his shield

009

taeyong picks up one of the small round pads from the floor and just stares at it in confusion.

i pull a matching one from my pocket and hold it up against the light.

"a sleeping pad is what jeonghan likes to call these. you blow on them to activate it before placing it on someone's forehead. they'll pass out immediately. and for a few hours at that" i explain to him.

he blows on it and lets go of it quickly when it lights up due to the activation.

i laugh at him softly and i look at the door seconds before it swings open. hongbin walks in and looks between us in slight confusion but quickly understands.

"like this" i tell taeyong and i blow on the pad. i walk over to hongbin and before he can say or do anything, i place the pad on his forehead.

his eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls onto the ground.

"it works on people like us?" taeyong seems even more confused than he was before.

"only briefly. shields are too strong for that kind of magic" i inform him and almost on cue, hongbin's eyes slowly flutter open.

he looks to be in some kind of daze as he peels the pad from his forehead.

"did you just use a sleeping pad on me?" he sounds horrified and i just smirk at him.

"i'm teaching my student" i state simply. hongbin scowls at me as he gets off the ground. once on his feet again he faces taeyong.

"your funeral just began" he says quietly and taeyong freezes. he looks over at me as though asking what he should do.

"what are we waiting for?" i smile sadly and hongbin keeps his head bowed as the two of us walk over to taeyong.

"you can practice drawing portals" i hand him one of my chalk sticks and we head into one of the darkened corridors which lead off the side of the institute.

hongbin tells taeyong the address and he begins to draw the winged symbol. silencieux, he whispers and the wall lights up.

we all step inside and we arrive at the cemetery. there are black cars everywhere. how popular was this guy?

we follow the crowd and arrive at the open grave. a black casket hangs on ropes with a wreath of flowers situated on top as it waits to be lowered.

taeyong's body would be inside. shields do not keep their bodies. we are basically spirits which can use magic to seem as though we are human.

there is a big canvas standing beside the coffin with a photo of taeyong which looks to be pretty recent. he is just smiling whilst making a peace sign, seated on the edge of a fountain.

"jaehyun ah" taeyong's voice wagers as he speaks his lovers name.

i look to see a tall man with fluffy brown hair, seated in the front row. he is bent over and holds his head in his hands and he sobs over and over again.

beside him is another man who has dark hair. he pats jaehyun's back comfortingly as he cries silently himself.

"that's sicheng" taeyong explains as he notices my gaze. "he is jaehyun's closest friend."

i hear a small squeal and i look back to the coffin to see an older woman being held back by an older man.
taeyong's parents.

"my son! how could someone do this to my beautiful son!" his mother screams and her husband tries to hush her as he takes her to their seats beside jaehyun.