Baekhyun's P.O.V

“Baekhyun-ah, I have some really nice afternoon tea for you if you feel like drinking something hot yet sweet.”
“Mhm... Just place it somewhere...”

Kyungsoo sighs silently as he steps into the room and places the tray on the nightstand. He's busy with reading his new book he picked out earlier this morning and ignores Kyungsoo at the moment. It's not like he's angry nor upset with Kyungsoo, it's just that he has been in a bad mood the whole day. He doesn't want to end up lashing out his annoyance onto Kyungsoo who hasn't done anything wrong. So, he rather read his book in silence and in peace than forcing himself to hang out with Kyungsoo or Lay or anyone else.

“Is the book good? Are you enjoying it?”
“Mm... It's good...”
“Uhm... Baekhyun-ah... There is something I need to tell you.”

He looks up from his book when he hears Kyungsoo's rather unsure voice echo in the room. It looks like Kyungsoo is slightly nervous about something, but if it would have been serious, he wouldn't look as calm as he does. He sits up on his bed and puts the book to the side to show Kyungsoo that he's listening and waiting for him to open his mouth.

“What is it Kyungsoo? Has something happened?”
“It's... It's about tonight. You were supposed to finish the rituals tonight, remember?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“Well... You need to start getting ready now since sir Chanyeol wanted to talk with you before the dinner. Apparently, he's making a little bigger thing out of this-”
“Oh really? Why must I dress up and-?”
“Your friends Luhan and Sehun are coming over. That's why.”

Luhan and Sehun... are coming over?! He nearly gasps while Kyungsoo gives him a slight nod with a funny smile on his lips. Wait, is he serious?! Did Chanyeol seriously invite Luhan and Sehun?! Why is he inviting them?! He thought this was supposed to be a secret dinner to finish the rituals!

“Apparently this is supposed to be a last dinner in the mansion thing as well as you two finishing your rituals. Both Sehun and Luhan don't know about you and Chanyeol having this... Uhm... Argue...? Either way, they don't know that things have become a little complicated. So, I was told to get you ready and bring you to Chanyeol's office before Luhan and Sehun will show up.”
“Great... Just great... Why the hell did he...?”

A tired sigh leaves his mouth as he gets up of the bed and heads straight out of the room. He’s not going to get ready and then go see Chanyeol just like he pleases. He demands an explanation to his sudden decision to bring Luhan and Sehun over. Kyungsoo hurries to follow him, but he looks rather confused when he sees him not walking towards the bathroom to take a shower or a bath.

“Uhm, Baekhyun-ah, that is not the way to the bathroom.”
“I know that... I'm not going to the damn bathroom-”
“Good afternoon Baekhyun-ah. I thought you would storm to Chanyeol's office when Kyungsoo told you the news, so here I am to stop you.”
“C-Chen?”

He stares confused at Chen who is literally waiting outside Chanyeol's office and is blocking the way. Is he really that predictable...? Kyungsoo sighs out in relief as Chen gives him a calming smile before he looks over at him.

“Baekhyun-ah, I... I have something I want to talk about. Actually, both me and Xiumin want to tell you something. Please come with me, just for two minutes. I promise to not stop you if you want to talk with Chanyeol if you come with me and at least try to listen to what we have to say. Kyungsoo, I will be taking over Baekhyun for a while. You can help Lay in the kitchen while Yuri sets the table.”
“W-Wait, this is not-”
“Baekhyun-ah, please go with Chen and listen to him. At least give him an honest chance to explain what is going on. Please.”

Kyungsoo gives him a rather pleading look almost like he knows what is going on. He quickly grabs Kyungsoo's arm which startles the other werewolf, but he doesn't try to snatch his arm out of his grip. He quickly pulls Kyungsoo to the side while Chen leans back against the office door and patiently waits for them to finish their conversation.

“Yah... What the hell is going on here? You know something, don't you?”
“Y-Yes... I do... But Chen will be explaining everything to you, I promise. Listen to me, if you want things to go back to normal, then please at least hear them out. What they're going to tell you is important and you will understand everything better.”
“I swear, if you're betraying me, I will never talk to you again. NEVER.”

Kyungsoo only nods, but he looks slightly hurt. Of course, he feels a little bad for suddenly putting Kyungsoo on his betrayal list even though he hasn't done anything wrong yet. But how is he supposed to trust Kyungsoo if he's always siding with the others...?

“He's all yours Chen. Please explain everything carefully.”

Chen nods and finally leaves his position from the door. He walks over to him and gives him a soft smile like everything is going to be alright. He usually loves to see Chen's calming smile, but not today. For some reason, he feels strangely irritated, and he has been in a bad mood the whole day.

“Whatever... Let's just go before I change my mind...”

Kyungsoo takes his leave while Chen shows him the way down the corridor and towards Xiumin's current office that is one of the old guestrooms. It doesn't take long before they enter the room and inside is everything already set and ready for him. Xiumin is sitting by a small table with four chairs placed around it. On the table is a set of candles that are lighted and a pot of tea that is prepared and ready to be served.

“What... is going on...?”
“Good afternoon Baekhyun-ah. I'm sorry to suddenly drag you into my office like this. It's just that you wouldn't have listened if we told you right away what is going on. Please have a seat and drink some tea as well, it will make you feel better.”
“W-What is going? Why are you talking like I'm sick?”
“Come here and sit down, I will tell you everything right away.”

Chen is fast to help him over to a chair and he sits down on it without any hesitation. The moment he entered the room, he begun to feel better. The whole day he has always felt grumpy or irritated or just depressed. But now he feels much better...

“Here, drink a bit of tea or at least sip on it while we tell you what is going on.”

Xiumin serves him some tea while Chen sits down on the chair on his right. Xiumin sits on his left and Chen on his right, but the chair in front of him is empty. They're not going to call Chanyeol into the room as well, right...?

“W-What is going on? Why are you suddenly so... weird...?”
“Baekhyun... What we're about to say might sound a little weird, but you have to believe us. We're not trying to fool you and I will do anything to help you.”
“A-Am I sick or something?”
“No, not really...”
“What Chen means is that something weird has been going on lately. Whenever you and Chanyeol are near each other, your moods change quickly. At first, I thought it was because of... Because of everything that has happened between you two.”
“But Xiumin quickly noticed that you two would act weirdly even when you weren't in the same room nor aware that the other one is even near you.”
“A-Are you trying to tell me something or are you just...?”
“Baekhyun... This is what we feared would happen when we left the rituals unfinished.”
“The magic has backfired on both you and Chanyeol. Your storm of emotions must have twisted the magic that is supposed to strengthen your bound, but instead it's ruining it.”
“A-Are you sure that is really the reason-?”
“Whenever these candles are lighted, you two seem to be much calmer and more like yourselves. The candles contain magic that will cease any spell or magic temporarily for a short period of time. We also tested to cleanse Chanyeol, and it have worked.”
“Why we brought you in here is to make you drink some tea, stay by the candles' spell and to cleanse you. Lay and Kyungsoo will preform an undo spell within an hour and make sure that the unfinished rituals won't affect you or Chanyeol for much longer.”
“I still... I still don't think that my mood is only affected by the magic.”
“That may be so, but it definitely has affected you strongly. Especially you.”
“And why should I trust you and believe what you are saying?”

The words slip out of his mouth before he could think through what to say. He watches both Chen and Xiumin look rather ashamed and slightly uncomfortable the moment he opened his mouth. They both look down on the floor or on the table while he sits on his chair with a teacup in his hand. Did he say something... wrong? No, he was straightforward with them like he wanted them to be with him in the first place. He doesn't know if he can trust them or not, but he also knows that they wouldn't lie or make up a stupid story like this one to hurt him. What they have said must be true, but it's still hard for him to believe them. Maybe it's not their story that is hard to believe, maybe it's actually him who is scared to believe them...?

“I... I have wanted to talk to you about this for a long time now and Chanyeol asked me to wait... But I can't. Baekhyun-ah, we have spent a lot of time together the past 8 months since you came here. I thought by now that you wouldn't doubt me and think that I would want to see you hurt or upset. How many times have I stepped up for you and protected you from Chanyeol's stupid ideas or from other people's judging? How many times have I encouraged you to do the right thing and been by your side when you needed it the most?”
“Chen... It's not like... Well...”
“I want you to hear me out before you try to push me out and ignore me. I know what we did was wrong, but I couldn't tell you the truth either.”
“It wasn't Chen's choice to keep it a secret... The truth about Chanyeol's brother and you being his victim... I forced Chen to stay silent and Chanyeol told us both to keep it a secret. Yes, it was wrong to deceive you and pretend we didn't know. BUT. We shortly noticed that you had absolutely no memory of the incident whatsoever. What had caused you to forget it was unknown and if we had said anything, something bad could have happened.”
“On top of that, we held it a secret not only to keep you safe and protect you. Yes, Chanyeol ordered us to not say anything because it was a part of his plan to make you suffer, but we decided to keep it a secret in hope that you would change Chanyeol and his reckless behavior. You might not have seen it, but Chanyeol could be rather reckless before you came into the picture. He always talked about his brother and the revenge he wanted, but that wasn't all. He had begun to argue with his family because of the peacemaking that had begun to appear. He wanted to make them accept him again and came up with the plan to marry you.”
“But the plan backfired, and his family kicked him out. He was swallowed in that anger and frustration that he wanted to fulfill his plan. But things change.”
“How did they change...? Y-You just admitted that his plan was successful!”
“No Baekhyun, it isn't successful because this was not how it was supposed to end.”
“I don't want to hear this anymore! I'm getting out of-”
“Wait! Listen to me, please Baekhyun! Come to your senses and listen to us! If Chanyeol wanted you to suffer and see you miserable so badly, he wouldn't have treated you the way he did! You two were really close for a while, remember? You two were like lovers...”

The grip around his cup has tighten, but luckily it hasn't begun to break yet. He came here because Kyungsoo asked him so nicely to go, but he didn't come here to listen to their excuses. But... What if...? What if this conversation... can solve everything...?

“Baekhyun-ah... Look me right in the eyes and tell me straight out: have we ever betrayed you for real? Have we ever tried to harm you or let you get hurt on purpose just for fun?”

Xiumin takes away his teacup from him and Chen is fast to grab his hands. He doesn't want to look Chen in the eyes, he's too scared to admit that he's right. But... Wouldn't it be wrong of him to deny it all and leave when they both have built up so much courage to talk to him? Wouldn't he have wanted them to listen to him if the situation was the opposite? Slowly he lifts his head and looks into Chen's serious yet deep eyes.

“No... You have never tried to hurt me...”
“Then tell me: why would we want to hurt you now?”
“I... I don't know... Well... I-I don't think... you would hurt me...”
“Exactly. I'm not asking you to treat us the way you did before. I'm not saying that what we did was okay because it was wrong of us to not warn you.”
“But like we said earlier, we were scared that something bad would happen if you remembered that incident. It was wrong of us to not try to figure out why you didn't remember the truth, but we only wanted your best.”
“And... We're sorry for betraying you when you needed us the most. We just... We just wanted you and Chanyeol to remain as you were: a happy married couple.”
“Well... That won't happen any more...”

Chen slowly lets go of his hands as Xiumin gently holds out the teacup to him. He stares at it for a couple of seconds before he hesitantly receives it and holds it in his hands. The tea is getting cold, but he hasn't even touched it yet. He looks back up on Chen and Xiumin who are smiling weakly – they both look a little relieved, but something is still bothering them. He looks back down on the tea before he forces himself to take a small sip from it. A sweet flavor spreads in his mouth and a hint of vanilla appears: it was a long time ago since he enjoyed drinking tea like this.

“Is the tea sweet or is it bitter?”

Xiumin looks seriously at him again, like the relieved moment he just had never existed. Chen looks as serious as his husband as he stares dumbly at them: have they both forgotten about their conversation just now?

“I-It's sweet...”
“Then it means that there is a strong magic affecting you.”
“W-Wait... Y-You two... A-Are not even affected of what we just talked about?”
“We were already prepared for you to tell us to go to hell and leave you alone.”
“Honestly, I was a little worried that you wouldn't even listen to me... I'm glad that you could at least do that. Baekhyun-ah, I'm sorry if I screamed at you earlier.”
“Like Chen said, I was also worried that you wouldn't listen. I'm glad you decided to stay and give us an honest chance to explain everything. Even though you might not believe us or want to be around us anymore, you at least allowed us to tell you our side of the story.”

He feels how he falls silent while staring down on his cup. Have they both really been that worried too not be able to be around him anymore...? But... Isn't he just... Chanyeol's toy in their eyes? He sips slightly on the tea while the room falls into silence. Both Chen and Xiumin are waiting patiently for him to say something more, but he doesn't know what to say. He never expected himself to be this calm while talking to the both of them about their “betrayal”. Of course, he does feel a little upset, but hearing them feeling sorry about lying to him actually makes him feel a little ashamed of himself.

“About now Lay and Kyungsoo should have begun the undo ritual.”
“Then that means we will soon be able to see if there really is bad magic affecting both Chanyeol and Baekhyun... How are you feeling Baekhyun-ah?”
“Ashamed...”

The word slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself as both Chen and Xiumin stare surprised at him. Well, he has always been an honest person, but not this honest...

“W-What? Sorry, I think I heard wrong-”
“I'm feeling ashamed of myself... I have treated both of you rather badly even though you never did anything to actually harm me...”
“But we both understood why you did act like that and-”
“It's still not a good excuse for my behavior...”

They both fall silent, and the room becomes as silent as them. His eyes are focusing on the teacup in his hand, and he listens to the silence around him. Honestly, he's not sure if it is the bad magic that has stopped affecting him or if it were Xiumin's and Chen's words that made him feel like this, but one thing is for sure: he has been acting like a fool. The room remains silent for a long time. He's busy with staring at his tea and sipping on it from time to time while Chen and Xiumin are patiently waiting for something to happen. Eventually, a knock on the door breaks the deafening silence and they all are fast to look up at it.

“Excuse me, I'm here to deliver some good news!”

Lay enters the room with a bright smile as Chen and Xiumin look hopeful at him. He also stares at Lay, but he's not sure what he's expecting to hear at the moment.

“The magic is undone! All Baekhyun-ah needs is a warm bath, and everything should be alright! So Baekhyun-ah, come this way please~”
“L-Lay is as energetic as usual...”
“Of course he is because now he knows that you're going to feel better.”

Chen gives him a warm smile as he gets up of his seat and Xiumin takes the teacup from him. They both smile at him as Lay holds the door open for them all.

“Please allow me to you to the bathroom Baekhyun-ah.”

He stares over at Chen who waits for him to reply to him. Honestly, it's not like he needs someone to him to the bathroom, but he gets a feeling that Chen would appreciate it if he allowed him to walk with him. Slowly he begins to nod towards Chen who smiles and quickly walks over to the door while he himself silently follows him. Lay smiles at him as they pass through the door and Chen takes the lead down the corridor.

“Well, you see, we were a little worried that it wouldn't be enough to just undo the magic. We prepared a special cleansing bath that will assure us that you're totally free from the bad magic effects. Afterward I think master Chanyeol wants to see you.”
“M-Mm...”

It doesn't take long before both he and Chen has entered the bathroom where his bath is already prepared. Chen smiles happily and takes out a towel and promises to fetch him some new fresh clothes. After that he leaves the room and he's finally left alone. He can only stand in the middle of the room and stare at the bathtub that is filled with water, some herbs and flower petals. So much has happened the past hour and his head actually feels rather heavy at the moment. If he could, he would like to take a nap...

Chanyeol's P.O.V

A tired sigh escapes his mouth as he puts down his phone for the tenth time today. The whole morning, he has gotten busy and important work calls, just like yesterday except that he actually had the concentration to handle those calls. He turns off his phone just for a while as he leans back in his chair. The computer in front of him is showing one of the documents he was currently working on before he was interrupted, but he gets a feeling that he won't be able to finish anything at the moment.

“What is taking them so long...?”

He mostly mumbles in annoyance as he closes his eyes. He doesn't feel anything different from yesterday after Xiumin told him about the bad magic that had been affecting him. Well, he has noticed that his temper as begun to calm down a little, but he's not sure if it is because he has managed to calm down from all his stress or if it is the magic that is gone.

“Excuse me, master Chanyeol, I have an important message for you.”

He snaps out of his thoughts when he hears the knocks on the door and how Xiumin calls him from outside the room. It takes two seconds before Xiumin has entered the room and is standing in front of him. He looks rather relieved at the moment, but there is still a seriousness left in his eyes.

“So? Did you break it, or do you need someone stronger to fix it?”
“No, we broke it. Luckily it wasn't too hard according to both Lay and Kyungsoo.”
“That's good I guess...”
“Uhm... sir Chanyeol, have you turned off your phone again?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well, it's just that Mr. Xi – I mean Luhan – called me just now. Apparently, they can't make it tonight, something rather urgent had come up and they wish to come by next weekend.”
“I see... You can tell him that we are free the whole weekend and that they can come by whenever they want. Oh, and before you leave... How is Baekhyun? Have you noticed anything different yet or is he still...?”
“I think he has changed back to his normal self, but... We still have to wait and see.”

He nods slowly to an answer before Xiumin excuses himself and leaves the room. He's left in his own thoughts again as he begins to play with a pen in his hand. He stares at the pen that is spinning on his fingers until he stops it. Now when the ritual is undone, they will have to do everything over from the beginning... On the other hand, they wouldn't have been able to do the ritual in their current state. Right now, he needs to focus on how to convince Baekhyun to trust him again and to protect him from the danger that might appear. That Jongin have been calling him a lot lately and seems awfully worried about them, yet nothing has happened out here. Not yet...

Baekhyun's P.O.V

“Baekhyun-ah, are you ready? It's been an hour since you entered the bathroom.”

He snaps his eyes open and quickly sits up in the slightly cold water. When did he fall asleep? He shakes his head slightly before he slowly gets out of the tub and wraps a towel around him. It doesn't take long before Chen gently knocks on the bathroom door and opens it carefully. He watches the vampire peek his head into the room as he smiles a little awkwardly at him.

“Hey, how are you doing? Is everything alright with you?”
“Ah, yeah... M-My clothes?”
“Is right here. Please change into them and go straight to master Chanyeol's office. He has something important to tell you, so don't delay any further or else he might become his usual grumpy self.”

He nods slightly to an answer before Chen closes the door and leaves him alone. He slowly gets dressed into his clothes and notices to his surprise that he's only putting on a pair of jeans and a simple shirt. Isn't he supposed to dress up a little more when they have guests coming over? He doesn't want to question his clothes at the moment, not when he knows that he will have to face Chanyeol. He's not sure how he will react to seeing that tall giant, after all a lot of emotions have been going around inside of him whenever he thinks about that vampire.

When he's dressed and have gathered some of his courage, he slowly steps out of the bathroom and notices that no one is waiting for him. Xiumin is probably busy with working, Kyungsoo and Lay are supposed to make the dinner and Chen is probably running a couple of errands around the mansion. He looks around the corridor before he slowly heads over to Chanyeol's office and listens to the silence: usually when Chanyeol is in a bad mood, you can hear him mumbling angrily to himself or talk to someone on the phone with a cold and harsh voice. But at the moment the giant is fully silent.

He steps up to the office door and stares at the doorknob: how many times have he come here because Chanyeol has wanted to talk to him? Why can't the giant just come to him whenever he wants something? Actually, he's not sure if he would want that either to be honest... A tired sigh leaves his mouth as he forces his hand up to the door and gently knocks on it. At the moment he feels rather calm and not as pissed as he used to feel whenever he saw Chanyeol, but it all might change when he's face to face to the vampire.

“You're late.”

The first thing he hears is Chanyeol's deep yet slightly pissed voice, but that doesn't stop him from not entering the room. He carefully opens the office door before he steps in and then closes it behind him. To his surprise his heart has begun to beat rather nervously, and he can feel a strange anxiousness spread in his body. What is wrong with him...?

“Come in and have a seat.”

He looks over at the taller man behind the office desk and studies his rather tired face. This might be the first time he sees Chanyeol this tired and exhausted: actually, he's not sure if he has ever seen him this exhausted before. He walks over to the desk and takes a seat on the chair in front of it. He then looks up at Chanyeol and studies the surprisingly soft brown eyes that used to be so cold and harsh.

“Finally...”

Chanyeol mostly mutters with an irritated tone, but his eyes remain the same. Though, he himself doesn't feel the slightest calm nor irritated at the moment. Honestly, he feels anxious and worried about what might happen after this conversation. Though, he's not sure why he should be so worried...

“So... I called you here to discuss about the evening's plans. We were supposed to finish the rituals and celebrate with Luhan and Sehun that we're moving out to a new home, but it all has changed. I just got the news that both Luhan and Sehun can't make it tonight and I honestly believe that we both aren't in a very good shape to finish those rituals at the moment. Therefor I decided to postpone the rituals for another month or two, until we are more ready – or as ready as we can get. Though... By doing so, we both are at risk of getting exposed. If people were to find out that we never finished the rituals, a lot of trouble will arise and the peace we currently have might break.”
“Are you saying that... everything we worked so hard for will be ruined if the truth comes out? A-Are you serious?”
“Of course I am serious. Do you really think I would joke about these kinds of things?”

Once again Chanyeol sounds rather pissed, but is eyes remains calm and stern. Though, he can sense another feeling within the giant. He tries to not think too much about Chanyeol's feelings at the moment and instead concentrates on the important task they have ahead of them. He hates to admit it, but he will have to act like a lovey-dovey couple around Chanyeol whenever they have guests or are in public. Even if it is Luhan and Sehun who are coming over, they can't take the risk that they will accidentally say something about them that shouldn't be said outside the mansion.

“Now when you know what is going on... I think it is about time we talk about other stuff.”
“I'm sorry... But I'm too tired to even think at the moment...”
“Yah... I know that you're still upset, but this can't-”
“I'm not trying to run away from this conversation. I need to gather my thoughts, this time without the magic disturbing me. My head is awfully heavy, and I feel exhausted: I think you of all people should understand what I mean. Let's talk when we're ready – or as ready as we can be like you said. I'm not in the mood to talk and even if you force me to listen, I get a feeling that I will just shut you out and ignore you. Don't worry, I promise to not let anyone know that the rituals are unfinished and if I have to, I will pretend that we're just fine.”
“Why pretend when we can actually make things alright-?”
“Do you honestly think that everything will be just fine after the conversation? If you do...”

He slowly stands up and looks straight into Chanyeol's eyes. He can tell that giant is ready for his answer, he's even ready to get up on his feet as well. But this has to be said...

“You are a fool to believe that everything can be solved with just simple words.”
“At least I'm trying to solve it. You are just running away-”
“I'm telling you that your way of solving this isn't going to work! Maybe if you had listened to me to begin with and stopped sitting on your high horse, then maybe this never would have happened! If you just had told me or let me know the truth right away, then everything could have been different!”
“But if I told you, you would never be around me! You would rather runaway than marry me! I didn't want to tell you because of the peacemaking!”
“It still wasn't right to keep it a secret! I-I'm not upset with you because I nearly was murdered by your brother!”
“Then what is your problem?! Are you suddenly scared of me now?!”
“I trusted you!”

Chanyeol falls silent the moment he nearly shouts on top of his lungs. His voice is trembling slightly, and he notices that his hands aren't as calm as he thought they were. This is exactly what he feared would happen...

“I trusted you... Y-You said you never would hurt me... I was never allowed to lie to you... I never lied to you... I gave you all my trust... But you broke it...”
“Baekhyun...”
“Don't touch me!”

He slaps away Chanyeol's hand that is trying to reach out to him before he quickly walks towards the door. This is exactly what he feared would happen... He's not ready for this. He hasn't gotten to gather his thoughts and his feelings are taking over him too quickly.

“Baekhyun! Maybe talking won't solve everything, but it's also necessary so we can understand each other!”
“Excuse me... I'm leaving...”

Before Chanyeol can stop him, he quickly rushes out of the room and slams the door behind him. He doesn't want to see anyone at the moment, and he doesn't care if Chanyeol is getting furious by now. All he needs is to clear his mind which is still a little messed up, but his feelings have begun to become clearer now. As he heads down the corridor in a hurry, he can feel something wet stream down his cheeks. He knew it... He knew that this would happen... He knew that he would be reminded of his aching heart the moment he tries to talk to Chanyeol again.

“Ah, Baekhyun-”

He quickly slams his bedroom's door close behind him and shuts out Chen's voice. It doesn't matter who it is, but he doesn't want to talk to anyone. He just wants to lie down in his bed and cry. That way, he knows that eventually his thoughts will become clearer. Eventually, he will know what to do – it's just not today...