“So, how’re you catching up in your classes?” Luhan asked the next evening, raising his eyebrows at me from across the table. We were all at a deokkbokkie restaurant, the seven of us crowded around a small table and attacking the large bowl of spicy rice cake in the center. It had been forever since I had actually had a free afternoon-Chanyeol usually had me occupied either sending me to graveyards or hanging around like a bad penny that won’t just go away-so I had hesitantly invited my friends to go out to eat at a small but very good deokkbokkie place tucked away between two locally-owned stores. I had been worried that they would blow me off after the three months of silence and avoidance on my part, but they merely welcomed me back as if I had never pushed myself away in the first place.

            “I’m still a little behind, but I’m getting back.” I replied, biting into a rice cake and feeling the spice yanking my mouth into a delicious fire.

            “Are you healing well?” Kris asked from his place where he was sandwiched between Luhan and Tao-the youngest in the group who was currently gasping at the heat and fanning his tongue, tears starting to form in his eyes.

  I nodded in reply as I watched Lay-who was squeezed next to Tao- worriedly start shoving glasses of cola at him in attempt to help the tall black-haired boy out. After he had drained his cola, along with Lay’s and part of Kris’, Tao was soon back to attacking the deokkbokkie with earnest.

            “Tao-ouch, Luhan, that’s my ribs!-go get your own drink refilled while you fill up mine and Lay’s, since you drank it all.” Kris complained, nudging Tao away from the table with difficulty, obviously the small space in which he had somehow managed to wedge his tall, strong frame in was beginning to give him claustrophobia.

 Xiumin’s phone began to ring as Tao stalked away to refill the drinks, and he picked it up quickly, speaking quietly for a few moments until he hung up, pushing himself away from the table.

            “All right, I gotta head out. Thanks for the meal, Baekhyun, Chen-if you want a ride home, you better get your up now.” He threatened, and Chen hurriedly stuffed in a mouthful of deokbokkie before following the elder, waving goodbye as they walked out.

~~~~~~

Later that evening as I walked home, I felt the creeping sense that someone was watching me, and I stopped, looking around. It was already dark out, but the streetlights lit the way, so I could see pretty well. I couldn’t see anybody that seemed to be following me, so I just continued walking, my breath steaming the chilly air as I smiled. I’d missed being able to hang out with my friends, and the weight of realization began to sink over me when I realized that tomorrow was already the day when Chanyeol would be back, and I would no longer be free.

 The feeling of being watched didn’t go away even when I went in my house, and it lasted all night. Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep.

~~~~~~

          “You look tired, Baekhyun.” Xuimin remarked as I yawned for what seemed like the fourteenth time in the first half of history class, and I nodded wearily. I had spent the whole evening checking if I had locked all of the doors and windows and hiding underneath my covers with a kitchen knife.

          “I slept like a baby. Deokbokkie is fantastic, Baek, you should treat us more often.” Chen swept in from the desk beside mine, grinning when Tao frowned.

          “I burned my mouth. My tongue still feels numb…” He muttered, and Chen grinned wider.

          “What I meant to say was that I slept like Tao, since he fits into the baby category-“

          “You’re going to sleep like you’re dead when I’m through with you, you troll.” The black haired ‘baby’ threatened, pointing his pencil at him while Chen suppressed a laugh.

          “Why didn’t you sleep well?” Lay murmured, and I glanced over at him. Lay always looked like he didn’t sleep well, and he spaced out often, so it seemed kind of ironic that he was asking me that. Just as I opened my mouth to reply, the teacher called my name.

          “Do you and your friends have something to add to the discussion, Mr. Baekhyun?” He asked, and I bit back a sarcastic reply.

          “No, sir. “ I said, shaking my head, and the teacher turned back to the board to finish explaining what he had been talking about in the first place. Chen sniggered, imitating the teacher behind his back, and I bit back a laugh, but my joy was short lived.

 The niggling feeling of being watched was back, and I shivered despite the warm classroom as I glanced around.

 I nearly shrieked in surprise when I saw no other than Chanyeol Park standing outside the classroom door, glaring at me through the glass pane. He looked pissed, and as I watched in horror, he raised his pointer finger and made a beckoning motion.

Come here. It said. Now.

 I ignored him, turning my gaze away from the door and back to the front of the room, pressing my shaking hands against my knees as I tried to avoid looking anywhere but at the angry demon. If I can’t see him, he can’t see me. I repeated in my mind, and, summoning up my courage, cast a small glance at the door again.

He was gone.

 I breathed a small sigh of relief, relaxing out of the tense posture I had unconsciously taken.

          “Baek, you all right?” Lay whispered, and I glanced at him, nodding once. I felt Kris’ curious stare, but I just gave a small smile, turning back to the front. Chanyeol had left, I had just imagined it, and everything was fine.

 Until the door flew open with so much force that it crashed against the wall, revealing a livid Chanyeol who stalked into the classroom as the door slammed shut behind him, the noise making everybody in the room jump and several people scream in surprise.

          “What the-“ The teacher yelled, striding towards the demon, and for a giddy moment, I hoped that Chanyeol would be thrown out of the school, but the human just marched right past him to look out the door. I looked around in confusion at my classmates, but no-one seemed to be staring at the demon, and I realized with a sinking feeling that Chanyeol had probably only made himself visible to me.

 Said invisible person was currently storming towards me, murder showing in his eyes, and I dropped my gaze, yanking up my textbook in attempt to hide behind the heavy pages as my heart began to race. I flinched when I felt him stand over me. He’s not real, he’s not real, he’s not real… I whispered to myself.

          “You have two options. You can either walk out of here on your own accord within the next three seconds, or I will drag you out with your broken legs.” He hissed, and I swallowed painfully. Not real, not real, not real. 

“One.” He began to count. Still not real, he’s not really here…

“Two.”  Chanyeol’s voice was quiet with rage, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Go away, go away, he’s not here-

“Two and a half.” I shot to my feet, hurrying towards the teacher, whispered an excuse about how I felt sick, and dashed out of the classroom, Chanyeol following in his silent fury. 

~~~~~

          “What in the hell is wrong with you?!” I shouted at him once we were in the safety of the bathroom. “I am in school!!”

 “Excellent observation, Byun. And here I thought I had wandered into McDonalds to try and find the Lucky Charms Leprechaun. Thank you so much for clarifying that I went to the right place.” Chanyeol’s sarcasm was so thick that Bruce Lee couldn’t even punch through it, and it just pissed me off even more.

          “What do you want?! Decided that ruining my home life isn’t enough for you, so you have to come to my school too?! Can’t I get even a little peace?!” I accused, earning another death glare that made me flinch.

          “Quit being a baby, no one is going to notice you’re missing-“

          “My friends will!!” Chanyeol stared at me for a moment.

          “You mean that girly-looking deer and the panda boy?” He asked, throwing me off for a bit while I tried to figure out who he meant.

          “For your information, jackass, their names are Luhan and Tao, and yes, they are some of my friends!” I spat back, glaring up at him. Chanyeol’s wrath was strong enough to make the lights start to flicker and dim, but I had had it.

          “Fine, your friends, whatever-“

          “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?” 

          “Shut up and stop yelling, and I might actually reach through that rock hard head of yours.” He growled.

          “I have to yell. Those Yoda ears you have attached to your head are useless.” I shot back, fighting the urge to run away, screaming like a girl when dangerous fire flickered in his dark eyes. Chanyeol squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an aggravated breath.

          “You are way too short to be this full of .” He muttered. “Whatever. Get your stuff; come up with some excuse to tell the office, because we’re leaving. Now.”

 I stared up at him for at least a good thirty seconds, and let out an incredulous snort.

          “Do you have your ears screwed on too tight? The hell I’m going somewhere with you.” I gasped out, and he glared again, the room darkening when a light finally gave out from the tension, leaving the other two flickering weakly. I winced, digging my nails in my palms to stop myself from running.

          “God, I wish I could just kill you now…Baekhyun, I’m being serious-“

          “There’s a first.” I interrupted, but he just ignored me and kept going.

          “-move your now. There’s isn’t much time, so get going.”  

 Don’t do it, don’t do it, just go with him, if you value your life, don’t say it-

 I pushed away the pounding alarm, steeled my nerves, and glared up at him.

          “Or what?”

 I instantly regretted it. The remaining lights exploded, plunging the room into darkness, and I raised my hands to cover my head from raining glass, blinking rapidly at a strange new orangey light that exploded amongst the dark.

 Chanyeol was on fire.

Well, sort of.

 The flames danced over his black pants and white shirt without singing them, and two towering tongues of light rose out from behind him like gigantic wings.

 The look on his face could have reduced a mass murder to a shivering mess on the floor.

 “Rethink what you just said, Byun Baekhyun.” He hissed, raising a hand out toward me like an un-holy angel, and I choked.

 I think that was the point I passed out, because everything went black.

~~~~~

I awoke to voices.

          “Chanyeol, I think you killed him…” an unfamiliar voice murmured, quiet, low pitched, and directly above me. From somewhere further away, I caught Chanyeol’s snort.

          “Can’t help it he’s got the heart of a hundred year old grandma. I usually kill whatever pains me-and believe me, that is a pain- so you can't blame me.” I felt a soft, gentle hand press against the inside of my wrist for a pulse.

          “He’s not dead, but I think he’s going into shock…His pulse is really weak and fast. What do we do, Suho?” The owner of the hand spoke, this one softer and flowing, but medium pitched.

          “Mm…try-oh, hold on, I think he’s waking up.”

Crap. I’d been found out.

Reluctantly, I slowly blinked open my eyes to see three worried faces bent over me, but my vision swam before I could get a better look, and I struggled to focus. I noticed that they all had the same style of eyes that Chanyeol did, ringed in black and shadowed, but there was only a small amount of dusty rose color, and more black shadow.

 As I stared up at them in confusion, something started to click together inside my brain, and I blinked.  

The first-I had been kidnapped from my school.

The second-There was at least four demons in the room.

The third-I really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annyeonghaseyo! JULIANNA FROM ASIANFANFICS-IMNIDA. *BOWS AGGRESSIVELY*

Ah! After nearly a week of writer's block on everything, I finally finished this chapter! Thank you for being so patient... ^-^

Omo, Chanyeol is crazy, right? I hope that he calms down... Baekhyun shouldn't make fun of his ears! ^-^ And now we start to see the introduction of the rest of the soul-collecters!

Enjoy! ^-^