ONE

Traveling alongside a group of bandits while having her wrists tied and a spear consistently drawn close to her face wasn’t how she expected her graduation celebration to be. To make things worse, she didn’t even get to finish her celebratory meal before she got knocked out by someone. These bastards hadn’t stopped anywhere since they started moving, and if they had food in stock, they weren’t showing that to her. Who knew how long they were going to starve her?

“Don’t be making that face at me,” one of them said. His face was covered in half by the mask he was wearing, but she could see that he was probably around her age. It was unfortunate that somebody this young man was involved in this line of work. “I said,” he said while leaning closer, “don’t be making that face at me.”

She couldn’t even move her facial muscles. These bandits were probably not entirely hopeless in the spellcasting department seeing how they were capable of doing that. Though, their attempt at casting a spell to lull her into sleeping hadn’t worked. Instead, she felt the desire to move around as much as she could. The man with the fiery red hair suggested that they knock her out again, but to her luck, someone said that they needed her for something and they didn’t want to risk waiting for a few days before she gained her consciousness back.

Whatever it was that they needed her for, it saved her head.

The boy that had been talking to her before went back to leaning his back against the carriage wall, his arms crossed and the spear put standing against the seat. If she wasn’t mistaken, he went by the name Kyungsoo. It sounded like a real name, and this made the alarm go off in her head. If they were this careless about revealing personal information to her, could this mean that she wasn’t going to live past this point of her life?

Her shoulders tensed, and this caused Kyungsoo to lurch forward and press the tip of the spear against her neck.

“What are you planning to do?” She wanted to speak, but her tongue was numb. “No funny business. Junmyeon might let you off easily, but I’m not him.” He pressed it harder against her neck that she was sure that there was blood dribbling down her neck and soaking her dress. “The next time you flinch, you’ll get more than this.”

Maybe if they had worked well on putting her asleep, Kyungsoo wouldn’t be so on the edge throughout the journey. But they were bandits. There was a reason why they chose this path.

The carriage jumped after it hit something, and Kyungsoo was quick to mutter curses. If those were hexes, everyone in the carriage and the trailer connected behind it would have been killed.

“Sorry!” the person who was driving the carriage hollered.

“Never mind that, how much longer are we going to be stuck here?” Kyungsoo asked while rubbing his bum.

“We’re very, very close. You should actually wake them up.”

At that response, Kyungsoo nudged the snoring boy next to him before he kicked the shin of someone who was sitting next to her. Both of them didn’t look so pleased, but they should really be grateful that they weren’t the one who was sleeping with their hands tied. She would have slept, but when both of your arms were twisted backward, it was hard to feel comfortable.

Just as she heard them both yawning, the carriage jolted to a stop, and she was thrown forward. True to his profession, Kyungsoo dodged before he used his arms to shove her to the side. He rose a little and held her by the collar, and then he threw her back to her seat. He took a moment to glare down at her before he jumped off the carriage and landed with a thud on the ground.

“Gather on the ground!” He poked his head into the carriage and looked at her. “Including you.” He held his hand out, but she guessed that it wasn’t because he wanted to be proper, because behind her another guy was ready with a spear pointed at her back. Realizing that she still had her wrists tied, Kyungsoo grabbed her arm instead.

The first whiff of air that she smelled wasn’t anything like what she had smelled before. It was the smell of nature—the small of grass, the soil, and the trees. Everything combined in one. But there was something about how eerily silent and still the air was that didn’t sit well with her. As she took in the surroundings, she realized that the carriage had stopped right in front of a thick forest and that there were no signs of civilisation around them.

Kyungsoo tugged her arm. “Quick, we don’t have all day.”

Her foot landed on the ground with ease, but she was irked by how hard her skirt was making it for her to move quickly. Kyungsoo didn’t have enough patience for that and she was getting irritated by how offensive he was. If only she could use her voice…

The driver of the carriage jumped off his seat and then went to pat the horses. “Don’t be too hard on her. She’s not used to this.”

Someone with a little bit of sense at least, she thought. Kyungsoo’s grip on her arm tightened, and when she tried to pull her arm, he shoved her shoulders against the carriage instead. The anger in his eyes told her that he couldn’t care less about who she was, and where she came from.

“You’re being too soft on this spoiled and wealthy brat,” Kyungsoo replied to the driver, but he was staring into her eyes. It suffocated her. “Isn’t it unfair if she keeps on living in that filthy world of hers while we struggle to survive?” She couldn’t breathe. “She’s just a pawn there, and it will be the same here as well.”

Someone placed a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder and said, “Kyungsoo, hands off her.”

She tried to calm her trembling body and caught a glimpse of a person whose messy brown hair sat atop of his head like a soft and warm bundle of cotton. There was an easy smile on his face, and although it seemed like a friendly gesture, she got a feeling that there was more to it than what could be seen.

Kyungsoo stayed still for a few seconds, before he pulled away. “,” he muttered. He glanced at the boy who had just appeared, and then he pulled the sleeve of her dress and tossed her towards the boy. “Keep your eyes on her. I need to check our supplies.” He dusted his hands on his pants. “Baekhyun, I swear that if you even let her walk away even for a few seconds, it’s your head that I’ll go after.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “Even if I do let her away, she’ll not be able to go back to the main city—or any other city anyway. Don’t worry too much.” Once Kyungsoo disappeared into the trailer, Baekhyun turned to her and smiled. “The effect of the spell will fade in a few more minutes.” He laughed while caressing his nape. “But you did hear me, right?”

They were in a remote place, and she couldn’t see any houses nearby. Baekhyu was right. Even if she managed to escape, how would she survive on her own in this place?

“Good,” he said. He looked up at the darkening sky, and then at the few boys that were exiting the trailer. His eyes followed them as they disappeared into the forest. “It’s getting darker, so I think we’ll be sleeping here tonight. We’ll set off at the first sign of light tomorrow.”

Her tongue was flicking, attempting to ask something. Where were they going? When will these bastards ever tell her anything?

“I know that you’re curious about a lot of things, Kwon Jisoo, but the truth isn’t as pretty as you’re hoping it would be. Enjoy the night, because it’s probably going to be your last. And ours as well.”

. . .

“Can she speak now?” the carriage driver asked while setting down on the ground with a cup of hot drinks. He blew on it before he took a sip. “You’re getting better at spellcasting, Kyungsoo!” he said as he bumped his fist on Kyungsoo’s arm. 

Kyungsoo set his own cup on the ground while scoffing. “Who needs to get better at that when we can rob people and get all the money and treasures we can get to live off for the rest of our lives?” He handed Jisoo a slice of bread. To her surprise, it was warm. “Speak,” he told her.

Jisoo pinched the bread and shoved it into , chewing it slowly. It was bland and the texture was rough—it felt like she was chewing on a tumbleweed. She was tempted to spit it out, but seeing how there was a bonfire in front of them and how close Kyungsoo was to her, she didn't want to risk anything.

"Why did you take me?" she asked, her voice hoarse. Every word that came out of made her wince.

Baekhyun tossed a flask at her and she caught it clumsily with her hands. She stared at the flask, noticing the fingerprints and the shades of black spread against the surface. With hesitation, she uncapped it and took a small gulp. But it wasn't enough, so she took more, and more.

She wrapped her fingers around the empty flask, thinking if this would tickle Kyungsoo’s nerves; he eyed everything she did with suspicion. Her body cowered a little, and she held onto the flask tighter.

Making a run for herself was out of the question. Compared to their whole spellcasting ability combined, hers was still superior. But when it came to survival, she paled in comparison. She would probably end up as some kind of creature's dinner.

"There's a tale of a hidden city," Kyungsoo began talking, and the flask slipped off her hands a little, but she managed to catch it before it fell onto the ground. "It's full of treasures that could make seven generations live comfortably without having to work not in a single day in their life. Jewelries, golds, artifacts—they're all in the city."

She took another pinch of the bread. Of course she had heard of this tale; it was something that everyone in the kingdom knew about. It was akin to a fairytale, albeit a darker version of it. It had always been considered a myth, though. Something that was made up to keep people from coming into the forest, where dangerous creatures lurked. Dangerous creatures that hadn't tasted human flesh for so long.

"And you're telling me that you believe that this hidden city is inside there?" She turned to face the forest. In the darkness of the night, she could barely make out the outlines of the trees, she couldn't even see how thick the forest was, and this made her feel more uneasy. "It's a myth."

"How would we know unless we try?"

"We don't have to try to know that there are some deadly creatures in there." Kyungsoo frowned, and she took it as a sign to seal shut. But who was he to doubt her?

"Look, there's no hidden city." The fire illuminated his stoic face, and she considered shutting herself up, but she didn’t. "And the full story is that a Dark Lord resides in and protects the city. It's meant to keep people away."

For a moment, only the crackling of fire could be heard.

"Do you think that we don't know that?" Kyungsoo asked, and from the pocket  of his pants, he took out a small scroll and then tossed it to Jisoo. "Look at this."

She raised it and let the scroll unfold on its own. On the fading paper, she could see a detailed map. It detailed every single house, riverbank, hills, the tavern, and other places.

Using her finger, she traced it against the map, feeling the roughness of the paper surface.

"This isn't a map of the forest, is it?" she asked.

"No," he confirmed. "It's a map of the hidden city."

She pressed her lips at that answer, and her eyes focused back on the map. There was something that stood out the most—the symbol of a big house in a darker shade than the others. There seemed to be fences around it, too. Just below the house symbol on the map, though, there was a description that had already faded to the point that it could no longer be read.

It wasn't natural; there was a hint of magic radiating from it, and she could see it. The majestic gold colour all over the description column was hard to be missed, after all. At first glance, she hadn't been able to see anything out of the ordinary, but once she activated her vision magic, she could see that the colour of magic wasn't just centered on the description column.

It was spread on the entire map, engulfing it in the colour of gold, that she had to squint her eyes a little to take in what other things she had missed. But, before she was able to do so, Kyungsoo already snatched the scroll away from her.

He glared at her. "You were taking too long." Then, as soon as his eyes met hers, he went silent. His own eyes turned into a mix of anger and fear, and without even being given a chance to offer her explanation, she found herself pushed into the ground, her hair sprawling against the dirt and Kyungsoo’s ragged breath hitting her skin.

Her eyes widened when he clasped his hand around her neck. She looked around, hoping that somebody would stop Kyungsoo before he killed her for real, but the moment the other boys’ eyes met with hers, they sat frozen.

She wrapped her hands against Kyungsoo’s arm and tried to push him off, but he only pushed her harder. His magic hue was almost transparent, with a hint of white, but his physical strength alone was enough to make her fear for her life.

“I wasn’t doing—”

“Shut up!” He tightened his grasp. “You weren’t supposed to do anything—nothing. What are you planning? Do you think that we’ll let you do things as you like?” Through her watery eyes, she could see how his magic hue was turning more and more transparent, to the point that she could barely see any shade of it radiating from his body. “I could kill you now,” he said through his gritted teeth.

“Kyungsoo, what the are you doing?” She could feel someone pulling Kyungsoo’s hand off her neck. That voice—it was Baekhyun’s. She did notice that he hadn’t been there when she was scanning the area for help. “What do you mean by killing her?” There was the sound of something hitting against something hard, and she heard Kyungsoo groan. “Are you stupid? You’re the leader, you’re supposed to know how crucial she is in this!”

“We’ll do just fine without her. We’ve ventured into the forest many times—”

“So this is your reasoning?” Baekhyun laughed, but there was something about the nature of it that sounded so wrong. “It’s different. This time it’s different. You’ve heard what the informant said—we need her to be able to do this.”

His voice was starting to fade into the background, and as she stared at the gloomy black sky, she felt like she drowned more and more into unconsciousness. Drifting far, far away.

. . .

The next time Jisoo opened her eyes, she noticed that her wrists were tied—again—and that she was lying in the trailer, among many wooden boxes and items that were covered in cloth. The air was thick, and every intake of air made her sneeze. She thought that she would probably have to spit a ball of dusts after this.

With her body flat on the surface and the fear of the boxes falling on top of her if she made the wrong movement, getting up wasn't even an option.

Based on how dark it was, the bandits were probably sleeping. Baekhyun did mention that they were going to depart at the first sign of sunlight, so there was still a chance that they were already and doing some preparations. It was quiet, outside, though, and she could hear a faint snoring sound.

She opened slightly, and then closed it back. At least they didn't seal shut this time. It was that they either thought that she was a heavy sleeper or that Kyungsoo was simply unable to cast a spell on her again. That always happened with untrained casters. Most of the time, they were only able to cast spells due to their luck.

Well, these bandits were quite the lucky ones. In normal circumstances, she would have already flown the scene and rat them out to the Court, but this was no normal situation. She muttered a spell as she thought about how irritating it was that she chose to study vision magic over other more practical magic fields.

Times like this made her aware that vision magic could only really be useful against her fellow spellcasters. Against these bandits, whose magic hue was almost the same colour as the air, she couldn't even predict their next steps. With the spellcasters, she knew what they were going for based on their magic hue and the runes that would run across their skin.

Using her free hand, she pushed herself up while carefully dodging the boxes. "And let there be light," she muttered, and a small ball of light appeared before her, illuminating the trailer. She reached out for the ball and clasped it in her hands, enjoying the warmth that it was providing. "Float," she said while opening up her palm, and the ball rose up until it was levitating at a certain height.

If Kyungsoo had learned the basics like she had at the academy, he probably would have been able to use simple commands like these. His magic hue could be almost transparent, but if there was anything that she had learned throughout her years at the academy, magic hue could thicken. There were even some cases where the magic hue had completely changed its colour.

She crawled towards the end of the trailer while ignoring the feeling of dirt against her skin. The air outside was crispier than inside, and if having the dirt stuck on her palms was the price she had to pay, then she was going to take that chance.

Somebody's head suddenly appeared just a little above the bottom of the trailer entrance, and she had to bite her lips to suppress her voice.

Baekhyun grinned. "A mischievous one, aren't you?" He got up and sat at the entrance, blocking her way to escape the suffocating place. "Tell me your tricks."

She bit her lip harder, but then he only started to laugh.

"Shh, don't be too loud!" she whispered while putting her index finger against her lips.

"Why?" he asked. His lips were twisted into a teasing smile. "Is there supposed a problem if they heard me?"

"Problem for me," she hissed. When he only smiled at her in return, she sighed and crawled towards him. "Move away," she said while gesturing at him to move to the side, "I just want some fresh air."

"Tell me your tricks."

"What tricks?"

"The one that you used last night." He made an act of moving his eyes from left to right before he placed a hand against one side of his head and leaned forward. "Don't tell anyone, but Kyungsoo was about to lose it last night."

She cast her eyes down and crumpled her fingers. Even without her vision magic, she knew that behind his playfulness, there was some truth behind it.

Baekhyun slid away from the entrance and patted his behind. "I'm sorry, that must have made you uncomfortable." When she remained there unmoving, he approached the trailer again. "We do know about your magic and its condition." He cleared his throat. "I guess I shouldn't have poked fun at it."

"It was funny to you?" she asked while raising her head. "My magic and its condition," she murmured, "is it funny to you?"

The trace of playfulness was gone, and it was replaced by his mouth that was slightly agape. He rubbed his nape while averting his gaze from her, staring at a distance instead of answering her question.

She made it to the entrance and sat there, her legs hanging and her hands both pressing against the surface on her sides as she looked at the forest before her. In the evening, the night, or when it was approaching dawn, the forest still gave the energy of the non-livings. Like it had the energy out of every inhabitant, and soon, it was going to theirs as well.

"You mentioned that you know about my magic," she began, "and I assume that the other guys must have known, too." She glanced at him. "This probably means that at some point during your forest...exploration, I'll have to use it."

Baekhyun turned his back against her. "You're right."

She stared at his back, noticing the way his silhouette seemed to be outlined by something that sparkled gently. "Is there any chance that I'll be freed after this ends?"

The stillness of the air carried the question away, as if it had never been asked.

Instead, he said, “You should go back to sleep. We’ll do a lot of walking once we’re inside the forest because there isn’t a proper pathway that the carriage would be able to fit through.” He turned facing her and gave her a smirk. “Rest well.” 

hello! here's another one of my demon au agenda (i swear that i have enough demon au's for every exo member) and no idk what i'm doing but today i present you the first chapter of sitcob!! there will be no regular and frequent updates because i struggle w managing my time so much like you can give me 124 hours a day and i'll use 123 hours to sleep and procrastinate and the last 1 hour to complain about the 'lack of time'. anyway, i welcome curious cat asks and comments so don't be shy to share your thoughts my friends <3