“Minhyuk? Minhyuk?”

Slowly Kihyun's worried voice pulled Minhyuk out of his thoughts and back to where he was kneeling on the cold kitchen floor. He felt Kihyun's hands rub soothing circles on his back and caress his hair gently.

“H-he is gone… I…”, Minhyuk stuttered and he wasn't exactly sure what he was trying to say. His hands were wildly gesturing and his breathing shallow and way too fast. He couldn't believe what he had just seen and his mind did everything to deny the fact that Hyungwon had just vanished from right in front of him.

“Just calm down, Minhyuk. Breathe, okay? Your face is turning a weird colour already”, Kihyun said and Minhyuk nodded.

“Get him some water”, Kihyun instructed Changkyun and continued to rub Minhyuk's back until the maknae came back. He held the glass up to Minhyuk's lips as the older boy's fingers were shaking too much to be able to hold the glass himself. Minhyuk took a small sip and coughed violently as he tried to swallow at the same time as he took another shallow breath.

Kihyun hit him on the back a few times. “Don't choke. The water is supposed to help you.”

Minhyuk nodded again and took another sip, concentrating on the cool liquid flowing down his throat.

“Let's go into the living room, okay?”, Kihyun suggested after a while and without waiting for an answer he helped Minhyuk to his feet and guided him to the couch in the living room. Minhyuk stopped in his step when he saw the piece of furniture on which he had spent the past few nights side by side with Hyungwon and his eyes welled up with tears.

“I… he just disappeared. He just disappeared. Gone. Just like that”, Minhyuk mumbled and his breathing hitched in his throat again.

“Sh Minhyuk, let's sit down. Okay? And then you can tell me what happened”, Kihyun said gently, pulled Minhyuk the last few steps towards the couch and pushed him down onto it. Minhyuk let his fingers run over the soft material of the cushions in search for someone who wasn't there.

“Hyungwon. Hyungwon-ah. I'm sorry. I love you. Hyungwon!”, he muttered and the pain he felt was audible in his voice. He felt Kihyun's arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders and struggled against the boy. Those weren't the arms he wanted to be in, that wasn't the scent he wanted to smell. Kihyun was not Hyungwon. Why was he not Hyungwon? Where was he? He kept on trying to push Kihyun away but the younger one was persistent so after a short moment Minhyuk ended up sobbing with his face buried in Kihyun's shoulder.

“Hyungwon…”, Minhyuk mumbled and curled his fingers into the fabric of Kihyun's shirt urging him to hug him tighter.

“Shh Minhyuk, it's going to be alright”, Kihyun cooed and slowly he felt Minhyuk's body relax in his arms, his strained muscles and mind succumbing to exhaustion. He stayed wrapped up in Kihyun's arms for another moment before he pushed away a little bit but still leaning his head against the other boy's shoulder.

“Will you tell me what happened?”, Kihyun asked carefully and squeezed Minhyuk's hand encouragingly. The older boy took a deep breath before he started to recall what happened.

“Hyungwon was sitting next to me in the kitchen”, he began and his voice broke a couple of times, “we were talking about uh me becoming a werewolf and I… I told him to stay away from me because it's not safe.”

There was a pause after that and Minhyuk was thankful that Kihyun didn't push him but remain silent and gave him the time he needed to find the words.

“He told me that he loved me and then he just disappeared. His body got all blurry as if… as if it was just a uh projection and… he…” Minhyuk's voice was drowned out by the lump that was forming in his throat. Kihyun pulled him closer again and Minhyuk didn't fight it. It was the wrong shoulder he was leaning on but it was still giving him the kind of comfortable warmth that he was looking for.

“He just simply vanished after saying I love you?”, Kihyun asked and Minhyuk nodded. The younger boy exchanged silent glances with his boyfriend who was sitting on the other end of the couch and mouthed the word 'curse'. Kihyun nodded. It was exactly what he was thinking of.

“We'll uh ask Mr Wang for help as soon as he comes back, Minhyuk. Maybe h knows something about this and how to get Hyungwon back”, Kihyun suggested , that being the only possibility he could think of.

Minhyuk raised his head from Kihyun's shoulder and looked at him out of puffy eyes. “You don't think that he is dead?”

Kihyun raised his shoulder. “I don't know. And as long as we don't know for sure, we should not jump to the hasty conclusion that he is dead. Maybe he isn't and if he isn't then there must be a way to find him and bring him back”, he assured but Minhyuk's eyes were still sad.

“Kihyun?”

“Yes?”

“That's not all that happened”, Minhyuk admitted hesitantly and gnawed on his bottom lip.

“Then, what else happened?”

Minhyuk freed himself from Kihyun's embrace, suddenly not feeling worthy and deserving of its comfort any more.

“He said that he wouldn't leave me alone even if it would be dangerous for him to stay with me. So I… I hurt him”, Minhyuk said quietly with his head hanging low, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill, “I told him that I hated him now and that I didn't want him here. And when he said that he loved me, all I said was that I didn't… that… I didn't want his l-love.”

Immediately he felt Kihyun's arms around his shoulders again and Changkyun joining the hug from his other side. They smothered him between their bodies, trying to make him feel a little bit better.

“I'm sure that he knew that you didn't mean it like that”, Kihyun reassured and guided Minhyuk's head back to his shoulder, “He knows that you love him and that you only said that to keep him safe. You were only thinking about his safety.”

“But that doesn't make it okay. I shouldn't have said that. I should have never said that to him”, Minhyuk muttered, “What if I never get a chance to take it back and make everything right again?”

“Don't talk like that, Minhyuk”, Kihyun scolded him in a soft voice, “He's somewhere, alive and unharmed. And we will find him and bring him back so that you can say the right words. Okay?”

Minhyuk nodded reluctantly.

Kihyun hugged him tightly again and then turned his head towards the maknae. “Do you know where Jackson went off to?”

Changkyun raised his shoulders and shook his head.

“Can you call him, please? And try calling Hyunwoo too. And where did Jooheon go?”

“I have no idea hyung. I'll try to call them”, Changkyun agreed and left the living room to make the calls.

**

Jooheon was following Jackson at Mark at some distance and tried his best not to loose them. He hurried down a street, turned around a corner and found himself at the entrance of a narrow and deserted alleyway that was filled with dumpsters, ladders from fire escapes and an old broken down car with shattered windows and Jooheon immediately decided that this was one of his least favourite places to be. He made a few insecure steps further into the alleyway, trying to see something but there were no street lamps there and the darkness of the night swallowed everything that was too far away from him. Jackson's head start hadn't been that big but Jooheon couldn't see him anywhere yet he was sure that he had seen the two boys turn around this corner. Jooheon's head snapped to one side when he heard a sudden noise only to realize that it had been a cat jumping from one of the fire escapes onto a dumpster and then ran away.

“Jackson?”, Jooheon whispered into the darkness but there was no response. His heartbeat quickened as he took another few steps forward, the silhouette of the car right beside him looking more like the skeleton of a monster than just the lifeless metal shell that it was. Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to follow the other two. It probably would have been better if he had just stayed with Kihyun and Changkyun. But he didn't want to turn back now, not to mention that he was completely lost in this part of the city anyway.

“Jackson?”, he said again this time a little louder and he heard a noise in response coming from somewhere in front of him. A few moments later he saw his boyfriend hurrying towards him.

“Jooheon? What are you doing here?”, Jackson asked and without waiting for a reply he started pulling Jooheon back towards the broad and still busy street. “You shouldn't be here.”

“And what are you doing here?”, Jooheon asked and struggled against Jackson, finally managing to rip his arm away from the other one's grip.

“Jooheon…”

“No. You just left with Mark without even saying a word and I'm supposed to be okay with it? I am not, Jackson!”, Jooheon snapped and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Do you know that you look rather cute with that giant pout on your face?”, Jackson asked teasingly and grinned but Jooheon just rolled his eyes.

“Don't try to change the subject, Jackson”, he said shortly.

Jackson sighed. “Jooheon, are you jealous? Because if you are I can assure you that there is nothing, absolutely nothing going on between Mark and I any more. We broke up years ago.”

“You- wait what? You two were dating?”, Jooheon said with a baffled look on his face while he felt a little uncomfortable as he realized that he was in fact quite jealous.

“Yes… you didn't know? I thought I had told you about that some time”, Jackson stammered.

“No, you did not tell me about that”, Jooheon hissed and then shook his head. He didn't want to know more about that right now, what he wanted to know was where Jackson was going. “Then why are you here? What are you going to do, huh?”, he asked and stared at Jackson.

“We'll be back in the morning, Jooheoney. Don't worry and just go back to Hyunwoo's place, okay? I swear, I'm not cheating on you.”

“Jackson. I got the door open. Are you coming?”, Mark's voice sounded from somewhere in the back of the alleyway causing Jooheon to narrow his eyes at his boyfriend.

“Where do you two plan to go?”

“Jooheoney…”, Jackson whined but the younger boy was too determined to get an answer so Jackson sighed again.

“We are going to the Magic World. Don't freak out please, okay? We'll be back in the morning.”

“Why on earth would you go to that place? What could you possibly want there?”, Jooheon asked, shaking slightly at the memory of that world.

“I…” Jackson's explanation got interrupted by the ringtone of his cell phone. He frowned at the display and slipped the phone back into his pocket after declining the call.

“Look Jooheon…” Again his sentence was cut off by the sound of a cell phone. This time it was Jooheon's.

“Yeah? What do you want, Changkyun?”, he said as he answered the phone and grabbed Jackson's arm to keep him from slipping away. “Yeah, Jackson is with me… we are kind of busy but we'll be back in the morning… WHAT? Hyungwon? How? I mean… yes sure, wait I'll ask him.”

Jooheon covered the speaker of the phone with one hand and turned to Jackson.

“Hyungwon disappeared. Minhyuk and him had some kind of a fight and he said that he loved Minhyuk and then he just disappeared. Do you know what happened?”

Jackson's eyes widened as he listened to Jooheon's recap and he hurried back into the alleyway towards where Mark was waiting, pulling Jooheon with him.

“Just tell Changkyun that I'll ask my dad about it and that he shouldn't worry too much.”

Jooheon nodded and told Changkyun when Jackson grabbed the phone from him. “And whatever you do, do not let Minhyuk out of your sight. I'm sorry maknae, but we are in a hurry. We'll see you in the morning”, he said and ended the call.

“Jackson. Do you mind explaining yourself?”, Jooheon shouted and ran after his boyfriend who had wriggled himself out of Jooheon's grip and hurried over to Mark. He turned around when he heard Jooheon following him and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking into his eyes pleadingly.

“Jooheon, listen to me. I want you to go to either Hyunwoo's place or my place and stay there”, he said firmly.

Jooheon just nodded, confused by Jackson's sudden change of behaviour. “Why? What happened to Hyungwon? Do you know?”

“The Sect got their hands on a wizard and cast a new curse. That's my bet. I'll explain this to you later but right now Mark and I have to go to the Magic World to find my father, okay?”

“But you said that your father was just out of town.”

“Well, I lied”, Jackson said shortly and pushed Jooheon gently towards the entrance of the alleyway before turning around to where Mark was standing in front of a portal that looked very similar to the one in the church.

“Jackson, wait”, Jooheon shouted but it was already too late, the two boys had quickly stepped through the portal which was already beginning to seal. He wasn't going to let Jackson get away like that though so he sprinted towards the thinning purple line in the wall and to his own surprise stumbled through it right before the portal closed.

**

Hyungwon opened his eyes slowly. He was laying on a hard surface in the middle of a boring and dark room, the space between the stone walls only slightly illuminated by two torches placed to either side of a black iron door. It looked like a prison cell to him or a room in a mental asylum. The thought was only encouraged when he found himself unable to move as he was chained to the hard bed he was laying on, his arms caught in a straitjacket. He tried to struggle against it but that was useless, it only made his aching muscles hurt a little more so he sighed in frustration and looked around again, in hopes to figure out where he was. His thoughts wandered back to his last memories. The memories of the fight he had had with Minhyuk and it tore at his heart when he heard Minhyuk's voice again as if he was standing right next to him.

'I don't want your love, Hyungwon!'

A tear appeared in his eye and he hastily tried to blink it away. Minhyuk hadn't meant that, right? He had just said that because he was so upset over becoming a werewolf.

“Yes, that's it”, Hyungwon whispered to himself, “he didn't mean it like that. He loves me.”

“Who loves you?” A sharp high pitched voice cut through the air and made Hyungwon jerk a little although most of the movement was restricted by the chains and the jacket. He hadn't noticed the door opening and closing -and maybe it hadn't?- but now at the foot of the bed stood a figure watching him attentively. The figure was wearing a long red robe matching its uncombed red hair, its sparkling green eyes were slightly crossed and positioned a little too close to the crooked nose which gave it a shocking resemblance with a vulture.

“Hello Hyungwon. You are finally awake”, it said and ruffled its hair, messing it up even further and for a short moment revealed two small horns that were growing on its forehead. Hyungwon gulped at the sight and his heartbeat quickened.

“Where am I?”, he asked, trying to suppress his nervousness.

“Hmmm”, the figure rubbed its chin and came a little closer to sit on the mattress beside Hyungwon's legs, “Well, technically we are in the underworld.”

Hyungwon stared at the red haired creature for a moment. “So I'm dead”, he stated as if it was a matter of fact and a moment later he started to panic. If he was really dead then he would never see Minhyuk again, Minhyuk would never have the chance to take his words back and he would never know that Hyungwon had forgiven him. Hyungwon pressed his eyes shut and shook his head as if that would change his reality but the mattress under his body was still the same. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be dead. He had to talk to Minhyuk again… he had to… he missed him.

“No look”, Hyungwon said, “I can't be dead. I was really healthy and nothing happened. Not really anyway. Why would I be dead? I am not. I'm alive and I probably just fainted and I'll wake up in a second. You are just a bad dream.”

The figure chuckled. “No, I'm not really a bad dream. I'm a demon. Although that kinda makes me a lot of people's nightmare.”

Hyungwon stared at the demon with wide eyes. “No, I'm not dead. I can't be. It doesn't make sense”, he murmured.

“You are going through the five stages of being dead. Denial would be the first”, the demon said and sighed, “but yeah, technically you are right. You aren't dead. But you are trapped here until you die and when you do you will stay here so you might as well just think of yourself as already dead.”

“Why?”, Hyungwon asked, “Why am I trapped here?”

“Because you said the forbidden words.”

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