chapter 28

Sunggyu wakes with a headache, head pounding, and he sits up in bed slowly. Woohyun is asleep beside him and he looks at the time – early afternoon of the next day. He’s hungry so he swings his legs out of bed and stands, finding his discarded sweats and putting them on. He slips out quietly, hand pressing against the throbbing part of his head, and makes his way downstairs. Food and then painkillers. And maybe some bandaids for his hands – Woohyun had removed the remnants of glass from his hands and he doesn’t want to get the wounds infected.

He bumps into Suzy along the way who bows politely. “Hello, master. Can I get you anything?”

Sunggyu glances at his palms and angles them enough so she can see. “Bandaids please? I’m going to go get some painkillers for my headache and some food so if you could just grab some bandaids that would be really nice.”

She bows again and says, “Of course, master,” before walking down the hall.

Sunggyu goes to the kitchen and starts to make some eggs and toast for himself but the pain in his head still doesn’t subside. He eats, Suzy brings colourful bandaids to cover his wounds after cleaning them, and then he pops two painkillers. “Would you like me to call a doctor? Your complexion isn’t very good and,” she touches the back of her hand to his forehead, “you’re rather feverish.”

Sunggyu shakes his head. “I think I’m just exhausted from all that’s happening. All I need is some more sleep.”

Suzy nods, skeptical, but maybe sleep is exactly what Sunggyu needs. So he goes back up, taking a break at the top of the stairs because he is actually quite tired, and then he slips back into his bedroom. Woohyun is awake, blearily blinking away the sleep, and he lifts the covers beside him invitingly. “Come back and sleep,” his voice is husky from not using it for hours and he isn’t breathing. It’s always been slightly unnerving that Woohyun doesn’t need to breathe and Sunggyu notices when Woohyun does just so that Sunggyu isn’t so creeped out, which he’s grateful for.

Sunggyu wobbles a little as he crawls back into bed and snuggles into Woohyun’s side. “You’re really hot,” Woohyun mutters into his hair. “Do you have a fever?”

Sunggyu shakes his head. “Just go back to sleep,” he whispers. “I’m tired.”

Sunggyu feels Woohyun’s body temperature drop, cool against his own skin, and he hugs Woohyun tight. His head still hurts but he’s so tired that it isn’t hard to fall asleep again, his heart beating against Woohyun’s still one.

//

The nightmare he experiences is familiar and maybe he’s had it before but he doesn’t remember. He just remembers the feeling.

The nightmare is terrifying, to say the least. He hears voices, familiar, and they fester in his head until they are so loud it makes Sunggyu cry out. He just wants them to stop, to stop telling him things, things he doesn’t want to hear. He sobs and screams, chanting, “Stop, stop, stop!”

But it doesn’t stop, just gets louder and louder. It’s dark and damp and Sunggyu feels so alone. Isolated. The voices continue still, speaking to him in tongues that he shouldn’t understand but he does. It’s not really words, but sounds, and they aren’t commanding him but they’re beckoning him, persuasive. He opens his eyes to see a light in the distance and the voices tell him to go to it. He doesn’t want to, he tells himself no, but he’s standing and his feet move forward towards the light.

The voices are so loud in his ear, so hypnotizing, and Sunggyu easily goes. He gives up struggling and he’s about to move into the light–

Sunggyu is shaken awake, sweat gathering at his forehead. The headache isn’t as strong anymore but it’s a dull throbbing, relentless. Woohyun is above him, eyebrows knitted together in concern. Sunggyu is panting, breathless, and Woohyun brushes the hair out of his eyes. “I–”

Woohyun hugs him and Sunggyu grips Woohyun’s (when did he take off his shirt). His eyes are wide, and he doesn’t understand. Terrified, he wonders if that was really just a simple nightmare. The Key was speaking to him still, telling him to go – he doesn’t know where. The Key is destroyed but it felt so real, like it was still in his palm, and he grips onto Woohyun like it’ll save him. Maybe it will.

“Sunggyu, are you okay?”

Sunggyu tries to calm himself down, tries to even his breathing, but he still hears the voices as if they were coming from a distance and he can’t stop hearing them. It’s painful and he doesn’t answer Woohyun, just clutches desperately at his back. “Sh, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m here. It was just a nightmare.”

It takes Sunggyu several moments to calm down and when he does, he feels like he can finally string coherent sentences together. “The Key,” he whispers. “I dreamt about the Key. Why did I dream about the Key? It felt so real. But I destroyed the Key.” In his scrambled state, he starts to ramble some.

Woohyun shifts up to kiss his forehead, moving down to kiss his nose, and then finally he pecks Sunggyu’s lips comfortingly. “It’ll be okay,” his voice is soothing and Sunggyu finds himself nodding.

//

Sunggyu finally falls asleep again, his skin still feverish, and when Woohyun is sure that he’s fine, he leaves the room soundlessly. His ear is peeled for any spike in Sunggyu’s heartbeat but for now, all he can hear is the rhythmic beating of his perfectly human heart and the sound of his even breathing.

Hoya is at the landing of the stairs and he gives Woohyun a look as Woohyun passes. “What is it?” Woohyun asks.

“Sunggyu doesn’t seem to be doing too well.”

“It’s rude to eavesdrop.” Woohyun presses his lips together when Hoya starts to follow him down the hall. “Shouldn’t you be with Dongwoo anyways? You should be catching up.”

“I have some things to deal with and besides, Dongwoo is enjoying the scenery of your backyard. He’s quite content. And I’d like to hear what Sungjae has to say.”

“How did you know I was going to talk to Sungjae?”

“Would you really leave Sunggyu’s side right now if you weren’t? And I assume you’re going to talk to Sungjae about what’s happening to Sunggyu.”

“I thought they Key was gone,” Woohyun says after a moment, jutting out his jaw as he approaches the door leading down to the basement. His hand hovers over the doorknob and Hoya watches.

“Did we think it would really be that easy? The Key is some powerful, old magic and despite the fact that Sunggyu is what he is, it shouldn’t be so easy to get rid of.”

Hoya is right. He doesn’t really want to believe it, just wants it all to be over, but the truth is that there’s probably more ahead of them. The Key is the oldest form of magic left, magic no one today could even begin to fathom, and Woohyun hasn’t been around long enough. No one has. In the library there are collections of scriptures regarding the Key but Woohyun is no spellcaster and most of what’s in those books is utterly lost on him. Maybe he’ll have to call in a friend.

“I know that. But Sunggyu doesn’t and I don’t want him to suffer because of what happened.”

“Are you upset with him?” Hoya doesn’t know what he wants to hear.

Woohyun pauses, glancing at Hoya. “I… No, I don’t think I’m upset. Or maybe I am. But I love him, God I love him so much, and I understand why he did what he did. And I trust him, I do, but there’s a part of me that is angry because we all went through so much to get there and then came back empty handed.”

“He was scared of it. He still is.”

“Which is why I’m okay mostly okay with it. But the Key could have stopped the madness and now I have to live in fear that one day I will succumb to it and hurt Sunggyu. One day I might not be the person he fell in love with.”

“The madness isn’t inevitable, you know. There’s a way to stop the it and you don’t need the Key to do that. Just keep loving Sunggyu and caring for him and don’t push him away. He will stop the madness as long as you let him.”

Woohyun’s hand falls away from the doorknob and he looks at Hoya, eyes widening slightly. Hoya shrugs and reaches out to twist the doorknob, pushing it open quickly. He goes ahead and Woohyun follows moments after.

The basement is damp and cool and they walk down the hall until they reach a large metal door. This room came with the building, Woohyun has never needed it, but now Sungjae is locked away behind it. Woohyun unlocks the large padlock and the door swings open. Inside, Sungjae is sitting on the floor with his back up against the brick wall and his arm propped up on one knee. He yawns when he looks over and raises his eyebrow.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he says.

Hoya closes the door behind him and crosses his arms over his chest. “Just wanted to tell you what we had planned for you,” Woohyun answers.

“Do tell. I’m dying to find out,” the sarcasm drips off his words and Woohyun rolls his eyes.

“Tomorrow we’ll go to the Council and tell them about what happened. From there, we’ll let them decide what to do with you but I might suggest execution.”

“Oh really? And what makes you think they’d listen to you after you let your precious Claimed destroy the Key? I’m sure they won’t let it go so easily, even if you are the prince. They’ll probably kill him and, in turn, you.”

Woohyun runs his tongue over his teeth in annoyance. “What do you know about the Key?” He changes the subject, no longer caring what remarks Sungjae wants to make about his probably ruined relationship with the Council.

Sungjae smirks. “Why? It’s gone now so there’s nothing left to worry about.”

“Don’t act stupid. We both know that the Key isn’t so hard to get rid of.”

Sungjae shrugs. “It’s true and I’m surprised you’ve grasped the concept so quickly. I thought you’d be in denial for another few days until you realized that the Key will never leave this world.”

“I am no idiot.”

“I beg to differ but maybe I should give you more credit. You’re not dense enough or careless enough to let Sunggyu suffer without wondering why.”

“You knew there would be recoil.”

“I may or may not have. Who knows? But it doesn’t matter what I know or what I knew – what’s done is done and I’m sure the Council will lock me away for eternity or exterminate me violently soon enough. Do you have anymore questions you’d like to ask?”

Woohyun looks at Hoya. “I’m leaving. If you want to talk to him then go for it but I’ll be with Sunggyu.”

Hoya nods. “I’ll occupy his time for a few more minutes so you can go ahead.”

Nodding, Woohyun turns to leave and he shuts the door behind him just as Hoya is opening his mouth to speak. He vaguely hears some chuckling and a muffled remark but he doesn’t care anymore.

Thankfully, Sunggyu’s breathing is still even and his heartbeat is steady. He goes up at vampire-speed, rustling the sheets slightly when he lands in front of the bed. Sunggyu’s face is paler than usual, his skin glistening, and Woohyun bites his lip as he brushes away the hair sticking to his forehead. “I’ll find a way to help,” Woohyun whispers. “I will.”

i take a long time don't i

im sorry