~~

“I’ve got nothing for you right now.”

Jaebum made to stand, but Sungjin grabbed his wrist, eyes pleading as he held Jaebum in place. Yugyeom tensed - the human police officers were of no threat to a mage and a golem, but they were in a police station, and to cause a ruckus here would certainly be a headache to handle later.

They hadn’t lingered long in the morgue. The humans had been anxious to depart the cold, death-heavy building, and despite Sungjin’s adamance that they take their time to examine the evidence carefully, it hadn’t taken much time for Jaebum to reach his current conclusion.

“People are dying Jaebum, we need your help!”

Jaebum sighed, firmly extricating his hand from Sungjin’s grasp, but remained seated. Yugyeom breathed out quietly in relief but didn’t fully relax, eyes trained carefully on the imploring police chief sitting across from them.

“My findings are no different than the autopsy results you previously received - there’s no traceable signature I can identify, I have no idea who or what killed these people. Not only that, those two corpses have no traces of any residual life energy at all. This is far from a simple murder, even I have absolutely no idea what could’ve caused this.”

“What do you mean there aren’t any traces of residual life energy?” Another officer spoke up from the side, brow furrowed. The words rolled off his tongue awkwardly, making it clear he was unfamiliar with the terminology.

“Anything living has life energy.” There was a hint of impatience to Jaebum’s voice as he began to explain, leaning back in his chair. “Plants have it, humans have it, I have it. What you humans call magic, whether it’s a shapeshifter’s power to transform or my ability to weave spells, it’s all just variations of this life energy. You humans have… let’s just say, a less potent version of it. And I,” Jaebum snapped his fingers, bright purple sparks flying, “have a bit more of it, in a more powerful strain.”

“But the thing is, once something dies, this energy doesn’t just disappear. Sure, when someone dies from old age or a terminal illness, their core will be drained and empty, but residual traces always remain. When someone is killed, or taken before their time, the remaining energy may still be fairly active until it gradually disperses.”

“Frankly, even this desk,” Jaebum rapped his knuckles on the wooden face of the surface in front of him, “has very, very faint energy traces, since it was once part of a living thing. There is magic that allows one to drain the energy of another, but like I said before, even in that case it’s essentially impossible to erase all traces.”

Glancing around the debrief room, it was apparent that Jaebum’s explanation was still insufficient, with many officers only looking increasingly bewildered. Exhaling loudly, Jaebum shook his head, searching for a simpler metaphor.

“It’s like… filling a bowl full of red dye. You let it sit, and over time, the dye will slowly evaporate. Maybe the bowl gets cracked, and it begins to drain away at a faster rate, or someone else comes to forcibly remove the dye from the bowl. But no matter what happens, no matter how the dye is removed, in the end the bowl will be permanently stained red.”

Fortunately, this comparison seemed to resonate as expressions of comprehension finally dawned on the faces around him, so Jaebum pressed on.

“In our case, life energy is like the red dye, these corpses are like the bowl. You can remove the energy, drain it away, but it always leaves very distinct evidence of its past presence. Life energy traces can also be used as a sort of identifying signature for different races, species, or even individuals, since the nature of the energy can vary quite widely.”

“But in this case, there is none,” Sungjin concluded, a hand coming up to rub at his eyes tiredly. “Which is supposed to be impossible?”

“Nothing is impossible,” Jaebum correctly promptly, earning an exhausted glare from Sungjin in response. “But yes, it shouldn’t be happening, I’ve never heard of something similar, much less encountered it. Which indicates something much bigger, and most likely sinister, is at work here.”

“Which is exactly why we need your help, Jaebum!” It was clear that Sungjin was overwhelmed and feeling incredibly out of his depth. “We can’t allow more people to die!”

Jaebum raised an eyebrow, and this time no one stopped him when he stood.

“When did I say I was just going to stand by and do nothing? I said I had nothing for you now , that doesn’t mean I won’t have anything for you later.”

With a grim smile, Jaebum threw his last words over his shoulder unconcernedly, before he swiftly exited the station.

“I’ll let you know when I find something.”

Sungjin could only gape at the door, slightly shellshocked. Yugyeom wasn’t sure if he was supposed to laugh at the poor officer or feel sorry for him, but settled for a comforting pat on the police chief’s shoulders, graciously dropping a last tidbit of advice before following Jaebum’s example.

“You better ask your superiors to start collecting funds - Jaebum-hyung doesn’t charge cheaply for jobs that require actual research.”

~~

The warm beige walls of his flat were comforting, and Jinyoung felt his body finally begin to relax as he sank onto his couch, eyes slipping shut as he attempted to regulate his breathing, which was coming in short pants much too quick for the single flight of stairs he’d taken.

He had just finished feeding (his victim a tall, handsome man with bold brows and so willing Jinyoung had forsaken his glamour entirely), meaning he should’ve been feeling sated and content. And yet, here he was, taut as a bowstring, shaking from his inability to absorb the rush of new life energy running through him.

Incubi were at their most vulnerable immediately post-feeding, and thanks to his terse conversation with Hyunwoo earlier in the day, now just so happened to be a terrible time to let the emotional floodgates down. His body had been thrown into a hyperactive frenzy after plunging back into reality; the same post-feeding haze was there, but rather than buoying him, it clouded his vision, making each step forward an uncertain leap.

Jinyoung found himself stumbling home rather pathetically, shaking involuntarily the entire time. Fortunately, he managed to avoid running into any familiar faces, which would’ve been utterly embarrassing. The tremors didn’t cease until he grasped onto the doorknob of his apartment, managing to throw it open with a weak twist and a shove.

Inhale, exhale.

Just breathe.

Slowly, his heartbeat began to calm, his breaths evening out. Still, the whole process took a few minutes, a mortifyingly long time.

It was also a bit ironic, considering demons were so often accused of being heartless.

Letting his head release backwards to rest on the back of the couch, Jinyoung sighed, eyes slowly opening to stare listlessly up at the dark ceiling. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights - he really didn’t need them, anyways. He had always found darkness to be calming.

Thinking back to earlier in the day, and when forcing himself to be rational, Jinyoung couldn’t deny that Hyunwoo had meant well with his advice, and there was truth to his words. The fact that he was so affected now, so many hours later, proved the exact point the werewolf had been trying to make.

But where did that leave him, then? It was much easier to convince himself that everything with Jaebum had been fake, that the mage was indeed just a scheming snake who had put on an act to get what he wanted. If Jinyoung admitted now that the facts didn’t quite add up, that even if Jaebum hadn’t been upfront with him, he also hadn’t given him a chance to explain, then that meant acknowledging his own faults.

But why hasn’t Jaebum attempted to explain since then?

This was the burning question that allowed a flicker of anger to spark in Jinyoung’s core. Alright, fine. That night, they were both slightly out of their minds, screaming words back and forth at each other that were aimed to hurt. But if Jaebum truly had a legitimate reason for taking his blood, why hadn’t he contacted him at all afterwards? Why hadn’t he attempted to explain?

But then, the flame in him sputtered out, because Jinyoung knew why. It was the same reason why he hadn’t sought Jaebum out either.

They were both much too prideful.

“I would’ve bet everything that he was just as deeply in love with you.”

Hyunwoo’s words floated back to Jinyoung, who shut his eyes again wearily. Was it worth it? Was that really true? And even if it was, did it matter if they both valued their pride more?

Jinyoung jolted when a sudden vibration startled him out of his thoughts. Picking up his phone from the cushion on his left, Jinyoung had to squint to discern who was calling, his eyes unadjusted to the brightness of the screen.

“Bambam?” Jinyoung couldn’t help his surprise when he picked up the call. He wouldn’t have expected the pixie to contact him anytime soon, given how they’d parted on less than happy terms not so long ago.

“Hey Jinyoung-hyung,” Bambam sounded uncharacteristically forlorn, though that was becoming increasingly common as of late. At this, Jinyoung felt a pang of guilt - he knew how important Yugyeom was to him, and even if he had a grudge against the golem, Bambam was innocent. He didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire. “I was wondering...if you could tell me what happened? With you and Jaebum-hyung, and Yugyeom too?”

“I…”

This was perhaps the worst timing, to be asked such a question when his emotions were already so volatile. Usually, he would have no reservations doling out a prompt rejection. Coupled with his surging guilt, however, Jinyoung was torn.

On one hand, he did trust Bambam. They’d known each other for good number of decades now, and the pixie was notably more kind-hearted than most fae.

That being said, Jinyoung wasn’t quite sure he trusted Bambam with his life.

Magicfolk blood was much more than just liquid that transported oxygen to muscles and organs. It was a source of power, fundamentally tied to an individual’s existence and well being.

Jinyoung didn’t have many enemies, per say, but it would still be prudent to hide such a vulnerability from everyone, including Bambam.

“Can you at least tell me what Yugyeom did that was so unforgivable?” Jinyoung must’ve taken too long in his pause, causing Bambam to interrupt impatiently. “I’ve been trying to contact him all day, but I think he’s avoiding me. I just want to know what happened!”

“Bambam, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you into my mess,” Jinyoung finally forced out an apology, gritting his teeth as he came to a decision. “Can I call you back later? I can’t tell you what happened right now, but I’m going to try to...to fix things for you and Yugyeom, okay?”

“What do you mean, try to fix things for us? Does that mean Yugyeom didn’t do anything wrong? It was all Jaebum’s fault, wasn’t it?” Bambam was immediately incensed, and while Jinyoung really appreciated the shared hatred for the mage, he wasn’t forgiving enough to so simply absolve Yugyeom of his participation.

“No, that is not what I’m saying,” Jinyoung said sharply, and he could practically see the crestfallen expression on the pixie’s face. “But I’ll get back to you, okay? So don’t do anything rash.”

“How soon?” Bambam pressed.

“As soon as I can.” Jinyoung’s fingers came up to massage at his temples, already regretting his promise but continuing with it anyways. “I’ll explain once I have everything sorted out.”

“...Okay.”

~~

Youngjae frowned, fingers curling in the dirt as he once again tried to coax the seedling into sprouting.

But there was nothing.

“See? I told you,” Sandeul was visibly agitated as he crouched down next to Youngjae, brushing aside the loose soil to reveal the seeds they just buried. He plucked a few of them up, dusting the excess dirt off before displaying his cupped palm.

The seeds appeared completely untouched - whole, smooth, with absolutely no signs of germinating.

“I don’t understand…” Youngjae said worriedly. “With the amount of magic I was pouring in, these should’ve been at least a couple of inches tall by now.”

Sandeul nodded fervently in agreement.

“It’s this whole stretch! A strip right through the middle of where the fire burned, maybe this strip is even where the whole fire started. The earth is scorched here the worst, but we’ve already gone through to clean up the ashes and dead undergrowth. There should be no reason for this!”

Youngjae sat back on his heels, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he surveyed the blackened landscape around him, a sick feeling settling in his stomach.

Mark had left after helping out with the initial cleanup, which involved clearing out all the dead and destroyed plant life to make way for the new. Youngjae had decided to stay a few days longer to help Sandeul stimulate the regrowth, and they’d been making good time by slowly working their way from East to West of the territory.

That is, until they hit this middle patch, where the blackened Earth seemed unable to support any life at all.

“This isn’t natural…” Sandeul shook his head slowly, a tremor audible in his voice. “This can’t be natural, I’ve never seen anything like this. Not to mention, I know for a fact this land is fertile, the soil here is so rich, I’ve made sure of it. And now it’s just…”

Pressing his palms against the ground, Sandeul settled on his knees, eyes fluttering shut as he concentrated. Youngjae watched on apprehensively, lip still caught between his teeth.

“Nothing. Dead. I… I can’t feel anything.” Sandeul exhaled shakily, hands clenching into fists as his eyes reopened. He looked at Youngjae helplessly, who moved forward silently to embrace the trembling dryad, though he wasn’t sure he had any comfort to give.

“What do I do ?”

Youngjae had no answer.

~~

There wasn’t much that could surprise Jaebum these days. The odd human deaths were an unfortunate exception that he now had to deal with, but he was resigned to his involvement, and had fully committed himself to the task that would undoubtedly become a much bigger hassle than it was worth. He’d been in this business for too long and already risked his life for a questionable greater good a number of times, so it took much more to rattle him these days.

However, suddenly receiving a call from Park Jinyoung, an ex that he hadn’t spoken to in months, almost made him drop Nora.

Which Nora absolutely did not appreciate, thank you very much, letting out a plaintive meow when Jaebum’s grip on her tightened uncomfortably after his fumble, ultimately choosing to squirm out of his grasp. She leapt to the floor on her own terms, tail lashing as she darted him a glare before disappearing down the hall.

Jaebum absently told himself to make it up to her later, as Nora had a tendency to hold grudges. Now, however, his mind was entirely preoccupied with what the even as his finger hovered over the options on his phone.

With a sharp shake of his head, Jaebum firmly swiped to reject the call, tossing the device off to the side. He couldn’t believe he had even hesitated, it wasn’t his principle to ever look back on what was already behind him.

When pushing up and out of his armchair, however, a gleam of reflective glass suddenly caught his eye. His gaze snapped to a glass vial perched on a shelf across the room, labeled with the exact same name he saw light up his phone screen moments ago.

Jaebum froze, then groaned, loudly , as he collapsed back into the armchair, a hand coming up to grip his hair frustratedly.

Goddammit.

Raising his other hand, his phone returned to his palm with a resounding smack. Jaebum sighed, unlocking it to navigate to his contacts.

There, at the top of his log, was Jinyoung’s name.

I didn’t even delete his number, huh?

Jaebum smiled self-mockingly, half in disbelief over what he was about to do. Grudgingly, Jaebum tapped the call button beside Jinyoung’s name, but not before his phone began to ring once more with a new incoming call.

Now Jaebum was in full disbelief, hissing out yet another expletive.

Jinyoung was just full of surprises today, wasn’t he. He never used to take rejection so well.

This time, Jaebum swiped to answer it.

“Hello?”

There was silence from the end, and Jaebum felt just the tiniest bit smug - this was so clearly a shocked silence, he could already imagine the stunned expression on Jinyoung’s face.

Of course . If Jaebum himself couldn’t believe that he was choosing to pick up the call, no doubt Jinyoung would only be more shocked.

It was now that Jaebum belated realized Jinyoung’s intent; the incubus always took rejection poorly, but also possessed a stubborn streak equal to his pride. He was probably planning to spam Jaebum’s phone with so many calls he’d be forced to answer eventually, or else block him entirely.

Jinyoung knew Jaebum well, after all, but whatever he’d been expecting, it wouldn’t have been Jaebum giving in so quickly.

Jaebum smirked, cracking his neck as he waited for Jinyoung to make the next move.

The silence lasted for a few more seconds before Jinyoung’s familiar tones finally sounded over the speaker, low and unamused.

“This is Jinyoung. We need to meet.”

Jaebum inhaled sharply at the sound of Jinyoung’s voice, fortunately quiet enough to be inaudible over the phone. It had only been a couple months since he’d heard him last, and yet, it also seemed like a lifetime ago.

So much had changed since then.

“Why? Sorry, but I’m a busy mage, I really don’t have the time. If you require my professional services, however, you may book an appointment through Yugyeom, you know my rates.”

Jaebum kept his tone light and disinterested, and the small huff Jinyoung gave from the other end of the line let Jaebum know he had successfully irked him. Jinyoung was probably rolling his eyes, wearing that disdainfully worn out expression that conveyed just how exhausted he felt when dealing with a situation that was clearly beneath him.

Dammit, he still remembered his expressions so clearly.

“Why?” Jinyoung was incredulous. “Because you still have a vial of my blood, that you took without my permission or knowledge , and had the audacity to charm in order to keep it active and usable. That is why .”

While Jinyoung’s words were clipped, his tone still managed to be infuriatingly polite, nearly matching Jaebum’s level of calm.

Jaebum snorted, a familiar frustration unfurling in his chest at the accusation.

“Now is when you want to know why? Months later? You didn’t seem too keen on listening when I first tried to explain.”

“Oh please,” Jinyoung said scornfully. “Don’t try to twist it - you’re the one who spurned my trust first.”

“What trust?” Jaebum shot back. “If there was trust, you would’ve listened the first time.”

“You -” Jinyoung exhaled noisily, clearly incensed, but not yet ready to relinquish his facade of civility. Jaebum, too, took a breath to calm himself. Without even realizing it, their voices had steadily increased in both volume and passion, yet neither of them was willing to lose control first.

Losing control was a sign of weakness. That, at least, was something they’d always agreed on.

“Fine. I don’t need to know why. Just give it back. I’ll be at Moonshine tomorrow night at 8PM. Be there, and bring it.”

A/N: Look, it didn't take me a year to update this time...lol

Happy holidays to everyone, I'll try to keep the momentum going on this ^^;;

Comments are always the best motivation <3