“All I need is one vital ingredient.”

She picked up her athame from the table and looked at Cheondung.

“Why are you looking at me like that? What do you need?”

“Your blood.”

“W-why?”

“To break the barrier. Blood is the strongest bond and since you are related to your brother-”

“Half-brother.”

“You guys still share the same blood. Now, give me your hand.”

He hesitantly stretched out his arm towards her. She held onto his wrist, turned his hand up and gently sliced his palm with the knife. With a hiss out of his mouth, she placed his hand over the vessel while the droplets of blood rained down over the rest of the ingredients.

From her neck, she took a small white crystal and dipped it inside the bowl while speaking out an incantation, enchanting the piece of quartz.

Once she was done, she moved to the side and hovered the necklace above a map of the city, scrying for Sora’s location.

“There is a big chance that he took her to the underworld and there is a small chance that they might go up.”

Cheondung pointed towards the bowl with a simple head nod, confused about the witches’ doing. “Then why are you even doing this?”

“I’ve enchanted the crystal with your blood. It is bound to reveal your brother’s location.”

“Whatever… I’m out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Yongguk quickly grabbed onto Cheondung’s arm and pulled him back to his previous position. He was stern with his behavior, a side he only kept during office hours. “You are the one that caused this to happen in the first place, now you’re the one that is going to end it. After that, I kill you.”

The glare from the hunter to the demon was dark enough to have sent shivers down Cheondung’s spine and through the rest of his body.

She interrupted them. “I can feel the spell wearing off. He’s growing weak-” Until she was interrupted by what she was sensing.

Panic struck Yongguk. He let go of the demon and walked closer towards Armina, pressing her to reveal what she saw. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Fire… A hellhound was after her.”

A huff out of the demon’s mouth, he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I guess she is going to die after all.” And turned to face the cop. “My condolences~”

Yongguk grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and threw another punch across the other man’s face. Just as he was about to hit again, Armina stopped him. “We don’t have time for this. Vanquish the prince first and then you can do whatever you want with him. And you.” She tilted her gaze towards Cheondung. “She rejected you. But that’s nothing compared to what is going to happen if you don’t save her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your brother knows you are the one that killed Seungho. He is with Sora right now pretending to be him. Do I need to go on or do you get the picture?”

D a y  N i n e t y - N i n e ^(#99)

“P-please. Please, be real and come b-back.”

“I’m here. I’m right here, next to you.”

She hastily nodded her head as tears blurred her vision. She turned her body to the side and stretched out her free arm, softly caressing Seungho’s cheek.

She muffled the cries in the back of .

He leaned in closer until he pecked her lips.

Once again, she felt the coldness.

She feared that he was just another hallucination; that whatever was happening right now is just a nightmare and that she’ll wake up alone at any moment.

But how could this be a nightmare when he was right next to her?

Sleeping or not, he was there.

She would sleep forever if that meant they could be together again.

He took her by surprise as he rolled around until she was lying on her back with his body hovering above her. His right hand pushed some strands of her hair behind her ear while he lovingly gazed at her.

She could hear the pounding of her heart through her ears while she stared back at him; too lost into his eyes, she couldn’t notice the missing ink on his wrist.

No crown traced his skin.

But once his right arm came to her view, she did a double look until it hit her.

Her heart stopped beating.

He noticed the shock in her eyes; he looked back at her with a frown on his face, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Y-your tattoo… Where is it?”

“What tattoo?”

“H-huh?” She blinked at him. The gears in her brain were working non-stop as they tried to gather the pieces of the puzzle.

Without giving him an answer, she cupped his cheeks and pulled him towards her until she kissed him deeply. She held onto him tightly with her arms wrapping themselves around his neck as she felt his hands trail down to her hips, gripping her strongly. While she used passion, he had something else up his sleeves and she could feel it.

Something was definitely wrong.

She pushed him away with strength and got back up on her feet despite the pain that traveled throughout her body. “You’re not Seungho…”

“Of course I am! Can’t you recognize me?”

“I know Seungho and you are not him!” She kept a good distance between them. Uncertainty and fear became the weight on her shoulders.

“It’s me. You have to believe me!” He tried to sound convincing, but he knew that he had to do better than that to prove to her he is who she wants him to be.

“Y-you’re different… You’re n-not him.” Her voice was shaking. Her body was trembling.

“Baby, I promise you it’s me.”

“Then why are you so cold?”

“Because I am… Babe, I’m dead.”

Even though it was a fact she knew, her heart was still aching; it squeezed firmly, creating an unbearable pain in her chest. “B-but you said- you said you would come bac-back.”

“Come with me. You want us to be together again, so be it. Join me.” He had stretched out his arm, inviting her over to him. She glanced from his eyes to his hand and back at him, hesitating.

She took small and careful steps, still unsure about what was happening right now.

“Trust me. Come with me and we’ll be together again, just like you wanted.”

She was getting closer and closer, and slowly spread out her arm. Their fingertips eventually touched the more the long distance disappeared; he finally held onto her hand and pulled her against him.

Chest to chest and face to face, he caught her lips within the sweetest kiss. It took her breath away as she sunk into the touch, trying to ignore at best the coldness that still persisted.

Slowly, their surrounding was vanishing, bringing Sora back into the real world.

He was still holding onto her when she broke the kiss, not realizing the shift in dimensions.

She was slowly backing away from him while wiping her wet lips dry with the back of her hand.

“Do you believe me now?”

She didn’t have the time to answer as both of them were abruptly disturbed by a new voice.

Looking up, Cheondung was standing just a few feet away, angry and completely frustrated.

“No she doesn’t. Who do you think you are fooling pretending to be Seungho?” She didn’t even have the time to catch onto Cheondung’s words when he gently pulled her against him until she stood behind him. She pushed him out and backed away as confusion took the best of her. “What is going on?”

He turned around to face her while he stepped towards her, trying to calm her down.

“It’s not Seungho.”

“H-how would you know?”

“Because I do, and believe me when I say this. Please, trust me. It’s Joon and he is tricking you. He’s been playing mind games with you for the past four days!”

She shook her head and kept walking backwards. Tears were in the corner of her eyes as sorrow controlled her emotions.

“You’re going to believe a stranger over your own boyfriend?”

She quietly gasped as she quickly turned around to see Joon standing just a few inches away from her, still disguised as Seungho.

“H-he’s not a stranger.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m not.” Cheondung stood firm as his hands turned to fists, faintly shaking by the sides of his body. “Stay the away from her.”

“Or what, hmm? What are you going to do about it? You don’t even have your powers back yet. You can’t hurt me, brother.” He smoothly placed his arms around Sora’s shoulders while looking at Cheondung with a smug look in his eyes.

She was lost, not even realizing the strange exchange between both men. Cheondung snapped her out of her thoughts as they locked eyes, seeing him practically pleading her. “Sora, please… You have to believe me. He’s not Seungho. It’s not him!”

While he kept on trying to convince her, he could see his brother mocking him. She could feel soft and caring touches from her supposed soulmate; a peck on the side of her head, a caress across her neck, a sided hug. Anything to make Cheondung revolt and act rashly. He saw her slowly holding onto him as she gripped onto his shirt, turning her body towards Joon.

“Sora, do you trust me? I’m telling you the truth. This is not Seungho. I know you want it to be, and I know you are doubting it yourself, but please, I am begging you to believe me.”

A small sigh out of Joon’s mouth, Cheondung could see a smirk appearing across the man’s lips while he leaned his mouth a little bit closer towards Sora’s ears. Though speaking to her, Cheondung could hear the words coming out.

“Well he would know since he is the one that killed me.”