While Jongdae is still in a shell-shocked state, Baekhyun has moved on from the blow and has rushed off. Mr. Yang glances at Jongdae awkwardly before the student is off as well, sprinting after his friend. He hurries through the troubled crowd Baekhyun has left behind, pushing through the muttering students. Baekhyun is a lot faster than him, so fast that he eventually fades out of view. When Jongdae finally arrives at the infirmary, the heavy doors have just closed.

Pushing the doors back open in urgency, Jongdae’s eyes only have to search for a second before they fall on Kyungsoo. Several wires are hooked to his arms, nose, and chest. His face is paler than usual, drained of any usual bloodstream. This kind of lifeless appearance on Kyungsoo affects Jongdae strongly. Kyungsoo may not be the warmest guy, but he never looks this… dead. Jongdae swallows thickly, eyes falling to the collapsed figure by the side of Kyungsoo’s bed. Baekhyun is shaking. His fists are clenched in the white sheets, pulling on the fabric as if he’s holding on for dear life.

Jongdae struggles to make way to his friends. His body feels heavier with every step, as if his bones and organs have turned to concrete. He sinks through his knees next to Baekhyun, wrapping an arm around him. It makes his friend look up, and Jongdae feels his heart drop at the sight of Baekhyun’s tearful face. His eyes are hazy and red around the rims, his cheeks are stained with tear tracks, and his lip is trembling.

Jongdae can’t take the sight of his friends like this. Baekhyun never cries. With a shaky intake of breath, Jongdae gets back up, gazing one last time at Kyungsoo’s barren face before turning around. The nurse is watching them from a short distance. Her eyes are dull when she locks her with Jongdae’s.

“Could we have some water?” Jongdae croaks.

“Of course,” she complies, whispering.

During the time that the nurse retrieves said water, Jongdae doesn’t find the strength to look back to his friends. The earlier look on Baekhyun’s face has left him constricted, unable to breathe, so he doesn’t dare to face it again. By the time the nurse hands him the glasses of water, Baekhyun has become audible. The choked sobs and sniffles resounds painfully in Jongdae’s ear as he sets one of the glasses down on the nightstand. The other one he finishes in a long swig to keep the tears down, setting it on the nightstand as well.

A silence falls. It only lasts shortly because the doors open, this time with a distressed Joonmyun coming through. He gasps softly when his eyes fall on Kyungsoo. With a sympathetic look, he shuffles over to Jongdae and holds him by the shoulder.

“Why…” Baekhyun moans against the bed. “Why did they attack Kyungsoo? What happened?”

The nurse purses her lips, hesitant to tell. “His absence was noticed when the teacher took attendance in class. We found him like this in the snow. He has some internal organ damage and is drained from blood. He won’t die… but he won’t be waking up for a few days.”

The relief of Kyungsoo not dying lifts a tiny weight off Jongdae’s shoulders, but to know Kyungsoo went through the same thing as he did –though to a more severe degree– makes the tears flow down his cheeks. Baekhyun sobs against the comforter as well, grabbing Kyungsoo’s cold, limp hand. Jongdae wants to hold on to Kyungsoo too, but just as he reaches out, Joonmyun pulls him back into his embrace. The arms feel foreign around him, the way Joonmyun holds him is so different than what he is used to – so much tighter. The warmth, however, is more than familiar, and Jongdae welcomes it, letting himself drown in it. His tears keep on flowing and he’s sure a sob or two slipped past his lips, but he pays attention to none of that as Joonmyun catches his sadness and washes it all away with his fingers, softly carding them through Jongdae’s hair.

When Jongdae feels okay again, he slowly backs out of the embrace. Joonmyun’s eyes are still filled with concern, so Jongdae gives him a small smile.

“Sorry for crying on you,” he whispers.

“That’s okay,” Joonmyun replies. A soft smile appears on his lips and Jongdae swears he feels his heart skip a beat.
Jongdae turns back to his friends, ready to face them after relieving his tears. Baekhyun has taken a seat on the bed, pushing Kyungsoo’s short fringe out of his face.

“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks, putting his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“How could they do this to him?” Baekhyun utters, tears glistening in his eyes. “Anyone but Kyungsoo… anyone…”
Jongdae sits down next to his friend and slings an arm around him. “It’ll be okay. Kyungsoo will be okay.”

“How did this happen?” Baekhyun asks, rasping through the words. “I thought the force fields were fixed? Didn’t they fix them after those girls got attacked?” Baekhyun gazes at Joonmyun for answers on that one.

“There is an inside force,” Joonmyun answers carefully. “We believe it is the same person who created the marks. The force fields… a very powerful wizard is deflecting them momentarily so nymphs can sneak in, or so I’ve heard.”

“What a ed up thing to do,” Baekhyun commentates hoarsely.

Joonmyun ignores the foul language, agreeing with Baekhyun instead. “Taking advantage of our trust like that… despicable.”

A silence falls. Jongdae gazes over Kyungsoo’s face, finding comfort in reminding himself that Kyungsoo won’t be taken from them. Baekhyun is playing with the fingers of Kyungsoo’s hand, cupping and them as if it was the last time he’d ever touch them.

After a while, Joonmyun gets up. “I should go back to class now. I already informed the office of your absence so you won’t need to worry about that.”

“Thanks, Joonmyun.” Jongdae says with genuine feelings. “I appreciate it a lot.”

A pretty blush appears on Joonmyun’s cheeks as he smiles. “No problem,” he replies, so soft Jongdae could barely hear it. “Take care of yourselves,” is the last thing he says before leaving.

“He’s been… nice lately,” Baekhyun commentates as the doors close.

“We’re all going through hard times right now.”

---

Jongdae doesn’t sleep well that night. His worry for Kyungsoo’s health keeps him awake, and Baekhyun’s absence doesn’t help either. Baekhyun hasn’t left Kyungsoo’s side at all, refusing to leave his friend alone. While it isn’t rare for Baekhyun’s bed to be empty, knowing that he’s feeling so awful and not being able to do anything about it plagues Jongdae.

Staring at Baekhyun’s strewn comforter doesn’t help either.

With a sigh, Jongdae throws his blanket off. He tiptoes through the mess on the floor, hoping his limited sight won’t let him set his foot in any leftover food. When he successfully makes it through the door without tripping, he turns on the lights. It’s way too bright for someone who has been lying in the dark for quite a while. He blinks rapidly until his sight is adjusted to the horrible fluorescent light.

The mess in the room is depressing, so Jongdae decides to at least wash their clothes and maybe take a shower. He tries his hardest not to breathe in when he collects the odor-rich clothing, and refuses to hold his nose above the basket when he’s taking it down the hall. After leaving his clothes in the washing machine, Jongdae returns to his room to gather the proper items for a shower. No one is in the bathroom at this hour, which is quite strange. It may be late, but since all students are to be in the dorm at all times now you’d expect there to be at least a singular person. Jongdae shrugs it off and proceeds to take a shower.

The moment he pushes the door open, he sees a familiar figure over by the sinks. Their eyes meet in the reflection of the mirror and Jongdae’s eyes widen in recognition.

“What are you doing here?” Jongdae asks. “Shouldn’t you be patrolling with Joonmyun?”

Minseok’s face remains blank for a strange number of seconds before he smirks. “Joonmyun is asleep. We’re no longer allowed to do late night patrolling.”

“Really? That’s strange.” Jongdae frowns. “The other night he totally caught us. It was a lot later than it is now.”

“Oh, that.” Minseok recalls with a chuckle. “Joonmyun told me about all the things you did. The things you’re doing.”

“You mean the sneaking out?”

“Not just that. The research stuff as well. About the nymphs and stuff,” Minseok fills in, turning around so they face each other directly. He crosses his arms over his chest and Jongdae only now sees how much muscle the guy has. “You know, I actually know a thing or two about nymphs. And about Luhan.”

“Luhan?” Jongdae gasps. “You know him?”

“Not personally, of course. But I know a thing or two. For a fact, I know he’s planning an attack on this school.”

“Well, that’s already obvious.”

“Yeah, but he’s leading some kind of rebellion. That speech you saw in town is part of his preparation. He’s gathering all those nymphs close by the school and riles them up so he can invoke premature attacks. Those attacks we’re getting right now… I’m afraid it’s just a small part of what he has in store.”

“How do you know all this?” Jongdae asks, both bewildered and horrified.

“A source,” Minseok answers with a small smile. “A secret one.”

“Do you know who the necromancer is as well?”

“If I had known this school would be safe already. Anyway, you know nymphs are quite lively beings, right? As in, anything that has energy is strength to them.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae answers with a frown. “What about it?”

“Think about it,” Minseok tells him, pointing at his head. “You’re half of a demon. A trained demon can extract the life out of something. the life out of a flower, for example. You can use this to your advantage.”

“You mean… kill?”

“Well, that’s a bit far-fetched.” Minseok says with a laugh. “I mean, more like drain them until they have no power left. That sort of thing. Even a half-blood could learn something like that.”

“But how would I train that? The school would never approve, and I can’t possibly find a teacher with these strict rules.”

“I’ll ask around for you,” Minseok promises.

“I would appreciate that.”

They bid goodbye and Jongdae finally gets to the task of drying his hair. While he looks in the mirror, the conversation makes him remember the time his eyes glowed when it was in touch with the mark. He’s never been very in touch with his demon side, having it always deemed risky as everyone told him it could make him evil. Jongdae never believed it when he was younger because his father was a good man, but as the years went by and everyone around him said so, he started to believe it. Now he’s doubting it again. If his father didn’t turn evil and Jongdae only has half of that demon blood, how bad can it be?

Jongdae thinks about how much he could help this school if he was in touch with his demon side and is immediately convinced. Besides, suppressing a part of yourself is always a bad idea.

---

In the moment Kyungsoo wakes up, Baekhyun has just left. To be fair, Baekhyun has left the infirmary after the persistency of the nurse a few times, but right at this moment is just extremely poor timing. Prior to his exit, Baekhyun announced he was going to be doing a number two, to which Jongdae shooed him away with a grimace. Baekhyun then laughed, which was both a pleasant sight and sound.

Jongdae is now faced with forever pale Kyungsoo, who is blinking in confusion.

“Kyungsoo!” He yells out happily.

“What happen—oh Jesus my back.” Kyungsoo groans as he tries to sit up, helplessly falling back on the bed.

Jongdae’s face is struck with concern. “Should I call the nurse?”

“Please,” Kyungsoo gasps.

The nurse is checking his vitals within minutes, persisting Kyungsoo to stay down in bed. Jongdae watches closely over his friend the entire time, feeling as if Kyungsoo will slip back into a deep sleep if he looks away.

“You’re being creepy,” Kyungsoo commentates after a while.

“I know,” Jongdae replies with a grin. “I’m just happy to see you awake.”

“How long was I out for?” Kyungsoo asks groggily.

“About two weeks,” Jongdae answers a little more grimly. Kyungsoo heaves a deep sigh at that. “Baekhyun totally freaked out.”

Kyungsoo stiffens at the mention of Baekhyun, which makes Jongdae smirk to himself.

“He cried at your bedside and didn’t leave it for twenty-four hours. Then the nurse insisted he had to take care of himself and now he only leaves when he needs to pee or eat.”

“What is he doing right now?”

“I just told you, he only leaves when he needs to pee or—wait. He’s actually pooping right now.” Jongdae tells him with a smirk.

“Pooping? Christ, I really didn’t need to know that.”

Jongdae laughs. “You asked!”

Kyungsoo grumbles in defeat over that.

“He’s going to be so mad when he finds out I was there when you woke up and he wasn’t.” Jongdae shares with a wicked grin, whipping out his phone to text his friend. “I’m still amazed the force fields didn’t block the cellphone signal.”

“Well, they don’t block out nymphs either so I’m not surprised.”

Jongdae purses his lips at that. He puts his phone back after finishing his text and gives Kyungsoo a serious look. “What happened, Kyungsoo?” he asks softly, “When you were attacked.”

“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I just… I got separated from the group and then everything went black.”

“No pain?”

“Only now.”

Jongdae sighs in relief. “Thank god. I would’ve felt terrible if you went through the same thing as I did.”

“Is the attack still haunting you?” Kyungsoo asks after a silence, genuine worry in his eyes.

“Sometimes. It’s more that I fear that it’ll happen to you, or Baekhyun… or just any of us.” Kyungsoo gives him a sympathetic look. “Anyway, let me ask Baekhyun what the hell he’s doing. No one takes a for that long.”

Jongdae sends another urgent text to Baekhyun and tells Kyungsoo about his wish to be in touch with his demon side.

After a strangely long while, Baekhyun comes storming in. Jongdae and Kyungsoo were so engaged in their conversation they had totally forgotten about him. Baekhyun sprints towards his friend with the widest grin imaginable. Jongdae thinks he’s going for a suffocating hug, maybe some happiness sobbing, but Baekhyun surprises both of them by plopping a takeout box on Kyungsoo’s lap.

“I figured you would be hungry,” he elaborates with a cheeky grin. “Spaghetti Bolognese made by your best friend.”

Kyungsoo gives him an incredulous look before shaking his head. “You are so crazy,” he mutters, grabbing the fork to twirl some spaghetti. “But I am hungry.”

Baekhyun has a dangerous glint in his eyes, one that Jongdae only deciphers when Kyungsoo has already downed a bite.

“Really, Baekhyun?” Jongdae asks, sighing.

Kyungsoo drops the fork back in the box, furiously grabbing onto the comforter. “You er,” he hisses at Baekhyun, tears already beginning to form in his eyes.

Baekhyun shatters, his laughter blowing up the room. “I-is the garlic too sp-spicy?” Baekhyun asks, barely able to contain himself.

“I just woke up from a coma, !” is the last thing Kyungsoo yells before his tongue swells up and becomes unable to speak.

Thankfully, Baekhyun didn’t put a lethal amount of garlic in the spaghetti this time, but it still made Kyungsoo and the nurse pretty angry. In a way, Jongdae is grateful for Baekhyun handling the situation like this because they were able to laugh about it afterwards – and it was a very Baekhyun thing to do. Plus, emotional reconciliations aren’t really their thing.

---

A/N: well that was awful.
sorry my precious readers :C
gotta admit tho, i love the little garlic gimmick lol

anyways, i hope you enjoyed! the next couple of chapters will be REALLY exciting, and im not going tell you why!!! ........but i might if u comment since i cant resist reader love lol
that aside, thank you for subbing, voting and especially commenting!!!
kisses to u all and see u in da next chap :D