Though the place was busy filled with souls, the mood of the area was joyful. Since it was his first time, Chanyeol noticed how the souls were chatting about their families and lives. It was never like this, and he suddenly thought that maybe it was because Yixing, the Spirit of Void, was not there to listen to them.

But Kyungsoo, who was covering the bar in Yixing’s absence, explained that the souls are allowed to visit their family or friends during the eve of All Hallow’s Day. Though their family members or friends forget those dreams after they wake up, the souls feel enlightened; therefore, it brings an abundant spread of delight inside them.

Though the kitchen was closed today, everyone was still in high spirits after drinking the mixes that Kyungsoo made. As the hours went on, the souls left the tavern to have fun outside and possibly visit their loved ones again. The place slowly turned quiet after the merry bunch that sang and told stories.

“It’s almost time,” Minseok suddenly called out.

Kyungsoo, who was behind the bar counter, suddenly appeared beside Chanyeol. He took the human’s wrist and pulled him close to the bar counter.

“What’s going on?” Chanyeol asked, wondering why Kyungsoo suddenly pulled him away.

“Just stay beside me. And make sure never to leave my side,” Kyungsoo answered, pulling Chanyeol’s hand to intertwine their fingers together.

Chanyeol wanted to ask again, but he noticed how the surroundings were starting to dim down. He saw the lights in the tavern dimming as if it’s on a light saving’s mode on a phone. He wondered why this was so.

Just outside, people looked up at the sky to witness the beauty of the lunar eclipse. As the moon lost its brightness, so did the inside of the tavern. When the darkness swallowed everything, Chanyeol felt his heart thump in fear. The feeling of the unknown shaking him since he couldn’t see anything.

This was the first time Chanyeol felt hopeless as if his consciousness was pulled into a dark abyss where escape was nowhere in sight. He felt something tighten around his hand, and he immediately fought back, pulling it away in fear of what would become of him.

“Chanyeol… it’s me,” Kyungsoo whispered, his voice filled with emotions that rinsed Chanyeol of his fear.

Kyungsoo’s voice felt like silk that along Chanyeol’s body to calm him. The fear that once gnawed at Chanyeol was eased with merely three words. No, by the mere voice of Kyungsoo.

Realizing that they were still in the tavern, Chanyeol let out a sigh as he looked around. This time, he saw glowing eyes of black and grey. The eyes of the souls that were left in there with them. He found a sense of security from seeing them, eyes that often gave him mini heart attacks before. He couldn’t believe that they would give him a sense of security this time.

As he looked around, his eyes passed an intense shade of colour. He immediately looked back, but there was nothing. He furrowed his brows as he pulled Kyungsoo’s hand closer to him.

“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked, worry evident in his voice.

Chanyeol rubbed his eyes, unsure if he saw things that weren’t there. “I thought I saw a—” he mumbled before a flash of red appeared to his side. “Red eyes!” he yelled out, and he yelped when he felt something graze him. He immediately pushed it with his hand and felt something on his hand before reaching for his eye as he fell.

Kyungsoo gasped when he felt a tight pull on his hand. Realizing that something happened to Chanyeol, the tavern started to shake. Kyungsoo’s anger leaked out of him, and he raised his hand to capture the soul that tried to harm Chanyeol.

The soul squirmed around, screeching like a banshee. But Kyungsoo didn’t let go, and as his eyes glowed, bottles from the bar counter fell, and the other souls were alarmed. He was enraged that Chanyeol was hurt because of this lost soul, and with that, he wanted it to cease its existence.

“Kyungsoo, don’t!” Minseok called out in a hurry, and the tavern stopped shaking.

Though Kyungsoo had a tight hold on the evil soul, it managed to escape when his attention was pulled away from it. Due to Chanyeol tightening his grip on the tavern owner, he looked away from the evil soul.

“It… got away,” Minseok gasped as the brightness of the moon peeked back into the world.

Kyungsoo immediately kneeled to see Chanyeol’s current state. He was rushed, unsure what was going to happen to their newest member. Memories flashed in Kyungsoo’s mind, different states of different men with Chanyeol’s face covered in blood or too pale to function. Kyungsoo could feel his insides trembling with the emotions that sparked inside him. He asked Chanyeol to come to work because he wanted to protect him, and he couldn’t help but blame himself.

“Stop.” Kyungsoo heard Minseok’s calm voice as a hand squeezed his shoulder. The tavern owner looked back to see his general manager looking at him with a benign smile despite his worried eyes. “Let me check him.”

Minseok held Chanyeol’s arm, a warm light emanating from his hand as he reached for Chanyeol. When the taller’s arms were away from his face, the two beings gasped at what they saw.

Apart from the blood that continued to soak Chanyeol’s clothing, his eyes had turned red etched with an odd symbol. Minseok reached for Chanyeol’s left cheek and carefully placed his hand there to try and heal what he could. As he did so, Chanyeol’s grunts started to lessen, and Minseok felt him relax under his hold. “We need to catch that evil soul before it hurts another human.”

“But how about his infection?” Kyungsoo asked, looking at Minseok.

“I’ll try to find a way to get rid of it. But we need the essence from that evil soul. I won’t be able to heal Chanyeol properly without it,” Minseok stated.

Kyungsoo was going to stand up, but he felt Chanyeol holding his hand tightly. He immediately looked down at the human who t