Chapter 25: Coming to Grips

Seungcheol awoke to his morning alarm with a groan of defiance, reaching to his side with one arm, and pressing lazy fingers against the machine to cease its noise. It was a day much like any other school day. Seungcheol had awoken feeling tired and unmotivated, covered in a series of new bandages from his latest near-death experience, and cursing the heavens for making schooldays so unbearable. And as usual, he had no choice but to get ready to go, unless he wanted to get an earful from his parents... Or gain the attention of his peers.

The one and only notable improvement to his regular weekday mornings, was the weight of short arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and flushed pink cheeks nuzzled against his side. Woozi lay snoring soundly, an uncharacteristically content smile playing at his lips, completely ignorant to the way Seungcheol’s chest tightened at the sight of him.

Seungcheol willed the spasmic thumping of his heart to settle as he directed his eyes up at the ceiling, thinking back to the day before..Even after Woozi had woken up, Seungcheol couldn’t bare the idea of something bad happening when he wasn’t there again. So, although he’d protested at first, eventually Woozi had agreed to sleep in Seungcheol’s room . As much as he wished the cuddling were something extraordinary, Seungcheol knew in his hearts heart that Woozi just got cold at night, and Seungcheol just happened to be the closest source of warmth in his vicinity.

He took a fleeting moment of denial to wallow in the closeness, rubbing a tentative thumb along the boy’s cheek, fingertips shaking as they trailed up to his head, pressing against soft hair. When Woozi murmured in his sleep, pressing against his touch, Seungcheol’s breath stuttered.

He ached to stay there with him, but the anxiousness rising within him forced him to stop, prying the boy’s arms off carefully, as not to wake him. When he stood, his vision wavered for a moment, which was to be expected. He was on little sleep, and although Jeonghan did a great job patching him up, they had no way to replenish the blood and sanity he'd lost. One thing he still felt reluctant to tell Woozi about.. was how weak he'd felt since that night. It might have been the bonding spell breaking, or maybe the loss of blood, but Seungcheol was recovering like a snail. He breathed, re-centering himself before trudging over to the bathroom for a shower.

He had a lot to think about as he lathered up with soap, rinsing away his pining with the spray of scalding water. After the mayhem that had unfolded, Seungcheol wished nothing more than to relax back into their regular lives, and perhaps figure out what he was going to do these unrequited feelings

However, … They weren’t safe, not yet. Until they figured out who Woozi had killed, and whether or not his friend’s were planning on taking revenge, Seungcheol had no right to even think about his own petty little crush.

When he returned to his room with a damp towel thrown across his shoulder, the space on the bed where Woozi had been lying was void.

He changed into his uniform swiftly, before following after the pleasant smell coming from the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” Jeonghan spoke facing the stove, scrambling some eggs in a pan.

“Can I have mine sunny-side up?”

he hummed in response, nimble fingers cracking an egg against the side of a bowl in one foul swoop.

Seungcheol looked around for that familiar head of pink hair, catching the sound of steps from down the hall, and watching as the boy dragged himself to his seat at the table in a set of fresh clothes. Seungcheol sat beside him, unable to help the smile spreading across his face as he watched him yawn.

It felt a bit surreal, to have everything come back to some kind of ‘normal.’ But Seungcheol was grateful. He ate up the image of the boy beside him, who’s complexion was absolutely glowing. In contrast to how he’d looked days prior, it was a hell of an improvement.

He had consumed human flesh to reach his current glow, but Seungcheol had to think that the end justified the means.

Woozi cleared his throat, eyeing him with furrowed brows. “Is there something on my face?”

He chuckled. “Did you sleep well?”

Despite him not at all mentioning the cuddling, the demon seemed to be flustered. Before he could muster a response, Jeonghan had set down a plate of eggs and toast before him. He stared down at it the food with an odd expression.

Jeonghan sat down with two more plates for him and Seungcheol, noticing with a frown. “Still not hungry?”

“Not really…”

Seungcheol stopped himself from speaking. Judging by the solemn expression on his face, it was clear that Woozi wasn’t exactly pleased about what had gone down. As much as he wished he could make him feel better with some light teasing, this wasn't something he could laugh about.

The boy poked at the eggs with a fork, frowning. “When you go to class, try to find out who that guy was.”

Seungcheol sighed. “Young, with black hair and brown eyes… That’s not a lot to work with, Wooz. Are you sure he didn’t say his name or anything? Or, did anything about him stand out to you?”

“If he did, I don’t remember.” Woozi leaned back in his chair fiddling with the hairs at the end of his tail as he thought. “He looked normal, but everything about him gave me the creeps… especially his smile.”

Jeonghan’s fork stopped before his mouth, looking to Seungcheol. “Doesn’t that sound like…”

Seungcheol gulped. “Kyungsoo?”

~

Much to his dismay, the bad feeling that had been persisting in his gut since breakfast was mostly likely correct. Seungcheol scanned over the class when he entered the room, silently wishing to be proven wrong. However, the seat at the back of the room which had been haunting him since the beginning of the year was, in fact, empty.

He hadn't even noticed... Maybe because that evil glare hadn't reminded him.

Seungcheol sat at his usual spot, rubbing his eyes with his palms until he saw stars. He could deal with black magic and demons. But if he started getting investigated by the police over a missing person, everything was gonna come to light.

“Yo, Cheol!.” Soonyoung eyes scanned over him in a curious manner.. “I've been meaning to ask, but did you get a cat or something? You're all scratched up..”

Yeah, a big- cat. “I… fell in a bush.”

It was a pretty obvious lie, but at this point, Seungcheol’s friends were pretty used to him showing up to school with mysterious injuries.

“Huh… Well, did you hear what happened?”

“About what?” Seungcheol’s heart jumped at the prospective that news had spread.

He leaned in close to whisper. “Well, apparently-“

“Okay, time to quiet down everyone!”

He whipped his head back to acknowledge their teacher, backing away from Seungcheol’s desk with a grin. “I’ll tell you after class, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” .

Mr. Lee stood before the class silently, waiting as everyone settled down. He set his books down on his desk, eyes lowered as he spoke. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for the class.”

Whispers sounded as the people around him gossiped. Seungcheol sat still, mind racing.

“I was informed this morning, that one of the student’s in our class, Kyungsoo, was discovered to have passed away in a magical-related incident.” He looked up, reaching the eyes of his students with a serious expression. “I can imagine that many of you will be grieving this loss, so I don’t want to take this moment to lecture you all. I would just like to say that, as your teacher, I do care for each and every one of you. Although magic is a tool that helps society in a magnitude of ways, there are instances where it is extremely dangerous.”

The class fell to silence, those who had been smirking and whispering shrinking back in their chairs with a guilty expression.

“I never want any of you to experiment with unapproved magic in hopes of building your skills or impressing your peers, because no amount of praise will ever be worth the risk of your life.” Mr. Lee’s gaze caught Seungcheol’s, face grim. “And if there’s ever anything you may be curious about, I hope that before dabbling in something dangerous physically, you’ll take the time to come talk to me first. I’m happy to help, even if it’s unrelated to school-work”

Their teacher finished with a solemn beat of silence; hands planted against his desk.

“There will be no class today. Feel free to stay and study if you wish, otherwise I’m extending a day of rest to everyone, and I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”

Despite his mind racing and his heart thudding, Seungcheol stood up like the rest of his classmates, collecting his books and heading for the door.

“Mr. Choi?”

He froze, turning back to his teacher with the most casual expression he could muster.

Mr. Lee ushered him over with a hand gesture as the other students flooded out of the room. Then, it was just the two of them.

“What’s up, Mr. Lee?” he attempted a small smile, intertwining his hands together to prevent them from shaking noticeably.

His teacher reached into his bag, pulling out a textbook and holding it out for Seungcheol. “Here. Kyungsoo’s guardian found this among his things. It’s yours, yes?”

He took the book and examined its cover. It was the book he’d lost that time… Back when he’d summoned Woozi.

Seungcheol swallowed. “It’s mine…”

He looked up again, as he felt a hand against his shoulder. “I know this news must have shocked you. You were one of the few people Kyungsoo talked to in this class.”

“Yeah, I… I can’t believe it.”

He patted his shoulder in a comforting motion, before returning his hands to the surface of his desk. “In his message, Kyungsoo’s guardian asked me to extent a message to you. They wanted to thank you for being his friend all this time.” He smiled.

His hands trembled, squeezing the book in his grip to suppress it. “Thank you, Mr. Lee. I really appreciate that.”

“You’re a good kid, Seungcheol. Not my best student, but I’ve always noticed your philanthropy. Just remember that, if you ever need to ask me anything, I’m here to help."

Seungcheol nodded, unsure how to respond. He repeated his words from before, voice quieting to an utter. “Thank you…”

~

He walked outside the building alone, thoughts heavy on his mind, whirling together until it was nothing but buzzing. He was supposed to feel hatred towards the person who had been turning his life to hell, the one who had hurt Woozi… He was supposed to celebrate his death and dance on his grave. So, … why did he feel like such now?

‘Thanks for being his friend.’

What bull. Who the hell were his ‘guardians’ anyways? Unless Kyungsoo had spewed lies to them about him, why would they even know that Seungcheol existed?

A feeling of guilt ached in his chest. Seungcheol clutched at it, breathing hard. Maybe it was the adrenalin from the nights prior wearing off, or maybe it was the cluster of things to worry about finally dawning on him after Mr. Lee’s words.

Or maybe, probably, it was just the fact that Seungcheol couldn’t find a way to turn this into a joke anymore.

He suddenly felt like he was drowning.

“Hey, Seungcheol!” Soonyoung called out after spotting him, jogging over.

Seungcheol dropped to his knees, wheezing and gasping as his nails dug into the flesh of his chest.

“Seungcheol? Hey, you okay!?”

Soonyoung bent down, holding his shoulders with a concerned expression.

He fell to his side, eyesight fading in and out of darkness. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness, was the textbook, fallen on the concrete beside him.

~

Soonyoung peeked his head into Seokmin’s classroom, where they seemed to be having self-study.

“Psst, Seokmin!”

The boy whipped his head up at the call of his name, spotting Soonyoung at the door. He eyed the teacher, who was conveniently distracted by her phone, and snuck past her to the door.

He was about to ask what was up, but after spotting the sight of Seungcheol, he saved his words. “Wait, I’ll grab my bag.”

~

“What happened?” he questioned.

“I have no clue. Our teacher let us out early cause someone in our class died, and when I found Cheol outside, he was hyperventilating…” Soonyoung crouched down on the floor, face in his hands. “I checked his pulse and he’s fine; I think he’s just unconscious… Or sleeping. And, I know Seungcheol wouldn’t want me to call an ambulance unless he was dying. But I don’t know what to do. Shouldn’t he have woken up by now?”

Seokmin nodded, knowing all too well that Seungcheol and hospitals were a no-go. “I brought my mom’s car today; I’ll drive him home. I’m sure he’ll be fine after some rest.”

“I’ll come too!”

“N-no! No…” He thought with a frown. Soonyoung couldn’t know that Woozi lived with Seungcheol. That would be way too much to explain while Seungcheol was lying unconscious “I live near his house anyways. Can you stay and take attendance for me next period? It’s a sub, so you don’t have to worry about her recognizing you… My mom’s gonna kill me if she finds out I skipped.”

Soonyoung felt drained at the prospect of living through someone else’s class after being given a day off, but for Seungcheol he was gonna have to it up. “Fine…Call me if anything happens, okay?”

“Alright!”

Soonyoung helped support him to his car, sighing out as he laid him in the backseat. “I hope he’s okay… He looked really worn-out this morning.”

“Me too…”

~

Jihoon lay on the basement floor, staring up blankly within that all-too-familiar setting. He rested a hand on his stomach, where that fluttering feeling in his gut persisted.

He was warm, and surfeited in a way that he couldn’t describe with words alone. Nothing bodily could compare to this sensation.

For once, when he woke up in the morning, he truly felt awake. When he stretched and moved, his body no longer ached. When he ran, his lungs no longer burned. He wasn’t nauseous, or anxious, or weak.

And for the first time, when he looked into the mirror, he no longer loathed the sight of himself. Even the bonding collar which had haunted him, reminding him of his weakness, was gone.

But Jihoon wasn’t quite sure if he could feel happy about this. He closed his eyes, images flashing within his mind, playing over again and again in tidbits of memory. Every time the warmth within him rose and made him feel giddy, he wished nothing more than to drown himself in the feeling.

But the longer he sat submerged in this new-found happiness, the further he felt from the humanity he’d built up.

He had to wonder… If they found a way to send him back now… Would his father finally feel proud of him? Although Jihoon had no idea how, he'd finally shown signs of having power.

And… if Seungcheol knew exactly how Jihoon was feeling after doing something so horrid, what would he think?

He felt zero guilt for killing that boy… minus the torture, if he could go back and experience it again, taste the sweetness of that rotten soul melting against his tongue, Jihoon would do so in a heartbeat. If Seungcheol knew that, would he ever smile at him the same?

Or would he look at Jihoon the way he looked at the demon who appeared in his basement that day?

A knocking sounded faintly, throwing Jihoon out of his worries. He shot up from the floor and snuck up the basement stairs, peering down the hall at the front door.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan never knocked…

After a moment of deafly silence, the doorbell rang, and Jihoon’s heart was racing in his chest. He stayed low, and quiet. If whoever it was thought nobody was home they would just go away, right?

“Hello!? Anyone home?”

He perked up at the familiarity of the muffled voice behind the door. Oh , Seokmin?

“It’s Seokmin! I’m coming in!”

When Jihoon heard the lock clicking, he sprinted past the entrance of the basement, into his room. Without a moment to breath, he was digging through the drawer for a hat, and stuffing his tail into his pants. Then, he was out in the hallway, huffing.

“Ah, Woozi!” Seokmin grinned at him as he kicked the door shut behind him.

He walked forward feeling justified in his anger, but the moment he spotted Seungcheol, his scowl dropped. “Wha-What the hell happened to him?”

“He’s okay, just unconscious.” Seokmin dragged him over, huffing as he dropped him down on the couch.

He crouched down, unsure hands hovering over him. “But… He was fine this morning.”

Seokmin peeked down at him, suppressing the giddy feeling that rose in his chest at seeing him after so long. He was just as... no, he was even cuter than Seokmin remembered. As usual, he wore a grey beanie over those pastel pink locks, and his clothes wore comfy and baggy; a light blue sweater and grey shorts. Unlike before, when Seokmin had pitied him for the bags under his eyes and the hallow of his cheeks, he relished in Woozi’s healthy pink complexion and shining eyes. He was absolutely Glowing.

He shook away his smile when he noticed Woozi eyeing him, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh, don’t worry. He’ll probably wake up soon.” Seokmin wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

He looked tired, which made sense. Seungcheol wasn’t exactly light... Jihoon couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, speaking up quietly. “Uh, thanks for carrying him back.”

Seokmin froze, surprised. “Wh- Huh?”

Did Woozi just Thank him?

“What, are you deaf?” He scoffed.

“N-no, it’s no problem. It wasn’t a big deal or anything.”

He looked away from Seokmin with a sheepish frown, trying to ignore the boy’s dumbfounded expression.

Staring after him with hearts in his eyes, Seokmin couldn’t help it. Woozi was really too lovely for him to handle. He swooped forward with outstretched arms, pulling him into a tight hug without a second thought.

“What the are you doing?” His arms seized at Seokmin’s side, feeling bewildered at the sudden closeness.

“I missed you.” He chuckled.

“It hasn’t been that long…”

Seokmin hugged tighter, reaching his hand up to the back of the boy’s head, pulling his face into his chest. “But it felt like an eternity to me!”

He sighed, arms falling in defeat. This guy was really ridiculous.

When Woozi had stopped fighting his approach, Seokmin’s confidence fluttered, stomach twisting nervously. He felt so soft and warm in his arms, and he smelled like pure- wait. His fingers stopped, feeling something strange as he patted his head.

What’s this hard thing under his beanie?

Before he could ask, Seokmin was being pried away from the Woozi’s embrace by strong hands. The two of them looked at Seungcheol with wide eyes.

“Uh… what’s going on?” Seungcheol retreated his hands, looking to be an odd mix of flustered and green-eyed.

“Seungcheol!” Seokmin coughed, embarrassed. “You’re up!”

“Yeah…” his eyes shifted to Woozi, who backed away from Seokmin with an embarrassed expression. Waking up to your crush and your close friend tight in embrace after hyperventilating? Not exactly the best feeling in the world.

Seokmin stepped forward, looking him over with concerned hands. “What happened? It’s unusual for a healthy boy to pass out for so long.”

He avoided his friend's eyes. Yeah, under usual circumstances. Seungcheol just didn’t know how to tell him it was due to another demon fiasco. “I think it’s cause of stress… Uh, how did I get home?”

“I drove you back. You can thank Soonyoung later for finding you.” He smiled, gesturing for Seungcheol to sit back down. “If it was anyone else, you’d probably be in a hospital by now.”

“Thanks, man…”

He felt bad for feeling jealous. He had to keep reminding himself that Seokmin was like this with everyone, there was no use in getting worked up over it... It's not like he was Woozi's boyfriend or something.

“Seungcheol, are you still feeling… sick?” Woozi questioned, eyeing him as if to ask ‘Well?? What story are we using as an excuse this time?”

“I guess I’m still... feeling a little under the weather.”

Seokmin exclaimed as if suddenly understanding. “Ah, you were sick?” He laughed out. “Oh man, when I saw you’d passed out, my first thought was that you guys had gotten into more trouble with black magic!”

Seungcheol chuckled awkwardly. “No way! It’s just been a crazy weekend. There was this feral cat, and after it attacked me I caught a fever, and Woozi- ouch!”

He held his stomach where Woozi had elbowed him, clasping his mouth shut after reading the demon's alarmed expression.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Woozi sighed. “Obviously, after the last -show, we’ve been avoiding trouble if we can help it.”

Seokmin hummed in agreeance. “Well, you should probably get some rest, anyways. Passing out like that isn’t normal, even for someone with a fever.”

“Will do! I think I’ll just take is easy for the rest of the day.” He patted his friend on the shoulder. “Thanks for bringing me back. You should probably get back to school, right?”

He wished he could will up an excuse to stay, even for just a bit longer… But he could imagine that Soonyoung was getting antsy sitting in for him about now. He shuffled towards the front door. “Do you… need me to get anything for you before I go?”

“I’m okay, Seokmin.” He chuckled. “You’ve already done enough for me. Thanks again, I'll treat you and Soonyoung to lunch later.”

"I'll look forward to it, Hyung." Seokmin smirked, leaning to the side to peer at Woozi. “Woozi! Let’s go to karaoke again soon!”

Woozi suppressed a smile, waving him off as the door shut. Once they were alone, they plopped down on the couch together, feeling equally drained.

“So what really happened?” Woozi questioned, pulling off his beanie as he settled back.

Seungcheol’s casual demeanor crumbled at the question. He faced Woozi with a frown. “It's about the guy who kidnapped you. They know he’s dead… And, I’m sure now. It was Kyungsoo.”

The demon gulped. “Are they… looking for us?”

“No, they’re not. They said it was an accidental death. They're not looking for anyone.”

“Who said?” He shifted in his seat, feeling nervous.

Seungcheol sighed. “His ‘guardians’ or whatever. At least this means the police won’t be after us, but something about this situation isn’t sitting right with me…”

His eyes shifted towards the demon, who stared back at him with a contemplative expression. The flush of his cheeks had gone down, but Seungcheol was still itching with curiosity over the scene he'd woken up to. In his head he scoffed, thinking.

Really, Woozi? Embracing another man right in front of my unconscious body?

Oblivious to his thought's, the demon questioned on. “What else did they say?”

“They gave me back my textbook… The one I’d swapped with Kyungsoo’s black magic book.” He sat back, feeling his stomache twist with dread. “And they thanked me for being his good 'friend'… But, why the do they even know who I am? We didn’t exactly have a friendly relationship! I mean, no offence, but that guy's tried to curse me multiple times.”

Seungcheol felt his head spin, breathing out to settle his aggravation. No point in getting worked up over this again.

“If they found out what happened to him… There’s no way they wouldn’t realize black magic was involved.”

He stopped his internal whining, turning back to the demon. “What… do you mean?”

“Use your brain, Seungcheol. Anyone with eyes would have noticed all the voodoo going down in that place. And there had to be plenty of lingering negative energy in the air.” Woozi his chin. “Unless they tampered with the evidence, even if they thought it was an accident, the police would have figured it out in no time.”

“So… What does that mean? You think his parents cleaned up their kids murder scene? Why would they do that?”

The demon held his tail between his hands, humming. “You said guardian’s, not parents… And if they lied about what happened, don’t you think that means they have reason to keep the truth hidden? Like, maybe Kyungsoo wasn’t the only one involved with black magic?”

Seungcheol’s eyes went wide as realization settled in. “You mean…”

“I think we know where to start with looking for the rest of those occult bastards.”

A/N: I'm back! :D