Chapter 12

“You came a lot faster than I had expected… I would have cooked dinner if I had known.” Seungcheol rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous hand, eyes shifting back and forth to find a comfortable spot to place his gaze.

“Oh, Seungcheol.” They landed on his mother’s face, stiff and insincere. “You and I both know it would have been Jeonghan doing the cooking.”

Jeonghan laughed along with them, while Seungcheol attempted a chuckle.

Their chatter began to muffle through an oncoming headache, and Seungcheol watched his feet. Ah, there it was again, he thought as Jeonghan and his mom began to catch up. Behind them, Seungcheol’s father stepped in to focus with a proud smirk, grabbing him by the shoulder with a strong, fatherly grip.

“Seungcheol, my boy.” He pulled him in firmly, planting a quick hug. “I heard about you stopping that local street gang; very good work, son. You’re a natural born civil servant! Just like your old man.”

Seungcheol thought of himself more as a servant for his parents than a servant for civilians. That darn nosy mayor must have told them about the incident. “It was nothing.”

What? no: Whats new with you? How are you feeling? All he inquired about was hearsay...

The air in the room was sour,  bitter emotions disguised with happy smiles, masked by friendly hands. It had been at least a year since he’d last seen his parents, at least a few weeks since the last time they'd called, and yet from the way they acted anyone would think they were close. Jeonghan acted friendly with them as usual, even though he knew their flaws. His mother smiled as she scanned the messy house. He watched her nose twitch disapprovingly, something nobody else would even take mind to. Seungcheol’s father gripped his shoulder tightly, nearly painfully, as he began to go off about his latest heroic Endeavour.

This was exactly the kind of stuff he couldn’t bear, and more than anything, he hated that he was the only person who seemed to take notice. Yet Even he himself couldn’t help but try to smile, go along with the conversation...

But no matter what, it was fake.

“Why don’t we go out for dinner tonight?” Jeonghan suggested. This way Woozi would have a chance to secure the area while they were gone.

“A wonderful idea,” his mother said, cupping her cheek, “Just let me freshen up first.” She began down the hallway, indecisively examining the doors. Of course, it had been so long that she didn’t even remember where the bathroom was.

“Here, mom.” Seungcheol opened the door to the guest bedroom, gesturing towards the bathroom indifferently. She smiled as if she knew before he had told her, disappearing behind the door. When she returned with her hair let down, and a tint of color on her lips, Seungcheol started for the door.

One nice thing about his parents being here was their car. Seungcheol had never found the chance to practice driving since he was always so busy with school, so buses and trains were his usual choice of transportation. Seungcheol’s parent’s chose the most expensive restaurant in town, one you needed to take an elevator in to reach the dining hall. They sat down with menus too small to satisfy a picky eater; just four or five main dishes which would fill 1/4^th of his plate, and cost more than Seungcheol has ever spent on designer sports shoes. These places really irked him. He looked around at eyes lined with crows feet, squinting at his inappropriate attire. He was still in his school uniform, while the rest of the restaurant had adorned themselves in suite and tie fashion.

The waiter approached their table with a smile too wide for his narrow face. The staff only treated them well because they knew his parents name. If any other group had come as under-dressed as they were, they would have been directed out the back door to join the garbage.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Choi. Today’s special is penne parmesan, with crème of mushroom, topped with shaved truffle. Would you like to start off with some wine?”

“Oh yes” His mother clapped her hands together in delight.

The waitress turned towards a cart a woman had wheeled over silently, pulling out a bottle of dark red wine from a silver bucket. He held the lable towards the two in display. “Todays chef’s choice is a 2006 Ca’Rugate Amarone della Valpolicella.”

“We’ll have that one.”

All his thoughts that night revolved around the general things you might think at a snobby restaurant like this. ‘Fifty bucks for THAT?’, ‘Jeonghan’s food is better’, ‘I wish I was home.’ and 'Why is there truffle on  everything?'

At any other normal eatery Seungcheol would be able to stuff his face to avoid conversation, but this little pea-sized serving of meat didn’t really do the trick. Thankfully he wasn’t all that hungry.

All he had to ease to pain of every minute his parent’s took to lecture him, was the wine he chose to cradle idly in his hand. Here’s a game: Every time Seungcheol’s parents say something insulting, masked with parental love, take a shot!

Jeonghan leaned over to whisper when he began to take notice that his friend was teetering in his seat. “Coup’s, I think that’s enough wine.”

He peered into the glass he had just poured once again, watching the red liquid swish as he twirled his wrist. “Roger, Han.”

“Would you boy’s like dessert?” Mrs. Choi offered with a warm smile. If anything made her happy, it was lavish living.

“Oh no thank you, I think we’ve both had enough.” Jeonghan answered, knowing full well his roommate wasn’t in the mood to continue this night.

Mr. Choi ran a loving hand against the small of his wife’s back. “That’s right honey, it’s getting late. They have school tomorrow.”

They ended their dinner with a hefty bill, which his parent’s covered without batting an eye. They sure got paid well for working as sorcerers for the government. It’s no wonder they want him to pursue the same career. Seungcheol took note of the eyes in the room watching them, scrunching his nose up at them.

Jeonghan attempted to be inconspicuous about it, but it was hard to hide that Seungcheol was right on the edge. He walked by his side to keep him upright until they made it into the car, worrying over his friend while his parents walked ahead. As usual, Jeonghan couldn’t help but feel sad for Seungcheol. His parents, lost in their own little world, couldn’t even bother to notice their son had drunken himself silly trying to drown them out.

~

Jihoon had waited a while after the door had shut, for him to begin, holding a cautious ear against the wood to listen for activity. He assured the coast was clear before making a move. The door could be unlocked from the inside without a key, thank ing Lucifer. The house was empty, but Jihoon tiptoed around just in case. For right now, it would be best for him to erase any evidence of his presence in the house. He started in his room, grabbing his toothbrush from the bathroom cabinet, grabbing what clothes were clean from his drawers, and dragging them away in a laundry basket.

He looked down at the dining table he had set. He supposed it had been too audacious of him to prepare the table before they had even returned home. Now it was only a bit sad to see three matching sets of plates and cutlery together at the table, with no occupants or food to fill the blank spaces. He collected the clean dishes and put them back in the cupboard.

Unfortunately for him, their unexpected visitors meant he wouldn’t be able to eat at the table for a little while. He held his hand against his stomach solemnly.

Grabbing a handful of dry something-or-another from the pantry to replace his dinner, Jihoon took one final look around. Besides what they had left in the basement, there was nothing obvious lying about.

He shoved the rest of the food in his mouth and clapped his hands together to get rid of the crumbs.

Now, time for the hard part.

Jihoon turned the lock on the door when he returned to Seungcheol’s room, dragging the laundry basket filled with his clothes over to a corner. He couldn’t help but feel nervous at this point. Every time he’s been in Seungcheol’s room in the past, it’s lead to something bad. Getting squeezed to death by drunk Seungcheol, getting cursed, nearly getting discovered by Seokmin. He could only imagine what horrible result being in here would lead to this time around.

The room was a mess; clothes scattered all over the ground, balls of paper thrown around the outside of the garbage bin, towels skewn throughout the bathroom. He didn’t bother trying to clean it up this time, but stared at the bed with his mouth pushed to one side.

He supposed today wasn’t the day to expect comfortable living, but he at least wanted to avoid suffering. Jihoon grabbed one of Seungcheols pillows off the bed and pushed it underneath, laying it vertically and lying on top. Still freezing, and not all that comfortable, but it was better than nothing. All he had left to do was wait.

It had to have been at least two hours since then. Though unable to sleep, He laid there with his eyes rested shut, and went to the back of his mind to pass the time.

The door swung open and slammed behind, causing the demon under the bed to jump, hitting his head against the frame above. He watched Seungcheol’s feet stumble over to where he was, and Jihoon couldn’t help but feel this was a very familiar scene.

He leaned out with a scowl. “Did you get drunk again, you head?”

Unexpectedly, Seungcheol’s usually unstoppable mouth remained silent. Instead of answering, the boy backed up into the wall closest to Jihoon, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor.

The smaller boy army crawled out of his hiding spot until Seungcheol’s face was in view, eyes peering down at the floor with a defeated expression. He found himself at a loss of words. It was unusual to see this naively cheerful guy looking like a kicked puppy.

Seungcheol bowed his head to look at Woozi, peeking at the pillow under the bed where he must have been hiding. That ping of guilt returned. “Sorry, Woozi…”

“What, for this?” Woozi pulled the pillow up so that he could rest his elbows on it. “I’ve been forced to sleep in tier conditions before, you know.”

“it’s my fault though…” He slurred, tugging at the hem of his uniform. “Ev’rything, you being here, my parents...." He sighed. "I’d kick ‘em out if I could.”

Jihoon pulled himself out from where he was lying, sitting down facing the human with his head leaning against the bed-frame. “I know what it’s like.”

Seungcheol quirked his head in question.

“Having ty parents, I mean.”

Seungcheol blinked, surprised. He was drunk, but not drunk enough to be indifferent to what the demon was saying. “Really?”

Jihoon held his tail between his hands, staring at the floor. “Well, I don’t really know what’s up with you guys, because I haven’t met them, but you don’t exactly talk them up, so I just... assumed.” Woozi looked at Seungcheol for a moment, holding a sympathetic expression.

“I dunno… I feel like I can’t complain to most people. My parents pay for my education and living expenses, so I’ve never worked an honest day in my life, and they’ve never abused me or anything."

Woozi stayed silent as he explained, watching with an unexpectedly gentle expression.

"They take care of me, but I don’t know if they really care about me.” Seungcheol avoided Woozi’s attentive gaze. “Ever since I was born they’ve never cared about what I want to do, or… who I want to be. All they care is that I continue in my family’s name… But, I’ve never wanted to do magic, I hate magic, They just won’t accept me doin anything else.”

“What did you want to be?” He interrupted, curiously.

Seungcheol chuckled “No, it’s stupid anyways.”

Woozi sighed. “Everything you humans do sounds stupid to me, no point in being embarrassed about this one.”

He was silent for a second, feeling embarrassed. “A rapper, I wanted to be a rapper.”

“…That would probably be more stupid if I knew what it was.”

“Eh? You don’t have rap in hell?” He supposed it was hell for a reason. If he ended up there in the end, maybe their lack of a decent music selection would be Seungcheol’s form of eternal damnation.

“This is why I want to expand my vocabulary. The only “human” lingo I know is things I’ve overheard, or read in centuries old books.”

Seungcheol smiled goofily. Leave it to Woozi to give him a laugh over his weird demon culture. “I’ll teach you all the lingo you need.” He ruffled soft pink hair, fingers hesitating to stop when Woozi didn’t complain immediately. Eventually, he rested his hands back on his lap, feeling his heart jump. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Woozi’s tail coiled around his hand.

“What did your parent’s do to you?”

The demon peered up at Seungcheol’s flushed, drunken expression. Last time this happened, the human hadn’t remembered anything he had done the next morning. Somehow that made him more comfortable, but Woozi had never talked about his parent’s before. He didn’t know where to start.

Seungcheol caught on that he was uncomfortable, watching the boy squirm. “It’s okay, you don’t-”

“I don’t think my parents have ever been proud of me.”

Seungcheol stopped. “Why’s that?”

He hugged his knees in, resting his chin against them. “Just look at me. My parents thought I was going to be their heir. You could imagine how they felt when I ended up like this.”

Seungcheol looked him over; short, cute, not all that powerful... He wasn’t sure he could say anything to make him feel better, so he stayed silent.

“When I was born I should have been killed, i'm sure they wanted to get rid of me, but my mom thought there was a chance I would gain power later in life. My dad’s hated me from the start, and my family was too embarrassed by me to let anyone else know I existed.” Woozi lowered his head until Seungcheol couldn’t see his expression. “They did everything they could… got me what few tutors they could trust to keep me a secret, tried to train me themselves. It was all fruitless. I don’t talk to them much anymore, all I seem to do is frustrate them. Especially my dad… He has a really bad temper.” When Jihoon was done his eyes stung, burying his face in his knees. He wasn’t about to cry about dumb like this.

Jihoon listened as Seungcheol started to move, felt the air beside him become occupied. He shot his head up when he felt an arm land on his back, patting awkwardly. Seungcheol’s eyes drooped slightly, staring forward. This was probably equally embarrassing for the both of them, but Seungcheol wasn’t sure what else to do.

“You know, if you ask me, I think you’re a pretty sick demon.” To his surprise, Woozi didn’t move or protest at Seungcheol’s attempt to comfort him.

Drunk humans just say whatever dumb they’re thinking out loud, huh. “Oh, har har.”

“Really! Maybe they don’t appreciate you in the demon world, but I really think you have some potential here.”

Woozi scoffed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“… w-what I mean is, even though you might not be strong, you have other good qualities.” He thought for a moment. “You’re smart, and easily likable, and funny… I think sometimes it doesn’t matter how much power you have.” He rested his arm wrapped around the smaller boy’s shoulders. "There are other things about you that make you valuable to others... Like, to me."

“I wish I could adapt your ignorant mindset.”

Seungcheol shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s ignorant… just, unique.”

“Oh shut up,” the smaller boy began to laugh. Only a few quiet chuckles, and Seungcheol quickly realized this was the first time he had ever heard him laugh. His eyes shot down and watched the ghost of a smile disappear from the corners of Woozi’s mouth. He made a mental note that he was going to make Woozi smile again, and the next time he would see it clearly.

Woozi stayed silent. Right now, nothing mattered. This moment was only for himself to remember. In the morning, Seungcheol will have forgotten everything.

Seungcheol willed his heart to be quiet when he felt Woozi fall against him, tucking his head under Seungcheol’s arm.

He fit comfortably against the taller boy, pressing his ear to his chest, the melodic sound of Seungcheol’s heartbeat lulled him. “Hey, Seungcheol?”

“Y-yeah?”

There had never been anybody there to comfort him before, nobody to hold him when he felt like crying until right now. For that, he was grateful. “Thanks.”

Seungcheol peered into pink hair. “For what?”

“For getting drunk.”

Seungcheol began to laugh through his confusion, squeezing Woozi’s shoulders. As he watched the clock tick idly, Woozi’s stature began to lose composure. Eventually he fell against the human completely, snoring against his chest. Seungcheol was drunk, definitely. It was clear in his unbalanced steps, as he moved away to strip into pajamas, and in his unsteady arms as he lifted the sleeping demon onto the bed. However, he was not so drunk to be ignorant of the pounding in his chest.

Careful not to stir Woozi, Seungcheol climbed under the covers, facing the ceiling. He pressed his palms against his eyelids until he saw stars, just enough that it was painful. Anything to stop his thoughts from running wildly, anything to calm himself down. Through the darkness, Seungcheol could merely make out Woozi’s sillouette.

Just what was he thinking?

~

Kyungsoo should have entered the room on his knees. He wasn’t going to be able to get off them for a while now, anyways.

“You What?!” The cloaked man in the center of the audience bellowed in anger.

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo bowed his head until his nose pressed into the floor. “I promise I won’t fail next time, I think the reason-“

“I DON’T WAN’T TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSES!”

Silenced, The frustrated breathing of his leader echoed through the hall. He collected himself eventually, turning back to Kyungsoo without emotion.

“D.O. The council has been lenient towards you in the past because of our history, but we’re now facing the threat of being discovered because of you.” Kyungsoo kept his head down in shame. “We are allowing you one last chance to fix your mistake, and only one. If you are unable to retrieve the book with this opportunity, your fate will be decided from there.”

Sweat dripped from nose, patterind against the floor. He had one more chance. He would succeed this time, There was no other option. “Thank you leader, I promise I will not disappoint you again."

Before disappearing behind thick crimson curtains, the hooded boy turned to gaze down on Kyungsoo with a frown. “For your sake, I hope you don’t.”

A/N: I hope you all can accept this chapter as my apology for the long hiatus. Sorry for taking so long guys.