Chapter 11:

“What did I do? When I was out of control, or whatever..” Seungcheol sat against the concrete floor, his heart slowly coming back to a normal pace as he calmed down, with Woozi seated a safe distance away.

Jihoon sputtered slightly. Watching that same nervous expression return at his words didn’t exactly make Seungcheol feel good about this supposed ‘rampage.’

“It doesn’t matter… You’re fine now, aren’t you? If you want a reason to punch me again just think about if you were in my shoes, I couldn’t exactly let you die...”

That was kind of sweet, he supposed. Seungcheol smiled at Woozi, catching him with another surprised flush.

“If you die I can’t get back home, otherwise I would have killed you myself, is that better? Wipe off your dumb grin.” He crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. Seungcheol was glad, it kind of felt like things were back to normal again. Well, as “normal” as they could get, he supposed. In the least, he knew why Woozi's been acting strange.

“That doesn’t really answer my question though, I mean what did I really do? Did I try to kill you or something?” There it was again. That look, the flush of his cheeks, bowing his head in a shameful motion. Seungcheol couldn’t help but feel pangs of guilt, he must have done something ed up.

“Why does it matter? What’s done is done… It wasn’t that bad, anyways..” How was he supposed to tell him something like that? “Lets drop it, we have more important  to worry about.”

Yeah, definitely something bad. Seungcheol thought about the many possibilities, the infinite outcomes. He glanced over Woozi’s bruised face, the bandages around his arm, tired eyes. Could... he be the reason for all of that? It didn’t feel great to think about.

“How are you feeling?”

He shook his attention back, catching a bashful expression.

“Are you worried about me?”

“Shut the up, I mean, do you feel different? Do you feel the effects of the demon blood?... Are you thirsty?”

“Actually, I feel really great. I don’t really have an appetite, but otherwise I feel better than I’ve ever felt.” Seungcheol inspected his fist, free of injury. “Your blood is pretty amazing.”

Woozi faced a wall. “I.. I think the blood’s effect will last at least another day or so. When it wears off, though, we have to be prepared for what’s going to happen.”

“You think I’m going to go out of control again?”

He pestered the bandage on his wrist, frowning. “I don’t know, I don’t know if anything’s going to happen, but we should be prepared anyways.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Woozi rubbed his eyes tiredly, and suddenly Seungcheol couldn't help but feel like his current boundless energy didn't belong to him. “We should hit the hay, If I don’t go to school tomorrow my parents are going to have a conniption.”

“That was them on the phone, right?”

Seungcheol coughed nervously, glancing at a stray chunk of plastic. “Yeah, another problem...”

~

Kyungsoo awoke feeling... well, to put it into words, he was ing ecstatic. He arose bright and early, showered until he squeaked, put on his uniform, and headed to school without so much as dragging his feet along that resentful path. There was a skip in his step that no one would be able to interrupt today. Why is that? -The other students might have been wondering as they eyed the famously gloomy kyungsoo dance through the university gardens- The answer is simple, Kyungsoo would have replied, today is the day he gets his revenge on one Choi Seungcheol.

That boy may have trumped him in the past, humiliated him, even took away his chances of becoming leader, but it was all worth it to know that bastard would be spending the rest of his days as a slave in suffering

Well, maybe not forever, eventually Kyungsoo may scratch that itch and have some fun with the curse he’s placed on his mortal enemy. Maybe order him to scream through some torture, or send him off a cliff. As long as it would end in his death, and take away any respect the public had ever held for him as a magic user, he would be happy.

Kyungsoo walked into his morning class, which he shared with Seungcheol, looking around with expectation. When he spotted the boy at his usual spot in the lecture hall, he was hardly surprised.

It had all been according to plan. Seungcheol had only managed to miss one class, but with Jeonghan’s motherly tendencies, surely he wouldn’t leave for school without ordering Seungcheol to get ready and go with him. Although, Seungcheol looked far less upset than he had hoped to see, Perhaps the emotionless effects of the curse didn’t allow him to show even a tinge. Oh, how Kyungsoo wished to look deep into those brown puppy-dog eyes and search for an internal cry for help.

Now, though, he needed to take care of the matter at hand.

He approached Seungcheol, more confidently than he had ever been able to before. When the boy spotted him closing their distance, his eyes widened, shoving his attention back to the surface of his desk, which was already littered with papers and pens for no palpable reason.

Odd… He was sure that spell was meant to take away Seungcheol’s natural reaction, but the boy appeared to be just as awkward and annoying as he always was. Kyungsoo’s steps faltered with a realization. Could it be that… the spell didn’t work? No, he was sure; he had watched it take affect with his own two eyes. Then, had Seungcheol managed to break it? Impossible, even with his skill, this was a spell which required at least ten men other than the affected to break. The reversal spell was very clear.

Perhaps he was over thinking it, in the least he needed to figure out for sure whether Seungcheol was cursed or not. He stepped up to Seungcheol’s desk a bit more hesitantly.

“Choi Seungcheol?”

He looked up abruptly, eyes wide, opening his mouth like a gasping fish as he tried to find the words. “Y-yeah? What’s up, uh, Kyungsoo?”

Unfortunately for both of them, they had managed to gather the attention of the whole goddamn classroom. Each stupidly curious prick had their eyes and ears gaping in their direction. This was not the time to draw attention, but he had no choice. Now, what could he ask that these voyeurists would pay no mind to?

“Seungcheol, give me your black pen.”

Seungcheol batted long eyelashes in confusion. Now, if he were under the spell, in a short moment he would be moving to grab a pen. No question, no hesitation. Kyungsoo watched with a grim expression as Seungcheol reached for a pen, the classroom’s eyes followed the gesture in horror.

Kyungsoo nearly began to smile as Seungcheol offered the pen without a word, but just within his reach, Seungcheol stopped.

“But, why do you need mine? There’s a black one in your shirt pocket..”

Kyungsoo looked down at his pocket and gritted his teeth furiously. His fantasies, his glory, the return of his power, they all crashed around him hopelessly. “it’s out of ink.” He managed to let out without stabbing the pen into Seungcheol’s neck.

“Oh, okay. Here.” Kyungsoo took the pen and all but stomped to the back of the room, leaving Seungcheol dumbfounded. He was furious, his blood was boiling, but most importantly he had nearly blown his cover. The covenant was going to sacrifice him once they caught wind that his first attempt was an utter failure. Unfortunately he would have to give them an update himself tonight.

Still, a curiosity lingered behind his rage. He was certain; he had watched Seungcheol in his home succumb to the curse. Everything had been calculated: Jeonghan left every weekend, he ensured no friend had followed Seungcheol home, and he knew Seungcheol had no other housemates. For what other reason would he have stalked him this long?

So if it wasn’t that Seungcheol is a god who can break his own mind curse single handedly, who the hell was that in the house?

~

Jeonghan and Seungcheol walked home together today, despite the times separating their leave from school. After figuring out Coups had a stalker, and the scary incident with Kyungsoo today, he didn’t want to take any chances. Jeonghan would be the eyes on the back of his head from now on.

“He did what?” Jeonghan walked by his side, peaking behind himself every other moment.

“He asked for a pen. We have NEVER talked, not even once. Why would he ask me? And he was so angry when he did! Why ask if you’re going to stomp away without even saying thank you?” Seungcheol released a fake sob and grasped his dear body guard by the arm, shaking him in mock desperation.

“We don’t know him, nobody does, so who knows, maybe that was his idea of trying to make a friend.”

“Eh?”

“He could just have social anxiety. Maybe when he’s nervous he glares.” Jeonghan shrugged him off calmly.

Seungcheol’s eyebrows rose in concern “Or, maybe, he’s a lunatic, and he’s trying to get closer to me so he can kill me.” Seungcheol twisted around to face him. “And why are you defending him?

“You’re right, he’s a bit scary, but you’re the one who’s always throwing a conniption over people making assumptions about you. Don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical to judge him?”

He bit his tongue. Jeonghan had a point, a really good point. He really hated that Jeonghan could turn any situation into a life lesson. “I guess you’re right. I just don’t know, something about him gives me a bad feeling. I always catch him glaring at me in class. Like, only me.”

Jeonghan let out a laugh. “Sounds to me like you have an admirer.”

“An… are you kidding?” Seungcheol unlocked the door while Jeonghan scanned behind them. “If that’s his idea of flirting with me, he’s reading the wrong romance 101 book. God, I can’t even imagine him dating, I always got the feeling he was the kind of guy who would dedicate his heart solely to a waifu shrine or something.”

The both of them managed to crack a laugh at that, taking off their shoes and locking the door securely behind.

“What’s a Waifu?”

Seungcheol jumped, looking over at the little demon he hadn’t spotted when they walked in. Woozi was lounging on the couch, decked out in the clothes he had bought.

“AH, Woozi, you’re awake?” Seungcheol had managed to ‘forget’ to do the laundry for a few days, so Woozi was left with only the colourful clothes he had bought. The flowery white sweater and matching pink shorts on Woozi’s angry stature made nearly maxing out his parent’s emergency credit card all the more worth it.

“You are aware that it’s late afternoon, aren’t you? And you didn’t answer my question.” Woozi, although recovering and dressed to the nines, was still littered in faint cuts and bruising. Jeonghan decided it would be best to treat his wounds in the end, despite the demons protests.

Seungcheol ignored the sarcasm. “A waifu is, um, something you don’t need to know about.” He ruffled the demons pink locks with a smile, though Woozi slapped his hand away with a patronized expression.

“A solution to my problems is looking to be further and further away the longer I observe your intelligence, so I figured I should learn some modern language as long as I’m stuck in this ing place.” Jihoon patted his hair flat and let his eyes wander to the walls, away from the goofy smile on Seungcheol’s lips. “So yeah, I think I do need to know.”

He crossed his arms across his chest and Seungcheol couldn’t help but feel happy about Woozi’s poor language and bad attitude, as ironic as that was. At least this meant he was feeling better. “I’ll teach you all the teen lingo you want, but first we need to have a house meeting.” Seungcheol joined Woozi on the couch, sitting as close as he could without prompting the demons complaint. Jeonghan sat across from them in Seungcheol’s arm chair.

“So what’s the deal? Are you going to tell me what you two have been keeping secret since the other day?” Jeonghan brushed his hair back and stared down the troublesome two.

“Well, I have some bad news.”

“What a shocker” Woozi grumbled.

“Hush, this is serious. Today we push black magic, stalkers, and hell into second-rate issues. We have a much direr problem at hand.”

Jeonghan’s interest was effectively peaked. “And that would be?”

“My parents are coming to visit.”

Woozi nodded, already up to date with the news. Jeonghan blinked incredulously.

“What? Why?” A dire issue indeed.

He sighed “The school called them about me being absent. My mom said it’s because she’s worried about my health and my studies, or whatever, but I’m pretty sure they’re just looking for an excuse to make my life difficult.”

Jeonghan watched Woozi as he spoke “You do realize that if they find Woozi, that’s it, he’s finished” The demon shrunk under his gaze.

“Of course I realize. And when they come they’re most definitely going to use the guest bedroom. The only thing I can ensure is that the basement will be safe. I can lock the door and pretend I never had access down there in the first place. I have no clue how long they’re planning on staying, but it couldn’t be too long, so we should keep all our contraband down there.”

Woozi soon realized everyone in the room had eyes on him, and only moments later clued in to what Seungcheol was insinuation. “Oh no, no, you are not locking me in the basement. Not again, .”

“I agree with Woozi,” Jeonghan added, “How’s he going to eat? Where will he sleep? You can’t punish just him because you made a mistake.”

“That’s not what I meant! I mean, we can hide any inanimate black magic related stuff down there… But Woozi isn’t safe out in the open as well, so we need to think of something now.”

The three boys stopped to think for a moment. Woozi's memories of that cramped, cold wardrobe sent goosebumps up his arms.

“Your parents wouldn’t come into your room or mine, would they?” Jeonghan rested his chin on his fist in thought.

“No, I guess that’s one of the few of my privacies they’ve respected. We do both have locks on our doors too.” Although neither of them used the locks. It was just them boys in the house, after all.

“Then he can sleep with me in my room.” Jeonghan smiled. “I don’t mind, my bed is large anyways.” Jeonghan humorously watched Seungcheol’s expression twist at his words.

Looking down at a now pink-faced Woozi, Seungcheol’s mind wandered back to that fateful morning he held dear to his memories. This foul-mouthed kid holding him at the waist, sleeping as peacefully as a baby kitten. That was a side to Woozi Coups felt proud to know solely, and he wasn’t about to let Jeonghan get a glimpse.

“I don’t know about that… maybe he should stay in my room. We can work on the spell together that way.”

Woozi flushed further “Hell no, I-“

“If he’s in my room I can treat his wounds.”

“H-hey”

“I can treat his wounds too!”

“Will you guys ing listen to me!” The demon’s face was red as a tomato, and Jeonghan held in his snickers.

“Good Idea! Who’s room do you want to stay in, Woozi?” Jeonghan smiled sweetly.

Seungcheol shifted to face the demon with an expectant look on his face. Woozi, more embarrassed with the idea of choosing between the two of them, than facing the wrath of Seungcheol’s mother, felt his head spin as he weighed his options. On one hand, Seungcheol was a ert, and had proven as much time and time again. One the other hand, Woozi felt Jeonghan was not somebody he could sleep with comfortably, they didn’t exactly have the closest relationship. He'd be too nervous to sleep at all...

Woozi peeked up at Seungcheol, who had desperation written in every pore of his face. Somehow Woozi felt the guilt of Seungcheol’s begging expression swaying his choices. Honestly, he would rather sleep in the basement.

“I think-“

The doorbell ran through the house, and Seungcheol nearly swore. The anticipation was killing him.

“Ill go get it.” Jeonghan jumped up to answer the door. He didn’t really care if Woozi stayed with him, but it sure was fun to get a rise out of the two of them.

Seungcheol and Woozi sat silently. (In all honestly, awkwardly) Partially because Woozi was still distributing the blood in his face to the rest of his body.

But as Seungcheol thought about it more, he found himself with a strange emotion brewing in his gut. He was getting way out of hand over this. Woozi was a demon, a male demon, not to mention a mean male demon. He was just acting like this because he was glad their last turmoil had ended, but it was still too much, even for Seungcheol.

“Seungcheol, when did you say your parents were coming!?” Jeonghan’s voice cut off his thought process.

“…They didn’t really specify, why?”

Looking through the peephole, Jeonghan gulped. “Well, they’re here!”

A shudder ran through Seungcheol’s spine as he leaned to peer down the hallway, watching the looming silhouettes of a man and a woman through a mosaic window pane. Stuck in a panic for a moment, Seungcheol nearly forgot how to move.

An impatient knock on the door, and Jeonghan’s wild hand motions, had Seungcheol grabbing Woozi by the hand, who in his startle trailed behind the human willingly. Seungcheol led him in to his bedroom in a rush. Tripping over feet a few times in the process. He leaned in close to Woozi to whisper.

“Find a hiding spot, and keep quiet, okay?” Woozi nodded. His eyes flickered down to Seungcheol’s lips again, before creating a safe distance between them and getting to work. Seungcheol grabbed the Key to the basement before locking the bedroom door behind himself.

He twisted the key into the door leading to the basement. As he slid the black, spirally piece of metal, into his pants pocket, he gave a quick nod to Jeonghan, who finally opened the door.

As the entrance opened, the tall pair standing in wait grinned widely. A woman with long brown hair slicked back into a tight, military style bun stepped forward with arm’s outstretched in a friendly manner. “Seungcheol, it’s been so long! I’ve missed you.”

Stepping into the embrace, Seungcheol hid his frown in the nape of her neck. “Nice to see you too, mom..”