Chapter 19:

“Hey, Jeonghan?” Seungcheol was sat on the edge of the bed, bowl of soup in hand as he fed Jeonghan by the spoonful. He was recovering, and probably able to feed himself just fine, but Seungcheol felt duty-bound.

He slurped up the broth, holding back the need to cringe. It was too salty, but Seungcheol had really tried his best this time around, so he kept quiet about it. “Hm?”

Seungcheol’s hand kept still for a moment, biting at his lip as he drew up the courage to speak. Jeonghan was propped up against the headboard of his bed, watching as Seungcheol seemed to be deliberating within his mind.

Finally, he met his eyes, taking a breath. “I think I might be gay.”

Jeonghan was silent for a moment after Seungcheol’s unexpected confession. The older boy sat anxiously in wait, expecting a big reaction to emerge any second now. When Jeonghan opened his mouth to speak, he felt his heart stutter. Not that he expected him to flip a table and storm out or anything, but admitting this to anyone felt a little nerve-wracking, even to Jeonghan.

“I know.”

The spoon clanked as it was dropped into the bowl. Seungcheol blinked a few times, disbelieving.

“What the hell do you mean ‘you know’?”

He raised his eyebrows dubiously. “Seungcheol, how long have I known you?”

“That’s not the point! How would you know when I’ve only figured it out, like, this week?” He huffed, feeling flustered.

“What? How did you not know?”

“I’ve been dating women my whole goddamn life, Jeonghan. The gay train pretty much just crashed into my life without so much as a warning, I’m shocked.” He leaned closer, suspicious. “So, how did you know before me?... Did you put a spell on me or something? Some kind of gay voodoo?”

Jeonghan snickered at the absurdity. “Seungcheol, you’re hilarious, but no. You just don’t exactly come off as the straightest noodle in the box.” He leaned forward with a hint of concern. “I thought you were still in the closet ‘cause of your parents, though. Did you really just figure it out?”

“Again, only ever dated girls. This is the first time I’ve ever… considered it.”

Jeonghan examined his expression. “It’s the first time? I thought in first year you told me… you know.” He gestured to himself with a few awkward hand motions.

“…Yeah, I did, but… I thought it was the long hair, I mean…” He coughed, feeling embarrassed. “You’re a handsome dude, but you have feminine charm, okay? I thought it was my heart playing tricks on me.”

He chuckled. “Sure, but Seungcheol, you don’t talk to me about relationships. That was the only time I ever heard you open up about liking… Well, anyone.”

Seungcheol willed the color on his cheeks to fade away. There was a reason he kept his love life to himself; his palms were sweaty just from thinking about that shameful misunderstanding. “It was one time! Plus, you’ve seen me date multiple women, shouldn’t that counter-act the one queer incident?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you date multiple girls, for a minimum of 2 weeks each. I never really got the impression that you loved any of them.”

He gave a pointed look, insulted. “I did love them…”

Jeonghan sighed. “I know that you liked them, and you cared about them, but can you honestly say that? Most of those relationships ended with you getting publicly beaten.”

“Sure, but that’s not cause I didn’t love them. Women are just… God, nothing I ever did was ever enough for them. They always ended up mad at me cause I couldn’t bring them the ing moon or something.”

“I’m pretty sure you gave them every physical gift they could dream of. They dumped you because you weren’t emotionally available, Seungcheol. Probably because of the fact that you’re gay.”

He pouted, turning away. As much as he wanted to believe he’d put his heart and soul into keeping those relationships together, he supposed there must be an explanation for his streak of getting drinks thrown in his face. “That’s ed up. Did everyone know I was gay before I was gay?”

Jeonghan let out a laugh, throwing his head back. After catching the offended look on Seungcheol’s face, he gave him a little knowing smirk. “So, what made you realize, anyways?”

Seungcheol craned to peer down at the door-way, ensuring a certain pink-haired demon wasn’t creeping up on them. Even with the coast clear, though, finding the words to explain was a challenge in its own.

Before he could open his mouth, Jeonghan had beat him to it.

“Is it cause of Woozi?”

He froze, mouth hung open like a dead fish. “Are you a psychic? Seriously, what the , man?”

“Oh, come on. The thing between you guys is obvious enough.”

“What ‘thing’? God, I don’t even know what we have between us.” He fell back against the bed, head rested on Jeonghan’s knees.

Jeonghan sighed. “What happened, though? I haven’t seen you both in the same room together since I woke up.”

His eyes shifted to the side. “Nothing really… Happened.”

Despite himself, he felt his cheeks grow warm at the reminder. Jeonghan took notice with a suspicious squint.

“What did you do?”

Seungcheol scoffed. “Why do you assume it’s something I did?”

He raised an eyebrow, dubious.

“Fine, you’re right, it was. It wasn’t my fault, though!”

Jeonghan looked him up and down for a moment as he assessed whether Seungcheol was bullting him or not, taking note of a few crucial details along the way. Specifically, the fact that Seungcheol looked fantastic, and well rested; as if he were glowing from the inside-out. Very unusual for a boy who apparently just broke a powerful barrier spell. “I’m guessing this happened when I was asleep, then?”

Seungcheol sighed, rolling onto his side. “Remember last time I got really injured?”

It took him a moment, but the answer to the mystery became clear in the guilt written on his friend’s face. Jeonghan let out a gasp. “Oh my god, he gave you blood again, didn’t he? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“We thought too many surprises would be a danger to your health…”

Jeonghan scoffed. “I have a fever, Seungcheol, I’m not dying.”

He bit his lip, considering. “In that case, I should probably also mention that I died last night. Which is why… you know, the blood.”

“…You’re joking.” Seungcheol looked away with a guilty expression, leaving Jeonghan to stare at him in utter shock. The realization that he was in fact, not joking, set in like a slap to the face. “You almost died? I was asleep for one day!”

“I did die, Woozi brought me back, but-“

“Seungcheol!”

He shut his mouth, eyes shifting awkwardly. “I’m sorry…”

“I don’t want to hear your ‘sorry’s!” He sat up in order to loom above Seungcheol, long hair tickling his friend’s face as he glared. “If you ever do something like that again, and keep it a secret from me? I’ll kill you myself; you hear me?”

“Loud and clear...”

Jeonghan sighed, resting back against the headboard.

“The dying and the blood wasn’t even the worst part, though…”

“Are you ing-“

“-Sorry, I mean… See, last time this happened, I did something... I wasn’t conscious during it, but Woozi was, and he never told me until yesterday. This time, though, I was awake. I mean, , I woke up while it was happening.” He took a breath, feeling flustered.

Seungcheol covered his eyes with an arm to avoid judgment as Jeonghan stared down at him. “I went crazy and kissed him.”

He blinked a few times, deliberating. A part of him felt guilty that he already knew what had happened last time, considering he’d just chewed Seungcheol out for keeping secrets from him… He supposed he’d done it for Woozi, though. The best thing for Seungcheol would be for him to act oblivious, anways. “…You kissed him?”

He scoffed. “Yeah, but I didn’t just ‘kiss him’. My tongue? Has touched every surface of his mouth, Jeonghan, and his neck. I-”

“-I really didn’t need the visual. So, what? Is he mad?”

“No, we already talked it out and decided it was the fault of our combined efforts.”

Jeonghan chuckled. “Then what’s the problem?”

He sat up, letting out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. I mean, how do I act in front of him after something like that happens?”

“If you don’t want him noticing your little crush, you should just act normal.”

Seungcheol looked up at Jeonghan from where he’d been leaning over, something desperate behind his big brown eyes.

“What if I want him to notice?”

He smiled endearingly. As much as on the outside Seungcheol did his best to hide his broody, teenage personality, it always shun through in times like this. “Why don’t you tell him, then? No point in beating around the bush.”

“Are you crazy? You know Woozi. If I tell him, I’m going to have to change my name to ‘Choi ert’. That’s all he’s going to call me for the rest of my life! I can’t just tell him…” He sighed. “We barely just became friends, man. I’m pretty sure he still sees me as ‘that dumb human he’s stuck with,’ and I don’t want to make it worse than it already is.”

Jeonghan thought for a moment, humming. “I think the problem is, you don’t understand how Woozi thinks at all. You need to get past this miscommunication, and work on getting closer to him.”

“How?” Seungcheol sat up, leaning into the smug expression Jeonghan was throwing him.

“Starting now, you’re gonna have to change the way you do things. That’s how.”

~

Jihoon woke up slowly, prying his eyes open with excruciating effort as the sun burned through his tired retinas. Just by rolling onto his side to stare solemnly into the glowing red numbers on the clock, he felt his mind growing hazy; vision settling into a single image.

He was exhausted, but he supposed if he still felt this way after sleeping in until 2:45pm, then no amount of sleep would fix it. He sighed, flipping over with a groan and whining into his pillow. It hurt, everything hurt.

The reason why he felt so terrible was obvious, looking back on yesterday’s events. It could be a bit presumptuous to say, since he hadn’t even attempted to get out of bed yet, but…

Compared to last time, this was much, much worse.

A depleted speed of his rapid healing he could deal with. The slight exhaustion, the aching, that was all good and dandy and whatever. This wasn’t just a few sore muscles and cuts and bruises, though. His body was weak, and cold. Even shrouded in a heavy comforter, he felt shivers raking his body as he nestled up against his pillow; Not to mention the burning sensation in the wound on his arm. It was ty, anyway's. Why did he always have to suffer after doing something good?

Perhaps it was Lucifer, punishing him for breaking demon law; that bastard.

After a few more minutes of pitifully into his pillow, Jihoon managed to roll himself out of the comfort of his bed, and crawled over to get dressed. He sulked as he stared into his sorry appearance in the mirror, stripping out of sweat-stained pajamas in favor of replacing them with something fresh and comfortable. Last night He’d snagged some proper bandage from the first aid kit to replace Seungcheol’s shirt, which was now stained beyond repair and in the trash. At least the wound was covered up, albeit not neatest job. With Jeonghan being asleep-and-all yesterday, he’d been forced to deal with it alone.

Plus, he couldn’t really ask Seungcheol to bandage him up after all that. Not at the time, anyways. His pride wouldn’t allow it.

The sweater he chose was thick and warm, likely the warmest one he had in his arsenal. He back held his complaints about the odd, big-eyed mouse drawing on the front of it for now.

Before pulling the sweater over his head, Jihoon ran his fingers along the front of his collar, staring into the ever-changing pattern with concern. Eventually, they were going to have to figure out what the hell was happening to the bonding spell.

Preferably, before the ing thing ended up crawling onto his face or some . The fractures had shifted again, from the looks of it. Forming flower-like patterns along his skin, coagulating into crystals of bronze metal, which fluttered outwards.

But actually, it seemed like the bits had moved closer together when he looked carefully. Perhaps the spell simply manifested into different shapes naturally? That was a preferred scenario to, let’s say, the spell becoming unsteady and blowing up in his face or some …

Jihoon Huffed, setting aside his never-ending anxiety and pulling on the sweater. A low grumble sounded through the silent room, bringing him back to another very serious problem.

What was he going to eat?

He trudged into the living-room, settling onto the couch as his mind began to become blotchy with fatigue. Looking around, he felt his heart sinking. That fleeting hope of a warm breakfast shattered as Jeonghan was nowhere to be seen. He was probably still sick, and he supposed since that was also his fault, he didn’t have any right to be upset.

Nonetheless, the gurgling of his stomach continued its complaint. Jihoon settled down on his back, resting his tired eyes for a moment as he deliberated what to do.

He’d probably just pass out trying to cook for himself, so he might as well just stay here and die on the couch instead.

Just as Jihoon’s eyed had fluttered closed, nestling up to a throw cushion with a pathetic whine, he caught the sound of the front door clicking open.

He peaked up as the air around him darkened, spotting with little concern as Seungcheol stared down at him.

“Hey, you okay?”

A warm hand enveloped his forehead, but he hardly had the energy to push it away. Seungcheol gave him a sorry look, brushing aside strands of hair from his forehead. Woozi mumbled incoherently into the pillow, voice low.

Seungcheol got onto his knees, one hand rested on the demon’s pale cheek with worry. “What’s that?”

Woozi up his pride in favor of continuing to live, speaking clearer. “I’m hungry….”

The human chuckled, turning around to rustle through some plastic bags. “You’re in luck, I brought you lunch! I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I hope this is okay.” Seungcheol began to set up the spread on the coffee table, an assortment of different foods that had Jihoon salivating where he lay. The demon sat up slowly, breathing in the scent with content.

God, it was a lot of ing food. The containers covered the whole goddamn table by the time he finished laying them out. He gulped, scanning over the options. “Which one’s mine?”

“It’s all yours, eat as much as you want.”

He turned to Seungcheol, eyes wide. “All of it?”

“All of it.” Seungcheol smiled, settling back as the demon ripped open a pack of chopsticks and dug into some chicken. After scarfing back a few bites, he caught Seungcheol’s eyes on him, his expression somehow expectant.

Jihoon squinted, suspicious “What’s the occasion?”

He shrugged "No occasion, I just thought you'd be hungry."

The demon scoffed, poking into his bowl of rice. “Seungcheol, this is enough food to feed a ing army. Obviously, it’s for something.” The human sat in his arm-chair nonchalantly, ignoring the demon’s accusatory tone.

“Consider it thanks for yesterday, then.”

Woozi’s scowl faded at that, expression softening as he shoved a pile of rice into his cheeks. He was 100% content with eating this whole table of food in one sitting, but honestly, having Seungcheol watch him with that creepy expression was making it difficult to enjoy. He huffed, holding out a piece of chicken between his chopsticks, pointed at Seungcheol.

“Have some. I can’t eat if you’re just going to watch me like a ing voyeurist.”

Seungcheol chuckled awkwardly, leaning in to accept the offer.

While he’d been expecting Seungcheol to take the chicken from the chopsticks like a normal ing person and eat it by himself, of course that wasn’t the case. Seungcheol pulled him in closer by the wrist, slipping the food into his mouth straight from his hand as if it were the most natural goddamn thing to do.

In contrast, Jihoon had frozen, bumbling. He pulled the chopsticks back with an offended expression "Wh-What the ! Your slobber is all over it, you batsard." He wiped them against a tissue as Seungcheol began to laugh, turning away from the demon’s grimace to pull something out of his backpack.

"While we're eating,want to do some studying?" He waggled the black magic book before the demons nose, enticingly.

Jihoon stared past it, at Seungcheol, feeling strange. What the hell was up with this guy today?

~

“Jeonghan, this is a cat training guide…” He flipped through the book with an unconvinced expression, feeling silly for being hopeful moments earlier. Of course Jeonghan wasn’t going to help him seriously, what was he thinking?

Nonetheless, Jeonghan’s smirk held strong. “Exactly.”

“He’s a demon, Jeonghan. He’s not a ing cat.”

He tsked, waving a finger. “Aha, aren’t you forgetting? Woozi is one fourth Kasha; a cat demon. Plus, out of all the demon traits he’s inherited, I think that part of him is the most prominent.”

He ran a hand down his face, sighing. “So, what? You think I should wave a feather toy in his face to win his affection? Smoke some catnip with him? You have to admit this is ridiculous, Jeonghan. Even for us.”

“No, no, of course not.” He chuckled. “But really, when you think about it, Woozi is basically a big, hairless cat with some human-ish features. You know how I feel about cats, Seungcheol. I take note of these kinds of things.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. Poor Jeonghan, Allergic beyond belief, and madly in love with them. Cats, that is. “Yeah, yeah, what’s you point?”

“Seungcheol, honestly. Who do you think Woozi is more comfortable with? You or me?”

He squinted, offended. Obviously, it should be Seungcheol. He’s the one who summoned him, they’ve slept in the same bed (not exactly consensually), and they’ve kissed (DEFINETLY not consensually), but Jeonghan has…

He bit his lip as the image of Woozi popped into his head, staring up at Jeonghan with admiration. Maybe, just maybe, Woozi respected Jeonghan a little more than he did Seungcheol. Just a little bit.

“If I say it’s you will you cut to the chase? How is this supposed to help me?”

Jeonghan gave Seungcheol a little smug expression. “Aren’t you curious about how I got close to him? I mean, I don’t even spend that much time with him.”

“You don’t have to rub it in my face…” Seungcheol pouted, earning a laugh from the long-haired boy before him.

He snatched the book with a smile. “Seungcheol, this is the key.” He flipped through the pages, and Seungcheol watched him skeptically. “It’s basically a step-by-step guide to Woozi’s heart.”

Although enticed by the prospect of a literal ‘guide to the heart’, that was ridiculous. “Jeonghan, I’m questioning your mental stability here. You sure it’s just a fever?”

He groaned. “If you don’t want my help, then go ahead and woo Woozi by yourself.”

“No, no!” He grabbed Jeonghan by the wrist before he could shut the book, sighing. “Fine, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. What exactly do I do?”

He supposed at this point, anything was worth a shot. Jeonghan smirked, handing the book to Seungcheol again, who began to skim through it, embarrassed.

Chapter 1: Socializing a new cat

When it comes to building a relationship with your pet cat, choosing which cat to adopt is an important step to consider. It is easiest to accustom a kitten to being around humans, because there is still plenty of space for human companionship in their hearts.

“This is stupid… Woozi isn’t a ing-“

‘-Just skip to the next part.” Jeonghan pointed to where to start. Somehow, Seungcheol still expected him burst out laughing and reveal that this whole thing was a joke, but he remained serious.

Blah blah blah… If your Cat is already older, don’t fret. Socializing a cat which is already matured is a simple process of time and patience.

He skipped over a bit of the that referred to literal cat care, moving onto the bonding bit.

Step one: Set up a safe, and comforting environment for initiating interaction.

Step two: Keep a respectful distance, let the cat approach you.

Bluh bluh, litter training, blah…

There are plenty of things you can do to create an environment where the cat feels comfortable approaching you, such as this:

• Sit and watch TV, or watch your cat from afar, but do not acknowledge it verbally. Scatter food around, and let the cat eat. Eventually, the cat will approach you naturally.

It is very important that you are the one who feeds the cat. Cat’s grow a natural bond with the people who take care of them. It will give them a sense of reliability, and trust.

“You bastard…”

Jeonghan chuckled. “What?”

He flipped the book over, pointing. “Feed the cat, huh? You’ve been bonding with him over food? All this time? I should have known..”

“Seungcheol, I feed you too. I’m the only one who cooks in this house, remember?” He Crossed his arms over, feigning innocence. “But yes, I have been.”

His mouth hung open, unable to find a retort.

“Anyways, that’s why I’m telling you this. I won’t be able to cook tonight, and I’m pretty sure Woozi is starving. This is your chance to, you know… strengthen your bond.”

Somehow, Seungcheol found himself in awe of the sheer cleverness of this plan. As well, he felt betrayed by Jeonghan for keeping It from him until now. Woozi loved food, he’d do anything for it, he should have guessed... “Jeonghan… You’re a genius.”

“I know.”

He hopped up from the bed, reading the book as he went, mumbling through instructions like a mad man.

Jeonghan laid back down, smirking. “You going to school?”

“Yeah, yeah. Oh man, what should I get for him to eat? What does he like most?”

He chuckled as Seungcheol stumbled towards the door, eyes on him as he awaited a suggestion. “He likes anything, especially rice. Why don’t you just buy him a buffet?”

“A buffet…” He slung his school-bag over his shoulder, humming. “You know what? I will.” Seungcheol stopped in the doorway, a stupidly eager grin planted against his face as he joked. “Maybe I’ll get him some catnip, too.”

~

Seungcheol ignored the looks the strangers on the bus were giving him as he balanced a collection of takeout bags in his arms. Some Chinese food, fried chicken, pizza; you can eat it? He probably had it.. A buffet should contain option’s, right? This wasn’t too over the top, right?

Nonetheless, he felt a little idiotic about the whole thing.

He’d taken that stupid cat training guide to school, and read through the whole ing book when he should have been paying attention in class.

Not that he would have anyways, but he digressed.

The more he’d read, replacing each ‘cat’ in the book with Woozi, the more he’d seen all that he’d done wrong up until recently.

Introduce him to his new home in a calming, comfortable environment. Minimize stress while he settles in- He’d literally thrown him into a wardrobe first chance he got, so that part was a bust.

Speak to him in a calming, non-threatening tone- The first conversation they’d had, he’d threatened to kill the guy, so that’s a ing nope as well.

Bath and feed them regularly- He wasn’t even going to think about that one…

Anyways, it was obvious that he had a long way to go from here. He’d dug his own grave, so now was the time to crawl out of it. And on the off-chance that the food plan was a success, this was going to give him a pretty solid boost.

Seungcheol juggled his keys out of his back pocket, shimmying the lock until he managed to get the door open. With his multitude of bags in hand, he kicked the door behind him, fumbling into the living-room.

Spotting Woozi on the couch, he froze.

He looked deathly… Lying with his eyes closed, face pale and sullen. Seungcheol brushed a tentative hand over his forehead to check his temperature, heart beating with worry. His skin was cold to the touch. “Hey, you okay?

The demon cracked his eyes open, bluish with exhaustion. He mumbled into a cushion, and Seungcheol found himself kneeling in to listen, hand traveling down to his cheek. “What’s that?”

Woozi separated from the pillow with a whine. “I’m hungry…”

Seungcheol let out a chuckle, turning around quickly to hide his victorious grin as he reached into his bags. “You’re in luck, I brought you lunch! I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I hope this is okay.” He got to work setting it up, peaking back when Woozi sat up to sniff the air. His tail, which had been lying lifelessly before, now swayed down from the edge of the couch excitedly. Seungcheol willed away the need to coddle him for it, repeating the advice from the book in his head. Keep your distance.

“Which one’s mine?”

Seungcheol smirked. “It’s all yours, eat as much as you want.”

“All of it?” he practically drooled as he spoke, one hand rested against his belly. The way his eyes went wide with excitement towards Seungcheol, the flush which rose against pale cheeks, it made his heart skip.

“All of it.”

Seungcheol did all he could remember while Woozi chowed down. He kept out of his space, watching from afar in hopes of… , what was he even hoping for? Woozi to come rub up against his leg? This was stupid!

He shook out of his thoughts when Woozi looked his way, squinting suspiciously.

“What’s the occasion?”

He supposed this was a bit unusual, but Seungcheol wasn’t about to tell the truth. He smiled nonchalantly, shrugging. “No occasion, I just thought you’d be hungry.”

“Seungcheol, this is enough food to feed a ing army. Obviously, it’s for something.”

, he’s suspicious. Seungcheol sat back in his own chair, creating distance as he willed up an excuse. “Consider it thanks for yesterday, then.”

Woozi fell silent again, digging back into his food.

Seungcheol wondered for a moment whether this was working. Woozi wasn’t telling him to get ed or anything, so maybe there was hope? All he had to do now was wait for Woozi to come to him, in some form. He pushed aside the image of Woozi rubbing up to his leg like a cat with a gulp. Nah, he wouldn’t

Woozi stopped, whipping his chopsticks towards Seungcheol with a bite-sized piece of chicken on the end. Seungcheol eyed it curiously.

“Have some. I can’t eat if you’re just going to watch me like a ing voyeurist.”

Seungcheol chuckled nervously at that, searching for a shred of doubt on the demon’s face. He avoided eye contact, waiting. Was this it? Woozi was approaching him? Offering to feed him did seem like some kind of returned affection.

He leaned in, pulling Woozi’s arm forward by the wrist and accepting the food happily. Woozi pulled away immediately after, shifting back into his usual persona with scarlet cheeks and a scowl. “Wh-what the ! Your slobber is all over it, you bastard.”

Seungcheol laughed as the demon wiped away at the chopsticks frantically, looking embarrassed. Okay, maybe he should take a step back. Perhaps Woozi wasn’t ready to feed him. He turned to his backpack, pulling out the black magic book. Time to initiate part two.

He presented the book in a manner that he hoped would be enticing, smirking. “While we’re eating, want to do some studying?”

Part three: Once the cat is comfortable approaching you on its own, dangle a toy or a string and invite the cat to play.

The next best thing to a feather toy would be this, he supposed. Woozi was always bugging him about the spell, so he might as well indulge him since they had free time.

“As in, work on the spell?” he questioned, looking a little skeptical.

“Yeah, since we have time now, anyways.” He took the chance to switch where he was sitting, taking the spot next to Woozi on the couch and closing a bit of distance. “I had an idea today.”

Woozi stared down at the book, scoffing. “That’s surprising…”

He chuckled. “Shut your mouth, It’s a good idea, trust me.” He flipped to the page with the demon summoning reversal spell, feeling his stomach twist as he stared into familiarly jargon lettering. “I was thinking, what if this is a language?”

“Of course, it’s a ing language. It’s not just a bunch of scribbles, dummy.”

Seungcheol placed the book between them, scooting closer. “Anyways, so I was thinking. What if we compare this to a bunch of languages and see if any of them match up?”

Their thighs were touching now, close enough that Seungcheol felt Woozi’s tail tickling against his leg as it squirmed. Seungcheol willed himself to stay calm, focus on the matter at hand.

The demon thought for a moment. “I doubt it’ll work, but anything’s better than nothing.” He eyed Seungcheol with curious expression, eyebrows furrowed. “How, though?”

“I have a translation app!”

Woozi huffed. “What the is an app?”

Seungcheol couldn’t hold back his laughter at that. Woozi still had a lot to learn, it seemed.

For a while they did work on the spell. They attempted-and failed-to compare the characters from the book against every known language the app had to offer. The dead ones, and the current ones alike. Nothing came up with an answer, it seemed like the letters didn’t match any existent language in the whole ing world.

Honestly though, that wasn’t the issue here. This was supposed to be a bonding activity, yet it felt that with every step closer he took, Woozi was taking a bigger leap back. He was on the very edge of the couch now, practically becoming one with the arm-rest with the manner in which he leaned into it.

Seungcheol bit at his cheek, feeling anxious. He’d done all the steps correctly, right? Was it just too much?

He thought back to the book, concentrating…. What was next? Health? It had said that some behavior issues come with bad health, and… , Woozi didn't exactly look like the freshest fish in the sea at the moment.

“How are you doing?” He started, shifting nervously to face the demon. Facing him like this had his mind wandering back to the taste of his lips, which made it a lot more difficult to focus on figuring out the state of his health. He kept their eye contact firmly to avoid staring down at his mouth, heart pulsing. Despite himself, his gaze was wandering. “Are you…faint? Or anything? You lost a lot of blood yesterday, maybe I should...”

When Seungcheol brought his hand up feel his temperature again, he found his wrist caught in Woozi’s small grip.

The demon glared, face red as he stared through Seungcheol with narrowed eyes. “What the is up with you? You’re creeping me out.”

Seungcheol shut his mouth, tensing.

Step 6: Forget all the other steps, your cat caught onto the charade and now you’re ed.