#chapter 8!

You traced across the writing on the cover, finding the odd lettering coming naturally to you, despite never having seen it before. The strange language translated in your head, making the would-be indecipherable words legible to you.

Demonic Spell Casting

You flipped to the first marked page, a sound nearly escaping your throat as you read the words across the page. Why would Taeyong need this? You thought to yourself, staring at the page in terror. Sifting through the other marked pages brought about similar concerns, making you shake as you thought about the man in the other room.

You felt him shift, making you scurry to put the book back in its place, walking into the room to see him looking slightly confused at the blanket that was now in his grip. You steeled yourself, walking up to him as casually as you could manage, settling yourself back in his arms with a brief kiss. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He frowned a you, pulling you closer to him. “What’s wrong, love? I can tell something’s bothering you.” He murmured, kissing the top of your head softly.

You instinctively relaxed into his touch, having a hard time convincing yourself that the loving boy in front of you was the same one looking up those spells. You let yourself curl into him, making it seem that you needed his comfort. “I had a nightmare. I got up to get some water. I’m sorry I woke you up.” You mumbled into his chest, just loud enough for him to hear.

He wrapped himself protectively around you. “Don’t apologize for that, Y/N… Do you want to talk about it?” His voice was soothing, his hand stroking up and down your side.

You shook your head against him, the sound of his breathing helping you relax. “I just want to go back to sleep.” You couldn’t help the fact you felt better around him, and right now that scared you. On the one hand, you didn’t want to believe what you had read, wanting to convince yourself that it was all fake or that your mind was playing tricks on you. You had been reading a language you’d never even seen before after all. On the other, the words had made perfect sense to you and you couldn’t deny that either way, he had some powerful magic book that he was refusing to tell you about.

You gave up on thinking about it for the night, believing that even if he was doing some dangerous things, he wouldn’t hurt you. You knew better than the question how he felt and his drive to keep you safe, especially after everything that happened with Taeil. This was the man who healed you, the one who made you feel safe when all you felt was vulnerable and weak. You breathed in his scent, letting yourself drift off in his arms, sleep easily overcoming you.

When you woke up in the morning, Taeyong wasn’t beside you anymore. You could tell he was still in the dorm, partly from the link you shared, but mostly the fact you could smell coffee and breakfast coming from the kitchen. You slipped out of the bed, walking out to see him hovering over the stove cooking, still shirtless as he hummed to himself. You walked up behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder blade while he made breakfast, earning a chuckle from him. You were surprised by how natural it all felt, considering how short of a time you’d known him for. Maybe it was the bond, but you knew you felt close to him even before that. You wanted to ask but you thought it might be a better topic for another time.

“Good morning, Y/N.” His deep voice was even more gravelly in the early morning, though you could hear the smile in his voice. “Are you feeling better?”

“Much.” You mumbled into his back, still wrapped around him.

Taeyong flicked the stove top off, putting the pans contents onto plates before turning around to embrace you. He leaned down to place a kiss on your lips. “Good,” he murmured against them. “I don’t want you to be upset.” He pulled back, motioning to the plate of eggs and toast. “I made breakfast. Eat and then we can go to your room so you can get ready for the day.” He pecked your lips again, nudging you toward the barstools at the counter.

You smiled back at him, sitting down as he set a plate in front of you before taking the seat next to you. You both ate in silence, just enjoying each other’s presence. When you finished, he took the plate from you, smiling when you thanked him, before taking the plates to the sink and washing them quickly, setting them in the dish rack next to the sink before coming back over to you.

“Ready?” He asked, offering his hand out to you, which you took immediately, letting him guide you out of the room. You wanted out of the room, hoping that not being surrounded by him would let you think things through better. You needed to sort out what you read in that book and find out why Taeyong had it in the first place. You didn’t understand why he couldn’t just tell you it was a spell book when you asked, it would’ve kept your curiosity at bay and you wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

Taeyong looked over at you as you walked down the hall. “Everything alright, Y/N? You seem upset again.”

You shook your head dismissively, flashing him a weak smile. “I’m just nervous to go to classes today after everything that happened. I feel like people will notice… that I’ll be different somehow.” You weren’t exactly lying when you said it, even if it wasn’t really what you were worried about. You weren’t sure if Taeyong knew that some Taeil would be at the school, whether or not that was his brother still up in the air, but until you figured out exactly what was going on with that book, you didn’t plan on telling him. If you couldn’t get answers from Doyoung, Taeil might be your only option, as much as you hated to admit it.

Taeyong brushed his thumb over your knuckles affectionately as you reached your door, tugging you slightly to face him. “No one will notice anything. You’ll be fine.” He kissed you, pulling back quickly. “Go get ready, and I’ll see you in dance.” He let go of your hand, heading back off down the hall as you nodded to him.

You took a deep breath, not knowing the state of your own room anymore. You opened the door, surprised to find everything had been cleaned, fresh sheets on the bed in place of the ones previously stained with blood and the chair that used to be near your bed had been replaced You walked about the space, noting the small changes that had been made following the night Taeil attacked you. You stopped in front of your dresser, leaning against it with a deep sigh. It was hard to process everything that happened since then. Your life changed drastically over a weekend, which was absurd in every possible way, and yet here you were, about to go to your 9AM photography lecture. You almost laughed at how mundane it sounded, feeling gleeful to have some sort of normalcy back in your life after the chaos of the past three days.

You opened your dresser, pulling out some undergarments before walking to your closet, opting for a floral dress since the weather had taken a turn for the better. You slipped the clothes on, walking into the bathroom to fix your hair and makeup. You gasped softly at your own reflection the moment you saw it.

You looked inhuman. The thought made you chuckle ironically. You didn’t look human because you weren’t human. Your skin was now completely spotless, pores invisible, eyes glimmering vibrantly despite the harsh lighting of the bathroom, even your hair had a shininess to it you were sure wasn’t there before. You ended up only brushing your hair out and throwing on some eye makeup, considering putting it anywhere else would have been redundant at this point.

You walked back out into the main part of your room, grabbing your bag and putting the notebooks you’d need for the day in it before checking the time. You still over an hour before you needed to head to class, giving you some time to relax. You started brewing some coffee, letting your mind wander as you did. You could still feel Taeyong, even though he wasn’t in the building anymore. He was somewhere on campus, but you couldn’t tell exactly where that was. It was weird trying to get used to having another presence in your head all the time, and it made something occur to you rapidly.

You were never bonded to Taeil.

Of course, no one said you were for sure. It was just a possibility, but you were sure of it now. Taeyong wasn’t ‘influencing’ you either, at least you assumed he wasn’t since you’d been able to get up and check out that book in the middle of the night, but you were hyper-aware of his presence and state of being all the time. You never even thought of the possibility of feeling another person – demon, you corrected yourself – and it hit you like a ton of bricks the first time you felt it. That was within an hour of the bond being created, and you had a feeling you would’ve sensed something over the course of an entire day if you had bonded to him.

You heard the coffee pot go off, slowly walking over to it to pour yourself a cup. You added some milk and sugar, never having had a taste for coffee by itself before walking over and sitting on the couch. You pulled open your laptop, unsure of what you were looking for exactly, but you knew you needed to find answers: about the book, about this bond, anything. You were tired of feeling like you were in the dark on everything. You sighed in defeat, glancing at the clock and seeing it was time to head out. You shut the computer and grabbed your bag, heading out of your room and to the lecture hall. You were careful to lock your door on your way out before heading down the hallway.

Campus was still fairly quiet at this time, not many people took early morning class, making your walk peaceful as you stepped into the large building where your first class was held. You stepped into the lecture hall, finding Doyoung and taking your normal seat next to him. You still had fifteen minutes before class would start giving you some time to talk to your friend.

He looked over at you, taking in your appearance carefully. “You look good.” He nodded toward you as you blushed profusely, still not used to the new ‘you’. “Still not used to it?”

You shook your head, sitting down next to him. “It’s weird. I scared myself this morning.” You fidgeted with your hands, feeling nervous as more people filed into the room.

Doyoung reached out to pat your shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I know this place looks like an art school, but no one here is human.” Your eyes widened in alarm, making him chuckle. “You aren’t actually surprised, are you? All your friends are immortals, and it never occurred that probably everyone here is too?”

“Still a little surprised.” You managed to squeak out, looking around the room at the people who were also in the room early. “How did I not know about this sooner?”

You heard him snicker beside you. “Why would anyone want to tell the human girl that they’re a magical being?” You nudged him, shooting him a glare. “I’m just messing with you. No one was allowed to tell you.”

You relaxed, settling back into the chair. “So do they know? That I’m not human anymore?”

Doyoung nodded. “Technically, you were never human. But yes, people knew and a lot of them felt the shift when you gained your powers.”

You gave a curt nod in response, not sure what else to say on the topic. You decided Doyoung would be a good person to ask about the book, prompting you to speak up again. “How much do you know about spell books?”

The topic seemed to pique his interest, making him look over at you. “I know a fair amount. Why would you ask about spell books?”

You shrugged, thinking you might have hit a sensitive topic. “Taeyong has one in his room. He wouldn’t tell me about it. I guess I’m curious.”

It was Doyoung’s turn to have his eyes widen. “Taeyong has a spell book? Like a normal spell book or is it specific to anything?”

You heard him curse under his breath, making you tense up. “I mean… it was a demonic spell book? Doyoung, what’s going on?” You heard him swear a few more times before looking up at you, smiling awkwardly. “It wasn’t a coincidence was spells were marked in there, was it?” You managed to choke out.

You heard him let out a slightly labored breath, shaking his head. “I should’ve noticed it yesterday. What spells were marked, Y/N?”

You shifted nervously in your seat, unsure what he meant. “There was one on body transformation and – “

Before you could finish talking, you were cut off by the boy in question walking into the room, looking at you quizzically. He wrapped an arm around your waist. “I came to get you this morning before class, but you were gone.”

He nuzzled his face into your hair and you did you best not to stiffen, still trying not to give away that anything was bothering you. No matter how nice it seemed he was to you, he was hiding something. You refused to let your guard down until you had answers. You noticed that Doyoung looked nervous from where he was sitting. You turned slightly in your seat to better face the demon boy. “I didn’t know you were coming back so I went to class.” You kept your voice steady, making sure to still sound a bit clueless.

Your act seemed to work on him, as he hummed in agreement. “As long as you’re feeling better. You seemed a little shaken this morning.” He had a slight pout on his lips.

You smiled at him, trying to put him to rest and hopefully have him leave so you could return to your conversation. “I’m doing a lot better. Thank you for checking on me. I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you this morning.”

Taeyong seemed to relax, unwrapping his arms from around you. “That’s good to hear. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” He returned your smile when you nodded then pressed his lips to your forehead before leaving the room.

You relaxed into your seat once he had left turning to face Doyoung. He was watching you silently, still processing the encounter he had witnessed. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” You finally lamented, letting your head fall against the desk.

Doyoung cleared his throat, prompting you to look at him. “So body transformation?” You nodded. “Anything else of note?”

You sighed, lifting your head back up. “Memory manipulation, a few death spells, poison control? I’m not even sure what that means exactly.”

You heard him let out a sharp breath. “Right. You need to stay away from him as much as you can until we figure this out.” You heard him muttering under his breath about needing to get ahold of Johnny, Ten, and the others.

You bit your lower lip nervously. “Doyoung, I need to be a part of this. You can’t leave me in the dark here, not anymore.”

You heard him sigh, opening his mouth to talk when the professor walked through the door, immediately starting class as he did. The conversation would have to continue after class. You did your best to pay attention to the lecture, trying to keep your mind to wandering elsewhere.

After sitting through an hour of your professor go on about fashion photography, you finally got your projects for the next two weeks. You and Doyoung partnered up as usual, thankfully giving you a valid reason to be spending more time with him. You both walked out of the hall together, running face first into Ten and Johnny who were waiting outside, looking impatient.

The second you were close enough, Ten grabbed you, pulling you between him and Johnny. “We need to go, now.” His voice was low and hushed, making you feel confused. No one else around you seemed to be remotely bothered by the scene, Doyoung and Johnny both helping to move you out of the crowded hallway. The four of you ended up in one of the school’s hidden gardens, giving you some privacy from the outside. You noticed Johnny had done something to better cut you off from the outside world, letting you exist in your own little bubble for the time being.

Johnny looked at you cautiously. “Y/N, did Taeyong hurt you?” He took a step closer, looking over your body.

You cocked your head to the side, confused by the question. “No? Why would he hurt me?”

Ten was walking around the perimeter, constantly scanning the surroundings, but your question was enough to get him to leave and come over to you. “He lied, Y/N. To you, to everyone.” He reached up, cupping the side of your face. “Yuta picked up on it after you left with him in your room. Taeil didn’t attack you. Taeyong did. He used the whole thing as a ploy to make everyone trust him.”

You stepped back, refusing to believe what you were being told. “No, he wouldn’t do that.” You shook your head, your resolve quickly deteriorating as you remembered what was in that book. “No,” your voice faltered. “Yuta hasn’t liked him since day one, Taeyong wouldn’t do that.” You felt your breath catch in your throat as you tried to fight off the emotions threatening to spill over.

Ten stepped toward you, trying to comfort you. He frowned when you moved further away. “Y/N… You know something about this is off. I know you do.” He felt his heart break slightly when a tear rolled down your face, staining your cheek an inky black color. At that point he stopped caring that you were trying to stay away from him, he grabbed your arm, pulling you against his chest in a tight embrace. “We’ll figure this out, but you have to act like nothing’s wrong. He can’t know any of us found out. We’ll find a way to break the bond, and we’ll get you away from him.” He tightened his grip when he felt your body heave from crying.

You sniffled, peering up at your friend. “The new student, we need to figure out if it’s Taeil. He might be able to help.” You wiped your eyes, sighing lightly at the sight of the black tears on your hand. “Even if it wasn’t actually him in my room, I know what he looks like.”

Ten stiffened and you could sense the unease of the other two filling the space. Doyoung finally spoke up, breaking the silence. “Y/N, I think it’s best we avoid letting anyone else get involved. We don’t know if we can trust him and we can’t take that risk right now.”

You frowned, looking between the three boys. “We might need him. He’s the first prince.” None of them seemed to be faltering in their stance. “What if Taeyong finds out? None of us are strong enough to go against him. He could help.”

The second statement earned a small chuckle from Johnny, his eyes locking onto yours in all seriousness. “Y/N, you’re the strongest person here. Stronger than any of us, and stronger than him.” You looked at him like he had grown a third arm, though all things considered, you might have found that less strange than what he was currently trying to convince you of. “The more you hone your powers, the stronger they’ll get. And your ability? It’s limitless. Try to do something. It doesn’t matter what, just anything.”

Ten let go of you, moving closer to Johnny to give you some space. Part of you didn’t believe him, no one had truly unbridled power. It had to have limits somewhere, and you would have to find them eventually. You focused on the stone enclosure around on of the plant beds, visualizing it turning to dust. You held your hand out toward it, shocked by the energy you could feel bending at your fingertips. You took a deep breath, focusing the energy toward the stone again. To your surprise, and to the surprise of those around you, the stones seemed to evaporate right in front of you, soil spilling from the lack of support as the dust created by the stones swirled in a mini tornado that you were somehow controlling. You let it fall instantly, drawing your hand back and staring at it in shock. You curled in on yourself, Johnny and Ten running over to you as you did to make sure you were alright. Doyoung on the other hand walked over to the rubble, picking up a handful of the brick dust on the ground and letting it slip through his fingers.

He walked over to the three of you, kneeling in front of you. “Y/N… I’ve existed for a long time, and I’ve known a lot of demons in that time…” He paused, drawing in a long breath. “That has never happened before.”

You shivered at his comment. “I can feel it. When do things like that, I can feel the energy.” You let out a shaky breath, still trying to calm down from what you had witnessed – what you’d done.

Johnny looked around. “We should go. The shield is deteriorating quickly.” He turned back to you. “This blocked your bond to Taeyong, he’s going to be looking for you. Stay relaxed, as far as we can tell, he isn’t going to hurt you.”

Ten hugged you again. “Stay safe, please.” He pressed his lips to the crown of your head.

It took everything you had not to cry as you nodded. You hugged him back tightly, choking back the tears. “You too.” His arms tightened around you before he pulled away. You walked over to Johnny, fiddling with your hands in front of him. “I’m sorry.”

His hardened expression dropped, slinging both of his arms around you. “He tricked you. Don’t apologize for that. Please.” You could hear the pleading in his voice and it made you realize that Johnny was probably blaming himself for this situation.

You hugged him tightly. “Johnny, please be careful. I need my best friend.”

He dropped his arm after a few moments longer. “I will. But you need to go.” He motioned you toward the edge of the barrier. “Play dumb until he figures it out. Hopefully it’ll take a while.”

You nodded, walking closer to the barrier. You turned back to face them again. “Thank you,” And then you stepped through.

Once outside of the barrier, you could feel how tense Taeyong was. He was a ways away on campus, though you noticed that he seemed to relax some now that the connection was restored. You started walking toward the direction you could feel him in, noticing that he was also moving toward you. You weren’t sure how you were going to deal with him once you got there, but you knew avoiding him was going to cause more problems than it solved.

Within minutes you ran directly into each other, Taeyong pulling you roughly toward him by your arm. “Where the hell have you been?” he growled into your ear.

You shivered, he was pissed. You should have expected as much. You remembered Johnny’s advice, coming up with a plan quickly. “I…” You tried to make your voice sound distraught, not that it was particularly difficult. “I was just walking… I suddenly couldn’t feel you anymore… I… I was so scared.” You let your voice break as you finished the sentence and allowed your knees to buckle.

Taeyong’s expression softened, moving to support you before you fell. “Y/N…” His tone had changed, along with his posture. He brought his lips to your forehead. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” His arms slipped around your waist, holding you close to him. “I was worried something happened to you.” He murmured as he buried his head into the side of your neck, inhaling your scent.

You relaxed into him, feeling better now that you knew he wasn’t angry at you. “I looked for you as soon as I could feel you again. I thought you were hurt.” You mumbled back, feeling the small bit of tension left in you leaving as he littered your shoulder with small kisses.

You felt him smile against you. “I’m alright, love. I’m glad to see you are as well.” The pet name still had more of an effect on you than you cared to admit. “Certain forms of magic can interfere with the bond.” He pulled back, looking into your eyes. “Call me next time, okay?” He leaned in, pressing his lips to yours.

You kissed him back, dropping your guard now that he was quelled. If he was suspicious of anything, he wasn’t letting on. You knew you were safe for the time being. “I will. I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, a smile crossing his face. “Don’t apologize, love. Let’s get to class.” He lightly pulled on your arm to get you to come with him, to which you complied easily.

He didn’t seem to be in much of a talking mood, which you appreciated. It gave you some time to think. It was hard to process everything you’d been told today, namely that the loving boy in front of you supposedly stabbed you. That much you couldn’t believe, he had no reason to. You’d already taken to him before that happened, the only thing it did was accelerate something that was occurring on its own. It still seemed more likely that someone else had attacked you, even if it wasn’t actually Taeil.

The matter of Yuta claiming it was Taeyong struck you as being strange, however. Even though it was clear that the two didn’t get along, it wasn’t like Yuta to make baseless claims, and for as aloof as he could seem, he generally knew what he was talking about. Johnny had been looking for a reason to distrust Taeyong since the day they met, and you knew Ten was just looking out for your best interests. All of it confused you. You didn’t see the aggressive attacker from that night in the man in front of you, in fact you’d never seen Taeyong be anything other than kind.

Except for now, when he’d been upset. You struggled not to shudder when you thought of how angry he’d looked when you saw him. His dismissal of the spell book also seemed too convenient. It was hard to tell what was true and what wasn’t anymore. Everyone seemed to know what was best for you, other than you.