“!”

That only starts the tirade of curses and expletives that came out of Kyungsoo as he saw Chanyeol’s pad empty and in the messiest state that he has ever seen. He shouldn’t have reacted that severely because of the mess as the human has always been uncaring for the state of his house but the clear evidence of someone breaking in using Magic is what has Kyungsoo overturning the place even more to check his suspicions, also wishing that he is wrong.

He wanted to say I told you so to the too curious giant oaf, along with a few more curses to prove his point. He knew that one way or another, his meddling with witchcraft will bite him so hard in the . There is a reason why Witch Hunters existed and yet, there is no Chanyeol there for him to scold at.

“ing idiot! How am I supposed to save his skinny now?!”

The Witch Hunter ranted to himself, plopping down on Chanyeol’s leather sofa that’s still thankfully intact. If he is to look for Chanyeol, he would need information to start with. The problem is, even if Kyungsoo is a Hunter, he isn’t one for getting intel. He could Hunt even without doing much effort. Call it instincts or what not but he always knows when those sneaky witches are around and about to wreck havoc. And the so called instincts is telling him to swallow his pride.

But he will not lose that easily. He has survived half a millennium keeping to himself and doing his Hunting his own way and so he searches for Chanyeol’s phone. The human won’t be able to live without his phone because that is where he keeps his accounts on a handful of archives where he is keeping his research materials. He said that keeping things digital isn’t that popular among the Witch folk because of they are advocates of nature and blah blah blah.

Turns out that Chanyeol is onto something on that because Kyungsoo was able to locate the said phone by using his own. The obnoxious ringtone the human reserved for his Witch Hunter BFF blared from Chanyeol’s room. Kyungsoo rushed to where the sound is coming from. The screen is lit up and showing a picture of Kyungsoo that he didn’t consent on being taken. With a slight grimace at his ugly face staring at him, the Hunter ended the call from his phone and swiped Chanyeol’s screen to get rid of his face and so that he could pry into the device.

The phone has asked for a fingerprint to unlock and Kyungsoo presented his thumb on the home button, swiping it with familiarity. The wallpaper that welcomed him is a picture of Chanyeol and another person that is not Kyungsoo. The subtle tattoo that was disguised as an elaborate line from an eyeliner that ran on the edge of the person’s eyelid and followed a swirly pattern instead of a simple wing at the person’s eye corner.

Kyungsoo groaned. Of course, Chanyeol will get himself involved in witches the moment Kyungsoo turns his back on him. It wasn’t even three months that he was gone and there was this stupid human, talking selfies with a male witch that looks suspiciously like Chanyeol’s type. Petite and with a unique smile. How did Kyungsoo know? Aside from knowing Chanyeol for years, they were able to meet because Chanyeol tried to hit on Kyungsoo but he got his sorry bottom handed back to him with a punch on his gut and a kick to his long shins.

“I’m not going emotional over that idiot,” Kyungsoo mumbles to himself as he scanned the messages app and tries to keep his eyes from stinging. He may deny Chanyeol’s real importance to his life because even he himself isn’t sure how deep has the human rooted himself into Kyungsoo’s life.

But he questions that when he has gotten into the thread under the contact name Baekkieboo. Kyungsoo thanks himself that he has never felt any romantic attraction for Chanyeol because he is downright embarrassing. The thread is filled with too many unnecessary emojis and puke inducing pick up lines. Whoever this Baekkieboo is sure has a strong stomach to be able to accept all these.

He decides, without finishing the whole message thread, that he needed to find this Baekkieboo person (or witch) if he wants to know what Chanyeol could’ve exactly done to get himself kidnapped by a witch. He dials the number without any further thought and the other line rang for a few seconds before a chirpy and bubbly voice answered the call with a happy Channiebae! Did you miss me? Coz I did! Very, very, very much!

Well, they certainly are made for each other. Stupid Chanyeol, finding his soulmate among the witches.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Baekkieboo, but your boyfriend is missing and he’s most likely kidnapped by your… kind,” Kyungsoo tried his best to keep his sneer to himself. This is the only lead that he has into finding his friend and it won’t do him good to lose this.

“What?! Oh my god! Are you sure? Isn’t he just under his bed, or inside his cupboard looking for a book? Oh, wait. You sound mad, like you sound mad at me and I don’t even know you yet you know Channie. Ohh! You are the Witch Hunter bestfriend! You’re Kyungsoo, right? Right? Oh dear. We need to find Chanyeol! Please, please help me find Channie. Please, Kyungsoo! Can you meet me in Bewitched in half an hour? Okay, I need to get ready to meet you there. Please don’t kill me and my friends there. I promise we will not do anything bad! Just plan on how to find Channie. Don’t worry, I’ll find you there because Channie has shown me a lot of your pictures so I will find you. See you Kyungsoo!”

The Witch Hunter isn’t sure what has happened as he gawked at the black screen of Chanyeol’s phone. That one-sided conversation took time to sink into his consciousness and when it did, a new round of ing s and ing ers flew from his mouth. Now, he is to go to the most witch-infested place in town.

Chanyeol is so going to owe him for this. Big time.

If Chanyeol hasn’t been a big part of what has keeping him grounded and sane in this generation, Kyungsoo would’ve left his to rot wherever he is. If not for Chanyeol, he would’ve let himself get battered with every Hunt that he goes to in hopes that it will finally kill him and he would’ve still be grappling for any purpose of his unwanted eternal life. After meeting Chanyeol and the human insisting on wiggling into his lonely life, somehow, he’s able to break out of the image that he has built for himself.

Being the Red Hunter has had it’s perks but it has also alienated him from the rest of the world. The witches tremble even from hearing his name but then the humans, who he has been saving and doing a favor for getting rid of those witches, also views him with fear and does their best to get out of his way, not wanting to risk getting in the way of his wrath. And add to that the never aging and the immortality, it’s like there are witches, the humans and then Kyungsoo. Him being like a whole race of his own brought him solace.

Convenient, at f