As night took over and painted the skies with a navy so dark that it became indiscernible from the abyss, the moon reigned proudly over the sleeping island of Jeju. Despite most inhabitants being deep in slumber already, there was one humble flat that was still b with life.

Planted on the ground in front of the television, Baekhyun and Jongdae were in the middle of an intense battle on the latest racing video game. Baekhyun was actively ignoring his manuscript’s deadline looming over his head while Jongdae chose to forget that he was supposed to be up early the next day in order to plan a funeral. The two best friends were being the perfect embodiment of adults neglecting their duties in order to savour the moment — a moment without worries of responsibilities and the supernatural.

“Nooooooo!” Jongdae wailed, throwing the joystick onto the sofa. “Not again!”

“Loser,” Baekhyun snorted, stretching his arms out and loosening his muscles that were sore from sitting in the same position for too long. “You can never win against me Kim Jongdae.”

“Don’t get too comfy Byun Baekhyun,” Jongdae announced fervently. “I will dethrone you just you wait. But first, I need to rehydrate.”

With that said, Jongdae pushed himself off the ground and shuffled towards the kitchen, promptly pouring himself a glass of water. The glass had barely touched his parched lips when a scorching heat shot out from the palm of his hand, spreading through the rest of his body like wildfire. This caused Jongdae to losen his grip and the glass fell onto the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces. The splashes of water that escaped tainted his trousers but did little to subdue to fire tormenting him from within. Struggling to catch his breath, Jongdae stared at his palm, his eyes zoning in on the endless knot tattoo that stared back at him.

From the corner of his eyes, Jongdae saw Baekhyun rushing into the kitchen. The latter was wholly oblivious to the shards of broken glass on the ground. Instead, Baekhyun was cradling his wrist — where his endless knot tattoo was. The two friends locked gazes. Jongdae saw reflected in Baekhyun’s eyes the very same fear and concern that he felt himself.

“Where are Chinsun and Jongin?” Baekhyun managed to squeeze out, barely keeping his voice even.

“They had an urgent business to attend…” Jongdae replied, his voice getting stuck in his throat towards the end of the sentence.

Without needing confirmation, both knew that the urgent business was related to matters of the supernatural. The fierce fire they were both experiencing now was definitely related to that; to Chinsun and Jongin’s safety being put at risk. Without wasting any more time, Baekhyun and Jongdae dashed towards the door. They ran out of the building with their feet barely slid into their shoes and bodies fully