The Wicked | WooSan

4

Wooyeon!

What? Is someone calling me? But why are they calling me Wooyeon?

Wooyeon! Over here!

I try to turn my head to see who's calling my name, but as I'm about to look at them, my eyes open.

"What was that? I whisper, slowly sitting up. I'm immediately met with a throbbing headache, one so painful I can't even put into words. I groan, immediately flopping back down onto the bed, which is strangely comfortable and doesn't feel like mine at all.

Wait, where—

"You're awake." I look over to see Wrath leaning on the door frame, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. "I didn't know where you lived so I brought you to my brother's hotel."

"Oh, that makes sense." I mutter to myself before his words truly sink in. "Wait, your brother?"

Wrath shoots me a look. "Yes. My brother."

"Which one?" I ask.

I'm not hoping for much. Honestly, I don't even know why I bothered asking. From the stories I was told as a child, one Wicked was already bad enough. But for there to be two in the realm of the living?

"Envy."

"Sounds fun." I don't know why it feels like ten knives are stabbing my head all at once, but I hate it. "So have all of you come to this world? Like a little family reunion?"

Wrath rolls his eyes and makes his way over, picking up a plate from the bedside table and giving it to me. "Eat. You're probably having a headache because you haven't eaten anything in the last twenty-four hours."

I push myself up into a sitting position and gingerly take the plate of pancakes, eggs and bacon from him. It smells amazing.

"You still haven't answered my question," I say around a mouthful of food.

He plops down on the bed, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve. "The seal was undone."

My fork falls from my hand and clatters to the ground and I turn my head so quick to look at him that I almost get whiplash. "The seal? As in, the seal? The one separating Hell from the surface?"

Wrath nods, letting out a deep sigh and leaning back on his hands. "We don't know what caused it. My oldest brother, Pride, made us all come to the surface to try to seal it shut again, but there has been no progress so far."

"Is that why the...the Shen? Is that why it was there?"

Wrath rolls his eyes for the second time. "Is your brain just for show? Must you ask something so obvious? Anyway, your swords are in the bed, right next to you."

"Oh, thanks."

He lets out a tired groan as he stands up from the bed before slowly pacing around the room, as if admiring the decor. My eyes follow his figure, the only sound in the room being the soft padding of his shoes on the carpet. Does he like the room? I kind of think it's too much.

"My brother is shit at interior design," he announces without looking at me, as if reading my mind. "Absolutely terrible. Also, did you take your necklace off at any point in time last night?"

How did he know?

He's browsing through the books on the small bookshelf now, reading the blurb of a very ornately decorated volume. "I only ask because your necklace is a sacer." He flips through the book, occasionally pausing to read a page. "It's like a protection spell, except permanent. It was made using someone's life force, which is why the spell never fades." He snaps the book shut. "And that's why the Shen found you. The sacer hides your presence from those monsters. Well, to be pedantic, it hides the scent of your mana."