As luck would have it, the day they planned to have Hongbin over for lunch turned out to be quite eventful.

Now that Hakyeon was making more goods, they decided to accept some money as payments so Taekwoon would be able to buy things that they don't usually get from trading. In a way, Hakyeon was also paying him salary for helping him at work.

The day before Hongbin was bound to pass by Hakyeon's forest, Taekwoon went to the nearest town to buy himself some clothes and shoes, as well as other food they could cook for lunch with Hongbin. Hakyeon just roamed the forest and then sat by the lake the whole afternoon. He was sitting next to the boulder Taekwoon fell from when they first met, his legs hang on the side so that his calves were dipped into the water. Hakyeon giggled as thought back to how Taekwoon exaggerated about his snake bite and crushed bones. But then he also remembered that Taekwoon saw him dancing that day.

The promise of him dancing for Taekwoon was put on the back burner after the merchants requested to increase their trade and they got busy. But now that Hakyeon remembered, he suddenly felt nervous about it. He wondered if Taekwoon had completely forgotten about it, or if he was even still interested.

Hakyeon sighed. Just as he was about to stand up, he noticed the beautiful bell-shaped flowers growing at the nook under the shade of the boulder. He smiled at the pretty color and ran a finger under the stem. It took a while before he realized what the plant was after seeing the shiny black berries growing alongside the petals.

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon suddenly whispered behind his ear.

Hakyeon jolted in shock and turned his head, suddenly coming face to face with Taekwoon.

Close.

Too close.

He could feel Taekwoon's breath on his face as they just stared wide-eyed at each other. Hakyeon gulped. His heart was beating too fast and he thought he stopped breathing for half a minute.

Taekwoon was still unmoving. Times like this, Hakyeon found him a little hard to read. Was he just intending to scare Hakyeon as a joke or did he get just as shocked and as flustered as Hakyeon was? Either way, Hakyeon just sighed and forced a chuckle  as he finally got the presence of mind to lean back and get some space to breathe.

"You surprised m- Oww!" He yelped when he felt a bit of pain on his finger. He had leaned too hard on his right hand without realizing he was anchoring himself on the bush he was previously admiring. The plant had no thorns, but there was a sharp-edged stem protruding exactly where Hakyeon leaned on.

Hakyeon frowned as he inspected his hand. It was just a tiny cut, but there was a spec of blood coming out of his finger.

 "Did you get hurt?" Taekwoon finally moved and grabbed Hakyeon's wounded hand. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine, don't wor--ry..."

Hakyeon found his voice fading as he watched his bleeding finger slowly being raised towards Taekwoon's mouth. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything but how pretty Taekwoon's lips were. But then he snapped back to himself and violently pulled his hand out of Taekwoon's grasp.

There was a faint blush on his cheeks but he felt bad when he saw the sunken expression on Taekwoon's face. "I... Taekwoon, That's..."

"I didn't mean to..."

"No, Taekwoon! It's not that," Hakyeon explained. "It's nightshade."

"What?"

Hakyeon pointed towards the bell-shaped flowers. "It's a deadly nightshade. They're poisonous from root to fruit. I don't want you to ingest any of it."

"Oh," Taekwoon perked up a little, a small smile forming on his lips. But then he saw Hakyeon's finger, the blood starting to clot.  "What about you though? What do we do? Would you be okay?"

"It's fine." Hakyeon smiled. He swished his fingers in the air and the wound instantly disappeared. "That's what magic is for."

"Right." Taekwoon pursed his small pouty lips again, and Hakyeon mentally cursed himself because he now couldn't stop thinking about how lovely those lips were. Not that he never noticed before, but now that he was hyper aware of his feelings for Taekwoon, they just suddenly became a hundred times more enticing.

"Were you trying to eat those? That day we met? You were lucky that snake stopped you from eating it. This plant can kill you."

"Ahh," Taekwoon just stared at the plant. "I guess," he murmured to himself and then his heel and waited for Hakyeon to catch up to him. "Let's go home."

Hakyeon smiled, though a bit confused by Taekwoon's response. Home. With Taekwoon. "Yeah. Let's go home." He slipped his hand around Taekwoon's arm and clung onto him as the walked. Whether Taekwoon liked it or not, he didn't say anything, so Hakyeon just chirped happily all the way back.

Taekwoon cooked dinner as usual, and then went to sleep early, tired from his daytrip to the town. Hakyeon, on the other hand, had extra energy to spare and he decided to work on some potions. He later realized that the amount of Taekwoon's belongings had been increasing, the longer he stayed, so he decided to rearrange his shelves and boxes to make more room for his "tenant-slash-employee". (Raven rolled her eyes at the term. "Just go ahead and say he's the love of your life.")

The next day though, Hakyeon felt like all the happiness in his life had been zapped out of him. His throat felt dry, his eyelids too heavy, and his whole body ached. He guessed it was because of the late-night cleaning and rearranging he did in his workshop. 

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon gently tapped his shoulder. "It's time for breakfast."

"I'm not really hungry." Hakyeon just squirmed, not even opening his eyes and coiling further under his blanket. "Let me sleep in for a little bit more."

Taekwoon hissed and hit his arm lightly. "I told you, you shouldn't have stayed up late last night. Kong is coming today."

Hakyeon barely groaned. He was excited about getting to spend more time with both Hongbin and Taekwoon, but his bed was clinging on to him.

"Wake me up if you need any help with lunch."

Taekwoon sighed and complained a little more but he did let Hakyeon sleep in. In fact, he did not come back to wake Hakyeon up the whole morning.

It was high noon when Hakyeon opened his eyes again, but he wasn't feeling any better. In fact, he felt worse. He shut his eyes again and heaved. His whole body, from the roots of his hair down to the tips of his toes, felt like it was burning. He was sweating so much that his pillow was a little soaked and he had kicked his blanket off the bed.

It was Raven who came in to wake him up and tell him that Hongbin's wagon was approaching their house and he needed to get up.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked, noting the large beads of sweat on Hakyeon's forehead and neck.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," Hakyeon breathed out. He lied on the bed for a couple more seconds before pushing himself to sit up. Eyes still shut as he brushed a hand through his hair, Hakyeon felt like his world was spinning. His fringe fell on his face again after his hand dropped to grip the bedsheets for support to keep himself sitting. He opened his eyes, head hanging low  and gaze fixed on the floor, hoping to feel a little more steady, but all he felt were dizzy spells.

"Hakyeon?" Raven walked towards him and peeked at his face. "Omygod Hakyeon! Your eyes... Are you sick?"

"Ssshhh," Hakyeon hissed. "I'm okay. Just... don't squeal at me. My head is pounding." He felt the throbbing pain even as he heard his own voice.

Raven jumped onto the bed and nuzzled her head against Hakyeon's torso. "Lie back down and rest. I'll tell Taekwoon you're sick and can't meet Hongbin today."

"No," Hakyeon whimpered. "I can't. They'll think I'm making up excuses. Hongbin will feel bad again." He stood up - his hand going up to grip on his hair tightly as if clutching his head would make the dizzy spells go away. It didn't. He wobbled as soon as he felt his own weight on his feet, but he somehow managed to reach the door and hold on to the knob for support.

Raven leaped to follow him, trying to block every step Hakyeon took, but it just made him more annoyed. "Hakyeon, I don't think you should meet Hongbin today. Just stay here. I'll call Taekwoon, please just go back to bed!" 

"Shut up, Raven!" Hakyeon snapped, his voice louder and angrier than he intended. His head felt like it was being hammered and any sound he heard just made it worse. "Shut up and stay still. Don't get in my way, otherwise I'll step on you!"

Raven stood still, not uttering a single sound. Hakyeon barely paid attention though. He just turned the knob and walked downstairs to the living room. He gripped the staircase ledge as if his life depended on it. It probably did, since he felt like he would tumble down and just hit his head on the floor if he had nothing to hold onto. He wasn't even sure what he was trying to do. Normally, he would have gone to the bathroom to at least wash up, but his mind was so clouded and he just let his limbs move on their own.

By the time he reached the bottom step of the staircase, he could see Taekwoon and Hongbin standing by the front door. They didn't notice him come, and Hakyeon's throat felt too sore for him to make a sound. He was starting to have double vision so he squinted, trying to focus his eyes on Taekwoon's broad back. From where he stood, it looked like the other two were standing too close to each other. Were they whispering? Or were they kissing? Hakyeon wasn't so sure. He just knew he could see Hongbin's hand on Taekwoon's waist. He felt the heat on his face rise up even more.

And then Taekwoon was gone from his sight. Next thing he knew, Hongbin was making his way towards him. Hakyeon also took a step from the staircase, tumbling forward in an attempt to grab on to Hongbin. But before Hongbin reached him, his vision completely out. 

He blinked. He was sure his eyes were open, but all he could see was darkness.

There was a faint sound of crystals shattering, and then he could hear someone yelling. There was a hand holding him by the waist, and another wrapped around his back, pressing him close to whatever, whomever it was in front of him. Hakyeon shut his eyes tightly and huffed. There were soft kisses pressed against his forehead while he blindly grasped the fabric within his reach.He could hear Taekwoon's voice but he couldn't make out what he was saying.

It wasn't until he felt huge hands grab him by the arm and violently pulled him back that Hakyeon finally opened his eyes and regained his senses. He yelped as he fell on the floor on his .

And he blinked. Once. Twice. Until his vision has cleared and he could see long slender legs standing in front of him. He looked up to meet the person's face and found Taekwoon staring down at him.

"Taekwoon..." Hakyeon whimpered, not really sure what to make of the situation. But instead of responding, Taekwoon quickly turned around and ran towards... Hongbin, who was also sitting on the floor, clutching his head.

"Omygod," Hakyeon gasped. "Omygod, omygod!" He slapped his hands onto his mouth as soon as he realized what just happened. He had taken full control of Hongbin while he was in a haze.

Taekwoon crouched beside Hongbin and wrapped an arm around the latter, asking him if he could stand. He was whispering things to Hongbin's ear, and Hakyeon could only sit there,  frozen - shocked and horrified of what he just did. The throbbing pain in his head was subsiding but his face was burning even more. 

When Taekwoon turned his head to look at him again, Hakyeon had hot tears rolling down his cheeks. Every muscle in his body was shaking and he was terrified - of himself. Hongbin still couldn't raise his head and Taekwoon was just staring at him sharply.

For the first time in his life, Hakyeon was scared less of his own magic. Taekwoon and Hongbin were the only friends he ever got and now he messed things up. Hakyeon could only cry silently. He covered his whole face with his shaking hands, unable to bear Taekwoon's gaze. 

"Hyung," he heard Hongbin's voice, but he couldn't bring himself to show his face, much more to look Hongbin in the eyes. His eyelids were feeling heavy again, and his body felt numb. The last thing Hakyeon heard was Raven purring somewhere beside him. And then it was all black again.

-=o0o=-

When Hakyeon woke up, he was back on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a while, before his memories filled in and he shot up, wondering if it was all just a nightmare - god he hoped it was. 

He looked around the room. Raven was sleeping on the bed beside him. The sun was setting and he could see the hues from his window. Taekwoon was nowhere to be found. He felt his stomach drop. 

"Hakyeon," Raven called, raising her head.

"I..." Hakyeon brushed a hand through his hair. His headache was gone, and so was the burning feeling. But he still felt incredibly heavy. "I... messed up, didn't I?" His voice cracked and his eyes were starting to well up with tears again.

"Hakyeon, you were sick. It wasn't your fault." Raven moved closer to him and purred.

Hakyeon clutched his head again. "I should have listen to you when you told me to stay in bed."

"Well, that's true. Take note of that. You should always listen to me."

Hakyeon's eyes widened with even more realization. "When I woke up, you were saying something about my eyes." He looked at Raven apologetically. "Were they already a different color back then? And when I told you to shut up... Raven, omygod, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Raven answered. "You know I don't feel anything about the charm. It's no big deal."

"Hongbin and Taekwoon... They both probably hate me now. Taekwoon should just tie me up and stake me or something."

"Hakyeon, please keep your kinks to yourself," Raven snorted.

Hakyeon glared at her. "I'm not joking, Raven. I deserve to die. Get burned alive or something. Hongbin had been nothing but kind to me and he-"

"Is very much all right, thank you."

Hakyeon's head snapped towards the door so quickly that he swore he heard a few of his bones crack some popping sounds, but he couldn't care less. What he cared about was that Hongbin was walking into his room carrying a tray of hot soup and bread.

Hakyeon backed up to his bed, pushing his back hard against the wall and curling his legs up. "Don't!" He yelled. Hongbin paused for a second, but then continued walking towards him.

"Don't come near me! Hongbin, Please!"

So Hongbin stopped, looking worried. "Don't worry," he coaxed softly, taking just one tentative step forward. "I just came to bring you food. I won't touch you or anything. Don't be scared."

Hakyeon gasped. "It's not about me! Hongbin... It's dangerous for you to be around me."

"I told you, I'm okay." Hongbin smiled at him, taking another step towards the bed. Hakyeon freaked out and jumped off, running to the corner farthest away from Hongbin. Raven just growled from the bed.

Hongbin sighed and decided to just walk briskly to put the tray on the bedside table. He then straightened up and faced Hakyeon directly, crossing his arms and frowning at him.

"I'm offended that you're acting like I'm going to assault you."

Hakyeon just stared at him confused. His feet were bare and cold against the floor, but he could feel heat flush across his face. "I'm... sorry. It's not that. If anyone should be traumatized, it's you. I just don't trust myself. That's why... I'm just really sorry, Hongbin. I..."

"How many times do I have to tell you it's okay? I'm okay. Stop apologizing. Come here. And eat!"

"Huh?"

"You were sick and you haven't eaten anything the whole day, have you?"

Hakyeon unconsciously rubbed his stomach. Now that Hongbin mentioned it, he could feel his stomach growling.

"But... the charm..."

"Hyung, I don't have enough patience for this." Hongbin jumped across the bed, walked towards Hakyeon, and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to sit on the bed. 

Hakyeon was about to panic, but then noticed a familiar bracelet with tiny blue gems around Hongbin's wrist while he was getting dragged towards the bed. He wasn't sure if it made him feel any better or worse.

"You need to eat," Hongbin growled impatiently, but he gently pushed Hakyeon to sit on the bed. He also sat beside Hakyeon and then scooped up a spoonful of pumpkin soup to feed him. Raven sat beside them and rested her head on Hakyeon's lap.

Hakyeon still sat frozen, eyes fixed on the bracelet on Hongbin's wrist. At this point, Hongbin just forcefully shoved the spoon into Hakyeon's mouth, burning his lips and tongue a little. "We prepared something easy to swallow. I don't have all day so please eat properly. Otherwise, you'll get hurt."

Hakyeon whimpered as Hongbin scooped another spoonful and raised it up to his mouth. He had no choice but to blow and cool it down, and then then slurp it up. Hongbin then took a piece of the bread and handed it to him.

"Thank you," Hakyeon murmured. His voice was shaking, and so were his hands. Even as he ate the bread Hongbin gave him, he was still terrified of what happened. He didn't dare to look at Hongbin in the face. Instead, he kept staring at Taekwoon's bracelet on Hongbin's hand.

"Are you feeling better?" Hongbin asked.

Physically, Hakyeon was all good. But he couldn't bring himself to say yes. Not when he had let his charm run out of control and get his friends into trouble.

"You owe me a healing potion. We just grabbed one from the trading box and Taekwoon said you currently don't have spare supply."

"Aah," The gears in Hakyeon's brain finally clicked. "The nightshade! I was poisoned by the nightshade?!"

"Yeah," Hongbin replied. "That's what Taekwoon-hyung guessed too. You probably just healed your cut but did not get rid of the poison. It's a good thing your potion worked against it though."

Hakyeon cursed under his breath. He felt so stupid, knowing the plant was dangerous and yet he let himself get poisoned like that. "I'm so sorry, Hongbin. You shouldn't have been dragged into this." Hongbin was going to interrupt, but Hakyeon wouldn't have it. "Don't say it was not my fault, because it was. I should have been more careful and I should have stayed back when I knew I wasn't feeling well, but I was too stubborn. I didn't want you to think I was avoiding you. I didn't realize I was so sick and the charm got out of control."

"Okay. I accept your apology. Let's leave it at that and move on."

Hakyeon finally looked at him, examining his face. Hongbin was just smiling at him, dimples popping, and eyes calm as they could be. "Just like that? How can you just leave it like that? It's not even the first time you got affected by the charm!"

"Hyung, even before I lost the control of my limbs to your magic, I was going to hold you anyway. You looked terrible when I saw you, and I knew you needed help. Honestly, I could barely tell the difference between what I wanted to do from what you made me do. "

"But didn't it feel... Weird to you? The charm controlling you?"

Hongbin's face turned just tiny bit redder, but his expression barely changed. "It's not as unpleasant as people said it would be. Don't worry about it."

"What about your resistance gem? You said that was expensive and--"

"Yeah. It just shattered in to pieces. I would appreciate a little compensation for that. But Taekwoon-hyung had been planning a trade with me so the timing kind of works out. I'll be borrowing his bracelet for a while until I get a new one. This one is much better anyway." Hongbin said, following Hakyeon's gaze which once again trailed to the bracelet on his hand. 

"Trade with you? What for? If he loses the bracelet, then..." Hakyeon gulped. If Taekwoon gave his bracelet to Hongbin, then he no longer had resistance to Hakyeon's magic. Was he planning to leave Hakyeon after all? "Is he gone?"

"Ahhh that was supposed to be a secret from you." Hongbin bit his lower lip. "He just went out for a while."

A secret? Hakyeon was confused. He couldn't stop himself from fidgeting. What if Taekwoon never came back? What if he really hated Hakyeon now?

He could still remember how Taekwoon stared at him after ripping him apart from Hongbin. Taekwoon was angry. Perhaps disgusted with him.

"Taekwoon... Do you think... After what happened, he's going to hunt me down?"

"You're a ," Hongbin rolled his eyes. He took the soup bowl and scooped another spoon for Hakyeon, and shoved it to his mouth. 

Hakyeon frowned at him.

"Do you think if we blamed you for what happened, I would still be here forcing you to eat? Or do you think I'm feeding you more poison?"

"No! No, Hongbin, of course not. It's just..." Hakyeon bit his lip. "I don't know. I'm just scared. Of everything. Of losing everything."

"Look," Hongbin breathed deeply before meeting Hakyeon's gaze. "I get why you would be scared of your own magic, especially after seeing just how powerful you are, enough to shatter a resistance gem out of the blue. But I'm literally right here, trying to take care of you. We're your friends, for goodness' sake! Can't you have a little more faith in us?"

Hakyeon clutched the loaf of bread in his hands. He tried to blink back tears, but they fell down his cheeks anyway. Hongbin was way too kind to him.

Hongbin hissed as he reached out and wiped Hakyeon's tears with his thumb. "I don't know if this is new knowledge to you, but I had always known how strong your magic was and that did not stop me from coming here. I've dealt with lots of other sorcerers before, but I only know exactly two persons who can make their magical items one hundred percent effective. You're one of them." He continued feeding Hakyeon, whose tears still kept rolling down his cheeks. "The resistance gems we have are almost always effective, except when we're around you. The other merchants don't hate you for being an enchanter. They deal with your kind every now and then. But they are scared of you, because they know how powerful you are."

Hakyeon huffed. "Then why were you not scared of me?"

"Because I could tell you're a good person. You've always tried to suppress your magic for our sake. For someone with so much power, that's a really difficult thing to do, but you always tried your best. You've actually done a really great job. Otherwise, my gem should have been overpowered and shattered long time ago." 

"You say that, but I've lost controlled a couple of times even when I wasn't sick." 

"It's easier to lose control and get overpowered when emotions are involved." Hongbin put down the bowl and just held it over his lap. His gaze suddenly turning away from Hakyeon as he mindlessly stirred what remained of the soup. A smile was still plastered on his face but it felt kind of stiff. "You're a really good guy, Hyung. I envy Taekwoon-hyung."

Hakyeon squinted, trying to make the connection between Hongbin's words. But he got distracted by the thought of Taekwoon. 

"Taekwoon's bracelet... If I shattered your necklace, won't the same thing happen with the bracelet?"

"I don't think so. I could still feel your magic in the air but this one is definitely stronger than any other stone." Hongbin raised his hand and inspected the said bracelet. "I told you I knew two powerful sorcerers, right? The other one made this."

"You know who made it? Taekwoon said it was his mother's--" And then it clicked inside Hakyeon's head. The one from Taekwoon's hometown. The one he originally set out to find.

"He was the one that Taekwoon used to live with," Hongbin added.

"Who is that sorcerer and what was he to Taekwoon? Why did they part ways?"

Hongbin shrugged. "That's not my story to tell."

"You and Taekwoon share so many secrets with each other. I just.. want to know..."

"Then you should ask him yourself. I'm not a messenger between some star-crossed lovers."

Hakyeon pouted, his head tilting to the side. "It's strange how you and Taekwoon always say the exact same thing. He told me that too."

"Well, we are good friends who have a lot more in common that I would like to admit. We also probably feel the same way about certain things," Hongbin threw a side glance at Hakyeon. He then sighed and stood up, setting the bowl down on the bedside table again. "And you're a ."

Hakyeon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" It was time for Raven to remind them of her presence by snorting at Hakyeon, who then glared at her.

"I'm sorry, but I have to agree. You're a ." She jumped off the bed before Hakyeon could grab her fur.

"You're all ganging up on me now, huh?" Hakyeon pouted.

Hongbin just scratched his head and laughed. He knelt on one knee to pet Raven's head. "Send my regards to Taekwoon-hyung."

"You're leaving? You're not gonna wait for him?" Hakyeon's gaze trailed down from Hongbin's face back to the bracelet on his wrist. Taekwoon no longer had resistance, and Hakyeon was terrified of what would happen if he came back. But more than anything, he was afraid if Taekwoon would not come back at all.

Hongbin just watched him for a few seconds, pursing his lips in understanding. "Don't worry. He's stronger than you think he is. He'll be back soon and tell you everything you want to know about him."

Hakyeon looked at him, worry still visible in his eyes.

"I assure you. It's going to be okay."

Hakyeon pursed his lips and nodded. He just had to take Hongbin's word for it. 

"You won't see me for a while though."

Hakyeon frowned. "Because of what happened?"

"No!" Hongbin replied. "I got the information I needed from Taekwoon-hyung after completing our trade, so I'm going to find that sorcerer and ask for my own resistance jewel. Then I'll come back and return this one to hyung."

"Oh," Hakyeon felt a slight pang on his chest. He felt even more guilty of breaking Hongbin's jewel and now, he wouldn't see him for a while. "I'm gonna miss you."

Hongbin sighed. He walked back towards Hakyeon and opened his arms. "This is the first time I can confidently tell you I'm not doing this because of your magic. Come here and let me hug you."

Hakyeon's vision blurred again as he stood up and ran into Hongbin's arms, but this time he did not black out. His eyes were just full of tears. Heart warm and feelings touched. Hongbin hugged him tight. Hakyeon could have sworn he also felt a drop of tear on his shoulder, but Hongbin's face was bright and tear stain-free when he pulled back.

"Hey, don't cry too hard," Hongbin chuckled, hands still resting on either side of Hakyeon's waist. "You sound like it's our final goodbye. I'll only be gone for a month or two. I'll be back."

"Thank you, Hongbin-ahh," Hakyeon kept crying anyway. "For being my very first friend."

"I'm expecting you to be much happier with yourself when I return. Be happy, Cha Hakyeon."

Hakyeon sniffed and nodded. He insisted on walking Hongbin out to the porch even though Hongbin told him to just stay in bed. They hugged each other one last time before Hongbin leaned forward and planted a light peck on Hakyeon's cheek.

"Tell Taekwoon-hyung I wish him luck." Hongbin fully let go of Hakyeon, who went back to looking confused. "Not that he needs it," he muttered with a smile.

Hakyeon just stared open-mouthed as Hongbin's wagon left. He tried to recall everything Hongbin said and piece them all together but he just got more confused the more he thought about it.

He went back inside the house, dropping by his workshop to check on things, though Raven prohibited him from doing any work. Taekwoon had already unpacked the trading boxes from Hongbin and arranged all items in their proper places. Everything was in order. But Hakyeon somehow felt uncomfortable.

Taekwoon was never really talkative. He responded well to Hakyeon's stories and he occasionally shared stories of his own, but he was really more of a listener than a talker. Instead, his mere presence urged Hakyeon to speak more so it was rarely quiet ever since Taekwoon lived with him. Now that he was not around, the house was strangely quiet, except for the occasional whimper from Raven whenever she stretched out after napping or sitting for too long.

Hakyeon found himself growing anxious as he waited for Taekwoon in the living room. Hongbin assured him Taekwoon would come back, but Hakyeon had been waiting for about an hour and there was still no sign of Taekwoon. The sun had set and it was growing dark outside. The silence was eating Hakyeon up.

"You should rest," Raven told him.

"I've been sleeping the whole day."

"You were sick, Hakyeon." She insisted. "Don't stress yourself. Taekwoon will be back."

"Do you know where he went?"

"No. He didn't share their secrets with me. But he told me to watch over you until he comes back. So that's what I'm doing."

"So he said he'll come back?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "We've told you a hundred times, . Don't you ever listen?"

Hakyeon pouted. "You're mean."

"You're stubborn."

"Fine." Hakyeon may have spent the whole day in bed, but he did not actually feel rested. He no longer felt feverish but his body still felt heavy, his shoulders drooped like the remnants of the poison was still wearing him down. He was still a little full from when Hongbin fed him, so he decided to just get some snacks instead of having a full meal for dinner. Then he went to the bathroom to wash and freshen himself up.

He felt so much better by the time he lied down on his bed again, still anxious and worried that Taekwoon hadn't returned yet, but he let himself drowse back to sleep.

At some point in the middle of the night, Hakyeon vaguely remember waking up and feeling long, slender fingers brush through his hair. A palm rested on his forehead to check for temperature, and a soft voice whispered into his ear. But the sleep was heavy on his eyes and he couldn't really make out what was happening, if it was even real or just a product of his dreams. He groaned, but he was hushed back to sleep by the same soft voice he had been waiting to hear.