House of the Nefarious

Chapter 17

I had just returned from the fairgrounds and I was feeling emotionally drained. Yerim and I had parted ways at the school and I could tell that she was confused over what had just transpired with that demon.

I was at a loss for words because I was pretty sure no one was supposed to know by what means I arrived in Hell. It left a bitter taste in my mouth after she had gone out of her way to help me, but I didn't want to potentially be murdered if I went against the wishes of Minhyuk.

I was currently searching the cupboards for a snack to quell my anxiousness over the previous events.

What I needed was pudding. Pudding always makes people feel better.

I was digging around the fridge until I spotted something called Udding?

"Is that Udding!" A voice exclaimed from beside me.

I turned to see Namjoon had made an appearance.

I glanced down at the desert and back up at his expectant face. "Yes?"

He looked down and I let out a sigh. "You can have it."

"Really!" he exclaimed, not giving me a chance to respond. He grabbed the Udding cup and pulled a spoon out of his pocket.

"You're like a dehydrated man that just found water," I mused.

"This stuff is literally the best, Seokjin usually gets some once a year around the 1st month," he said brows furrowed. "But the 1st month isn't for a while."

I assumed he meant January, so it would be a little odd for Udding to make itself present months in advanced.

"Maybe you should ask Seokjin first?" I asked eyeing the Udding suspiciously. There was something weird about it the longer I stared.

Namjoon shrugged. "It's probably fine, food is food after all and I can't give up the opportunity to eat Udding."

I still felt uncertain about it but I was probably just overthinking it anyways. Plus it wasn't really my place to interfere.

But... There was a weird looking flower floating at the bottom of the cup. I narrowed my eyes at the blue plant resting on the bottom of the plastic. It reminded me of the one I had seen etched in stone upon my first visit to the house.

Screw it. "What's that flower at the bottom of your cup?" I asked, pointing at the object of interest.

He held the container higher so that he could see the bottom. I was waiting for him to laugh in my face (I would laugh at me) but instead his brows furrowed in concern.

"A poison," he muttered.

"A poison," I echoed, staring at the seemingly harmless plant. Were all flowers poisonous here or something?

"One of Lilith's flowers in a cup of Udding," he said, disappointment lacing his tone. "I knew it would be too good to be true."

"Are you not concerned that you were almost poisoned?"

He shrugged. "A bit, Lilith's flower is known to be lethal to demons."

The man's eyes lit up as if he had come up with a brilliant idea. "As a thanks for saving me, I'll give you my stamp!"

I frantically waved my hands in the air. "What?"

"Well you saved me, so I should repay the favour," he beamed, already scouring the fridge for something else to eat.

I pondered over it for a minute. I hadn't expected it to be this easy to get his stamp, but it would help with the deal I made with Yoongi.

"Sure?" I responded uncertainly.

"Great!"

He poked my arm, barely paying attention if I might add and I watched the ink take the shape of a snowflake.

"Wow," he muttered, glancing down at the fresh markings. "It really exposed my affinity like that."

"Ice I presume?"

He nodded in confirmation, cheeks reddening slightly. "To be honest I just wanted an excuse to give you a stamp."

I turned to face him, waiting for an explanation.

"Umm I want to be someone you can depend on too," he whispered sheepishly.

"Aww that's sweet Namjoon," I replied, shooting him a grateful smile.

"You two are being awfully loud and I'm trying to sleep."

Hoseok stood in the doorway, hair a mess and shirt falling off his shoulder, revealing toned muscles.

I spun back around the minute I felt my cheeks begin to warm.

"Sorry Hoseok!" I called hoping he was sleepy enough to let my embarrassing reaction go.

"Just don't do it again," he replied.

I peered over my shoulder to see his eyes focused on Lilith's flower.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup," Namjoon said popping the p.

"I haven't seen one of these in forever," the usually stoic man exclaimed with glee.

"I've got to study it."

The next thing I knew the Udding cup was missing along with Hoseok.

I'm not even going to question it anymore.

Oh and look, another strange occurrence. Someone was trying to flash SOS signals with a mirror in the corner.