Seokmin couldn’t control the smile spreading across his face, as Seungcheol nearly slipped off his chair in a futile attempt to gain the lead. He would never admit it out loud, but he had taken the morning to practice a couple of levels before coming over. He had to ensure that Seungcheol would have his thoroughly whipped, and who could blame him? It wasn’t every day that he got the chance to beat Seungcheol at his best sport. They neared the finish of the level, and he felt completely relaxed as he swerved past obstacles and dodged through enemies. The voice-over for the game announced their approaching end and he could practically hear Seungcheol gritting his teeth in frustration. Victory tasted sweet, even if his tactics of achieving it were a couple shades too salty.

The familiar sound of a door clicking shut had Seokmin pulled out of his concentration. He peaked up from the heated game and watched with a curious gaze as footsteps approached. Jeonghan usually hung out with Joshua on the weekend, didn’t he?

He flickered his eyes back to the screen for a brief moment, to ensure he hadn’t drove off the map at his sudden loss of concentration, before looking back. A short pair of legs made their way around the corner and into his line of sight, and Seokmin found himself unable to breathe for a moment.

His mouth dropped open, and he was hardly able to care when Seungcheol began to cheer at his own unfortunate victory.

“C-coups… you didn’t tell me you had a guest over…” Seokmin felt his face flushing in embarrassment at the twist of his own nervous tongue. He couldn’t really blame himself for being a little flustered, though. The person standing before him was undoubtedly the most adorable human being he had ever set his eyes on. Just from looking at him from where he was sitting, Seokmin could tell he was short. His limbs weren’t long, and the clothes he was wearing were baggy and big on him. To top it all off, he was perfectly chubby-cheeked, with a cat-shaped mouth and round brown eyes; all of this in perfect unison with his pastel-pink hairdo.

Seokmin was in shock. Partially because the stranger in the room was undeniably adorable, but also because Seungcheol had never bothered to mention that he was acquainted with such a person.  He peeled his gaze away from the boy regrettably, and stared at his hyung for answers.

“Huh, what do you-“ Seungcheol turned away from the screen and his smile dropped the moment he spotted him. Seokmin took note of his reaction with a suspicious raise of his eyebrows. “Oh that.. that’s, I mean…”

That kind of flustered reaction was abnormal for somebody like Seungcheol. He was generally pretty neutral-headed, unless... Could he be…. Seungcheol’s boyfriend? Seokmin gulped at the thought. No, there was no way. Seungcheol was straight wasn’t he? Sure he wasn’t super open about talking about his uality, but he had only ever dated girls before, as far as he knew. Seokmin prayed internally that it wasn’t true, because he was certain that what he just experienced was love at first sight. He could still feel his heart beating unsteadily in his chest. He peeked back at the pink-haired stranger bashfully for a moment. “A friend? Why didn’t you say you had someone over, he could have joined in.” Smooth, very smooth. He smiled wide, hoping he didn’t look too desperate.

Seungcheol found himself able to breath normally again when he realized that Seokmin didn’t notice. Even if Woozi had so frustratingly come out of hiding after Seungcheol has specifically told him to stay put, at least he’d had the manners to hide his horns and tail. With those covered up… the little demon practically looked human. He could work with this, his cover wasn't blown just yet. “Woozi! This is Woozi, he’s a….” He searched Woozi’s face for the answer, but Woozi merely stared back lifelessly. Right. The spell.  “Friend! Yeah, he’s a friend. He needed a place to stay for a while, so he’s living with me and Jeonghan for a bit.”

Seokmin prevented himself from audibly sighing in relief, and opted instead for a bright smile. He stood and faced Woozi and held out a hand, hoping to god he wouldn’t notice his arm shaking in anxiety. “It’s nice to meet you Woozi, I’m Seokmin.”

Woozi held the outstretched hand without a change in expression. “Yes.”

Seokmin batted his eyes in confusion. Was he just… shy? Yeah, that was probably it. He felt himself growing nervously sweaty when Woozi kept his hand placed in his own.

The third occupant of the room watched this exchange with a nervous gaze. Seokmin wasn’t stupid; Naïve, maybe, but definitely not stupid. If Woozi continued on with this weird emotionless act he was going to catch on that something was wrong eventually.

“Hey! Woozi, aren’t you tired? Go back to bed, okay?” Good, if Woozi followed orders properly this time, then this would solve the problem. Woozi nodded and turned to leave, but Seokmin grabbed his arm to stop him, to Seungcheol’s dismay. Curse him for being so friendly.

“Wait! Why not play a round with us? Any friend of Seungcheol's is a friend of mine.” Seokmin felt his heart beat off-tune as the boy stared into his own eyes with an innocent gaze. Very smooth, could he have sounded any more desperate? “Come sit with us.”

Seungcheol’s mouth fell open when Woozi did as Seokmin said. Woozi didn’t just follow his orders but.. anyone’s? It hurt a little to realize he wasn’t special in this case as well, but inferiority complex aside, this was a huge problem. Woozi didn’t know what a telephone was, so Hell probably didn’t have any gaming counsels either. Woozi was going to ing at this, and any young man without at least a smidgen of tech savvy had to be suspicious. 

“Do you know how to play?” Seokmin’s smile beamed and Woozi stared back with a stoic frown.

“No.”

This boy was being so obvious, it hurt for him to watch the exchange.

“Here, let me show you.” Seokmin scooted closer to the shorter boy and slinked an arm over his narrow shoulders to reach the controller around him. Maybe not the most discrete move, but the close proximity to Woozi’s adorable pink hair made it all worth it. “This button here is how you move, and you use the joy stick to turn.” Seungcheol nearly scoffed as he watched the two pressed up like amateur lovers, but shook his head in an attempt to ignore his unprecedented annoyance. Seokmin was like this with everyone, it was nothing.

Woozi’s eyes followed Seokmin’s movements and took note. Seokmin only hoped to god that the boy didn’t notice the nervous shake of his wrists.

“You press this to use items, and this one will surge you forward when you have boosts in your inventory. It’s pretty simple, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Woozi held the controller firmly and placed his fingers in the proper position to play. Seungcheol passed another spare controller to Seokmin and gulped as he prepared for the next round. Hopefully Woozi was a fast learner.

He started up the new round resentfully and pressed play. He was hardly in the right mind to care for his own victory, right now all that mattered was making sure Seokmin didn’t get suspicious of Woozi acting like an inanimate object. The game began and Seungcheol felt relieved to see that Woozi had listened. He was actually pretty good, once they got things going. It ended with Seokmin in first, Woozi in second, and Seungcheol last; to his own dismay.

“Well, this has been really fun-getting my kicked and all- but I think I’m gamed out. Woozi looks pretty tired too. You should probably head home Seokmin.”

“Oh..” Seokmin looked down at the puff of pink hair sitting down next to him with a frown. “Do you… think I could sleep over? I’m too tired to walk back home.”

“You live like, a block away.”

He pressed his hands together in a pleading motion and pointed puppy eyes in his hyung’s direction. “Please?”

Seungcheol sighed. Right now he needed to be sitting down at his desk and figuring out a reversal spell for Woozi’s problem, not tending to this 21 year old baby… He supposed though, that if Seokmin was just going to sleep it wouldn’t be too much of a problem. He’d just have to be... a little bit discrete about his studying. “Fine.. But don’t stay up, though. I need to go… study, so you can’t distract me.”

“Study? That’s a load of bull-“

“Shhh, I’m serious Seokmin.” He pointed a finger to his lips with a strict expression. “My house, I control the volume level. One peep out of you and you’re back out on the streets, got it?”

“Ahh…. Okay, got it.” Seungcheol patted the boy on the back in reply, smiling kindly. “Where should I sleep?”

“Guest room, the beds already made.”

“Roger that, Coups”

 Once Seokmin began to disappear down the hall, Seungcheol kicked the black magic book out from under the bed. He held it in place under one arm, and grabbed Mr. emotionless by the hand with the other. “Come on Woozi, bed time.” Woozi trailed behind him-rather, Seungcheol dragged him- until the two of them were shut inside his room for some 'studying.'

Seokmin was halted just before the open door of his guest room, his mouth agape. Unless his vision was playing tricks on him, Seungcheol had definitely just dragged the object of his romantic fantasies by the arm into his personal bedroom.  Sure, there was a chance that they could just be studying together, but Seokmin hardly believed that excuse to begin with. Could it be that there was really something going on between the two?

The lanky boy hesitated with the doorknob in his palm. Okay, sure, Seungcheol had threatened him into going to bed, so he should really just abide by that if he was going to sleep over, but…. He was just so suspicious. He moved his hand away from the door and kept his gaze at the end of the hall, aimed towards the object of his curiosity: Seungcheol’s closed bedroom door with him and Woozi shut behind it. If he didn’t find out the truth, he would surely regret it, so he had no choice but to get to the bottom of it. He would only eavesdrop.. Coups would never know.

Seungcheol set the book down on his lap and swerved around on his desk-chair, facing the stoic demon seriously. Woozi stood where he had been left and Seungcheol really didn’t feel like scolding him for acting abnormal anymore, he knew it wasn’t really the little guys fault, he was just frustrated. He supposed going into the black magic book and trying to find the answer to this spell the same way he went after the other one would be the best move.

He flipped open the book and read through the spells as he did before. From all he had observed so far the spell he was under was mental as well. It made him follow physical and verbal orders and he didn’t seem to be able to do anything of his own consciousness unless it related to assisting the people around him. But when Seungcheol had asked him what was wrong, he didn’t say anything, so perhaps the spell prohibited him from spilling out information that could potentially break the curse? He had a lot to search for, this was probably going to be a long night. He tried not to skim through information, in case he might miss something. Now was not the time to be lazy, he should study thoroughly if he was going to save his demons sorry-.

Woozi stared down at him from where he stood, and Seungcheol felt his eye twitch in annoyance, despite his own resolve.

Seokmin pressed his ear against the door, and calmed his breathing. The sound of a textbook snapped through the crack of the door and caused the curious boy to flinch in surprise. Could they really just be studying in there?

“Get on the bed, would you?”

What.

“yes…”

No.. there’s no way..

“Quit acting all stiff and stuff, too, would you be normal for just a little while? If were going to be spending a night together like this I want it to be somewhat enjoyable.” Seungcheol chuckled half-heartedly, taking note of his own dirty joke. Woozi didn’t laugh, and Seungcheol’s expression dropped back into a serious one.

As Woozi sat down stiffly, the bed creaked, and Seungcheol clenched his fist.

“could you lie down? And close your eyes? stop looking at me like that.” Seuncheol could probably convince himself that everything was okay for a while if Woozi would just pretend to be asleep.

“Okay..” He lay down on top of the covers and shut his eyes. Okay yeah, he kind of looked like sleeping beauty stuck in her sleep coma now, but it was better than anything else, he supposed. He turned back in his desk and opened the book to the page he had left off on.

Seokmin felt his heart dropping in his chest. Had Seungcheol always been this… dominating? Woozi was too pure.. and small, and fragile, he couldn’t let this happen… But then again, it wasn’t his business at all! His hold on the doorknob softened as he felt himself hesitate in his own thoughts. He could be wrong in what he was hearing, but then again he could be completely right to intervene.

Seungcheol was his hyung, and Seokmin loved him, but everyone knew that he wasn’t the most stable of people. All of his friends had seen how dark he had grown throughout the years. With all the stress inflicted from his parents and society, they were all afraid he had been cracking under the pressure. Maybe finding a nice young boy to fool around with was his way of coping? Seokmin couldn’t allow his hyung to stoop to that level.. and Woozi didn’t deserve to be a stress ball.

The bed creaked again, significance of another weight being added. Seokmin took note of this with a sharp turn of his head. “Don’t move, this will just take a second.”

That was enough. Seokmin threw the door open, eyeing Woozi lying on the bed with his eyes shut, while the startled Seungcheol crawling on top of him lifted the end of his sweater to expose his stomach. No matter how he looked at the situation, this was definitely not studying.

“Seokmin!” Seungcheol basically fell off the bed to move himself out of the position he was in, dropping his book open on the bed in the process. Woozi remained where he lay. “This is not what it looks like. I swear.” His eyed darted to the bed nervously.

Seokmin’s fist wound up tight. “Not what it looks like? You said you were studying..” He gestured to the boy lying down on Seungcheol’s bed, his shirt bunched up to expose his chest. “That is not studying.. At least not any studying I’ve ever done.”

“No, I mean… Yeah this looks bad, but…”

Seungcheol watched Seokmin’s expression with a heavy heart. How was he supposed to explain this? Seokmin had caught him red-handed… His black magic book was clearly on his bed and open. Jeonghan had been understanding of his situation, but he was the most understanding person he knew. Seokmin was much younger, and very susceptible to the propaganda society feeds him. He was a good kid, kind, but he wouldn’t accept black magic. Not even if it was his beloved hyung who was using it.

“Are you going to explain? Because from what I can see you-“

“Ill explain!” Seungcheol looked to the floor sadly, before glancing at Woozi who remained where he was in a false slumber. He picked up the open book from the bed and handed it to Seokmin, who scanned it with a confused expression. “I know what it looks like… but the book, the book isn’t mine. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I’m not using it in the way you think I am.”

“Huh?” Seokmin scanned the open page. It described an enchantment in which the person affected became a mind slave. A fearful glance at Woozi lying passively on the bed drove his mind to more assumptions than he could handle. “You... what did you do to him?”

“He’s-” Wait, Seokmin still didn’t know that Woozi was a demon… Maybe, if anything, this could be a good thing? Except no matter how comfortable he was with lying to his parents, his friends were a whole other issue. He swallowed up his guilt with every word he spoke. “He’s under a spell… His parents sent him to stay with me because they thought I would be able to fix him. I said no at first, but because it’s black magic and they knew the regular authorities wouldn’t be able to do anything about it they begged me to… Well, needless to say they expected that with all the rumors of my skill I would have no trouble figuring out the reversal spell…. Like most people they were wrong, I’ve had no luck so far.”

Seokmin gaped. He glanced at woozi, then back to Coups’ solemn expression, then back to Woozi. The cycle continued until he managed to get a grip on everything he had just heard. “Woozi is… cursed?”

“Unfortunately… yeah.” At least that wasn’t a lie. “I’ve been trying everything I can, but it’s really difficult. I only just found what I think is the spell I’ve been looking for. The description says that the infected would have a mark on their chest like a burn in the shape of a splatter of blood. I was just checking when you walked it.”

Seokmin was speechless, mouth agape.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy for me to try something like this… but his parents are desperate, and Woozi’s really a good kid… I needed to at least try, even if I could get in trouble for it.”

“…”

“If you want to call the cops on me then so be it… I know it’s illegal, so I’d understand” God please don’t call the cops… this would be a much bigger -storm than it is already if the authorities got involved.

“I won’t call the cops.. I promise.” Seokmin fumbled with page of the book shakily. He couldn’t believe how wrong he had been, how awful he had been to make assumptions… He felt tears welling in his eyes when he looked down pitifully at the young boy lying on the bed. How selfish could he have been?

Seungcheol took note of his expression with surprise. “You won’t tell?”

“Of course I wont… I had no idea what you guys were going through. What Woozi was going through.” He forced his watery eyes back into half-crescents, and smiled brightly. “As long as I’m here I can’t let you do this alone. What can I do to help, Coups?”

“God… thank’s Seokmin.”

“Hey don’t think about it… I’m not sure how comfortable I am about using black magic, but.” The young boy on the bed remained lying there, reminiscent of sleeping beauty. Seokmin felt his sadness grow knowing the state he was in was not who he was. “I think for once, the correct thing I should do isn’t the right thing to do.” He chuckled.

The two set themselves up to in his room, huddled around the book. Seokmin sat on the bed by Woozi’s side, while Seuncheol remained in his desk chair. “here’s the spell I think he’s under.. All the effects seem to line up.”

Seokmin read through carefully, curiously. 'When the spell begins to settle in, the victim will feel an intense burning sensation throughout their entire body. Depending on the ability of the magic user responsible, the amount of time that these effects last will vary. While this process is happening, the sealing of the spell will occur and the shape of the blood formed in the flame will burn itself into the victim’s chest. Once this has occurred, the pain should eventually fade and the effects of the spell should remain permanent, with the exception of the reversal spell.' “So is the burn mark there?”

“I didn’t really get the chance to check.”

“Right..” Seokmin leaned over Woozi’s silent body and lifted the end of his sweater up further, nervously. Even if he was doing this for Woozi’s sake, he still felt erted. Past his pecks, speckles began to appear, and then large splotches were visible. They were faint, but still they were there. Perhaps the spell made the victim heal quicker than usual? Or the burns were not real and they simply faded. “I think this is it, Coups.”

Seungcheol bit his cheek to avoid telling Seokmin off. He was just helping, no matter how lewd it looked. “Yeah?” He got up to check and in the process brought Woozi’s shirt back down to a presentable position. Even if he couldn’t do anything about it now, Woozi was probably going to kill Seungcheol later for everything that had happened today. “Well that was the easy part I guess… Now we need to figure out the reversal spell.”

“You seem to know a lot about this? Pretty experienced in black magic, huh?”

Seungcheol flustered to find his words. “No! It’s just cause I-“

“I know, I know, I’m joking.” He chuckled, grinning brightly.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes before he flipped the page, sighing in disappointment. Of course, things could never be easy every time. What was meant to be a spell, was a picture of eight circles, each in a different shade of red along the page, with the outline of a human body in the background. All of them were in a line along the body, all except one in the shade of deep scarlet, placed unusually outside the pattern, at the corner of the edge of the human head,  and away from the rest.

He had no clue what any of it meant. How was he supposed to make a spell out of this? Feeling defeated, he turned the book to Seokmin. “Any idea’s as to what the this means?”

“Damn it, that’s supposed to be the answer?”

Jihoon listened hopelessly. He wished he could just open his eyes to see what they were so puzzled about, but that would also probably make him feel much worse about his situation. Now he had two people working on his case, from the sound of it, though he doubted the new helping hand was any more competent than Seungcheol. If they did manage figure it out, however, he would be beating Seungcheol to a pulp first chance he got. Then he'd thank him, that damn ert.

Seokmin stared at the page for a long time, his face concentrated intensely. “I think… I think I might know what this is!”

“What, seriously?”

The demon bit his tongue for his previous thoughts. Okay, the other head was potentially way more competent than Seungcheol. He supposed he shouldn’t criticize his intellectual skills just yet, even if he was way too handsy for the shorter boys liking.

“Don’t you remember? In Psychology last week they taught us about the origins of different types of mental magic. The clue to the reversal spell seems to be a crude rendition of the ‘eight circle model of consciousness.’ See the eight circles? It’s obvious.”

“The eight circles of what now?”

He chuckled. “You really don’t ever pay attention in class, Huh?”

“Shut up and explain.”

“yes sir. The eight circle model of consciousness is  a diagram of the different sections of the brain in order of which were formed first. First section is the completely instinctual ‘fight or flee’ section. The second is the emotional circuit of feelings, and so on. It basically maps out each section of the brain. In early magic, people used this diagram to configure spells relating to consciousness, they used it as a guide.”

Seungcheol in his cheek and nodded. Amazing, who knew the cheerful and naïve Seokmin was so smart? “oh.. So what do you think this means then?”

“It’s hard to say, honestly.” He took the book to examine it closer. “Usually the sections of the brain would be color coded, or marked with roman numerals… In this case they’re all in a row and the only differentiation is the intensity of each shade of red and the one circle out of place.”

“Maybe they’re in order that way? Like, the lightest red is one and the darkest red is eight.”

Seokmin looked up in surprise. “Actually, that’s not a bad thought!” He gazed back at the illustration with a glimmer of excitement. “If the pale red is one and the other shades lead up to eight, then number eight is the one leaving the body outline. Coups that’s it!”

“It is?”

He pointed to it for emphasis. “The eighth section is the neuro-atomic circuit. It’s basically the consciousness of the reality of dying. Something like a near-death experience awakens this section, or people are simply born with it. But from what the spell entails, it seems that it tortures the victim mentally. Maybe through this it convinces them that they’re on the brink of death, so the neuro-atomic circuit kicks in. Their consciousness attempts to leave the body and accept death, so in turn the soul will exit the mind. Something like this would should leave the body completely immobile… But then there’s also the factor of the spell which binds the victim. The circle in the diagram is exiting the mind, but it’s still in contact with it. So I guess this spell traps the user’s consciousness to the body so that it is still attached to the nervous system of the brain, but its personality and free-will are trapped outside!”

Seungcheol gaped. “Seokmin… you’re incredible.”

“I just pay attention in class, haha.”

“Shut up, you genius. From all that, do you think you know how to snap him out of it?” Knowing how the spell works helps a ton in his own understanding, but it didn’t seem to do much in terms of reversing the spell. Though at this point he supposed he should just trust Seokmin.

“I have a few idea’s, but I’m not certain it would work. I’ve studied the practice of astral projection, and in this case it would seem that the person affected would need the mental strength to project their consciousness back into their body on their own. The only thing we could really do is release the barrier that’s holding them on the border of body and space.”

Seungcheol looked down at Woozi with a frown. “Even though the spell doesn’t seem to allow him to talk about what’s happening to him, I have a feeling he can hear us. My guts telling me that he’s aware of what’s happening, he just can’t say it out loud.”

“That’s possible, definitely… But what if he isn't?”

He looked up curiously. “What if?”

“We’re going to release the spell, that’s the easy part. The problem is that we’re going to only be able to release him, and then there’s going to be nothing for him to be grounded to. If he’s not strong enough, or if he doesn’t realize what’s happening, his soul is simply going to wander away from his body. Initially, he’s just going to die. And I’m pretty sure neither of us have the capability of manipulating a soul and bind it back to its body.”

Seungcheol gulped. “If this is the only way… There’s nothing to discuss. Woozi is strong, so I think he’ll be able to do it.” He brushed his hand through the demons pink bangs and Seokmin followed the motion with his eyes. “But the state he’s in right now… leaving him this way would be a fate worse than death.”

Seokmin chuckled. “Then there’s nothing more to discuss, is there?” He stood up and clapped his hands together in resolution. “Let’s get started.”

“Not here, in the basement. I’m not letting you mess up my bedroom with dirty spells. It was just cleaned.” He lifted Woozi up into his arms with a serious expression. Yeah he could just tell the demon to walk himself, but this could be his last opportunity to carry him without protest, so he wanted to cherish it.  

Seokmin grinned and followed after him.

“Roger that, Coups.”

A/N:

So I'm back! I'm so sorry for the long wait. I've been reading all your kind words, and I recently felt inspired to start this story up again, so I'm finally taking it off hiatus. I hope you enjoy this chapter, you all have been very patient and I'm really grateful for the support, thank you <333.