It wasn’t long before we were on the road again. After all, there really wasn’t much to pack up, considering that all of our stuff had suddenly disappeared earlier. Honestly, I don’t know how Jasmine’s spell book vanished and how all of our supplies went missing, I know for sure it wasn’t me. It’s strange. I mean, Youngjae and jasmine are the mages, there’s no way anyone else could have had their hands on those things. They’re the only ones who knew where it was and could bring it back with just the flick of the wrist.

I’m not suspicious of them! Of course not! That just means that maybe we are being watched by someone. “Man, what are you thinking about so hard?” Jongup questioned, popping my thinking bubble. “Nothing.” I said giving up. Jongup just smiled. “Because unfortunately for you, there’s no fruit around for me to throw at you.” He said, hanging on my shoulder.

“Dang it.” I said sarcastically. “I know~ Right?” He played along. I chuckled slightly, shaking my head. “So…how are you and Himchan?” I asked curiously, changing the subject. A smirk pried the younger’s lips. “Oh, it’s nice.” He simply said. He was never a man of much words. That’s why I wasn’t surprised with his response. “And nice is?” I urged.

“Good, interesting…whatever the definition of nice is.” He smirked at me. I scowled a little. I was honestly, truly interested in their relationship. I didn’t bother asking Himchan, because he’d just get embarrassed and not say anything or scold at me with a red face. Jongup wasn’t any better, with his games.

Matter of fact, Himchan would be better to ask, so at least I could gain some clues by his reaction, but Jongup…he’s always the same. “I shouldn’t have asked you.” I remarked. He just smiled cheekily at me. “Hey…” he said quietly in a low voice. I just looked at him. “What?” I asked. “Look at Bang and Zelo.” He said.

I followed his eyes that lead to the two said people. “They look so awkward.” Jongup chuckled. “Jongup.” I sighed. “No. look.” He urged. I looked and studied them for a bit, just to end up sharing the same amusement as the younger. A sly smile came across my face. “We should mess with them.” Jongup said. I nodded in agreement. The two of us stealthily and mischievously slid over to the two people that now sought our interests.

“Hey you tow.” I greeted, hanging my arm over Yongguk’s shoulder. “Um…Hi?” The new born seemed a bit confused with a hint of suspicion. “What’s up?” Jongup asked, slipping in between the two lovers, separating them. “Nothing much…just on our way to the DM.” Zelo joked not quite catching onto what we were up to. “What do you two want?” Yongguk asked, now completely suspicious of us.

Jongup pouted. “We just want to talk~…” I said. “…And congratulate you two.” Jongup smirked, elbowing the eldest member. Bang narrowed his eyes at him. “What? Congratulate us on what?” Zelo questioned, still night quite catching on. “Hey Junhong…Daehyun and I have some advice for you as your older hyungs.” Jongup said ignoring the maknae’s question. Zelo furrowed his brow, confused. “What is it?” he asked curiously.

I removed my arm from Bang’s shoulders and walked to the other side of the maknae. “This is just for future references, since nothing really happened yet…we’re going to show you how to get Bang’s attention whenever you want it and feel like he’s not giving you his full attention. “Or if you just want to make him jealous. We’ll demonstrate.” Jongup said walking over to the side, next to me. Zelo blushed slightly. “We’ll show you a slight demonstration…shall we?” I said. Jongup nodded. “You be the girl.” Jongup said stepping in between me and Zelo.

I just looked at him. He looked back at me not saying a word. “Fine.” I gave in. Jongup smiled excitedly. “Listen closely Junhong. Kay? Say the six of us are walking through the town…and you want to get Guk’s attention or just make him jealous. Pick out someone in the street.” Jongup said. “And this is what you do.

“Hey Cutie…” Jongup said leaning his arm on my shoulder. “Hey.” I said trying to speak in a high voice, earning a chuckle from Junhong. “I’m going to be honest with you…I’ve been feeling lonely…but not until a few seconds ago…when I laid my eyes on you.” Jongup spoke smoothly. I tried to giggle, but failed miserably.

“Your laugh may be ugly, but you’re still extraordinarily beautiful…way better looking than anyone I’ve seen.” Jongup went on. I frowned at him. He propped his finger under my chin gently turning my head to face him. “Truly…I believe a cutie like me should be with a cutie like you…” Then he leaned in by my ear. “…It’s destiny.”

I pretended to be swayed and lolled my head back on his shoulder. “Jongup…” I said, the back of my hand on my forehead. “Yes?” He said. “Your words have made me come to a serious life conclusion…” I said pretending to be out of breath. “Is it that you and I are meant to be together forever? For the rest of our lives?” Jongup said. “Yes Jongup…yes.” I said.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Jongup said. “…Jongup…” I breathed. “Yes?” “Hold me.” I said wrapping my arms around his neck, jumping immediately into his arms. “Let’s runaway, into the sunset and live on the horizon together. Just you and me.” Jongup said running away, all the way to the front.

We received weird stares from the others, who didn’t understand what was going on. We ran all the way to the front and back to Junhong and Yongguk. “That’s exactly how you do it.” I said jumping out of Jongup’s arms, dusting myself off. “Pfffttt…That’s unrealistic.” Bang scoffed. “Are you saying it wouldn’t work with Zelo?” Jongup started.

“Wait…Guk is right…Junhong is too cute to pull that off.” I spoke up. Jongup thought for a bit, slowly nodding in agreement. “You’re right. You’re right. So what do you suggest?” The younger asked. “You’ll see, this time you be the girl.” I said. He nodded and we switched positions. “Same scene, but watch carefully Junhong.” I instructed.

“Noona~…” I said making a puppy dog face. “…Will you buy me some food? I’m hungry.” I whimpered, doing a little aegyo. Jongup covered his mouth giggling. “Noona~?” I continued with my aegyo. “…Your eyes are really pretty. They make my eyes pop!” I said smiling cutely. “Kyaaaa!!!” Jongup squealed. “You are so cute!” Jongup squeaked kissing me on the cheek.

The two of us laughed in satisfaction. “That’s better.” Jongup said. Zelo blushed in embarrassment. I felt a pair of eyes rake down my neck. I slowly turned around to see Lee eyeing me. It wasn’t a very welcoming look nor was it threatening.

No, it was more of a suspicious look, which made me uneasy. Lee is pretty much a scary guy, but he’s smart and observant. He never does anything based off of his emotions, nor does he ever just assume anything without any concrete facts or proof. And that look wasn’t just any kind of look. It was cold, hard, and filled with pure suspicion. His eyes were even a mixture of red and dark brown.

The vampire smoothly turned back around, facing forward again. I shivered a little, not even wanting to think about why he would even give me that look…only two obvious words came to mind. He knew.

I looked at Jasmine who noticed Lee glaring at me. She raised an eyebrow and just shrugged. Just then Kris appeared right by my side, coming out of nowhere. I nearly jumped out of my skin, holding my heart. The Shadow Seeker laughed, patting my back. “Where did you come from? Weren’t you in front just a couple of seconds ago?” I asked catching my breath.

“Shadow Seekers are fast.” He reminded. “…and~, I came from the ground.” He added. I just nodded. “Hey! Kris!” Jongup said hi-5ing him. “Erm…I have a question.” Kris said. “Is it long?” Jongup asked first. “No…it’s not.” He said. “Oh…well ask away my friend.” Jongup said. Kris seemed a bit hesitant, but decided to ask anyway. “Erm…Are you two…An um…thing now?” He asked.

“What?” I said thrown completely off guard. “Uh yea. Just from what I saw, I wasn’t sure if you were just being silly or ware really a thing. So I just decided to ask, so that I don’t miss out on anything.” He simply explained.

“Me and Jongup?” I was still in chock by the question, earning an amused chuckle from Yongguk. “Um yeah…Of course.” Jongup answered. I looked at the younger in shock. “Did you not get the memo?” Jongup said. He squished our faces together, cheek to cheek. “Aren’t we cute together?!” Jongup squealed.

Himchan rolled his eyes shaking his head, apparently he had been listening. Youngjae, who heard as well, just chuckled, but he instantly cut himself off as his mouth dropped and his eyes widened.

I quickly turned around, following his line of vision, just to see a guy jump high in the air with two sharp silver daggers, one in each hand. He was diving straight towards…towards…Youngjae!

But before he could reach him, Jasmine held her hand out, muttered an incantation, and the intruder into a small pink butterfly. Then Himchan shot a small flame at it, easily burning it into ashes. Jongup was about to break out into laughter, when suddenly someone else came from the trees, grabbing Jasmine’s arms from behind. The female mage yelped in pain.

Then a large rock was thrown at the guy’s head. “Pick on someone your own size!” Tae yelled, baring his fangs. The guy shoved Jasmine to the ground, stalking over towards the hybrid. As he walked he hissed at him as large black bat-like wings sprung from his back and a long black tail slithered. Tae’s eyes widened in surprise and fear as he stumbled backwards.

“What is going on?” Kris asked getting serious. The sun, slowly vanished as it hid behind the dark trees. I looked over at Jayde, who was not happy whatsoever. Just then five more members appeared, jumping out of the shadows of the trees. Kris looked around, studying them. “3 Incubi, 2 purebloods, 1 painted faced lady.” He mumbled, informing everyone. The first Incubus that was by Tae was about to jump on him, when Jayde caught the demon mid-air by its tail, slamming it hard back to the ground.

The other 5 intruders hissed and growled, extending their deadly body parts. But the rest of us only stood our ground, preparing for what would turn out to be a tough fight. All of them were extremely fast creatures. Himchan’s hands lit on fire, Lee, Min, and Yongguk extended their fangs as their irises turned red. Tae immediately transformed into a full grown wolf, growling at the intruders. Youngjae’s eyes turned yellow. I pulled out my sword, ready to fight. “Bring it on.” Jongup said, cracking his neck and fingers, he was obviously excited to fight.

The painted lady was the first to make a move by throwing orange pebbles in the air. But before they could explode Himchan shot fire at them, burning them into pieces. The painted lady hissed, spinning and throwing blades at us. Kris stole her shadow and used it as a target for the knives to hit. The painted lady cried out in pain, holding her stomach. And with the flick of his wrist the shadow returned to its place. With that, the six invaders charged at us.

One of the Incubi went straight at me. I quickly held out my sword, blocking its claws. I pushed the creature back with all of my strength. I stood my ground firmly. The Incubus charged again, I quickly stepped to the side, but he didn’t fall as I had planned. Instead he only turned swiftly, facing me, a sly smile growing across his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him and stole took the chance for a counter attack. I kicked his chest hard, forcing him to the ground my foot never leaving his thick flesh. I was about to cut his throat with my sword, but he was one step ahead of me. His tail wrapped tightly around my left ankle and he slammed me down on the ground, and jumped onto his feet.

I groaned in pain as he lifted me up, with his tail, in the air. I was now upside down. “Here’s some advice before you die, even though you probably won’t need it. Swords are of no use, if you’re not fighting anyone else with a sword. Other than that, they’ll hold you back.” The Incubus simply said. “Oh yeah?” I questioned, feeling hazy as the blood rushed to my head. “Yeah.” He said.

“Well, I have some advice for you actually.” I said. “Eh?” He said sounding surprised. “Never be off guard when your opponent has a sword.” And with that I stabbed my sharp weapon deep into his chest, receiving a painful groan in return as he released me. I flipped backwards to land on my feet. I stumbled struggling to find my balance, feeling extremely dizzy. The Incubus was bent on one knee holding his stomach. “You puny human!” he screamed. “That didn’t do anything! It only ing hurt!” he yelled grabbing the sword handle, slowly pulling it out. “No more games after this. I’m going to rip your head off.” He threatened darkly.

The sword was halfway out of his stomach, when suddenly it turned black and began oozing. It crawled onto his flesh. “The ?” he cursed staring at the black ooze, that was now beginning to engulf his body. It already swallowed around, up to his elbow and his abdomen. “Ah!” he screamed both of his knees on the ground. “What’s…What’s happening?! It…It burns.” He said his eyes widened in fear. I stumbled backwards unaware of what was going on as well.

I looked up to see that Youngjae was standing behind him, his eyes shining a bright yellow color. The pained incubus howled in pain. At that moment Jayde appeared behind me her irises now red. “You’re gonna need this.” She said handing me a brand new sword. She disappeared before I could let out a thank you. I noticed the painted lady heading towards Youngjae, taking out three knives.

I quickly stepped in the way, as she threw the sharp weapons at him, blocking the knives with my new sword. Then Tae came from the side and attacked her. I immediately turned around to face Youngjae. He was breathless, his eyes back to their normal color.

I looked to see that the Incubus was completely gone as the ooze soaked into the ground. “Are you okay?” I asked, my attention reverting back to him.

“Yeah, still getting used to using strong magic.” He said panting heavily. I looked around to see that everyone was busy fighting off the enemy. “It’s quite energy taking.” He breathed, joking uneasily. My eyes narrowed at him, as his hands were on his knees, and he looked down at the ground occupied by catching his breath. ‘Daehyun…You know what you must do.’ The voice appeared in my mind. ‘Do it now, where he is most vulnerable and everyone is busy, they’ll never know it was you.’

I didn’t budge. I stood there staring at Youngjae. ‘This was all planned for you Daehyun. You have a weapon…just cut him down.’ The voice was soothing and persuasive. Its words oozed into my head, soaking into my brain. I gripped my sword tightly, mesmerized. I took a step forward towards him. ‘Yees…’ I lifted my sword. However I felt someone stare at me from a distance. I looked up to meet Jayde’s eyes. They were her normal dark brown color, staring at me sadly.

I felt myself choke. What am I doing?! My breathing hazed weakly, my eyes burned. ‘Daehyun!!’ The voice in my head screamed. I let out a loud cry throwing the sword in any random direction, and to my surprise the sword stabbed a pureblood in the chest…but I didn’t pay much attention to it. A sudden shock went up my shoulder blade. It wasn’t the same burning sensation as before. No, it felt like I was being electrocuted directly in my shoulder blade.

“Ahhh!!!” I screamed. ‘It’s okay Daehyun…You’ve proven yourself worthy already. There’s always next time.’ The voice sang in assurance as I sank to my knees. “Daehyun.” Youngjae gasped bending down on one knee. “What’s the matter?” he asked his worry was obvious in his voice. “I’m…I’m fine.” I said with much struggle. “It’s…nothing.” I breathed, trying to fight the pain.

“Daehyun don’t lie to me!” Youngjae cried out of complete frustration from worry. “Just…Just get away from me.” I said feeling my eyes water. I couldn’t believe it…I almost… “Daehyun please. Don’t try to be strong. No secrets.” He begged. “No secrets.” I murmured unconsciously a tear falling from my eye. Youngjae smiled softly.

“Please, leave me be Youngjae.” I said calmly. Youngjae’s smile faded as he clenched his fists, a lump in his throat. “Daehyun are you even listening to me?” he said, sounding hurt. Don’t do this, not now Youngjae, please. “I’m…I’m trying to…to help you. You’re in pain.” He went on. Why won’t you listen to me? Why won’t you…trust me? “Daehyun, I-,” “Youngjae! Just go away will ya?!” I snapped at him.

He froze, staring at me with wide watery eyes. “Go away Youngjae!” I pretty much shouted. I felt my heart clench at the hurt in his eyes. He looked as if he had given up.

He slowly nodded, quickly looking away. He stumbled to his feet and ran away. It was silent, everyone had stopped to stare at us. Lee and Zelo narrowed their eyes at me. Jayde looked at me sadly. Everyone else just stared, lost and completely surprised. I didn’t even bother to look at them. The pain had subsided and was now disappearing. The intruders took this moment to attack, but everyone quickly snapped back into the fight, before anyone else got “hurt”.

“Junhong! Where are you going?!” I heard Bang call out to the maknae, while fighting off one of the remaining incubi. I looked up at the said person to hear his answer. “I’m going to look for Youngjae!” Zelo called back. “It’s dangerous out there. Don’t go alone…just wait till we finish this.” Bang said, swiftly dodging the Incubus’s punch.

“No. That’s why I’m going after him. He can’t be there by himself.” Zelo said, his eyes meeting mine, sending me a cold harsh stare that sent icy chills down my spine. “Besides, he didn’t do anything wrong…” he added. I knew that, that was directed at me. “I’ll go with him.” Jayde said walking up to the taller member, before Bang could protest. She didn’t even look at me.

“Kris, lee, when you guys are done, start heading towards the DM. We’ll catch up.” Jayde said. “Sure.” Lee growled as he fought one of the purebloods. “Ayiyi Captain.” Kris said having fun dodging and messing with the other Incubus that he was fighting. “Let’s go.” Jayde said to Zelo. With that the two disappeared into the trees.

What did I just do? I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just wanted to do the opposite. I almost did try to kill him. If he’s mad…then that’s how it should be. I’m not going to try to make it better. He needs to hate me. If that’ll protect him then I’m willing to get him to hate me again.