through trying to find the elder male running behind him.

“Woohyun. Woohyun!” Myungsoo whispered, “Calm down. Alright? He’s okay. It’s Sunggyu we’re talking about. Remember what you said to me when you found me?”

The injured man looked up with tears in his eyes, he sniffed slightly and a small smile, “I-I was kidding.”

“But hey, you promised.” He smiled back gently, afraid that his own fear of losing his brother once again was too transparent.

“The only thing that stopped you from crying and smile again was when I said that he was alive, waiting for me to kick his .”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it? I remember when we were younger back at home, he used to play hide and seek at the strangest times.” He reminisced, “Literally the moment our mother turned her back on us, we’d be hiding under the bath tub, only to get our bottoms smacked because she had just cleaned it.”

Woohyun chuckled slightly through his glistening tears, “He’s just playing hide and seek?”

“I bet he’s just waiting for us to find him, under the bath tub.” Myungsoo smiled, “And when we find him we can both kick his .”

He nodded, “Okay.” He smiled more reassuringly.

“We must go now.” A frightened whisper announced from behind them, making the two friends face him.

“Sungyeol?”

“The angel is near. I know it.”

“We haven’t seen anyone pass by.” Sungjong interrupted, “We’re not sure which direction.”

“East.” Sungyeol and Woohyun whispered. Everyone turned to the latter who clutched onto his abdomen.

“How did you know?” Sungyeol asked.

“Sunggyu. He kept urging me to run east and keep running east.”

“It must be east then.” Sungjong added.

“Then east we go.”

~

“Myungsoo? Myungsoo!” He heard, yet couldn’t concentrate on the familiar voice.

“Mum?” He asked, as he tried to reach out.

“Myungsoo! Snap out of it.” A deep voice, although sounded familiar, had not been his mother’s yet it seemed to match perfectly.

“Sunggyu?” He asked once again, seeing his family right before his eyes as though the past years living in the forest had not exist.

“Myungsoo! It’s me!”

The said man began to follow his family, into an unknown destination. He turned to see another figure. A man who made his heart pound until it hurt. “Sungyeol!” He whispered, turning his direction before halting to turn to his family.

“Yes it’s me! Myungsoo!” The urgency in the man’s voice had not suited those of the calm individual in front of him. Turning his head back to the figure, he slowly walked towards him, however the more footsteps he had taken, the more the man seemed far away.

He felt something warm enveloping his body, making his feel protected, but at the same time preventing him from walking any further towards the tall individual. It had felt like a hug, and the hug grew tighter. Suddenly feeling a liquid substance make contact with his skin, he blinked and gasped. He looked around, before down at the sudden weight that he felt on him.

“Sungyeol?”

The man looked up, “M-Myungsoo?”

“What’s going on?”

“I have no idea, but you began to mutter words and walk away and no matter what I did, you just kept walking away.”

“What?” He furrowed his brows, “No, you were there.” He said, pointing to the distance, “A-And, Sunggyu… my mother…” He trailed off looking around, “You were there, I swear.’ He muttered.

“No, I was beside you the entire time.”

“What?”

“I told Sunggyu that.” A new voice interrupted. The men stared at the new voice who had his head low, “Something like that happened to me too. That’s why I left.” He said, “Because I saw someone leave and I tried to follow them.”

“What did he say after?”

“H-He didn’t say much.” Woohyun replied, “Just said that we were near.”

“Is that why you got injured?”

“I don’t remember how I got injured.” He said, “I just remember his eyes turning red, and then nothing.” He whispered.

“Whose eyes?”

Woohyun paused, shuddering slightly from the images that he had tried to forget, “Sunggyu.”

“Sungyeol, there’s 13 more days.”

The man stared back, “Already?” He asked.

Sungjong nodded, “13 days, and we haven’t found the angel. You have 6 more days until you turn, and Sunggyu’s been missing for 14 days.”

“We’re close though.” He replied, “I just know it.”

A loud gasp could be heard followed by a wail could be heard as the males conversed, which instantly halted them, “Woohyun.” Sungjong said quietly before they ran to the tent.

“You have to take deep breaths.” Myungsoo had been whispering, as the two entered.

“Is he convulsing again?”

“Not right now, but he has been coughing out and crying blood.”

“It hurts.” He cried.

“Shh, just take deep breaths.” Myungsoo tried.

“No! No!” He yelled, “Myung… Myung… find Sunggyu.” He gasped, “I need him.”

“He’s coming.” Myungsoo lied, “He said that he was coming right away.”

“No… I need him now.” He replied weakly, before crawling out the tent and throwing up the bile on the floor.

Sungyeol looked at the waste. His eyes widening as he remembered a subtle image from his dreams. “Blood! So much blood!” The demon had cackled evilly. “You cannot fool me. Very smart of you to keep a witch hidden. But you should know that an angel and a witch working together would only lead to more chaos!” He laughed. “You will think that you are near but as soon as you are near, hallucinations. Death. Illness. The plague.” He continued to laugh hysterically. “All will crumble down. The heavens and the world will crumble down” He chanted.

“That’s not vomit.” Sungyeol whispered.

“What is it?” Sungjong asked, peering over before retracting from the image.

“Blood…and his organs.”

“His organs?” Sungjong whispered harshly, making sure that the hunters could not hear. “But that would mean…”

The angel nodded, “It’s the demon’s curse. The only way to cure it is to find the angel, but even then, he would only be cured if the curse is broken.”

“Then… what do we do? We’ve been travelling east for 14 days now. And we haven’t seen anyone.”

“I just need a sign.” Sungyeol muttered. “Look after them.” He said, directly to the younger man, “I’m going to look for a sign, I’ll be back.”

“What if you get hurt?”

“I won’t.”

And with that, the angel turned to search.

~

As he grows, he will have more powers. Powers of evil, and powers of good.

His entire powers will unleash 14 days before the curse. And until then, he will be invincible. Almost able to do anything.

“14 days.” He muttered, “It should have been unleashed yesterday.” He said, looking down at his hands.

“Sungyeol.” A whispered called out, making his jump. He looked around, to see himself surrounded by trees he felt had suddenly grown too tall.

“Sungyeol.” The voice repeated.

“W-Who’s there?” He yelled, realising that there had been fear in his tone.

A rustling noise was heard, before he felt a warm feeling creep from his heart. He blinked, his eyes averted to a glass that had been laid carelessly on top of the autumn leaves. Fear disappeared as he saw the red eyes that reflected the glass. He stepped back and he began hearing the rapid beating of the hunter as they ran towards him.

Sungyeol stared intensely at the direction of where the man was before his eyes flashed a deeper red. Without seeing who the individual was, he raised the man and swung him against the tree. The man who’s back had made hard contact with the tree groaned in pain, as he was still stuck mid-air against the trunk.

“Myungsoo?” He called out, his eyes widened as he carefully lowered the man. “Myungsoo!” He yelled frantically, running towards the slumped man.

The man groaned once again, “You should really look at who it is first.”

“I’m so sorry. I heard an unfamiliar voice, and I thought it was a hunter. I must have heard wrongly.” He mumbled.

“Wait, but I didn’t say your name.”

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Sungyeol looked around, his arm raised up to protect the scarred hunter. “Stay with me.” He whispered. His eyes turned a dark red once again, as he tried to sense any movement.

He looked around, sensing nothing but silence.

“Sungyeol!” Myungsoo yelled before he instinctively snapped to his left and harshly lifting the figure into the air.

“Who are you?” He asked in a stern voice, “You are not human.”

The man, who seemed to be flying if not for his hand around his neck as though loosening grip gasped, “You are not human either.”

“Who are you?” He repeated.

“You are the cursed angel.”

Sungyeol lowered the man slightly. “Who are you?”

“You are, aren’t you?” The man looked at the scarred male beside him, “Do you trust him?” He asked, pointing to the hunter.

“What?”

“Scars are never to be trusted.” He said, making the hunter look down.

“I trust him.”

The individual smiled, “You can lower me. I am the young angel.”

Sungyeol stared back in shock, “H-How do I know you’re not lying?”

“You have a symbol on your back.” He said, “An infinity sign to resemble that you will live on no matter what, because you will break the curse. That is your fate.”

“What? H-How did you know?” He asked. No humans knew of this symbol. It was one that could only be seen by the angels.

“You still don’t believe me?”

Sungyeol shook his head slightly, “My name is Dongwoo. I am the son of the angels of fate. I know your fate, but not your journey, and I know your fate is to break the curse.” He said, “Your missing friend, is with us. He is in safe hands.”

“Sunggyu?” Myungsoo gasped, making the angels look at him.

“What is your name?” He asked.

“M-Myungsoo.”

“Myungsoo.” Dongwoo repeated. “We must go to my place. We have to speak.”

“But we can’t leave without Woohyun and Sungjong.” The hunter replied.

“Woohyun?” Dongwoo voiced out. “He will get better.” He said, “Because the curse will be broken. But he will suffer from a lot of pain in the process.”

“Can you take them to your place too?” Sungyeol asked.

“If you lower me, maybe I will consider it.” He replied, reminding him that the man was still in mid-air.

“Oh, sorry.” Sungyeol muttered, gently placing him on the floor.

“I will get guards to accompany them.”

“They won’t trust them.”

“Then we can go to them.” Dongwoo replied brightly.

~

“If you knew about Woohyun’s condition, does that mean you’ve been following us?”

“Of course, I was born into this world to protect you. And since they were with you, I learnt a few things about your friends too.”

“Then do you know how he got it? They were seeing things…” He trailed off, still confused as to what had happened.

“That’s the acts of the demon. Of course, you will be stronger with a bond and your bonds are these human friends. Without them, then you would be more vulnerable. I heard the fear in your tone when you were alone, however as soon as the scar man was there, you acted more bravely.”

“My name’s Myungsoo.” The hunter mumbled.

“I know.”

“We’re here.” Sungyeol said, seeing the tent. He ran towards it and opened it, revealing a frail Woohyun who continued to throw up blood.

“Oh, this isn’t good.” Dongwoo said, “We must take him immediately.”

~

“Take him to the bedroom.” The young angel ordered to his guard, “He needs medicine.”

“Sungyeol?” A deep voice asked, making multiple heads turn.

“Sunggyu!” He exclaimed. “How did you get there?”

“His guards took me here.”

“Sung…Sung…Gyu…Sungyu…”A raspy voice called out, trying to be heard as he was taken away.

“Woohyun?” He asked before turning to Sungyeol. “What happened?”

“His wounds were inflicted by the demon, so he began to grow ill.”

“No.” Sunggyu whispered, before following after.

“Are you sure he’s to be trusted?” Sungjong asked.

Sungyeol nodded, “I believe he is what he says he is.”

“I must tell you all something. Get Sunggyu and Woohyun.” Dongwoo announced.

“He won’t come out. Not after all this. And Woohyun’s bedridden.”

“Then I guess we must announce it at the bedroom.” He muttered in reply.

“No, you can’t. He’s already stressed out as he is. We’ll go outside.”

“He has to know too.” Dongwoo said calmly.

“He’s ill!” Sunggyu yelled, “You can’t just stress him out more.”

“Sunggyu.” Woohyun croaked out, “I can handle it.”

“But-”

“I’m old enough to know how to deal with news.”

After much contemplation, the eldest sighed in defeat and nodded, walking back beside him.

“You know how to break the curse right?”

Dongwoo nodded, “It’s simple… but not in your case.”

“What did you have to do?”

“You have to kill the demon who conjured this curse.”

“So we just have to find him right?”

Dongwoo nodded, “And I know where he is.”

Sungjong stood up and Sunggyu tightened his grip on Woohyun’s bedsheets, “Where is he?” Myungsoo asked.

The young angel looked around the room, and with slight hesitation, silently pointed to the scarred man.

Hello there after almost a year. How's life? Do people still come here often, because I've been so busy the last time i went one was like when i posted the last chapter T-T Sorry for those who still read my fic, and I certainly do hope that there are a few that still do. I did try really hard on this, but my writing skills are really rusty and I feel like it's not as good as it was before. Anyhow, I still do hope that you guys enjoy it. Please let me know what you think and how you think i should improve. Anywho, that will be all from me today, see you all next year! jkjk ill try to upload more quicker ToT

Till next time! Stay safe and well.