Demon and the Mage (Jeongcheol)

Jeonghan

The next week passed in a blur of sex and talking. On the rare occasions that Seungcheol had to show his face at the club, I'd either go with him or spend a few hours visiting Blaise. My brother was a shadow of his former self, refusing to leave the house or see anyone except for me. It was driving me crazy, not knowing how to help him.

I was never able to stay away long though. All it took for my fragile self-control to snap was feeling Seungcheol's longing tugging on the bond. Within moments, I'd find myself saying goodbye to Blaise and jogging over to The Closet. Seeing Seungcheol light up when he spotted me was pretty great. But feeling that delighted surprise in my chest when he felt my presence?

That was fucking spectacular.

Sadly sex, Blaise, nor the club were on the agenda tonight. Vernon had summoned his brothers for an urgent meeting at the bookshop, something I apparently was automatically included in as Seungcheol's mate.

I'd still declined initially. We hadn't seen any of them since we'd become mates. Seungcheol said they'd be delighted about it, but I was still...wary. It was one thing to want to be a part of their little group, but did they actually want me there?

That didn't mean I'd gotten away with it though. It turned out Seungcheol's siblings weren't the only interfering fuckers in the family.

Seungcheol had just texted Vernon to say I wouldn't be going before we settled on the sofa to watch the latest episode of The Apprentice. There was something about seeing self-proclaimed business gurus behaving like utter cockwombles that was really satisfying.

Within minutes, I was distracted by my phone pinging with a new WhatsApp notification.

It was titled Mates. I frowned as I clicked on it. Who was adding me to a group chat?

The answer became obvious when I opened it, but really, I should've figured it out from the title.

Seokmin: Um, Seungkwan? Why have you called the chat 'mates'? That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard.

Jeonghan: Seconded.

Seungkwan: What else would you have liked me to call it: Dudes Trapped with Reckless Idiots for all Eternity? Men Who Like Demonic Cock? Wing Whores? Really, I'm here for all your ideas.

Seokmin: Ffs. Are you able to answer a question without sarcasm?

Seungkwan: I don't know what worries me more...that you don't expect the sarcasm from me or that you aren't used to it from living with Joshua.

I chuckled, shaking my head at the screen.

"What?" Seungcheol asked, dragging his attention away from The Apprentice to look at me.

I gestured at my phone. "Seungkwan's added me to some group chat with Seokmin. I'm not sure why, but it's pretty funny watching them argue."

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. "They do that a lot. It's nice of them to include you."

"Yeah," I said, a small smile on my lips, a pang echoing in my chest. "It is nice. I don't have many friends outside of the clan."

"Looks like you've gained two more," Seungcheol said as my phone pinged again.

I clicked the screen to scan through the new messages.

Seokmin: Why are you even messaging us? We're seeing you in a couple of hours.

Seungkwan: Actually, that's exactly why I'm messaging. Jeonghan isn't coming.

Seokmin: Why not?

I scratched at my head, confused.