Veiled | JHS | ✓

Sparkling Love

The barkeeper froze as per his predictions. Slowly, excruciatingly slowly his eyes came to rest on Hoseok. They quickly flicked to Sia who was examining her drink unaware of the sudden tension in the air.

"Don't worry about her, I have concealed this place. She won't hear you." The man's gaze shot back to him dubiously, "A fellow fae?"

"You don't believe me?" Hoseok asked brushing back his hair away from his ears that appeared pointed and the bartender balked at the sight. "Y-you're a fae too?"

Hoseok nodded his head solemnly, grateful that his powers were working just fine to convince the disguised fae manning the counter. He gave a pointed look to the empty shot glass on the top that gave an obeying jerk towards the fae in a demonstration.

"A power of force? You must be from the Haphaestan clan?" The fae questioned cautiously. Hoseok was quick enough to hide the falter in his expression. The faes had clans? He didn't know that. The fae was staring straight at his neck and he pursed out his lips in confusion, "But you don't have the mark of the Haphaestans."

The faes had marks now? Hoseok had to think quickly if he wanted to keep up his pretenses. There was no way he could get out of this without help. The fae was getting more suspicious by the minute and Hoseok blurted out the first name he thought of from NJ's rants. "A-adaira. I'm an Adairan fae."

The fae frowned at his reply, "But I thought the Adairan clan was extinguished. I heard the kingdom was destroyed centuries ago by Vile One."

The name sent an electric shock through his spine but he was quick to recover. Oh, little did the bartender know who he was talking to. Hoseok placed a finger against his lips, watching his surroundings before he turned back. "Careful, there are still some of us hiding among the humans. It's only a matter of time before the Vile One finds us..."

The bartender contemplated his explanation and Hoseok's heart pounded inside his chest. He prayed with all his might for the bartender to buy the lie, cursing internally for not questioning his Guardian angel enough about the faes and their history. Who knew he would need it?

After what felt like hours, the barkeeper nodded his head, convinced of his lie and Hoseok barely held back a sigh of relief.

"So, what's the real reason you're here, Adairan fae?" The real fae questioned making him perk up. Hoseok internally cheered inside, a fleeting grin grazing his lips at the fae's acceptance of his lie. "I heard rumors that the Great Sorcerer V was hanging around this town. I came to find him and see if he could help us. Do you know something?"

"The Great Sorcerer?" he gasped in surprise. "You do realize that no one really knows where the Great Sorcerer is, right? He is a legend, a fairytale as far as we're concerned."

Hoseok's shoulders slumped down in defeat. He should have expected this. NJ did warn him that the existence of the Great Sorcerer is still greatly debated. Only people who've come across him could testify to his presence but the witnesses were so few. NJ did admit that he himself had never seen the sorcerer. How was Hoseok supposed to find him if no one knew about this sorcerer? "So you don't know anything about him, huh?"

"I don't." The barkeeper confirmed, "But I might know someone who can help you find him."

Hoseok lifted up in his seat, his eyes lighting with hope. "You do? Who?"

The barkeeper pulled out his lips contemplatively, "Just come by here tomorrow afternoon. I will let him know about you."

The beam that broke out on his face could rival the stars as he smiled gratefully at his savior. "Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it." The fae waved his head with a small smile, "It's the least I could do for a fellow lover of literature."

The gratitude he felt for the fae was overwhelming. They were one step closer to finding the sorcerer and he was one step closer to becoming human. If all goes well, Hoseok would be returning home as himself. Not as a parasite soul. Not as a man who owns someone else's identity but as Jung Hoseok.