“So they didn’t tell you,” Minho said, “That there’s a second part of the contract.”

Second part of the contract? Hyukjae’s frown deepened. He knew nothing about this, he didn’t have the slightest idea of what it’d mean. Donghae had never told him anything regarding the contract they made. He thought it was just a simple contract between a human and a devil, and that it wasn’t something he should pay attention to. There wasn’t a reason for Donghae to hide this fact from him, was there?

“Don’t you want to know?” Minho reached out, touching the blonde’s chin with the tip of his index finger. “What he’s been hiding from you all this while, don’t you want to find out about it?”

It was useless. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Hyukjae knew he was dying to know the truth hidden from his sight. He didn’t want to be left in the dark, he wanted to know everything. He thought he could wait for Donghae to tell him, but his patience was growing thinner as days passed by.

“In the deepest part of this palace, there’s an old imperial library,” Minho told him, “It might be a little hard, but you can search for historical books there. And you’ll find the answers to all of your questions.”

“And why should I believe you?”

“Because you know what I’m telling you is not a lie,” Minho said calmly before turning around, and went back into the palace.

When silence once again surrounded him, Hyukjae suddenly felt anxious, a part of him was itching to seek for the truth. But what would Donghae say? Should he just wait for the day when he’d finally find out everything, or should he take a short path and listen to what Minho had told him? It wasn’t easy to decide.

But after almost 30 minutes of thinking, he finally made up his mind. He needed to search for the truth. Taking in a deep breath, Hyukjae slowly made his way into the huge palace.

“Do you know where the old imperial library is?” he asked one of the guards standing in the hallway. He only got a confused look in return, and he gave up on asking them.

He walked further into the palace, sometimes glancing at the weird paintings on the walls. It seemed creepy, but he pretended not to see anything. This was a place for the devils after all. He should get used to things like this.

“Walking alone in this place is not a good idea, you know.”

Hyukjae stopped in his track, his lips curved into a thin smile as a familiar figure approached him from the opposite direction. “Kris.”

“It’s been a long time,” Kris smiled. “And what are you up to? Wandering around the palace without Lord Donghae?”

“He’s in a meeting.”

“I know. But this place is too wide, you’ll get lost for sure. I can accompany you, if you don’t mind.”

“Thank Goodness,” Hyukjae grabbed the latter’s arm right away and dragged him along. “Because those paintings really give me the creep.”

Kris chuckled. “So where are you heading to? The flower farm?”

“The old imperial library.”

Kris stopped right away, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the blonde’s confused face. “Why would you want to go there? That place is just filled with a bunch of old books, and it’s not where someone like you should be.”

“Why not?”

“Lord Donghae won’t be too pleased if he knows. You should just wait for him.”

“Kris,” Hyukjae frowned. “I know Donghae has been hiding something from me ever since the very start. I thought I could wait, but I need to know everything. I don’t want to be left out.”

Kris sighed. He knew things would turn out like this in the end. Donghae should’ve just told Hyukjae everything when they first met to avoid any kind of trouble in the future. But he couldn’t blame Donghae either. The fact that he kept everything to himself was clearly because he cared for Hyukjae.

“Will you please tell me?” Hyukjae looked at the latter pleadingly, but Kris just shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Lord Donghae will definitely tell you the truth, so please, wait for a little bit more.”

“Wait for what?”

Hyukjae nearly jumped in shock when Donghae appeared beside him out of nowhere, while grinning like an idiot. “Good grief, Donghae! You scared me!”

“Sorry,” Donghae said, chuckling. “What were you doing?”

“I was accompanying your graceful fiancé to take a walk around here,” Kris jokingly said. “Well, now that you’re here, please allow me to take my leave.”

“Come and have a drink with me sometimes,” Donghae told the latter, who then waved at him before walking away. But when he turned to look at Hyukjae, he was greeted by a sour look, unlike his usual warm smile. “What? Did I do something?”

I want to know what you’re hiding. Hyukjae couldn’t say those words out loud, no matter how much he wanted to. Donghae wouldn’t tell him, he was sure of it. “It’s nothing. What about the meeting?”

“I sneaked out.”

“You what?”

“We’re going back to your world,” Donghae said.

“Why?” Hyukjae asked, though he could somehow tell that this sudden decision might have something to do with Minho. And he hated the fact that he didn’t know a single thing about them.

Donghae didn’t answer him even after they had walked out of the palace, and he chose to keep silent too, deciding that it was the best thing for now. Donghae might need more time to tell him about the truth that he had kept from him. And when that time would come, he was willing to face anything that’d be waiting for him. He was prepared, because he had decided to believe in Donghae.

_______________________________

“So how’s your vacation?”

Hyukjae looked at Sungmin who was sitting on the couch, watching his favorite variety show. It seemed like Donghae had told the older that they went on a trip to Paris, which made him feel like kicking him in the for not telling him beforehand. But Sungmin might get suspicious, so he had to play along.

“It was good, and exciting.” Hyukjae simply answered. He was quite sure that Sungmin would laugh his off if he’d tell him that he just came back from a different world where the devils reside. Even a five year old kid wouldn’t believe his words.

“Did you sleep with your boyfriend?”

“I did not,” Hyukjae glared at the older, who only laughed at him in return. He couldn’t really understand Sungmin’s sense of humor sometimes, he was definitely bad at making jokes.

Just the thought of him lying in bed with Donghae, , it