It was only as the morning light seeped into his room that Hakyeon even attempted to pull himself up on his feet.

However, his body seemed to have a different idea.

However hard he pushed on his palms, his body lay there like a rock. Eventually he gave up and slumped back, hitting the back of his head against the wall.

What had he done?

What had he said?

He'd gone and pissed Taekwoon off. Of all the people he could've pissed off, it had to be Taekwoon. 

Taekwoon had threatened to kill him, he could have killed him last night.

What he had seen was only a sliver of the full extent of Taekwoon's powers, and the look that Taekwoon had in his eyes as he threatened to rip him apart had scared Hakyeon to his very core.

For some reason, Hakyeon knew that his cousin wasn't bluffing.

Then, the sadness hit him as the fear abated.

He'd lost another friend.

This time, it was the person he loved above all else, the person he wouldn't have hesitated to die for, the person who wouldn't hesitate to die for him. 

He lost his brother.

He let out a big sigh, wondering whether he should call Taekwoon up to apologize or wait for him to simmer down.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see you like this."

Hakyeon opened his eyes to see Sanghyuk standing in front of him, leaning against the opposite wall. He seemed to be twirling something in his hand, something that looked like an envelope. 

"How did you get in?" Hakyeon murmured, holding his head as it began to throb, well, more than how much it already hurt.

"You left your window open," Sanghyuk stated. 

"You must be happy that you didn't need to knock," Hakyeon grumbled.

"Not really," Sanghyuk answered. "I'm just happy you live on the ground floor."

Hakyeon ran his hand through his hair. "Why are you here?" he asked. "I'm sorry, but I don't really have time-"

"I'm not here for nothing," Sanghyuk cut him off, straightening up.

"Then why?"

"I'm here to deliver this."

Sanghyuk stepped towards him until he was right in front of the elder, holding out the strange black enveloped he'd been carrying. Hakyeon slowly reached out to it, his eyes just making out some silver lettering on the cover. Holding the envelope and angling it so that he could read, he found that it read "Wedding Invitation", in stylistic silver font with smaller writing beneath it.

Hakyeon scrunched his eyes to read what was beneath.

"You are cordially invited to the wedding of Jung Taekwoon and Kim Nayoung-"

Hakyeon's blood ran cold and he dropped the envelope. The sleek black parchment fell to the floor as a thousand different emotions ran through his head.

The wedding?

And he was invited?

At that moment, something clicked inside of him, as if there had been a time bomb slowly ticking inside of him, and it had just made its final count.

He felt something rising up inside him, a dark feeling reaching up, taking over his soul.

He let out a chuckle. "A wedding, huh?" he murmured. "Not while I have anything to say about it."

"So that was an invitation to Taekwoon and Nayoung's wedding?" Jaehwan asked.

Hakyeon nodded. "Ouch, that stings," Jaehwan said, before turning around and seeing the look on the elder's face. "But I guess you already knew that."

Hakyeon, with no place to go, had turned up at the cafe. Even though it was closed for the day, he'd felt like there was nowhere else to go.

He'd found Jaehwan there. When questioned, the younger had told him that Sanghyuk had tasked him with cleanup for a couple of hours (with the promise of extra pay) and hence he'd arrived. 

With nothing else to do and no one to confide in, Hakyeon had found himself spilling everything to Jaehwan, telling him about all the events that led up to this point.

"I don't know what to do," Hakyeon admitted. "I know I shouldn't be feeling like this. She's going to be married to my cousin, and she clearly likes him and not me. Why am I so focused on getting her to like me when there's really nothing I can do."

Jaehwan looked up. "Actually..."

"Huh?"

"What if I told you there was something you could do?" Jaehwan asked.

"What do you mean?" Hakyeon inquired. "If you mean crashing the wedding, it probably won't work-"

"No, I mean something that can make her love you."

Hakyeon froze at his words. Something that could make her love him? Nothing that he knew in the material world could do that, which meant...magic.

"Go on." 

Jaehwan pulled out his phone, scrolling through it looking for something. "A year or so ago, before I moved here, I came across this spell that could mimic Aphrodite's magic, provided the people involved were connected by blood."

Hakyeon leaned back. "Then that means it only works on siblings."

"Not quite," Jaehwan stated. "You and Taekwoon are unique. Not only are you cousins in the material world, but also in the material world. And it says here that the spell will work even with the slightest blood connection."

"Then can't it work on anybody?" Hakyeon asked. "Aren't all of us related by a very small amount."

"That's a stretch," Jaehwan said. "As far as I know, cousins are okay."

"So what does it do?"

"Well, you know how Aphrodite's magic brings people together, right? The spell follows the blood relation to mimic your energy and his energy, hence making her fall for you," Jaehwan explained.

"So basically, it tricks Nayoung into thinking that I'm Taekwoon, and hence falling for me?" Hakyeon asked.

Jaehwan pursed his lips, nodding slightly. "I think so, yeah."

"Then no thanks," Hakyeon got up. 

"Why not?" Jaehwan protested.

"I don't want Nayoung loving me because she thinks that I'm Taekwoon," Hakyeon said. "I want Nayoung to love me because she loves me, and nobody else."

Saying so, Hakyeon walked out of the cafe, telling Jaehwan to lock up before he left.

He found his way to the park near his house. 

It was a place he loved to frequent. It was large, spacious and the foliage made everything seem fresh.

However, he was visiting it in the night, so it didn't really scream "inviting" and "warm" anymore. Rather it looked like something out of a horror movie.

"So that's where you've been!"

He turned around to find Hongbin and Sanghyuk walking up to him. How did they know where to find him?

"We've been looking everywhere," Sanghyuk answered. Had he said that out loud?

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Jaehwan told us everything," Hongbin said.

"About-?"

"The spell," Sanghyuk confirmed. "Jaehwan told us you'd been considering it."

Hakyeon sighed. "I was," he clarified. "But I'm not a fan of the idea."

"And why not?" Hongbin inquired.

"Because it means to fool someone into thinking I'm someone else," Hakyeon replied. Leaning against a tree, he slowly slid down till he was sitting down. "I don't want Nayoung to love me just because she thinks I'm Taekwoon." 

Hongbin sat down next to him. "Are you sure that's what the spell actually does?" he asked.

Hakyeon nodded. "Jaehwan said it mimicked Aphrodite's magic, by using people who were blood related."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure," Sanghyuk cut in. Hakyeon turned his head slightly to find that Sanghyuk had settled on his other side. "You see, Jaehwan isn't the best with words, he can never pitch an idea well."

"What do you mean?" Hakyeon narrowed his eyes.

"He showed us the spell," Hongbin explained. "It won't make her think you're him."

"It won't?" 

Hongbin shook his head. "No, it won't."

"Then how does it work?" 

"We're not entirely sure ourselves," Sanghyuk admitted. "We just wanted to make sure that the spell didn't focus on manipulation."

"So you guys didn't find out what made the spell make someone fall for you," Hakyeon asked, in a slightly chiding voice.

They stayed silent, prompting Hakyeon to scoff. That's what I thought.

"We think you should do it," Hongbin's calm and clear voice cut through the silence. 

Hakyeon turned to him. Had his friend gone mad? "What did you say?"

"You should go through with the spell," Hongbin repeated.

Okay, now he was sure Hongbin had lost his mind. "Who are you and what have you done with Hongbin?"

"I know how much you loved her, hyung," Hongbin said. Now that he saw the look in the younger's eye, he realized that he wasn't kidding. Not in the slightest. "You were the happiest when she'd come around, when she complimented your food.You were the happiest because you loved her, and I have an inkling she loved you too."

Hakyeon scoffed. "Yeah, right. She told me herself that she only saw me as a friend."

"Ever thought about why?" Sanghyuk wondered.

Hakyeon frowned. "Why?"

"She told you she didn't like you because she was engaged already," Sanghyuk asked. "Think about it. Why on earth would she tell you she liked you when she was already going to marry someone else?"

"He means to say, perhaps she believes that a happy ever after only exists in movies and dramas," Hongbin explained. "According to him, she agreed to the marriage with Taekwoon-hyung because of pressure, and she doesn't believe in eloping."

"You should prove her wrong," Sanghyuk urged. "Do the spell, give her her happily ever after."

Hongbin sighed. "As much as I hate it, I agree with him for once."

Hakyeon sat staring at a random spot in the distance, giving no indication that he was listening to them at all. Hongbin leaned in slightly. "You should do the spell," he said slowly and in a low voice. "Get the girl. You have as much right as Taekwoon-hyung to be happy."

"We'll help you," Sanghyuk agreed. "We'll be with you the whole way, so you won't be alone."

"Hyung," Hongbin asked. "Are you seriously going to let him take your happiness, again?"

"No," Hakyeon softly said, opening his eyes.

"Not anymore."

Hongbin raised an eyebrow when he noted that Hakyeon's eyes had changed color.

They were green, the color of envy.