~

“What the hell? What do you mean it’s going to kill me,” Kyuhyun asked completely horrified.

“Heechul,” Jongwoon shouted at the same moment. “You can’t just say things like that.”

“It’s true. We should just get it out of the way instead of skirting around it. This curse will kill him.”

“And that’s it? I’m just doomed to die?”

“Well not exactly.” Heechul went over to the cupboards are started gathering items that Kyuhyun could not see. “Writers like to play with the idea of uncurable curse or the curse that can only be solved with true love. Well that’s all just a load of crap. There is no curse that can not be cured, just mages who don’t know how to do it.”

“The part that will make this more difficult is that it was cast by a non-mage and we know neither who or how. That won’t make it impossible though. We just have to do more tests,” Jongwoon continued to explain softening his voice.

“What kind of tests?”

“First we will continue with the detection potion. Get what information we can from that. Then it’ll be on Heechul. He will take a couple of blood samples and he may use magic directly on you to get some other information. He is a trained medical mage, so that is why he will be doing those tests.” Kyuhyun looked back and could see some of the items on the counter that Heechul had collected, including a needle still in its package, some tubes, a notepad, and some items he couldn’t recognize.

“Is it really necessary?”

“Yes. It’s the only way to get all of the information we need to be able to treat your curse. Is there a specific part that is making you nervous?”

“I have never been good with needles or blood,” Kyuhyun hesitantly admitted.

“Alright. It’s not an uncommon fear. So, let’s focus on what we can do with the detection potion first and then we will deal with the blood tests, okay?” Kyuhyun took one last look back at the needle before taking a deep breath and focusing back on Jongwoon and nodding.

“What information will we get from the detection potion still,” Kyuhyun asked, trying to keep himself distracted from Heechul’s preparations.

“Not much honestly. We will have to piece it together with what Heechul finds to get the whole picture. Just sit back, relax, it’ll only take a couple minutes” Kyuhyun did his best to keep his attention on Jongwoon and the smoke, watching it change each time Jongwoon casted a new spell. Instead of telling Kyuhyun what each color and symbol meant, he wrote it down on the notepad Kyuhyun hadn’t seen Heechul move to the table by Jongwoon. When he finished, he quietly took care to put all the candles and incenses away and set the notepad by Heechul again.

“I’ll be just a couple more minutes, I want everything ready beforehand, so we can get the results pretty quickly,” Heechul said when he noticed Jongwoon finished. “I also texted Hannie and said we would need him in the bookstore when he gets back since Wookie went out for the day.”

“He almost back then?”

“Yeah, said he was only a few minutes out. Good chance he may already be back.”

“Good. I don’t like abandoning Taekwoon to handle everything on his own.”

“I know, but he will be fine. We need to worry about this one right now.” Heechul tilted his head towards Kyuhyun and Jongwoon agreed, noticing that Kyuhyun was nervously bouncing his leg trying not to look back at Heechul’s items.

“Alright Kyuhyun, let’s take a short break to let Heechul finish,” Jongwoon announced getting Kyuhyun’s attention again. Kyuhyun looked up almost startled but nodded, quietly following Jongwoon into the apartment. Kyuhyun took the offered seat at the dinning table and Jongwoon got both of them a glass of water and sat himself across from Kyuhyun. “Which part is upsetting you the most right now,” Jongwoon asked after a moment of Kyuhyun barely sipping at his water.

“Immediately? The idea of having blood drawn.”

“I assume you have had it done before. What did you do for those times?”

“Usually my mother would go with me and keep me focused on just breathing and not looking and the doctors will use a numbing cream, so I don’t feel it as much.”

“When was the last time you had to get it done?”

“A year ago? Maybe two. It’s been a while,” Kyuhyun said.

“Have you ever fainted from getting your blood drawn or while waiting to get it drawn?”

“No. I’ve gotten lightheaded and dizzy and even nauseous, but I’ve never fainted or out.”

“Okay. That’s good. Now, I know it will do little to ease your anxiety but I want to tell you so it can’t add to your anxiety. Heechul is completely trained with a nursing degree from the university in addition to being a mage with a specialty in the healing arts. We will also be sure to numb your arm beforehand to help how much you feel it. And while I am not your mother, I will be with you the whole time, you can keep yourself focused on me, okay?”

“Okay,” Kyuhyun hesitantly agreed.

“I know all of this is out of your comfort zone and outside of the beliefs you have had for so long, but I’m asking you to trust us to help you. You trusted me enough to take the potion the first time, and to come back, so I hope you can continue that trust.”

“I’m not so sure it was trust the first time, but rather desperation. And the potion did seem to work for a while at least.”

“It did. And it possibly gave you some more time. I can’t be certain until all the tests are done, but it did it’s job, but it’s not designed to undo a curse.”

“How do you undo a curse exactly?”

“It depends on the curse. That’s why there are so many tests to do. We need all the information about the curse to know how to battle it. Simple curses caught right away can be quickly dispelled with a couple of spells and maybe a potion. Others take longer and more intensive solutions. We won’t know until we finish the tests though.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know all the mages in the city?” Jongwoon was a little taken back by the question but Kyuhyun wasn’t even looking at him, just sipping on his water again.

“I know many of them but to say I know all would be to grossly underestimate the number of mages actually living in the city. Why?”

“One of my friends, the one who really pushed for me to come here originally said something the other day that made me think he might be one. So, I wondered if you would know him.”

“If your friend is a mage and hasn’t told you yet, that is on them to tell you. Even if I did know your friend, it is not my place to out another mage to a non-mage other than those who live and work here. And considering your disbelief of magic before you came here, I am not surprised he hasn’t told you if he is.”

“I had a feeling you would say something like that.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t take much offense to him not telling you. Most mages do not reveal themselves to non-mages. If It wasn’t for the fact that you needed magical intervention even before we knew you were cursed, I would have let you leave here that night believing your friend to be wrong and that magic doesn’t exist. The risk is too great to just let any non-mage know who we are.”

“Are non-mages that violent to mages?”

“Some, yes.” Jongwoon sighed. “Unfortunately, too many people cannot handle those that are different from them especially if they can’t understand it. And magic is difficult for non-mages to understand.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun agreed, understanding how that applied to more than just the relationship of mages and non-mages.

“Alright, finish your water and then we’ll go back in. Heechul should be just about done with setting up.” Kyuhyun initially agreed and was about to take a drink when he paused and gave both the drink and Jongwoon a suspicious look. “There is nothing in your water,” Jongwoon announced annoyed once he noticed Kyuhyun’s look. “I want you to finish it because it will be easier to find your veins if you are hydrated. Thus, making getting your blood drawn easier and quicker.”

“Oh.” Kyuhyun just sheepishly drank his water after that.

When Kyuhyun was finished, Jongwoon took both of their glasses and set them by the sink and took Kyuhyun back into the shop. Heechul was rearranging the chairs when they walked in so that two of them were facing each other but set off center from each other. He had also changed the chairs to be bar height instead of their usual table height.

“Good I was just about to come get you. Kyuhyun sit here,” Heechul directed him to the chair facing him and Kyuhyun was slightly relived he wouldn’t have to look at anything Heechul set up. Jongwoon went ahead and took a seat in the other chair after adjusting it slightly so he was facing Kyuhyun more. Once he was seated the reality of the situation came crashing back down on Kyuhyun. His started to zone out, no longer hearing anything Heechul or Jongwoon were saying, his heartrate increased, and his breathing quickened. It wasn’t until Jongwoon gentle placed his hand on Kyuhyun cheek and turned Kyuhyun to look at him that Kyuhyun noticed they were calling his name or that he was even crying.

“Kyuhyun.” Jongwoon’s voice was soft and deep, barely above a whisper, but Kyuhyun could hear it now. “Can you hear me again?” Kyuhyun couldn’t not make himself speak or even nod his head but Jongwoon placed his other hand against Kyuhyun’s to Kyuhyun grabbed it and squeezed it. “Good. That’s good.” Jongwoon started rubbing his thumb against Kyuhyun’s hand. “Can you feel that?” Kyuhyun squeezed his hand again. “Alright, I’m going to use it to help you breathe again. First, I need to exhale while I rub it in circles like this and slowly start breathing in when I start tapping okay. I’ll talk you through everything too, so whichever is easier for you to focus on.” Kyuhyun gave one last squeeze after Jongwoon demonstrated the tapping. Jongwoon took that as the sign to start and instructed Kyuhyun to begin exhaling and started rubbing his thumb against his hand again. He kept a silent count of the seconds and then started the tapping once again silently counting while he spoke to Kyuhyun. He slowly took Kyuhyun through breathing in and out a handful of times until he felt Kyuhyun was breathing easier on his own and becoming a little more focused again.

“Alright Kyuhyun. I want your permission to use some magic on you. It’s a calming spell that I will use the hand I have on your cheek to cast. It sends a gentle pulse through your body and calms your nerves and helps to bring back down your heartrate to a normal level.” Kyuhyun managed to nod this time, still not feeling like he would be able to talk. It wasn’t long before he felt the hand on his cheek get a little warm, not hot though, and there was a very gentle pulse that started almost at the base of his head and made its way down all through his legs. It was almost like a shudder, but gentler and almost soothing. As soon as one pulse finished a new one would start and Kyuhyun could feel his whole body calming down and relaxing. Kyuhyun didn’t count how many pulses there were just when Jongwoon stopped them, he almost missed the feeling.

“Alright, his heartbeat is still slightly high, but it is acceptable,” Heechul said to Jongwoon quietly.

“Kyuhyun. Heechul is going to start now. He is going to make your arm very cold to numb the skin,” Jongwoon explained, keeping Kyuhyun’s focus on him. At first it felt like a cool breeze on his arm, but quickly became like someone covered it in ice. His heart started racing slightly again, but Jongwoon quickly grabbed his attention and had him doing the breathing exercise and just talking to him. Kyuhyun didn’t know how long Heechul took to take the samples he needed but suddenly Jongwoon was telling him it was over, and they were done. Relief flooded out of Kyuhyun in the form of tears that Jongwoon effectively wiped away while repeated that he did so well. At some point, while Kyuhyun continued to cry, Jongwoon finally removed the hand from Kyuhyun’s cheek and instead stood up and moved the hand to Kyuhyun’s back, pulling him more into a hug. Kyuhyun’s crying had long since topped but he neither let go of Jongwoon’s hand or pulled out of Jongwoon’s hug. The two stayed like that until Heechul finished going through his tests.

“Good news is, we won’t need to do anymore tests,” Heechul announced getting both of their attention. Kyuhyun slowly pulled himself out of Jongwoon’s hold to look back over at Heechul. “Bad news, it’s not a simple curse.”

“What is it exactly,” Jongwoon asked for Kyuhyun.

“It was originally a simple curse of bad luck, but somewhere between the combination of a non-mage caster, and poor-quality ingredients, it mutated itself.  It is continually pulling negative energy onto Kyuhyun to cause bigger and deadlier incidents to happen. The original curse should have only been minor bad luck and faded out after a month, but now it will keep going until it kills him, or we get rid of it.”

“So, how do we get rid of it,” Kyuhyun asked himself this time having mostly recomposed himself.

“We’re going to have to discuss that,” Heechul said more to Jongwoon.

“Is there a problem?”

“No. It’s just going to be difficult, so I need him and I to decide the best method and be on the same page,” Heechul explained while practically staring Jongwoon down.

“We’ll go discuss it downstairs. You can either wait for us in the apartment or the bookstore, Kyuhyun. We’ll find you when we’re ready for you.”

“I’ll wait in the store. Probably a little less awkward than sitting alone in your apartment.” Before heading back, Kyuhyun attempted to fix his hair and clothes hoping he would look a little better than he felt though he was certain his eyes and face were probably red from crying and there was little he could do about that.

When Kyuhyun came back to the store, Taekwoon was checking out a customer and another was sitting at one of the tables, obviously working on school work. He decided he really wasn’t up to finding a book to read so took what was fast becoming his usual seat at the counter.

“You look like ,” Taekwoon said bluntly having walked around when he finished with his customer. “I take it, it’s not good news.”

“Nope. They’re downstairs discussing what we’re going to do next.”

“Ah. You want to get a coffee while you wait? We have a few different kinds I can make right now on the board.” Taekwoon gestured to a blackboard hanging up on the wall behind him which listed the day’s available snacks and drinks and pricing. Looking over it for a minute, Kyuhyun decided on one to buy.

“Thanks.” Kyuhyun figured he would spend the time waiting browsing on his phone and quickly zoned out. He wasn’t zoned out for long when he started hearing barking behind him and turned around hoping to find the source. The student at the table was obviously curious about the barking too, but neither could see the dogs from where they were. What Kyuhyun did see however, was a guy sheepishly walking straight towards Taekwoon who immediately handed him a drink.

“Why does he get a free drink,” Kyuhyun asked when he noticed the new guy had made no motion to pay for it and Taekwoon didn’t seem to care to charge him.

“Boyfriend privileges,” was all that Taekwoon answered Kyuhyun with.

“I see you brought Ongdeongie with you Wonshik,” Another person stated.

“Hello, Hangeng. I hope that’s alright. I figured he could play with Kkoming and Melo while I was helping you guys.”

“It’s fine with me. Heechul has mentioned you bringing him around before.”

“Your dog’s name is ,” Kyuhyun asked, dumbfounded, interrupting the conversation.

“Yeah. It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s weird,” Taekwoon answered instead, poking Wonshik’s cheek rather harshly. Wonshik just laughed it off while he faked being hurt. Taekwoon was refusing to fall for it, but Kyuhyun could see him trying to hold back a smile.

“You’re Kyuhyun, aren’t you,” Hangeng asked him, pulling his attention from the couple. “I’m Hangeng, Heechul’s boyfriend. He told me about you. Briefly,” Hangeng added when he saw Kyuhyun’s questioning look.

“Oh. Yeah, I am.”

“You look like you need a bit of a distraction. Why don’t you come up to the loft and give me a hand for a bit. Just need to do some sorting then I can make sure these two work instead of just playing around.” Hangeng raised his voice slightly at the end for Taekwoon and Wonshik to hear. When they looked over, Wonshik’s coffee was back in Taekwoon’s hands because he was pinching both of Taekwoon’s cheek’s while Taekwoon was attempting to move his head, so he could bite one of the hands. Both glanced over when they realized they were being stared at, but Taekwoon took Wonshik’s lack of attention on him to successfully maneuver and bite Wonshik’s hand. Hangeng just sighed not being surprised by their behavior at all.

“I think that’s a sign that I should go help you,” Kyuhyun finally spoke up as they had been silently watching the younger two in disbelief.

“Probably.” Hangeng lead them upstairs, not forgetting to shout another reminder for Wonshik and Taekwoon to work. He paused briefly on the way to introduce Kyuhyun to the three dogs and then to Heebum who was still laying in his favorite sunspot on the loft.  Hangeng gave Kyuhyun a run down of what to do and the two quietly went to work. Every so often Kyuhyun would break the silence and ask Hangeng a few personal questions.

“So, what is your regular job?”

“A friend of ours and I are traders. We go around gathering artifacts from archeological sites and other means and either trade them with stores, bring them back here, or give them back to the archives or local villages where they belong,” Hangeng explained keeping his voice low so they wouldn’t be heard downstairs. “Basically, we find things for the shop and make sure we keep mage artifacts and items out of non-mage hands. We’ll also go looking for certain items that some of our customers requested.”

“How do you get artifacts from archeological sites?”

“We have made connections with people and sometimes there are even mages who work on the sites, unknown to their non-mage colleagues that contact us to take the artifacts to the archives.”

“So, what are the archives,” Kyuhyun asked.

“The archives is the center of all mage knowledge. It is run by the most powerful mages in the region and can almost be considered the center of our government, if you can call it one. Any major dispute or large-scale mage crime will be brought to them if local leaders can’t settle it.”

“There’s just one archive?”

“No, the mage world is divided into countries separate from the known countries by non-mages and each country has an archive. The archives stay in touch with each other and share information. They have a database of every mage registered to them and every known written work by a mage. That is also why we take all unknown magical artifacts to them to study and record.”

“Mages are registered?”

“Yes. Though it’s not much different than having a birth certificate. It allows us to connect families and identify mages based on their symbol. Though not all mages are registered. There are many mages who are born to non-mage families and never know of the archives existence.”

“Because they don’t meet another mage or because they don’t live long enough.” Kyuhyun spoke softly remembering what Jongwoon said about non-mages just a little earlier. Hangeng wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a question or not, but confirmed it nonetheless.

“I wasn’t expecting to find you up here,” Jongwoon announced.

“I borrowed him,” Hangeng said.

“I see we got Wonshik working too. You’re making me feel like I keep us understaffed.”

Hangeng gave a light chuckle. “Never Jongwoon. This store is never busy enough for it to be truly understaffed. Taekwoon needed the company and Kyuhyun needed the distraction, that’s all.”

“Always looking out for everyone, aren’t you,” Jongwoon stated.

“I try at least. You guys ready for him I take it.” Hangeng pointed over to Kyuhyun who just continued working, only looking up again when he realized Hangeng was talking about him.

“Yeah. Basically. Heechul is finishing up the last couple of preparations, so we should get him ready too.”

“Get me ready,” Kyuhyun asked tilting his head to the side and creasing his brow.

“Nothing dramatic. I’ll explain when we get down there. Did you have a coffee?” Jongwoon eyed the cup sitting somewhat abandoned next to Kyuhyun.

“Taekwoon convinced me to get one. It was good. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Nope. Just need to adjust how much of a dose I give you to take the caffeine into consideration. Speaking of which, what flavor of licorice do you like?”

“Licorice? Maybe uh.” Kyuhyun repetitively opened his mouth as if to speak but immediately closing it looking off in a different direction each time.

“Didn’t you have a honey melon flavor you made recently,” Hangeng asked, which piqued Kyuhyun’s interest.

“Honey Melon? That sounds good. What did I need a flavor for?”

“A stamina potion. Between the curse itself, all our testing, and your emotional stress, we’ve put your body through a lot already today and unfortunately, we are not quiet done yet. So, the potion will help ease the strain.” Kyuhyun knew how tired he was, but even with the extra stress since he got to the shop, it hasn’t felt any worse than the last few days dealing with the curse. Feeling tired has been his normal state recently, but he won’t reject the idea of a stamina potion if it makes the rest easier.

“Well it looks like I’m leaving you to work alone again, Hangeng. Sorry.” Kyuhyun said as he stood up.

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, whatever I don’t finish they have to do tomorrow.”

“Nope. We’re sleeping in tomorrow. You can help Wookie in the morning before we get up. Taekwoon gets to sleep in too.” Jongwoon didn’t bother to hide his grin and Kyuhyun wasn’t sure if he and Heechul discussed this while downstairs or if he just decided it right now.

“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. Except of course for Taekwoon, he can sleep in.”

“Alright Kyu, let’s go down before Heechul wonders where we are,” Jongwoon said, completely ignoring Hangeng.

Instead of going back to the shop like Kyuhyun expected, Jongwoon took them into the apartment and down to the basement. The basement was a large open space, probably the same size as the entire first floor. To the far side, there was an entire wall of packed bookshelves, a few dressers, lockers, and even a couple chests on either side wall. In between there were a series of tables all pushed together to make one giant work space that was covered in books, papers, and similar supplies Kyuhyun saw on the table Jongwoon made his potions on in the magic shop. Along the walls were diagrams, papers, a couple of cork boards and the was a large portable white board covered in symbols Kyuhyun could not understand. To the other side was a small lounge area in the corner near a fireplace. There were also a couple of smaller tables, a fountain, and a number of different plants. Near the stairs was stacked boxes that Kyuhyun could only guess what was inside and a couple of large display cases where he saw all sorts of potions.

Heechul was waiting for them in an open area behind the staircase. It was designated by a large area rug that felt well padded when Kyuhyun stepped on it. A large armored statue stood in the corner while Heechul stood in the center where a padded examination table had been set up, which is where Jongwoon told him to take a seat. On the floor around the table was a large drawn symbol that mirrored one of the ones drawn on the white board across the room. Kyuhyun wondered if the information on the board was an explanation of their plan.

“Alright, drink this whole cup and then lay down,” Jongwoon instructed handing him the cup of what Kyuhyun assumed to be the stamina potion.

“That was actually pretty good,” Kyuhyun stated when he handed the now empty cup back to Jongwoon who just smiled back at him. As instructed Kyuhyun resituated himself so he was laying down on the table afterwards. Heechul grabbed a small pillow to cushion his head and helped position him. Once laying down, Kyuhyun noticed the large body length mirror hanging above him.

“We’re about to get started Kyuhyun, so try to relax yourself as much as possible and don’t move too much,” Jongwoon stated. Kyuhyun just nodded in response and took a moment to sift ever so slightly to ensure all his muscles were as comfortable and relaxed as possible without moving from the position Heechul put him in. Looking through the mirror, Kyuhyun could see Heechul standing patiently above his head, waiting for Jongwoon to come back over.

“You good,” Heechul asked once Kyuhyun seemed to finish adjusting.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. Jongwoon and I will be doing two different spells on you at the same time,” Heechul began to explain. “Because you took the bad luck potion only a couple weeks ago, we have to use a different method to help drain all the negative energy the curse has built up. I know you saw the symbol on the ground, that with amplify the spell I am using and help pull all of the energy into the mirror above. As we work, the mirror may begin to look tarnished, that is normal and a sign that the mirror is reaching it’s holding limits. So, just remember that is the negative energy leaving your body and no longer something you will have to deal with.”

“While he is clearing your negative energy, I will be working on the curse itself,” Jongwoon started when Heechul finished. “I’m going to warn you now, this will not be a one and done process. We will have to do this once a week until it is gone. And because of that, that is why Heechul is doing his part. If Heechul doesn’t, then no matter how much of the curse I remove from you, you would still be in pretty much the same state as before you came in today.”

“How many weeks do you think it will take?”

“I’m not sure. I probably won’t be able to tell until the end of the next session. And that is because I’m not sure exactly how much I can remove in one session and in the week between, it will regenerate part of itself. Now, between the spell I am using and a potion I will give you, we will slow that rate of regeneration down, but I won’t know how much until next time. But don’t worry, each week you should be feeling better and less at danger.”

“As more of the curse gets removed and the regeneration is slowed, you will have less negative energy being pulled to you, meaning we can remove even more each time,” Heechul added.

“Now the other thing, this will be painful. With Heechul’s spell, you may feel a tugging sensation across your body. Some say it’s just an uncomfortable feeling, others say it’s a bit painful but not too much. My spell on the other, will be where most of the pain is. I will be sending magic directly into your veins to destroy the curse. You can think of it like a virus in your blood stream. It is magic but physically manifests itself inside your veins and feeds off of you to regenerate and spread itself. You will feel my magic working through and it will be a dull pain all over from the inside. If the pain is sharp and extreme, I need you to tell us right away. That would mean something it wrong.”

“Okay.” Kyuhyun couldn’t hide the hesitation in his voice nor the fidgeting of his hands at his sides. Jongwoon noticed and took the hand closest to his in his own and gave Kyuhyun a reassuring squeeze.

“I don’t mean to frighten you, I just want you to know what is about to happen. We’ll start slow, let you get a feeling for it and make sure there is nothing immediately wrong. Heechul won’t being touching you at all but I will, and I may change positions as we go. Are you ready?”

“As much as I can be.” Kyuhyun took one last deep breath to try and settle his nervous. Looking back up to the mirror, he could see Jongwoon give Heechul a nod and Heechul moved closer. He placed a hand on either side of Kyuhyun’s head, palms facing Kyuhyun, but like Jongwoon said, not touching him. Watching though the mirror still, Kyuhyun could see the symbol on the floor begin to glow and was tempted to turn his head to see if Heechul’s hands were beginning to glow slightly too. He couldn’t tell from the mirror and he couldn’t quite see with his peripheral vision. Kyuhyun didn’t have much longer to dwell on the thought before the feeling hit him.

“Are you alright? How does it feel,” Jongwoon asked when he saw Kyuhyun’s whole body jolt and his breath hitch.

“Strange.”

“More specific Kyu. Does it hurt?”

“No? It feels like I’m being pinched everywhere simultaneously, but not hard enough to hurt.” Satisfied with the answer, Jongwoon just waited. He waited for a full minute or so to ensure that the feeling did not change and Kyuhyun had enough time to get somewhat used to it.

“I’m going to start my part now Kyuhyun. I need you to say if it’s too painful.” Kyuhyun agreed and could feel Jongwoon moving his hands along his arm. Jongwoon seemed to settle with one hand gripping his hand and the other just above his elbow. The way he was leaning over, Kyuhyun couldn’t see anything from the mirror, but quickly felt a tingling sensation from each of Jongwoon’s hands and then the pain started. It wasn’t intense but like Jongwoon said, it was all over.

Kyuhyun felt his body tense at the feeling and his free hand was grasping at the padding of the table trying to find something to grip. He could tell he was shaking, but he was trying not to move too much like he was told. He tried to focus on anything that he could, his breathing, either Jongwoon or Heechul, the symbol, and pretty much anything else he could see through or around the mirror, but it was useless. He couldn’t focus on anything except everything he was feeling, which was exactly what he didn’t want to do.

Kyuhyun’s not sure how long it was before Jongwoon moved to a new position. He had taken the hand on Kyuhyun’s a shifted it up to Kyuhyun’s far collar bone, but left the one at his elbow. In the process, he managed to spare Kyuhyun a concerned look and Kyuhyun did his best to give him a nod that he hoped told Jongwoon he was okay.

By the end of the session, Kyuhyun had felt exhausted. Even after having closed his eyes about halfway through, Kyuhyun could tell when Heechul stopped and took a step back. It was only a moment or two longer before Jongwoon also stopped, taking his hands completely off of Kyuhyun and slightly slumping on the side of the table. Kyuhyun finally opened his eyes to confirm they were finished, looking over a Jongwoon who looked even more exhausted than Kyuhyun felt.

“It’s alright Kyu, we’re done. You can sleep now. We’ll wake you in a bit.” Kyuhyun wanted to argue that Jongwoon needed the sleep more than he did. But he couldn’t help but be lulled to sleep when Jongwoon stood up straight again and started brushing the hair out of Kyuhyun’s face and a couple of times the side of his face.

When Kyuhyun was asleep, Jongwoon let himself slump over again, though this time he didn’t catch himself on the table. Luckily, Heechul was watching him closely and caught him when he started to fall.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah. Just tired. It is not a curse that wants to go down easy, but that’s not unusual for mutant curses. How bout you,” Jongwoon asked in return as Heechul took him over to the couch in the corner.

“I’m fine.” Heechul rolled his eyes because of course Jongwoon was worried about him when Jongwoon is the one who just collapsed. “A little worn out but my spell isn’t the difficult one. You should sleep too.”

“Probably. I don’t want to leave him on the table though. It’s not that comfortable.”

“I’ll get Hangeng and ask him to move him to the couch upstairs. I’ll wake you up in a while.”

“I can take him home when we’re both awake again. Give him my number too so we can set up when we want to do the next session. Need to get him the potions too,” Jongwoon fussed. Heechul just shushed him and convinced him to lay down, taking the blanket they kept down there and draped it over Jongwoon.

“I’ll grab the potions and have them packed to go, just sleep,”

A/N:
Alright, I know it's been a while since the last chapter, I got really busy after I posted chapter 4 and then had a hard time getting back to work on it where I felt pleased with what I was writing. SO I'm sorry it took so long. But here it is now.
It's an intense chapter I know. Hopefully the next chapter will be a little lighter emotionally.
Anyways, I hope you're still reading and enjoying it.

^^♥