"That's interesting," Wonshik said as he his chin. "So your cousin is to be wed to the woman you have fallen for, and you wish to make her yours."

Hakyeon nodded. "That's the short version, yes." 

"And my garden's pomegranate is essential for the spell that you wish to make in order to make her fall for you, is that correct?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Wonshik watched Hakyeon for a few moments of back-breaking silence. 

Hongbin felt uneasy about the way Hades looked at Hakyeon. It was like he was considering the best ways to torture Hakyeon, or as the elder put it, "put him to good use." He had a feeling that the plans the God of the Underworld had in mind weren't nice.

Or perhaps that was just all the intimidating impressions everyone had about Hades, including him. Whenever he'd met the Lord of the Underworld, he'd given off a dark and dangerous aura, and Prometheus had tried to keep his distance.

Hakyeon spoke up in order to break the silence. "If you help us this time, I promise to give myself to you. You may use me however you like."

Wonshik raised an eyebrow. "Now that just sounds wrong," he pointed out. "But...a son of Zelos, huh?" He thoughtfully pursed his lips. "I've generally never thought the world of demigods. Usually I just cast them into Tartarus, but this time..." He looked up at Hakyeon. "You can control the emotional spectrum?" he asked, more as a statement rather than a question.

Hakyeon silently moved his head. Wonshik once again seemed to relapse into thought. "This is an offer I've never had before," he muttered. "Intriguing." 

He pushed back his chair and got up, giving everyone a scare. "I'm going to need a bit more time to think over this. Make yourselves comfortable." He gestured around him. "I think I can tolerate your company a bit longer before I grow weary of you."

Sanghyuk felt chills going down his back. So the only reason they were still alive was because Hades was lonely...

Wonshik waved his arm and the small door behind them shimmered before a much larger door appeared. Cerberus ducked his head and trotted inside, standing and wagging his tail. He then walked over to the table before flopping down on the ground, letting his three tongues roll out. 

Sanghyuk threw him the piece of meat left on his plate, and he happily gobbled it up, resting his head back on his paws with a big sigh. 

The youngest didn't mind. He didn't have much of an appetite.

Hakyeon looked around the room. Whatever Wonshik had done to change the size of the door and allow Cerberus through, it had also changed the look of the dining room.

What was before a medieval like massive room now looked like a part of a warm house. To his right, Hakyeon could see a makeshift living room with a switched off television. Beside it were stairs to what he felt were bedrooms. Shelves were built into the walls holding photos and mementos of all kinds.

Hakyeon pursued his lips. Seemed like the Lord of the Underworld liked pretending that he was a mortal once in a while.

He got up from the table, walking over to a mantelpiece that held a mirror of all things. Looking into the mirror, however, he found himself staring at a young woman, with long flowy hair, a beautiful, otherworldly beauty and a wide laugh. She was currently laughing with another much older yet just as beautiful woman, who he assumed to be her mother.

"That's Persephone, alright," Wonshik's voice beside him said.

He turned to his side to see Wonshik standing there, looking at the mirror with a fond and longing look in his eyes. "Your wife?" Hakyeon asked.

Wonshik nodded. "She gave me this mirror centuries ago, so that I wouldn't feel as lonely without her as I usually did." He took a deep breath. "Not that it helps, but at least I can keep an eye on her, and it feels as if I'm there with her."

Hakyeon smiled gently. "You really love her, don't you?" he stated. "That was not what I expected from you."

Wonshik looked at him. "Has Zeus been spreading lies about me?" he asked. 

Hakyeon stayed silent, but then Wonshik cracked a smile before turning back to the mirror. "Contrary to what you might have heard, I didn't kidnap Persephone. She came to me, and asked me to take her away from Olympus."

"And you did?" Hakyeon asked.

Wonshik nodded. "I was head over heels in love, so of course I heeded her wish." He exhaled. "I brought her here, and somehow she brought life to this dull and dreary place. When she asked for something to eat, I gave her the first thing that came to my hand." He cast his eyes down. "I think she knew she wouldn't be able to leave, she wasn't dumb, yet I believe she wanted to stay here."

"So why isn't she here?" Hakyeon inquired.

"Demeter," Wonshik simply said. "Her mother, came here and put up a fight. Even when I tried to explain the rules of the Underworld to her, and Persephone confronted her, she was still adamant. Not to mention, she began to neglect her duties, hence life was dying on Earth. So we bargained with her to have Persephone stay with her for half the year and the other half with me."

"Seasons," Hakyeon realized. Wonshik solemnly nodded.

"I won't say that I don't understand how you feel. I was-still am-in love too, so I can't blame you." He placed his hand on Hakyeon's shoulder. "But even then, I wonder whether you are entirely aware of what this spell is."

Hakyeon looked at him. "It's...just a mimicry spell, right?"

Wonshik shrugged lightly. "Yeah, but do you know what a mimicry spell is?" he asked. 

Hakyeon looked at him with a blank expression. It then dawned on him that he actually had no idea what a mimicry spell was, neither did he know the entirety of the ingredients that would make this work. 

He didn't really know anything at all.

Wonshik sighed. "The type of mimicry spell that you're attempting...is a form of blood magic."

Blood magic?

Holy , he'd been trying to do a blood magic spell all along?

He'd never tried it himself, but he'd heard the stories from his mother, stories about how mages used dark magic to cause harm and suffering to all, and their preferred form of magic utilized their blood. He'd heard about how they could control someone by luring a relative, however distant, and by following the blood relation.

Was that what they were going to do? Use his blood because he was Taekwoon's cousin?

The small shred of sanity still left in him forced him to storm to Jaehwan and pull him to the side. "You never told me that this was a blood magic spell!" he hissed.

"Because I knew how you'd react!" Jaehwan protested.

"So you hide it from me?" Hakyeon's anger seemed to grow by the second.

"Hey, you wanted to make this girl yours, and this is the only way," Jaehwan said, pushing Hakyen's hand off his shoulder. "To be fair, your friends were very well aware, and yet they still convinced you to go for it."

Hakyeon turned his head to look at Hongbin and Sanghyuk, who had unreadable looks on their faces. 

"Hakyeon," Jaehwan said, bringing Hakyeon's attention back to him. "The girl you love is getting married to your cousin in a very short period of time. Do you want to give up now and let him have her all to himself?"

Hakyeon stayed silent, looking at the ground.

"All the things you wanted to do with her, he'll get to do it. He'll get to laugh with her, be with her, touch her, and there'll be nothing you can do about it."

The small piece of himself that still thought rationally grew even smaller as he balled his fists.

"Imagine it, she'll laugh and smile, but not at you, at him. He'll get her all to himself. Do you want her to show her beautiful smile only to him?"

"No," left Hakyeon's mouth in a low whisper.

"So a few drops of your blood...?"

"Won't really matter," Hakyeon finished.

Wonshik watched all of this carefully, an eyebrow rising at the interaction. He then chuckled.

"If you're fully set on it, I won't mind giving you the fruit," he announced, walking over to Hakyeon.

"Are you sure?" Hakyeon asked.

Wonshik slowly took Hakyeon to the other side of the room, Cerberus following them. He took them into a slightly darker part of the room, out of earshot of the other three.

"I will give you the fruit," he told Hakyeon. "But on one condition."

"What's that condition?" Hakyeon asked.

"Sign a contract with me," Wonshik said. "I will give you the pomegranate, in exchange for your skills one time I need them the most."

"Just once?" Hakyeon asked.

Wonshik nodded. "Just once. But I'll need to trust that you won't break this contract, and neither will you tell your friends about this deal."

He held out his hand, small light tendrils flying around it. "Do we have a deal?"

Hakyeon considered the hand for a moment before he nodded. "We have a deal."

He took Wonshik's hand and the clasped hands glowed, for only a moment. It then died down before he could comprehend.

But it was now official.

The deal was done.