On Saturday afternoon, Minji sat on the couch in the living room and once again tried to make use of the magic that was contained within her. She had practiced during the past days, but controlling the foreign new power wasn’t easy at all. Most of the time, she barely managed to create a pathetic little spark—it was frustrating.

She stared at her open palm and concentrated, trying to get a feeling for her magic. It was like a second heartbeat in her chest, pulsing faintly in its own rhythm. She wanted to create a shining orb in her hand, but her magic stayed locked in within her and did not do what it was supposed to, no matter how hard she tried.

“Maybe I should do something else,” she uttered and continued her undertaking by staring at the bright lamp on the ceiling instead. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the light, attempting to control it using sheer willpower, but the light did not bend to her will. Nothing happened. The lamp didn’t turn off, didn’t even flicker.

“If you keep glaring at the lamp, it’s going to melt,” a haughty voice commented on her fruitless efforts and caused her anger to resurface. “You’re doing it wrong again!”

“Oh, great. Could you help me out instead of mocking me?” she snapped surly, hating that he saw her fail again and again. His dumb smug smirk did nothing to ease the embarrassment.

“Sure, but you’ll need to calm down first,” he sighed and sat down next to her. He surprised her when he took her hand in a gentle hold, turning it so their flat palms were touching. Her anger faded and curiosity took its place as she watched him with interest, not knowing what he intended to do. When she felt warmth seeping from his fingertips to hers, her eyes widened.

“Can you sense this?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Yes. What are you doing?”

“I’m sharing my magic with you. It might be easier for you to get a hang of controlling it if I’m giving you a jump start,” he explained. “Envision what you want the light to do.”

A gradual flow of magic moved through her entire body, resonating with her. It pulsed softly, its intensity getting stronger now that they shared it. She kept looking at their connected hands and imagined glowing particles floating through the air, forming a sphere of light. With a little bit of support on his part, her magic finally appeared, taking on the form of bright rays originating from her hands. It was uncontrollable and too powerful; blinding her.

He forced the light to dim, allowing her to realize what she wanted to do from the start. A glowing orb came into existence, hovering over their intertwined hands. It looked like a tiny gleaming star, its dazzling rays of light reflecting in Baëkhyun’s eyes.

Minji couldn’t take her gaze away from the sight. His iris gleamed in all shades of blue, reminding her of the shimmering ocean when it was illuminated by the sun. He didn’t notice her gaze at first, too concentrated on helping her channel her magic, but when he looked up to meet her eyes, he paused. Over the shining light, they kept looking at each other, both mesmerized by the sight that greeted them.

Minji hadn’t felt this close to him in a while, knowing it was due to the magic. Its constant gentle flow connected them. She wouldn’t have thought it possible after their terrible argument not long ago, but she was at peace being with him. The storm in her heart had calmed.

“Thank you,” she whispered, watching the tiny star with joy. “This is easier with your help.”

“I’m not doing all that much, it’s mostly you,” he answered, his tone softer than before. “You need practice, but I’m sure you can learn to master it.”

She gazed into his twinkling eyes, feeling her heart flutter. Biting her lip, she tried to focus on the light between them which suddenly brightened and grew bigger without her doing anything noteworthy. She parted her lips in surprise, watching the spectacle in awe. When she wished for more orbs to appear, tiny dots of light came into existence and spread through the living room. She felt them, sensed them around her like they were alive. It was incredible; she could hardly believe what she was seeing—it could have been a dream.

However, the longer she made use of the magic, the more tired she became. It drained her, and her body began to burn from the strain it put on her. Baëkhyun noticed and made the magic disappear.

“That’s enough for now. You can practice more tomorrow,” he decided and let go of her hands.

“Why didn’t it work before, though?” she asked, still looking at her hands in fascination.

“You seem to have trouble releasing your magic. That’s what I did for you just now,” he explained before his gaze darkened slightly. “But you need to be careful with this kind of magic. It’s not meant to be used by humans and if you overdo it, it could damage your body.”

“I’ll be careful,” she answered, gnawing on her lower lip when a thought struck her. She leaned her body against the backrest of the sofa, keeping her gaze locked with Baëkhyun’s. “What about witches? They are able to use magic too, right? Isn’t it also dangerous for them?”

His lips twitched, amusement at her childlike curiosity swirling through his blue eyes. “Witches use a different kind of magic. It’s not as strong as demon magic, and it’s not as destructive either. The only difference would be blood magic.”

“Jangmi said it’s dangerous,” Minji mumbled.

“To a human, surely. Blood mages use blood sacrifices to strengthen their magical power, for example, dead animals and in some cases humans. You better not get close to them,” he said and shot her a sharp glare that made her sit up straighter.

“How would I recognize them?” she asked, not liking the serious tone of his voice. If he warned her of something, it was usually on another level of dangerous.

“If you practice more, you will be able to distinguish between several types of magic. Theirs has a disgusting coldness to it. Almost as if it’s dead and rotten,” he said, curling his lips in distaste.

“Uh… okay?” she mumbled, not able to imagine much even after hearing his explanation.

“Don’t think too much about it, it’s unlikely you would ever meet a blood mage,” he said and she hoped he was right.

A few days later, Minji was busy doing another interview for Yixing and Baëkhyun tagged along, refusing to let her go on her own. They were busy for most of the day, so when they returned home she was tired, wanting to spend the rest of the evening watching movies.

However, an unexpected text from Jisoo changed her plans. She asked if they could meet and insisted on visiting her at home since she wanted to meet Baëkhyun in person. Jisoo was stubborn, just as stubborn as Baëkhyun, Minji noted with a deep sigh. She couldn’t talk her out of it.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang and Minji received a curious stare from Baëkhyun before she ran off to open the front door.

“I missed you, girl! How are you?” Jisoo smiled widely at her, hugging her tightly.

“I’m okay… everything has been cleared up,” Minji answered, receiving a conspiratorial glance from Jisoo who lowered her voice to a whisper.

“You made up? That’s great! I was worried about you, but it looks like you handled everything well,” Jisoo grinned. “And now I want to see the demon myself.”

“Mhm,” Minji replied, less enthusiastic than her friend. She let her into the flat and closed the door, walking back to the living room with Jisoo in tow.

“Baëkhyun, we have a visitor! Be a good boy,” she called.

“I’m not a dog, you idiot!” he yelled back in his typical grumpy fashion, causing Jisoo to smirk.

“This is going to be interesting,” she said under her breath, ignoring Minji’s eye roll.

When they entered the living room, she spotted the demon immediately, sitting on the sofa with one arm on the backrest while he lazily watched a random movie. His blue eyes were glued to the screen, his snow-white hair standing out even in the dimly lit