𝐂 𝐀 𝐌 𝐁 𝐈 𝐎 𝐍 | ᴀᴛᴇᴇᴢ [𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘴]

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

Trigger warning: mention of violence and blood.

No one exactly knew what woke Areum up, maybe the shouts, maybe Hongjoong's touching story, or maybe the loud noise of Hongjoong's cheek being slapped like a ball in a volleyball match.

The reason didn't have much relevance, by the way, because her pointer finger twitched, and soon, the rest of her hand. She dragged the palms of her hands on the dirty concrete as her eyes opened and slowly adjusted to the red light of the neon sign of the hospital. The voices reached her ears padded and, for how much she wished to cough, she thought it was better if she endured it, despite the annoying feeling of her lungs filled with dust.

Her sight wobbled while she straightened her head to check her surroundings, her chin scratched the floor, but she didn't even realise it. Areum squeezed her eyes a couple of times to make her sight spotless and gasped when she recognised the three individuals before her. It wasn't hard to recognise them even if her sight was blurred, Seonghwa's presence was majestic and oppressive and, to Areum's surprise, he wasn't trying to kill nor Hongjoong or Mingi. The latter, in fact, seemed to be deeply immersed in an argument, but Areum didn't pay too much intention to it.

Rather, her attention soon fell on a dark figure lying on her right. The breath hitched in her throat when the woman identified the person. It was San. The memory of that night before her body got flung against the wall surfaced in her brain, together with the image of San's lifeless body on the ground. A shout threatened to escape from her lips, but she knew she couldn't make any sound, or Seonghwa would've noticed her being awake.

Areum moaned when she stretched her arm towards San, her bones hurt, but they didn't stop her from attempting to reach her husband. It was a loud slap the reason she turned her head in front of her. The noise was followed by a few seconds of silence in which Mingi could hear the river of curses flowing from Hongjoong's eyes. Areum managed to catch the corner of his eyes from above Seonghwa's shoulder and it appeared that Mingi had helped the shortest male regain his sanity.

"I don't recognise you, Hongjoong. What has gotten into you?"

Seonghwa sneered, suppressing the pinch of bother that was clenching his throat. He gritted his teeth, knowing that his plan of manipulating Hongjoong was slowly fading in front of his eyes.

"You aren't even trying to understand his pain and you consider yourself his friend? Or your just doing it for benefit?"

Taunted the demon as he looked at Mingi furtively. The latter cocked one of his eyebrows and returned the gaze.

"That's rich, coming from you. Weren't you the one who misused Areum for your income? You took advantage of her weak mental health to reach your goals, am I wrong? So, you're the last creature that has the right to talk."

Mingi spat with disgust and rage as if he had forgotten he was dealing with one of the most tricky demons existent. Seonghwa didn't even try to hide his amazement, on the contrary, he deliberately decided to show how touched he was. However, being the proud demon he was, he didn't want Mingi to gloat too much.