Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Just as Jaeyun expected, only someone from the core city was brave enough to try this dangerous ritual with him.

It wasn’t like the people from the town he lived in were cowards. They weren’t and Jaeyun would know, having grown up with most of them. He understood where they were coming from, why the others were being careful. They’d been raised hearing the same warnings on repeat after all—of the many risks there were when attempting to summon a higher power, the amazing rewards if they managed to do it right, but most of all, the terrible consequences they could suffer should just one thing go wrong.

But Jaeyun was never one to back out of anything just because of its downsides. No matter how formidable the alternate outcomes could be, he wasn’t the type to let those stop him. It was the reason he was the most sought after witch in the general area, not to mention the highest paid, because he’d pushed past every challenge and fear there was in ways everyone else here hadn’t.

At the end of the day, it was about learning and becoming better at what he did.

Trying to be patient and willing himself to focus on the book he was reading, a romance novel riddled with a ridiculous amount of sex between the two male leads, Jaeyun could hardly understand the words in front of him. He was nervous and excited; he’d been planning to do this ritual for more than a year and had looked nonstop for someone to do it with. Now that there was a perfect candidate, he’d put up magickal wards around the area of the forest leading to his home so that no one else could find him but his ritual boy.

With the exception of an emergency, even with precise directions, if whoever was looking for him didn’t need him urgently, they were never going to find this place.

Said ritual boy, Jongseong, had sent him a black feather along with his very last letter. For you to know it’s me was what he’d written after Jaeyun told him of his plans, reassured him they weren’t going to be disturbed, and that he would take great measures to contain their combined power. More than that though, it was also a means to show off, to tell Jaeyun that they were a match in abilities.

It wasn’t unprovoked either. Jaeyun was the one who’d sent something first, one of his scales that he’d taken from his other form, to convince his ritual boy he was more than capable of the ritual. The feather was what he got in return and, just from the leftover echoes of Jongseong in it, Jaeyun could tell his ritual boy was as powerful as he was. This was reassuring. As long as they followed the ritual step by step, they would have no problems pulling it off.

Eventually giving up on his book, Jaeyun set it aside with a sigh and looked about for something to do. Unfortunately, he’d been so excited that he’d finished all of his chores early so there was nothing to be done. But since he couldn’t concentrate anyway, no matter how heated the current turn of events in the story he was reading was, he decided he would simply check all the items they were going to need for the nth time.

Wouldn’t hurt. It was better to be sure.

Strangely enough, even for a ritual so important, they weren’t going to need much, just the usual tools but very specific herbs that had, at first, made Jaeyun raise an eyebrow: basil, nepeta, cardamom, chamomile, witches grass, trefoil, jasmine, and even lady’s mantle and motherwort, of all things. If he knew better, they could be doing a marriage-related ritual and not a summoning; all the herbs had something to do with love and fidelity, some more so than others.

But the Book of Shadows from his grandmother couldn’t be wrong. He’d gone through every spell in it, every incantation, since finally finding it after many years of searching. Each of the ones he’d tried had served their purpose as written and intended. For this particular ritual, perhaps the herbs were chosen because it was meant to signify the loving loyalty Jaeyun was supposed to have toward the Goddess and the God, a representation of his marriage to them in a way.

That had to be the reason the herbs needed were rather particular.

Sorting the candles and preparing his boline, it was just as he was about to get his broom when Jaeyun felt it: a heady rush of magick that wasn’t his own, a caress of warm air through him, in him. Someone had crossed his wards, found their way in, and they were somewhat familiar.

It was his ritual boy.

Jaeyun closed his eyes and felt; Jongseong was fire, there was no doubting it. He was overwhelming at once, never mind his heat was also comforting, the hearth of home. It was perfect considering the fact that Jaeyun was the opposite. Pushing back gently and making himself known, he was a wave of calm and cool, of bubbling brooks and gently rushing rivers, a still ocean with an unfathomable depth.

Fleetingly, he felt Jongseong acknowledge him.

Hello, Jaeyun.

Jaeyun took a deep breath and opened his eyes. It was time. He headed for the doorway and stepped out. His yard encompassed the rest of the forest and that was where his gaze passed, above the treeline. But Jongseong didn’t come from the heavens like he was expecting. Instead, a great wolf with onyx fur stepped out of the shadows.

The sight made Jaeyun chuckle.

“You send me a feather but arrive as a wolf,” he said with a smile, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms. “Are you playing with me?”

The wolf gave a huff—laughter—before it slowly shifted into a person. Jaeyun blinked, surprised not over the transformation but the human that came of it. Jongseong had his head turned down as he changed shape where he was half-kneeling, but he lifted his chin eventually, his irises the last to turn back to human. He met Jaeyun’s gaze and rendered him breathless for a moment: Jongseong was quite a sight, clad in an all-black ensemble, ears and wrists and fingers riddled with silver and hematite jewelry.

He was devastatingly handsome.

“The town children tried to bring me down as a crow,” Jongseong told him with a sheepish smile, slowly rising to his feet and dusting off part of his pants. The lines of his face, especially his jaw, were cutting but his smile softened all of it. “One of them hit me so I thought I’d scare them. Just a little.”

Jaeyun tried not to stare and managed to laugh as he stepped forward and closer.

“Are you hurt? But more importantly, did you scare them?”

Jongseong shrugged and shifted his body, his left arm, to show him a superficial scrape.

“Just this. It’s nothing. But yeah, they got scared. I feel better now that the kids and I are even.”

Jaeyun frowned at the scrape. It was nothing just like Jongseong said but, obsessed as he was in making sure everything about the ritual would go right, he wanted to ascertain none of the children’s intentions—whether or not it was simply childish malice or something far more hateful—would leave traces that could affect the ritual’s outcome.

“Come with me,” he said, turning around and gesturing at Jongseong to follow. His ritual boy did so, if a little curiously. They stepped through the threshold of his home and Jaeyun took them straight to the kitchen. He opened the tap on the sink and allowed some of the water to run through one of his hands and then he turned back around. “Come here. Show me your arm.”

Jongseong’s eyes were narrowed now but he approached and turned his body to offer his wounded limb.

“Healing magick?”

Jaeyun focused, laying a palm on Jongseong’s wound, before glancing up to meet his gaze with a smile.

“Yes. And then after, we want to cleanse it. We can’t be sure whether or not one of the kids actually wanted to hurt you. You never know.”

His ritual boy made a face, an expression, of approval.

“Thorough,” he said agreeably, his smile boyish. It made Jaeyun’s knees a little weak, which was so silly of him. “Would’ve done the same but I don’t know healing magick. That’s not my heritage. Cleansing, on the other hand…”

Where Jaeyun’s hand was, Jongseong laid his over it. Much of the water was gone, used up, but in its place, blue flames erupted. They didn’t burn him but they were pleasantly warm and they transferred from Jongseong’s hand to his, some on his ritual boy’s arm, and it engulfed their skin.

“I know a thing or two about cleansing.”

The fire didn’t diminish quickly as Jongseong pulled his hand back so Jaeyun could do the same. Staring at his palm, still aflame, Jaeyun marveled at the fire until it finally ceased, dying slowly, leaving a heady scent of flowers behind that went away with dissipating smoke.

“Impressive,” Jaeyun said eventually, looking at Jongseong who was staring at his now blemish-free arm. “We’re going to do very well together.”

Jongseong looked back up at him and grinned.

“I’m sure we will. The scale you sent me… are you a water dragon? A merman? A fish?”

Jaeyun chuckled at the joke.

“What a great fish I am then,” he said, walking past Jongseong who laughed in turn. “Definitely not for eating.”

“Then what else are you? You’ve seen me as a wolf and know I can be a crow. I can be a few other animals. It’s your turn to share.”

Jaeyun slowly turned back to Jongseong and then blinked lazily. Licked his lips in just as much a lackadaisical fashion.

“Are you sure? Will you…”

He blinked again before continuing, allowing his eyes to change, irises growing wider and darker than what was normal before he spoke again and this time, with the shift, Jaeyun’s voice acquired an almost musical quality to it.

Alluring. Hypnotizing.

“... be able to resist me?”

“Siren,” Jongseong breathed out, taking a step closer, another, and then one more. He reached out but paused midway, his awed smile turning into that grin again, though this time there was a playfulness to it. If Jaeyun was reading him right, it was almost flirty. “That’s why you’re so pretty. Did you lure me here to eat me?”

Oh, he could resist.

Jaeyun turned the charm on just a little bit more and, when he licked his lips again, some of his teeth peeked out. They were sharper, longer, meant for tearing flesh in this form—

“If I did,” he whispered, closing the remaining distance between himself and Jongseong. A rush of excitement coursed through him when he heard his ritual boy’s breaths speed up but it didn’t seem like it was fear. “Don’t worry. Your last moments will be very enjoyable.”

Jongseong swallowed and closed his eyes before a low chuckle spilled out from his mouth.

“You’re good. I almost want to offer myself to you. Invite you to take a bite.”

Jaeyun was practically salivating as he leaned in, near Jongseong’s neck, as he bared it. Despite his words, his ritual boy was already inviting him anyway.

Tempting him.

“Where would you let me bite you first?”

This time, Jongseong opened his eyes and smirked at Jaeyun. He was teasing—he was in full control and Jaeyun’s effect, if any, still seemed minimal.

“Wherever it’ll feel the best. Where would you? You don’t seem interested in my neck.”

He couldn’t control it: Jaeyun hissed. Licked at his teeth this time, letting his eyes wander down down down Jongseong’s body. There was one part he liked the most because it was firm and juicy and meaty.

“Your thighs,” he shared, looking back up and meeting Jongseong’s gaze again. “Would you let me? Just one bite, Jongseong.”

Jongseong’s smirk widened as he stepped away, lifting a hand, to wag a finger at him as he laughed. And just like that the moment broke. Jaeyun blinked and his eyes were normal again. So were his teeth after a few precious seconds and he couldn’t help but laugh in turn.

He and Jongseong were going to do so good during this ritual.

“Maybe later. During the great rite.”

Jaeyun raised a brow.

“Is that actual permission or are you just teasing?”

Jongseong’s smirk turned into a good natured grin, making him seem boyish again.

“Permission. Who says we can’t enjoy that part of the ritual, Jaeyun? If we’re doing all this, we might as well like it.”

Jaeyun laughed again, nodding, before inclining his head further into his home and towards the hallway that connected the kitchen to the main room. He grabbed his broom, ready to be used for initial cleansing.

“I have everything we need. Let’s get the circle ready.”

Once their circle was set, before stepping inside, since Jongseong and Jaeyun had made the agreement to see everything about this ritual through together, they took a moment to talk about what practice to use to purify themselves.

The thing was, their means were very different. As was his family’s practice, Jongseong always purified himself in the same way he would do a cleansing: with the use of his blue flame. On the other hand, for generations, Jaeyun and those before him had always done it by getting in the water.

“Let’s do both then,” Jongseong suggested, his smirk impish. “I’ll go with you to the river and then we can do my fire. It’s dual purpose, too: we can get dry faster.”

Jaeyun rolled his eyes but he was already stripping, all the while smiling. Jongseong seemed game when it came to almost anything, liberated and all; he was as fearless, a quality they shared. If this ritual turned out well, he was going to ask Jongseong to do more complicated rituals with him. That was, if he wanted to of course.

“All right. Water first and then your fire.”

Once they were down to their undershorts, Jongseong followed Jaeyun to the river beside his cottage. As soon as the water touched his toes, Jaeyun closed his eyes and sighed in contentment. There was a murmur of delight, of welcome back, as the water enveloped his skin.

It was comforting but not for Jongseong.

“I don’t think this river likes me.”

When Jaeyun looked back, it was to find his ritual boy struggling with the undercurrent. The water was making it clear that he was unwelcome; a stranger. Jaeyun chuckled, watching as he tried walking in a straight line but in vain, something that wasn’t a problem for him. Instead, he was gliding through, the water enveloping his every movement and making way.

“Yes, yes, I use fire but I mean no harm.”

“Hush now,” Jaeyun murmured, reaching out, his words meant for the river. He wanted it to know that his ritual boy was, indeed, harmless. “Take my hand, Jongseong.”

Jongseong did and a few seconds after their fingers connected, sliding into each other’s palms until their fingers twined loosely, the forceful current that had been preventing Jongseong from moving further seemed to ease.

“Thank you,” Jongseong said with a relieved breath, looking up at Jaeyun with an appreciative smile. “I don’t know how to swim so I would appreciate it if your river would stop giving me a hard time.”

Jaeyun chuckled again, turning slowly to resume walking. He guided Jongseong’s hand on his bare waist, answering as he waded through, the water getting deeper and deeper until it was nearly up to their chests.

“Keep holding onto me. I won’t let it drown you.”

Jongseong made a sound of assent, his other hand finding purchase on the other side of his waist as well, until the water was up to their necks. Jaeyun then turned around to face him, grinning, taking his ritual boy’s hands and keeping them where they were as he stepped close until they were almost touching.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed, taking a palmful of water and pouring it over Jongseong’s head, his hair. “Listen to the river. After, we’ll go under. Don’t let go of me.”

Closing his eyes, Jongseong was very focused and attentive, his expression solemn as he did as he was told. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of the rushing water and the thrumming life around them care of the many creatures that lived in the forest.

“It’s very peaceful here,” Jongseong murmured, a small smile on his lips. Jaeyun closed his eyes himself and nodded, wrapping his arms around Jongseong’s neck as he hummed in agreement.

“It is. But it’s more peaceful in the water’s embrace. Take a deep breath.”

He heard Jongseong inhale and hold, and then very slowly, he exhaled. As soon as he did, Jaeyun took a step back: he knew this river very well, knew that there was a break behind him, a sudden plunge, and as his feet met liquid void his body sank down.

He pulled Jongseong along with him.

Home.

They were submerged completely in a heartbeat and every sound there was dimmed immediately, far off, a dream. Jaeyun opened his eyes and found Jongseong was already looking, the grip he had on Jaeyun’s waist tight, and there was some alarm in his expression. Jaeyun mouthed, it’s ok. He then pulled his arms away from Jongseong’s neck and waded away, back, and because he was still holding on, Jongseong drifted along. The river cradled him and his ritual boy, the undercurrent closest to them stopping in its downstream rush to envelope them both instead, a gentle water cyclone with them in the center.

When they finally resurfaced after a while, Jongseong gasping for air, Jaeyun already felt brand new and purified.

“Ok,” Jongseong said, panting and still holding onto him tightly since they were still on the deep end of the river. “Not going to lie: that was cool. Did the river stop flowing downstream just for you?”

Jaeyun grinned.

“It did. The river and I are friends.”

They swam back, pulling away from one another completely, and Jongseong shook the wetness out of his hair like a dog. Going back to the backyard where the circle was waiting, eventually, Jongseong turned to him.

“My turn,” he said, pushing his undershorts off, unabashed to be completely naked in front of him. “Come here. We’ll have to be as close as possible.”

Jaeyun wasn’t shy about being bare either. It didn’t matter since he and Jongseong were going to do the great rite anyway. They were going to be all over each other later and doing one of the most intimate, powerful acts in the waking world. He stepped forward without hesitation, right into his ritual boy’s personal space, and waited.

“This close?”

Jongseong’s eyes scanned down from his face to his body but it wasn’t an empty inspection. Just as slowly as his gaze descended, it climbed back up and their eyes met one more time. Jaeyun tilted his head a little, smirking slightly, his tone a little teasing as he spoke.

“Like what you see?”

“I do actually,” Jongseong answered simply, this time the one stepping closer more than ever, smirking in turn. And then he lifted his hands, palms running up from Jaeyun’s arms to his elbows. One of them stayed where it was but the other found his hip, his waist. “Now let’s burn.”

It started with Jongseong’s hands and where he touched, his blue flames began to spread wildly to encompass their skin. It was a little ticklish in this scale and Jaeyun gasped. He held onto Jongseong’s arms, the sensation foreign and a little overwhelming, looking up at him, this time the alarmed one.

“Just let it do its job,” Jongseong murmured gently, both of them now on fire from head to foot. “Give it a moment. Close your eyes.”

The burn was pleasant, kind of like a warm bath, but the ticklish sensation was still there. Jaeyun tried to focus on the heat, the way it was dissolving the water from the river and returning it to the air to be recycled later, back to water, and then repeat. He was breathing hard; Jongseong stepped closer than ever, wrapped his arms around him.

The burn intensified, near the borders of hot, and this time his ritual boy gasped with him.

“Jongseong,” he whispered, looking up and opening his eyes. “It’s getting too warm.”

“That’s you,” he breathed out in return, laughing a little, back again with that playfulness in him. “Because you’re hot.”

Jaeyun huffed out a laugh of his own, rolling his eyes as he hit Jongseong on the chest lightly. As he did so, lazily, the blue flames began to recede. Slow, slowly… and then smoke. There was that heady scent of flowers again, foreign and unknown.

“What smell is that?”

Jongseong was staring down at him with a certain intensity that Jaeyun was unfamiliar with. He wondered what it meant.

“Lucky devil,” he answered, the last of the flames going out. “Blue iris. My favorite flower.”

“Hmm,” Jaeyun hummed, just a little lost in Jongseong’s eyes. When neither of them moved, he started grinning. “Should we stay like this or do you want to let me go? So we can complete the rest of the circle?”

Just like that, the sharp focus in Jongseong’s eyes disappeared as he laughed, and he released Jaeyun as he stepped back. They were both as dry as they’d been before they stepped into the river.

“Sorry. Yes, let’s do that.”

Jaeyun set the candles at each cardinal point, already carved with the intended symbols from his boline early on, while Jongseong placed the altar Jaeyun always used outdoors near the middle, a slab of wood, with all of the herbs they were going to need already laid out upon it in their specific bowls. Across it was a folded blanket, also already cleansed, since they didn’t want to do the great rite on the ground.

“Can you please light the candles?”

Jongseong moved quickly, turning to him and giving him a wink.

“On it,” he said, moving around the small rocks that made their circle physical and waving his palm over each candle. The wicks burst to life, burning cheerfully, and for a moment the small flames moved on their own as if to follow Jongseong as he left them, chasing after him and refusing to part. “I’m glad you put up those wards. While I don’t mind doing rituals in front of other people, I’d rather not do the great rite with an audience. It always makes me uncomfortable.”

“Same here,” Jaeyun said back, standing on the opposite side of the altar from where the blanket was. He and Jongseong were still completely naked and, as his ritual boy walked over, he turned to him. “Ready?”

It was as if he’d pulled it out of midair. One moment, Jongseong’s hand was empty and then the next, he was holding his athame. It looked well loved and weathered; the onyx of its handle showed its age but the edge seemed very sharp. As it should be.

“Yes.”

Jaeyun placed a hand over the one Jongseong had on the handle of his blade and they held it together between them. After a beat, they raised it in the air, above their heads. Jongseong inclined his head at him, a wordless encouragement to speak his intentions first.

“We are casting this circle to call upon the Goddess and the God,” Jaeyun said aloud, firmly, lifting his gaze and looking skyward. The circle was under a thick canopy of branches, the leaves of the trees overhead shielding them from direct sunlight. “I want more knowledge, more power: to be lent magick beyond what’s normal so I can harness it in service to my community.”

Looking back down, Jaeyun inclined his head at Jongseong this time. It was his turn. His ritual boy did the same, looked up and spoke in a strong voice, doubtless and unafraid.

“We are casting this circle to call upon the Goddess and the God,” he repeated, reverent. “I want more power to try new things. To borrow magick I wouldn’t have access to otherwise in my journey to learn more and become more, fulfilling my potential and beyond.”

When Jongseong looked back down, Jaeyun nodded as they lowered the athame, both of them still holding it, and then they moved together in the direction of the east, the candle there, air. It was a little difficult to navigate as one person holding such a small blade but they did it slowly, following the circle’s shape in a clockwise direction headed south, west, and then north, speaking together.

We call upon air, the gentle breath of life, the whisper of inspiration
We call upon fire, the kindling to our passion, the giver of warmth
We call upon water, the vessel of our feelings, the depth of our emotion
We call upon earth, the cradle of rest and recovery, our hearth, our home.

They stopped at the north and Jaeyun felt it as the circle closed. The flame on top of each candle quivered, seemingly to grow brighter, bigger. Looking at each other, Jaeyun smiled and Jongseong smiled in return. He took his hand back and they moved to the altar to sit before it, fixing the blanket as they went, and then they sat down side by side. With his boline, Jaeyun began to cut the herbs in a specific order; every time he finished one, he handed them to Jongseong who placed them in a bigger bowl where he set them aflame.

All the while, they read aloud interchangeably from Jaeyun’s Book of Shadows, him first and then Jongseong, one herb at a time, so on and so forth.

Let the smoke burn any barrier that keeps us apart
Let nothing separate us henceforth.

We will be, from now, one and the same
Mine is yours and yours is mine.

This is the condition: a higher power is within our reach
But in exchange, we become not two but one.

Let us be unbreakable, bound at this moment
Inseparable, woven through and through.

Bound forever.

The smell of the herbs combined, still burning, was sweet. It wasn’t supposed to be sweet but it was and strangely so. This was a good sign; their offering was being accepted. Setting his boline down upon the altar, Jaeyun then turned to Jongseong who did the same but while he was moving backwards to lie on his back, his ritual boy was crawling forward, closer towards him and then on top of him.

It was time for the great rite.

“Bound forever,” Jongseong whispered, staring into his eyes, only the ghost of a smile on his lips. Jaeyun lifted a hand and ran his fingers down Jongseong’s cheek to his jaw and then his neck. Repeated the same words.

Completed the incantation.

“Bound forever.”

They kissed and it was magick on its own, swelled by the ritual and the combined power trapped inside their circle. Jaeyun was almost immediately breathless, undulating: he offered his body upwards, against Jongseong’s, and in response his ritual boy pressed himself closer, trapping him against the blanket, as the kiss turned torrid.

“I’m a little dizzy,” Jaeyun breathed out, turning his head to the side as Jongseong kissed down his neck harshly, nips and bites all wet and desperate. “I feel like I can do anything right now. It’s a good thing, right?”

“I think so,” Jongseong murmured against his throat, on his way to switch sides, licking a stripe up his Adam’s apple. “But first, let me do you.”

Jaeyun laughed at Jongseong’s words, laughed at the same time his ritual boy did, as their mouths met again. This time it was even more passionate, tongue and teeth and rising moans. Jongseong paused halfway to retrieve the oil from the altar and, that brief moment that he did so, Jaeyun pushed himself up slightly to suck a mark on his neck, just under the little heart-shaped birthmark he had there. He felt so powerful but, at the same time, so needy: for connection that was physical, a way to unleash himself and everything buzzing underneath his skin.

“Hurry,” he whispered, kissing up to Jongseong’s jaw. “I need it. I want you all over me.”

It had to be the ritual’s effect. Jaeyun was going to lose his mind if he didn’t have Jongseong now. Even in the throes of lust, with past lovers, he’d never felt this way about any of them. It was such a primal need, clawing at his insides, yearning.

Jongseong poured the oil straight down his cock which was already hard. Jaeyun was as well, unbearably so, as he laid back down and spread his legs. After stroking himself to coat his member properly, his ritual boy used the same hand to slick up Jaeyun’s rim and then he was positioning himself, the head of his cock prodding a waiting hole.

Jaeyun closed his eyes with a keen as Jongseong penetrated.

“Oh,” he gasped out, eyelids fluttering open when he felt Jongseong touch his face. Their eyes met: he was watching Jaeyun as he continued to move, deeper in him, inch by precious inch. “It feels extra good. I’ve never had it this good this quick.”

“It does,” Jongseong agreed, his voice strained, and for a moment he closed his eyes. “I want to rut at you like an animal. This isn’t normal.”

“I want you to,” Jaeyun begged, holding onto Jongseong’s arms, pleading with him. He needed him and if that was the only way to get him, then so be it. “Do it. Do it.”

The need was shared: as soon as he bottomed out, Jongseong was moving almost instantly, not going fast but hard, bruisingly so, making Jaeyun cry out with every inward thrust, his back arching because of the pain and the pleasure.

Around them, the air felt so thick, so charged; Jaeyun could hardly breathe, just feel. Clawing at Jongseong’s back, they fucked; there was no other word for it, the rawness of what they were doing and how graceless it was with not much thought behind it.

“Jongseong,” Jaeyun sobbed, arching into his thrusts even more, the movements above and inside him turning even harder.

“I’ll hurt you, I’ll hurt you, I don’t want to hurt you,” Jongseong whispered, wild. He flipped them around so that Jaeyun was on top, running his palms up from his hips to his waist, and his ritual boy had so much fire in his eyes, desire, as he begged. “Do it. You set the pace.”

Jaeyun did, closing his eyes and throwing his head back, biting on his lower lip as he moaned and moaned and kept moaning. Body undulating some more, he rocked against Jongseong’s cock and in response, Jongseong groaned, the sound heavy but immensely pleased. Jaeyun felt blunt nails dig against the skin and bone of his pelvis while they began to move together, slow and lazy but forceful. Ruthless.

“I’m not going to last,” Jaeyun whined, lifting a hand and grasping at the side of his head, his own hair, to try and get himself under control. He didn’t even feel human at all, not when his body felt more than skin and muscle and all of his bones. Instead, he was energy balled up into a contained space, ready to explode and begging to. “Jongseong, I’m close.”

It was so hot. So hot. When Jaeyun looked down, Jongseong was watching him, his chest heaving, meeting his downward movements with pointed upward thrusts. Their gazes connected and held and the need intensified, again shared.

“Then come Jaeyun,” his ritual boy murmured, one hand taking his cock and stroking it. Jaeyun keened, eyelids fluttering. “Give it to me and I’ll give mine to you. Let’s come together.”

That was it. Jaeyun flared out, every part of him, like balls of yarn thrown in every direction, unfurling as they went and leaving trails of string behind all tangled up in wayward knots. Jongseong did the same a few seconds later, burying himself deep, filling Jaeyun up while he came in turn.

“Yes,” he moaned breathily, bracing himself on Jongseong’s chest, rolling his hips. He was still looking at Jongseong and he was looking back but Jaeyun couldn’t see anything else aside from his pleasure. “Yes, yes!”

The sounds Jongseong was making beneath him were uncontrolled and rough, fingernails leaving angry marks down his hips to the side of his thighs as they unraveled. His every nerve ending was pulled taut and stretched beyond its worldly limits and it was amazing; Jaeyun had never felt this kind of rush before and he collapsed on top of Jongseong, breathless and elated.

Jongseong held him, his own breathing just as labored, and as the crescendo of their combined orgasms slowly quieted, Jaeyun felt the parts of himself that had petaled away close back in, back to himself, all the yarn strings coiling tight to wrap around his ribs.

Around both him and Jongseong.

“Let’s take five,” Jongseong said eventually after about a minute, still panting though not as badly. “Before dismantling the circle.”

Jaeyun nodded, chuckling before lifting his head to look down at his ritual boy.

“I wasn’t able to take a bite off your thigh,” he whispered, nosing at Jongseong’s chest, feeling sweet, to an answering laugh. “Can I still? Just a nibble?”

Jongseong allowed it but, the result was they ended fucking again and even wilder. In fact, they couldn’t stop. It was impossible and, the more they did it, all the more did the desire compound in on itself, one on top of the other, growing.

Something was very, very wrong.

“We did something we shouldn’t have,” Jaeyun said, his breaths broken, parts of him bruised with how hard they’d been going. This was their seventh time and Jongseong wasn’t any better: he had bite marks on his thighs and his arms, everywhere that had meat in them. “This isn’t normal.”

“I want you again,” Jongseong murmured, licking at his neck. “You’re right. It’s not.”

It was only with great effort that they parted at all, filthy with release and sweat and oil. Thanking the Goddess and God, bidding them safe travel back to their realm, went by as nothing more but a blur. They barely dismantled the circle, trembling as they held onto Jongseong’s athame and spoke the final words to end the ritual.

“Thank you air, fire, water and earth; we release all the energy in this circle back where they belong.”

It took a few seconds and then, as if something heavy was lifted from them, the circle broke and with it, the uncontrollable desire Jaeyun had for Jongseong dissipated.

But it didn’t disappear completely.

It should have.

“We’re in trouble,” Jongseong said, moving backwards and away from Jaeyun who was doing the same. They needed to put as much distance between them as possible for now. “Something went wrong.”

But what? Jaeyun had no idea. They’d followed the ritual closely. They hadn’t missed a single step.

“We’ll figure it out,” Jaeyun muttered eventually, trying to grab at his humanity even though all he wanted Jongseong to do was fuck him again. “Let’s get cleaned up and go from there.”

Jongseong reappeared in his animal form but, this time, he was a crow.

“Because I can talk in this form,” he said in response to Jaeyun’s question about how to converse, making him jump. He hadn’t expected Jongseong to be able to talk at all. “I also want you in a simpler way as an animal.”

The effect seemed two-way. Jaeyun stilled, focusing on his desires: Jongseong was correct. The only thing he wanted right now was proximity. He wanted his ritual boy close. Reaching out, he used a finger to caress the top of the crow’s head—something affectionate. Looking closely at him, he noticed that where some of Jongseong’s jewelry were in his human form, they manifested in his feathers, lines of white here and there.

“You’re cute like this,” Jaeyun murmured as Jongseong cawed and it sounded gratified. He laughed a little but, as quickly, his amusement died down. “I’m sorry you have to be in this form. I don’t know what went wrong.”

“I don’t know either,” Jongseong said back, hopping on the counter and closer to Jaeyun’s Book of Shadows. “We followed everything as written. It was perfect.”

“It can’t have been the cleansing,” Jaeyun added, taking a stool and sitting down. He placed his arms on the surface of the kitchen’s middle island and propped his chin on top of them. “We both checked the herbs. I wasn’t the only one who was thorough. You were, too.”

Jongseong turned to him and took a lock of his hair between his beak. It made Jaeyun smile and he reached out with a finger again, rubbing the crow’s chest. He didn’t know why but he felt so golden under Jongseong’s attention and he wanted more of it.

“If you turn back to human, we’re going to have sex all day, aren’t we?”

“Probably,” Jongseong returned, preening Jaeyun’s fringe sweetly. “I also just want to hold you. Or be held by you. This is strange. I feel like if I don’t have you in some way, I’m going to die.”

Jaeyun would have laughed if only he didn’t feel exactly the same way. Sighing, he pulled away. Gave their current situation some thought.

“What about in your wolf form? You won’t be able to talk but we can be close.”

Jongseong’s crow form did a head tilt that made Jaeyun croon. It looked so adorable.

“Oh, do that again,” he said, grinning before catching himself and his reaction. He felt his cheeks flush. “Sorry, I just… I feel so much for you right now.”

“You’re not alone,” Jongseong murmured, hopping off the counter and moving to the floor, opening his wings only briefly for the short flight down. “Anyway, let’s try. Let me turn into a wolf.”

And he did. Jongseong’s crow form shuddered before it started growing larger, sprouting fur in place of feathers, and then he was the same wolf who’d arrived earlier, onyx and silver and hairy and oh so cute even though he was massive. Jaeyun fell on the floor on his knees and couldn’t stop himself.

He hugged Jongseong.

“You’re so fluffy,” he whispered, scratching the back of Jongseong’s ears. “So soft. Is this ok?”

Jongseong pulled back and nosed at his cheek before licking at his lips and then into his mouth and around his teeth. Jaeyun was familiar with this—it was a sign of trust but it was also an agreement to his words and an answer to his question.

“Ok that’s enough,” he laughed, moving his mouth away. “Are you hungry? You want to cuddle in bed?”

Jongseong stood up and started moving which, Jaeyun supposed, meant it was cuddling then. They moved to his room and settled in the middle of his bed, his face buried on Jongseong’s wolf coat. It smelled like the smoke from his fire, the blue iris flower, and they stayed cuddling for a while until it wasn’t enough.

Until they started wanting more again.

It was a yank, a pull, that made them both want. Jaeyun groaned, something in his navel coiling, lust and desire, and he made to move away but Jongseong felt it, too. In the blink of an eye, he was transforming again, back to human, and Jaeyun paused.

He couldn’t stay away.

“Have me,” Jaeyun begged, already tearing at his clothes. Jongseong was doing the same. “Have me again.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon until the early evening fucking some more, insatiable, until the second wave of their endless want passed. Until they could think clearly again. The bites on Jongseong’s limbs had increased considerably and it was the same for the scratches and bruises on Jaeyun’s body.

“That’s it,” Jongseong muttered breathlessly, clutching at his hair as he and Jaeyun sat beside each other, exhausted and fucked out. “We need help. I think I know who can assist us but we’ll have to go to the core city.”

Jaeyun hated the core city.

It was noisy and filled with too much unnecessary artificial energy. While he was powerful enough to ignore what he didn’t need, he didn’t like all the distracting excess. That and it was difficult to find unpolluted bodies of water in a place so crowded, developed as it was. He thrived in water, needed it. A pool wasn’t going to cut it but even the ones here weren’t as clean or pure as he wanted them to be.

In contrast, Jongseong was at home in the core city and it showed.

Apparently, he could make his animal form really big and it had only taken them a few hours to get to his place, Jongseong’s crow form so huge Jaeyun could ride atop him. They reached his ritual boy’s house in time too and just when their desire was stirring again: predictably, they ended up having more sex the entire morning, nearly until the afternoon, before tiredness took them.

When Jaeyun woke up, it was already nighttime and there was the mouth watering smell of meat being cooked. He and Jongseong had been so busy fucking they hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s ritual.

“Hi,” Jongseong greeted him as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. He was in front of the stove and there was a tall pile of steaks on a plate. Beside it was a bowl with some kind of salad. It all looked good and smelled even better. “Sit down. Almost done with this last one—let’s eat. I’m starving and I’m sure you are too.”

Jaeyun nodded and took a seat, trying to be patient, and looked about Jongseong’s house for the first time. They’d gone right to fucking when they arrived, he hadn’t had time to inspect the place at all. It was very industrial and minimal and, based on how Jongseong dressed, it was a little surprising.

“What?”

Jaeyun turned back to Jongseong who was moving towards him, bowl of salad and plate of steaks in his hands. He put it between them before he was moving to a drawer and a cabinet: plates, cutlery, glasses. He shrugged and stood up, taking the plates and then the glasses as Jongseong moved to the fridge for their drinks.

“I didn’t think your house would look like this. I expected… more furniture? Maybe decoration?”

Jongseong chuckled and sat down across from him, the counter and the food between them as he placed a pitcher off to his left, Jaeyun’s right.

“I like accessories on me,” was the response. Jongseong took a steak and placed it on Jaeyun’s plate first, and then his own, pushing the salad bowl his way. “But not where I live. I don’t like clutter.”

Jaeyun took about half the salad with a grin, pushing the bowl back to Jongseong who laughed when he saw what was left. He didn’t bother to put it on his plate as they began eating.

“I think if you put clutter in the correct places,” Jaeyun muttered, resisting the urge to groan at the first bite of the meat. “They won’t be clutter at all.”

“Debatable,” Jongseong muttered, pausing in his meal to pour water for them both. “If we don’t end up having sex all night, we should visit my friends after eating. The sooner we find out what’s going on, the sooner we can go back to normal.”

Jaeyun nodded his head, finishing his initial steak in record speed and moving on to the next one.

“Ok, we should. This is very unproductive. No one can live like this.”

After that, they didn’t talk for a while as they gobbled up the rest of their meal. Sex was a very physical activity after all and it had taken its toll. Full and satisfied, eventually, the two of them moved back to Jongseong’s bedroom to take a break before preparing to leave. Unfortunately, they ended up making out and it was… sweet.

Really sweet.

Whatever urgency there had been in the past few hours, almost animalistic, it had softened into a gentler need for something intimate devoid of the frantic, aggressive rush that was fucking.

“We should go,” Jongseong murmured in between kisses, his touches tender, and it made something in Jaeyun’s chest cinch though not in a bad way. They were on their side on top of the covers, facing one another: he pushed his tongue inside his ritual boy’s mouth, drawing out a moan, Jongseong’s own tongue pushing back against his. “Jaeyun…”

“Just a bit more,” he whispered back, moving closer. He liked the way Jongseong held him, one of his hands on his lower back, the other cradling his face. If he could purr, Jaeyun knew he would. “Five more minutes.”

“Twenty,” Jongseong said with a chuckle, kissing him deeper, and Jaeyun melted against it, mewling. “You’ve got really soft lips.”

“You kiss so well,” was Jaeyun’s own praise, one of his hands settling on the side of Jongseong’s neck, the other delving into his hair, scratching his scalp. “This is crazy. I want to keep kissing you. I don’t want to stop.”

“Should I turn into a wolf?”

“Yes,” Jaeyun murmured. They were still kissing. “No. Yes. I can’t decide.”

His rapidly changing decision made Jongseong laugh and finally pull back, and when Jaeyun tried to chase after his mouth, he lifted a hand between them. Placed a palm over half his face.

And as Jongseong stared at him, he had so many stars in his eyes, bright and twinkling and Jaeyun wanted him so much.

“Ok, let’s… stop licking my palm,” Jongseong said with another laugh, wincing, ticklish. “We really have to go. Turning into a wolf now.”

When it was human to wolf, the transformation happened in reverse and it was always Jongseong’s eyes that changed first followed by the rest of him.

“Ok,” Jaeyun murmured, burying his face against Jongseong’s fur and trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, his racing pulse, and the bottomless want that had formed deep inside him. “Ok, let’s go.”

They went to an unnamed nightclub of sorts.

It wasn’t an ordinary one either. For one, the people were dressed very sophisticatedly, not scantily clad as one would expect in these types of places. No wonder Jongseong had asked him to dress up as best he could, letting him borrow a few items of his own clothing, since Jaeyun hadn’t brought anything fitting.

Even in wolf form, the people at the door seemed to recognize Jongseong. They allowed him and Jaeyun to walk inside, bypassing the rest of the long line, people wanting to gain entry. As soon as they were indoors, the difference was staggering. Jaeyun could feel a pressing magick all about him, not overbearing but predominant in a way that was difficult to ignore. It was a reminder. A warning. Magick was heavily regulated here.

Whoever owned this place, they had great power and they wanted to make it clear that they had control.

They went to a side door, unmarked and nearly invisible, that opened up to a staircase that led up. Jaeyun didn’t question Jongseong, not that his ritual boy could answer him. Eventually, they reached the top and there was only one door. Jongseong turned back to human and knocked once while Jaeyun had to stay a couple of steps down—that was how tiny the landing area was.

“Jongseong,” someone said from inside. “It’s open now. Come in.”

Glancing back at him, Jongseong nodded his head in a bid for Jaeyun to follow as he turned the doorknob.

It was like stepping into an entirely different time period.

Jaeyun paused, the door closing on its own behind him, and looked around. It looked like a Victorian era sitting room with its old fashioned wallpaper and all the wood paneling, the intricate chandelier and lamps, a bookcase wall on one side, the over the top drapes on the windows. The lighting was low, yellow and warm.

It made the regal-looking boy sitting by the fireplace stand out in his dark aquamarine dress shirt.

“Hyung,” the boy said with a smile, standing up from his seat, only for him to slow down midway. And then he paused and frowned, looking from him and then Jaeyun, his eyes narrowed. “You feel different. Very different.”

“Well… you see…”

Jongseong glanced back at Jaeyun who walked up to him, stopping by his side, and as if on instinct, they reached out for each other’s hands. The boy’s gaze flickered downwards, not missing the action, just as someone chuckled from a corner of the room. It was in a dark area of it and, from the dimness, another boy stepped out: one in an animal print dress shirt, an elaborate earring hanging from his left ear. His eyes were obscured by a fringe of dark hair, the strands useless in hiding his amusement.

“What did you do, Jongseong?”

“Jungwon, Heeseung-hyung,” Jongseong said instead, ignoring the question. “This is Jaeyun. Jaeyun, these are my friends.”

Jungwon was the one in the aquamarine dress shirt. He inclined his head at Jaeyun in greeting and Heeseung did the same as he approached, stopping beside Jungwon.

“We have a problem,” Jongseong said after a pause, his friends waiting. Feeling. “Jaeyun and I… we did a ritual. We think something went wrong because…”

His ritual boy stopped talking then, his ears growing a bright red. Jaeyun sighed and picked up where he left off.

“We can’t stop having sex or kissing,” he continued, embarrassed to be the one saying what they’d been doing for the last twenty four hours or so but someone had to speak up. “Being intimate. That wasn’t what the ritual was for.”

Jungwon and Heeseung glanced at each other, a cross between amused and concerned. When they turned back to them, Heeseung was the one who asked the question.

“What was it for?”

“We were calling a higher power,” Jongseong supplied. “We followed the ritual step by step. As outlined. Exactly.”

“Well, let’s see it,” Jungwon said, waving a hand and gesturing by the fire. Another two seats had appeared in front of it. Those hadn’t been there before. “Let’s look at the ritual and figure out where it all went wrong.”

Jaeyun released Jongseong’s hand and it was the most difficult thing to do. In fact, it was almost painful but he had to make his Book of Shadows appear. He couldn’t let other witches handle it either—he needed both of his hands. Belatedly, Jaeyun realized the magick of this establishment was tied to Jongseong’s friends.

All the more reason not to let them touch his grimoire.

They took their seats, seated by pair, the Book of Shadows between them. Jaeyun propped it up in midair and took his hands away—it remained where it was with no stand or support, flipping itself to the necessary page.

“Here it is.”

There was a moment of silence as Jungwon and Heeseung leaned forward, reading what was written on the spread before them. All the while, by his side, Jongseong’s hand began to travel: from Jaeyun’s arm to his side, to his lower back…

“Jongseong,” Jaeyun sighed softly, turning to him with the intention of stopping him but when he met a soft gaze, he couldn’t. He couldn’t make him stop. “Ok, fine.”

Jongseong practically manhandled him on his lap, embracing him around the waist. It startled his friends who stopped what they were doing to watch the sight before them and, while Jaeyun was absolutely appalled to be doing what he was doing in front of people he’d just met, being in Jongseong’s arms was far more important than anything else.

“Ignore us,” Jongseong murmured, hiding his face against Jaeyun’s neck and breathing deeply in. Jaeyun sighed, baring his throat. “See this? We can’t be apart. It’s impossible.”

“... I see,” Heeseung answered belatedly, amused again. “Are you sure this wasn’t a marriage ritual? You look like you just got married.”

“Then why didn’t it say that,” Jaeyun asked, eyes closed. He didn’t care anymore—it brought him immense comfort, having Jongseong close. “We’re just glad the sex phase has passed.”

There was a chuckle from both Jungwon and Heeseung and then more silence, them reading. Jongseong pressing gentle kisses on his neck, his shoulder, loving.

“I’m concerned about the wording on the incantation,” Jungwon said eventually, aloud, making Jaeyun open his eyes. Behind him, Jongseong shifted, too. “But it is labeled as a means to call a higher power. How old is this book?”

Jaeyun lifted a hand and waved a finger. The pages of his Book of Shadows turned on its own, going back to the very first part, near the cover, where a scribbled year was on the lower left-hand side.

“Very old.”

Another moment of silence.

“It’ll probably be best to talk to someone who’s as old as this book. Someone who’s familiar with what the practices were during this period or lived through it.”

Jongseong was back to nosing Jaeyun’s neck, muttering, seemingly uninterested.

“Should we call a spirit?”

Heeseung chuckled.

“Why call a spirit when you can talk to someone who’s still alive? Or, well… as alive as he can be.”

That caught Jaeyun’s interest and he sat up a little straighter. Tried not to melt against Jongseong’s body, his ministrations.

“What do you mean?”

“A vampire of course,” Jungwon said with a grin. “He’s the oldest person this side of the country.”

As expected of an age-old vampire, he lived in a mansion.

It was vast with a sprawling garden, well-kept and beautiful. Jaeyun wondered how anyone could stay on their own in too big a home. How inconvenient would it be just to get to dinner or anywhere else within the property for that matter? And don’t even start on the cleaning.

“He’s a bit theatrical,” Heeseung told them as they waited by the door, Jungwon having used the knocker. The sound it made on the wood was loud in the silence, the darkness, of the deep evening. “But that’s just the way he is. He doesn’t like our blood though so no worries there. He said because of the magick, witches taste strange.”

Jaeyun and Jongseong were holding hands again—he turned to his ritual boy, whispering.

“Have you met him? Talked to him before?”

Jongseong shook his head.

“No. Never had a reason to.”

The door eventually opened, creaking as it went. There didn’t seem to be anyone there to have opened it much to Jaeyun’s confusion. He’d never met a vampire before, wasn’t sure if they had magick of their own, and the question must have been clear from his expression because Jungwon explained.

“When you’re as old as time, even if you don’t want to, you end up acquiring abilities.”

The wall sconces guided their way, lighting up one at a time, letting them know where to go. Eventually, they ended up in front of a double door that groaned loudly as it opened inwards into a ballroom of some type. It was barely lit inside, the only light coming from the moon outside, and standing by the window…

“Welcome,” someone said, his voice distinct. “I haven’t had visitors in a while. It’s been lonely.”

“We were just here last week, Sunghoon,” Heeseung countered with a laugh, stepping inside with Jungwon. Jaeyun and Jongseong followed closely. “We need your help.”

The man, vampire, by the window turned. Regarded them with a cold, distant smile, gaze first settling upon Heeseung and Jungwon.

“It felt like forever,” he said, approaching slowly, with even steps, hands behind his back. “You only come here when you need help. Why don’t you visit me when you don’t need help?”

“Last week’s visit was just that: a visit without needing your help,” Jungwon reminded him, chuckling. “This is Jongseong and Jaeyun. They’ve stumbled upon a little problem…”

Sunghoon hummed, turning his attention now on them, and Jaeyun stood a little straighter. There was something hauntingly beautiful and frightening about this vampire: his sharp eyes, his stillness even while he moved, the way he eyed them. He was a predator and it was undeniable.

“Are they your replacements? Are you and Heeseung retiring?”

There was a confused pause. A startled silence.

“What do you mean?”

Sunghoon tilted his head with a smile and one of his fangs peeked through. He looked back at Jungwon who’d asked the question and then Heeseung, talking to them directly.

“You can’t feel it? They’re more powerful than you could ever dream to be. If they wanted, they could replace the two of you.”

Jaeyun’s hand tightened around Jongseong’s at the same time it squeezed his. They glanced at each other before staring back at the vampire before them.

“Does it have something to do with the ritual we did?”

Sunghoon observed Jaeyun. Watched his face. And then he turned to Jongseong before slowly turning around and lifting a hand. He bid them to follow.

“Come with me. Let’s sit and then you can tell me what you’re here for.”

So they did. They moved on to a smaller, though still fairly large, sitting area with a roaring fire. Sunghoon poured himself a drink, something dark and thick and crimson, and didn’t offer them anything. Which was probably for the better. And then he sat down on a lone chair in front of them all, crossing his legs. Drinking from his goblet.

He didn’t interrupt. Listened, so still. He looked like a painting. A sculpture. Something that wasn’t alive and, in a way, he wasn’t.

When at last all that needed to be said was uttered, Sunghoon slowly lowered his goblet on the table in front of him and laughed. It was a short sound, amused beyond belief, and it confused the rest of them. Jaeyun sat a little closer to Jongseong who took his hand away from his but only to wrap his arm around his waist.

“Oh, this will be very entertaining,” the vampire mused, being indirect. Not saying whatever it was they wanted to know upfront. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. The type of magick you used.”

“Spare us the dramatics,” Jungwon moaned.

“I sleep in a coffin and have no reflection. Drink blood to live,” Sunghoon shot back, leaning against one arm of his chair, legs still crossed, one foot dangling. Swinging back and forth. “I can be as dramatic as I want.”

“So what was it then?”

Jaeyun was getting antsy. Nervous. And, if he was going to admit, a little afraid. This was all his fault, whatever it was. Poor Jongseong if this was harmful ritual magick… but hopefully it was something they could fix.

“You did a binding ritual,” the vampire answered, looking now directly at him and Jongseong. “Not just any binding ritual from the way you described it. It appears that you’re soul bound now.”

Beside him, Jongseong stilled. Jaeyun himself was shocked to the core.

“A soul binding ritual?”

“Yes,” Sunghoon said, the only part of him moving his mouth as he spoke and his one leg as it swung forward and back, forward and back. “It takes a lot to call on a higher power. Notice the wording on your incantation? We become not two but one. It’s impossible to do on your own without a soul bond first and foremost.”

A part of Jaeyun ached as Jongseong pulled away from him completely. When he turned to his ritual boy, Jongseong ignored him, his focus all on Sunghoon.

“Bound forever,” he muttered almost to himself. “We should have been wary of those words and then the great rite after… is there a way to reverse it?”

Sunghoon shrugged, a minimal movement of his shoulder.

“From what I remember—I’ll have to look at a few old records—yes, there is. But it will be painful. Very painful. We’re talking about ripping you apart,” he said, glancing at Jaeyun. Meeting his gaze squarely. “Inseparable, woven through and through. That was what you said in your incantation. Every strand that holds you both together, you’re going to have to undo.”

Jaeyun’s soul was already ripping apart anyway and all because Jongseong moved away from him completely.

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Sunghoon answered honestly. “We can look at my books. I know a certain time period when soul binding was popular especially to strengthen arranged marriages. Make them bearable. We can start from there. But you can’t be apart at the moment.”

For the first time in a few minutes, Jongseong looked back at Jaeyun and there was something closed off about him. It hurt. But it was only the ritual’s effect, wasn’t it? Logically, why would it bring him pain that Jongseong didn’t seem to want to be close to him?

They were strangers to begin with. They didn’t even know one another.

“Why not?”

It was Jaeyun’s turn to ask a question of his own as he looked back at Sunghoon again.

“The bond is settling. It hasn’t taken a hold yet. You said you’d gone from copulating to being more… domestic. You can’t rip apart something that isn’t fully formed. Together, with the ritual brand new, you’re the strongest witches anywhere in the world. On your own, you’re weak as of now.”

“What happens after this?” Jaeyun was very curious. “After being domestic?”

Sunghoon’s expression shifted then, something mischievous and playful. His gaze passed from him to Jongseong then back before he was uncrossing his legs. And then, he lifted a hand, looked straight at Jongseong and did a waving motion, inviting. It was instant.

Jongseong inhaled sharply and then, suddenly, he was on the carpet on his knees, his eyesight unclear and hazy.

“If you don’t want him, Jaeyun, can I keep him?”

Jaeyun stared at Jongseong who had his head bowed. He wasn’t moving. Panicking, Jaeyun turned to Sunghoon.

“What are you doing?”

Sunghoon wasn’t looking at him anymore, speaking instead to Jongseong directly. He had him in some kind of spell. A trance. Something.

“Come to me.”

Heeseung sighed, shaking his head.

“Sunghoon…”

But the vampire only gave him a look.

“It’s my house. I can do what I want.”

Jongseong was like a puppet on strings. Jaeyun watched him, aghast, as he pushed himself up from the floor and walked over to Sunghoon. He leaned down at the same time the vampire lifted a hand, putting a finger under his chin, their faces close. Something in Jaeyun snarled, vicious and ugly.

Jongseong was his.

“Was the ritual your doing? Your idea?”

“It wasn’t mine,” Jongseong answered, his voice a whisper, dazed. “It was Jaeyun’s.”

“So it’s his fault you’re bound to him with very little choice in the matter,” Sunghoon muttered, turning to Jaeyun again. “I want Jongseong. I think I’ll keep him once you’ve ripped your souls apart.”

The ugly thing inside Jaeyun bared its fangs and before he knew it, his entire being was responding to what was obviously a challenge, a claim, on someone who was supposed to be his.

“Jaeyun?”

Jungwon sounded alarmed but Sunghoon lifted his other hand, the one not holding Jongseong by the chin.

“Let him. Watch.”

Trembling where he sat, Jaeyun felt his eyes dilate the same way it would when he was turning into a siren. Hissing lowly, he stared at Sunghoon hard, his muscles shaking in possessive fury.

“Did you know,” he said slowly, watching Sunghoon’s face twist. Jaeyun smiled but it was unkind. “That blood is about fifty one percent water and that water is my domain?”

Sunghoon doubled over, gasping, choking; Jaeyun continued to watch him, unblinking.

“Release him.”

Sunghoon was laughing, or was trying to, as he started coughing up water.

“Or what? You can’t kill me. I’m already dead.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t make you suffer,” Jaeyun shot back, cool and calm, taking as much water from Sunghoon as he could. “All you’ll be left with is dried blood inside you. Release him. I won’t ask again.”

Sunghoon sounded like he was breathing his last breaths but he did turn to Jongseong. He didn’t do anything specific but his ritual boy straightened after a moment, blinking, his eyes clearing. He looked from Sunghoon’s crumpled form to Jaeyun, very confused.

He probably had no idea how in the world he was suddenly standing by the vampire’s side.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

But Jaeyun was still just staring at Sunghoon who was now looking back at him, a teasing smile on his lips, and he wanted to wring the last of the water from him—

“Jaeyun. Jaeyun, stop it!”

He snapped out of whatever haze he was in at the shout from his ritual boy. Looking at Jongseong who was staring at him in horror, Jaeyun blinked once, twice, one more. And then he turned back to the vampire, to Sunghoon, who was wiping his chin with the back of his hand.

“That’s what’s after domesticity,” he said, leaning back against his chair and actually heaving out a breath. His smile was a little more strained this time. “Possession. Doubt. Jealousy. This bond is unnatural and you’re cycling through the motions of forming one at a rapid pace. Think of it as… a relationship on fast forward but with all the emotions that make or break it.”

“I’m sorry,” Jaeyun murmured, as shocked as everyone by his strong reaction. He refused to look at Jongseong as he stood up. “I need to get some air. Give me a moment.”

“Jaeyun…”

He ignored Jongseong, turning around to exit the room, and followed the same hallway they took to the ballroom, back in the main hallway, and then past the front door. The air outside was cool against his skin, almost wet, water. But it didn’t comfort Jaeyun as he took a very deep breath. Closed his eyes.

It was all the effect of a ritual but his feelings for Jongseong seemed so suffocating, so real.

He couldn’t do this.

“I’m sorry.”

They stepped inside Jongseong’s house a few hours later, the dawn still far off, emotionally exhausted. He could feel his ritual boy’s tiredness and in return, he knew Jongseong felt his. This constant recycling of feelings between them didn’t feel very good when the energy was negative.

Instead, it was absolutely draining.

“You already said that,” Jongseong answered him as the door thudded shut behind them all on its own. “Jaeyun, stop apologizing. You didn’t force me to do the ritual.”

Jaeyun stopped by the living area, watching Jongseong move about. Before he could say anything though, he’d turned to him. He felt whatever emotion was in the words Jaeyun was only about to say.

“Jaeyun…”

“It’s still my fault even if I didn’t mean this to happen or not,” he said before Jongseong could say more. “I promise you, I’ll find a way to break the bond.”

The moment he said it, voice laced with a firmness reserved for vows that were unbreakable in nature, it was instant: he and Jongseong doubled over almost at the same time, gasping. Jaeyun pressed a hand over his chest—the sudden squeeze and pinch behind his ribs was overwhelmingly painful and, when he glanced up, his ritual boy’s hand was on the same exact spot on his torso.

“Please don’t say that,” Jongseong breathed out, steadying himself against the nearest piece of furniture. He closed his eyes and took several breaths before continuing. “Let’s make an agreement not to say that because it’s very painful.”

It really was, like someone had torn right through Jaeyun’s chest and clawed past his skin and into his muscles to reach for his heart only to crush it. Falling back against the nearest wall, he was aware this was the side effect of the ritual but again, so real. The simple thought of being apart from Jongseong was unbearable to even consider, not just think, to the point that it manifested as actual pain in his body.

“Your bathroom… has a tub,” he said in a quiet voice, making Jongseong blink his eyes back open. “Can I stay there?”

His ritual boy looked a little confused but he nodded.

“Of course.”

Jaeyun nodded and felt the need to go to Jongseong for comfort but this wasn’t natural. Jongseong wasn’t required to do anything to make him feel better; it wasn’t his responsibility. Side stepping him and making sure to take the longest way around him to get to the bathroom, he stepped inside. Took a deep breath.

It’s just the ritual. It wasn’t real, these feelings coursing through him.

Opening the tap, Jaeyun waited for the tub to fill with water as he got out of his clothes. He folded them slowly, with care; he needed something to do with his hands. He focused on every step, narrated them in his head. At the same time, he could feel Jongseong hovering by the doorway.

It took a while before he spoke.

“Can I come in?”

Jaeyun swallowed as he turned off the water, the tub already filled. He told himself to say no but his mouth, his entire being, had something else to offer.

“Yes.”

Jongseong slowly opened the door and saw him stepping into the bathtub. He looked unsure, playing with his hands and fingers, his accessories all gone. Eventually, as Jaeyun settled in the water, he nodded his way, right there where he was seated, his voice hesitant.

“Can I join you?”

That was the only time he felt it.

Jongseong was seeking comfort from him.

It was beyond his control but Jaeyun felt a swell of affection in him and it must have been potent because his ritual boy reacted as they stared at one another across the room, dropping his gaze. There was a growing, embarrassed flush on his tanned skin, his cheeks.

He was so beautiful.

It wasn’t real.

“You can,” Jaeyun said eventually, trying for a smile. It wasn’t as easy on his lips but he managed something small, even cracked a joke. “How long can you hold your breath under the water?”

Jongseong wouldn’t hold his gaze, already stripping, setting aside his clothes haphazardly. He did look up at the question though.

“What? Why?”

Jaeyun scooped a handful of water into his palm—the water here was close to dead and its voice wasn’t clear but it would have to do. He watched it fall from between his fingers before answering.

“It’s quiet in the water. We’ll stay in it.”

Jongseong had walked up beside him, giving the water a worried glance.

“You can breathe in water?”

When Jaeyun smiled this time, it had a little more teeth literally, his eyes changing as he transformed slowly into his siren form. The last to appear, always, was his scales in select parts of his body: white and teal and gold, majestic or so he’d been told many times.

“In this form I can. You can, too—if you want, that is. I can make it possible but only while you’re with me.”

Jongseong nodded and got into the tub with him. It was a fairly large one and they could sit side by side, though most of their limbs overlapped. His ritual boy reached out an unsteady hand to run a palm on the scales near his waist, the ones wrapped around his belly in a shapeless continent; Jaeyun shivered in response. Wanted though the want wasn’t his.

It was from Jongseong.

“Come here,” Jaeyun whispered, leaning in, not quite kissing Jongseong but, instead, breathing him in and then himself back out. Jongseong just stared back, entranced. Never mind he knew his ritual boy could resist, maybe the circumstances were different now—the reason he looked so dazed as he stared at Jaeyun. “There you are.”

“It’s done?”

Jaeyun nodded, guiding them both down on their side, using the tub as a bed, until they were submerged. But whereas he was breathing freely, Jongseong wasn’t. He smiled and ran a palm from the side of his ritual boy’s neck to his chest and over his unmoving lungs. He said his words aloud but the sound was muted in the water.

“Breathe. You can.”

His ritual boy hesitated for a few seconds before he inhaled. The look of shock on his face was priceless because he could. He was breathing underwater. Jaeyun smiled and Jongseong grinned at him, exhaling in an exaggerated manner, sending bubbles up the surface.

“How?”

Jongseong leaned in, close to him, his eyes shining. His eyes were so bright but, at the same time, they could be so soft. Jaeyun liked the contrast, adored it.

Adored him.

“Breath of life,” Jaeyun answered simply, gravitating into the space between Jongseong’s arms. He couldn’t stop it—his ritual boy needed comfort and every part of his body refused not to give it. He felt guilty because all this, it was his doing. “Jongseong… I’m sorry.”

There was a sigh and more bubbles between them before Jongseong closed the distance that separated them all the way. One of his hands made its way to the back of Jaeyun’s head, cradling it, while the other wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer than ever, their legs tangling to make it possible.

“Stop apologizing,” his ritual boy murmured. “In a way, we still got what we wanted, didn’t we? Sunghoon said we’re more powerful than Heeseung-hyung and Jungwon. Did you know they’ve been unmatched for years? They’ve never been bested. We’ve been lent the power we were after.”

“Should we take over the core city and replace them then?”

Jaeyun couldn’t help but joke again, lightening the mood, because it was so heavy. Jongseong chuckled softly, pressing the side of his face against his temple, and for a moment all he did was nuzzle against him there, sweetly. His affection was so clear like something Jaeyun could touch if he closed his eyes and reached.

“Sure. If that’s what you want, we’ll do it.”

But of course that wasn’t what Jaeyun wanted. In fact, what he wanted was fairly simple, impacted by a ritual, and it was right here with him in the water: Jongseong. When he didn’t answer, his ritual boy pulled back so he could look at him. His gaze fluttered about, searching Jaeyun’s face and then slowly, he smiled.

It was bittersweet.

“You’re fighting it so hard,” he whispered but Jaeyun had never had any problems hearing in the water. The hand on the back of his head moved to cradle his face, his cheek. “I can feel it; even while you’re giving in, you’re also pushing me away. It really hurts.”

Those last three words felt like a stab to Jaeyun’s chest and, again, there was that need in him to give Jongseong comfort because this hurt that his ritual boy was talking about, he felt it too. It echoed between them, a smattering of recycled pain. He didn’t say anything but he didn’t have to: their bond took care of things to ensure comfort was had and, before long they were leaning forward at the same time, lips touching for a kiss.

It was slow but fervent, needy, but most of all, it was seeking—for something to grasp, hold onto, the bond still trying to settle.

“We need to get out of the water,” Jongseong told him eventually though he was still kissing Jaeyun, his tongue insistent against his sometimes, in between the words. Jaeyun tried to be careful, his siren teeth sharp, and he didn’t want to nick him by accident. “Or I’ll boil us alive. I feel really hot and I can’t control it.”

Nodding, they rose from the water at the same time, still kissing. They stumbled out of the tub and that was when Jaeyun felt it: Jongseong was turning hot literally, hot enough that when they pulled back from one another for a moment, he could see steam rising from the surface of their skin, the water evaporating.

“So you’re a dryer now?”

Jongseong laughed, his eyes turning into crescents, at his joke. The sight made Jaeyun feel a little pinch in his chest and, almost immediately, his ritual boy’s expression softened, faded, back to gentle.

“Stop thinking,” he whispered, pulling him close again, his eyes scanning downwards. “Oh. You’re changing back.”

Jaeyun didn’t even realize he was as he lost his scales, and in its place, his human skin, he and Jongseong almost completely dry now. There was a heated moment of pause, neither of them doing anything, until Jongseong looked back up to meet his gaze. His eyes were dark with desire, want, need.

“Bed? Please.”

As if Jaeyun was going to say no. Even if he wanted to, he had no capacity to refuse Jongseong anything because the bond wouldn’t allow it. So he nodded, moved back as Jongseong stepped forward until they were moving together, out the bathroom and into Jongseong’s room, completely naked.

They stopped just beside the foot of the bed to kiss and it was so hungry, so passionate. Eventually, Jaeyun sighed as Jongseong’s mouth traveled down his neck, his collarbones and his shoulders, his chest, his abdomen, lower. He then paused as soon as he was kneeling on the floor, nuzzling at Jaeyun’s pelvis, before slowly looking up at him.

“If you don’t want me,” Jongseong murmured against his skin, his breaths hot, his touches even more so. “It’s fine. But can you allow me to want you?”

Jaeyun swallowed, his vocal cords so tight they had to be twisting in his throat. Jongseong made quite a vision where he was, kneeling before him, making himself look so powerless. He was pleading even if his question lacked the tone, the word, that indicated he was. Lifting a hand, he touched his hair, carding his fingers through the silky strands, and couldn’t deny him anything.

“Yes.”

It was an all-encompassing permission and, even if neither of them expounded on it, the question and the answer that they’d just exchanged, both of them understood what it meant because they were bound now. Closing his eyes, Jaeyun’s exhale turned into a shudder, a moan, as Jongseong took his cock inside his mouth to pleasure him. All the while, for his part, he continued soothing Jongseong’s hair, caressing his scalp.

“Jongseong,” he said after a while, trying not to move, but his ritual boy encouraged the action, running his warm palms down from his waist to his hips and then his ass, pulling him closer and his cock deeper inside his mouth, all the way to the back of his throat. “That… that feels good.”

It did. The sensations felt so magnified for some reason, probably because of the bond, and everything Jongseong did, even the simple vibrations that resulted from his own appreciative groans as he bobbed his head forward and back, it felt good in excess, more than how it should.

“Don’t make me come yet,” Jaeyun begged after a while, this time tugging at Jongseong’s hair a little. “Don’t.”

Jongseong pulled back, panting slightly, his eyes watery with tears. He stood up then, nodded, as their mouths met, hungrier than ever, while they made their way to the bed. They were both very hard, ready; Jongseong made to lie back but Jaeyun shook his head.

“I want you on top of me, all over me, while you’re inside me.”

So they switched, Jaeyun laying back while Jongseong positioned himself in between his legs. They’d had so much sex there was little need for preparation, just oil, and soon his ritual boy was pushing his cock inside him, holding him by the hips, careful. Considerate. They didn’t look away from each other the entire time, gazes locked as they were joined, and it was so intimate.

“Jaeyun,” Jongseong whispered, the first one between them to close his eyes as he leaned forward, lowering himself against his body, as he bottomed out. Jaeyun opened his arms for his ritual boy, making space for him within it; Jongseong sank against him, their mouths meeting in a desperate kiss. “Jaeyun.”

He hiked his legs up a little higher around Jongseong’s waist as his ritual boy began to move, pulling out halfway and thrusting back in, slow. The pace was lulling, like waves, gentle rushing water licking at the shore during a calm day: just the right amount of sun, the air not scalding hot but pleasantly warm, sand between his toes, the ocean giving him life.

Jaeyun arched as Jongseong found the special spot inside him, gasping and moaning. He held onto him tightly, possessively; he was his. Jongseong was his, you’re mine you’re mine you’re mine—

“I am,” Jongseong said against the skin of his cheek, his breathing labored as he continued moving, keeping the same pace, heady and wonderful and addicting. “I’m yours.”

Because of a ritual—

“Thinking too loud,” Jongseong told him with a breathless chuckle as he turned his head a little, pulled back a fraction, to be able to stare at Jaeyun who moaned and mewled in delight, in pleasure. “Stop thinking, Jaeyun. Focus on me, on this.”

Closing his eyes, Jaeyun tried his best: to forget about everything else. To just feel Jongseong, inside him, around him and, in a way, deep within him, tied as they were, bound forever.

“That’s it,” Jongseong said after a bit and with a satisfied groan. Only then did Jaeyun realize how tense his body had been, how tight, but now he was relaxing and he could feel it through his ritual boy who was very pleased at the change and not just physically. “That’s it, let me want you. Let me tell you how much.”

There was something about Jongseong’s words just then, how he said them, that flayed Jaeyun, exposing more than just what was underneath his skin. The more he gave in, the more he felt absolutely bare, reduced to white-washed bone, an end.

“Jongseong,” he sobbed, arching his lower body, as Jaeyun received more. I want you, every part of his ritual boy told him, his very being abuzz with the phrase, and Jaeyun closed his eyes tightly and took. He took from Jongseong, grasping at his desire for him, cramming all of it into his chest, his to keep. “Please.”

Please, I can’t do this.

“Sssh,” Jongseong whispered against his mouth, their chests pressed tightly, close, most of his ritual boy’s weight on top of him. He knew, in a way, the lingering doubt that kept Jaeyun going back and forth, willing one moment, hesitant the next but he shushed it, patient and sweet. “Do it with me. For me. Jaeyun, please.”

It seemed like they were begging for two very different things but again, Jaeyun couldn’t deny Jongseong anything. Nodding his head, he held his ritual boy back more tenderly, moving with him. Giving in, giving back. Watched as Jongseong closed his eyes, face contorting in pleasure, his lungs trembling with breaths and groans and—

“Coming,” he breathed out, his voice strained. “Jaeyun, I’m coming.”

It was Jaeyun’s turn to nuzzle Jongseong’s cheek, one hand running through his hair, scratching at his scalp, to encourage him.

“Then come,” he murmured. “Do it for me, Jongseong.”

That was what his ritual boy needed to hear it seemed. With a heavy groan, Jongseong’s thrusts became just a little more pointed and hard, his body desperate for that snap and release of all the tension and pleasure he was feeling. Jaeyun watched his face closely, holding him.

Mine mine mine

Jaeyun came a little more quietly, almost at the same time as Jongseong, gasping against his cheek until it turned into his mouth, his ritual boy tilting his head a bit so their lips could meet. Barely breathing properly and they were already kissing again, stealing each other’s air for their own use, while their bodies calmed down. The bond glowed, joyful and impervious at this moment following what could only be described as their love making.

“Yours,” Jongseong murmured, one hand’s palm soothing Jaeyun’s hip, the outside of his thigh, with his legs still wrapped around his ritual boy’s waist. “You can’t get rid of me while we’re bound, Jaeyun. I’m sorry but I’m not going away. I can’t.”

As he said the last two words, Jongseong hid his face against Jaeyun’s throat even as he rolled to the side to lie down beside him instead, the two of them repositioning until they were snuggled together, uncaring that they were a mess of come and sweat. And then, where at the heat of the moment Jaeyun claimed Jongseong as his, as the fire between them eased to turn back into warmth, it was his ritual boy’s turn to do the claiming.

The words reverberated between them, forming many strings that wrapped around them and pushed them tighter together more than ever, we become not two but one.

Yours yours yours

Jaeyun pressed a kiss on Jongseong’s forehead, his temple, his cheek, one hand soothing him, his arm, his waist. His eyes were still closed but he didn’t say anything; he had no idea what to say, wasn’t sure any of the words he knew were enough, and so he just held his ritual boy. And then he kept him close while he still could—because even if Jongseong was saying these things, it didn’t change anything. Neither of them told each other, we shouldn’t go back to Sunghoon’s mansion.

None of them said aloud, let’s stay bound.

Which meant later today, when they woke up again, they were going to go back to the vampire’s home as agreed, look around in the library with Heeseung and Jungwon, to find out how they could rip their souls apart.

Nothing but a ritual.

As soon as they had access to Sunghoon’s library, the first thing they noticed was how unreasonably he’d arranged all of his books. It wasn’t by year or date, not even alphabetically whether by title or author, nor was it by topic. 

Instead, everything was sorted by color. 

“What kind of system is this?” 

Jongseong looked both amused and irritated as they stood in the middle of the vast room, the shelves going so high up that each one had movable ladders installed on them. Beside him, Jungwon was shaking his head while Heeseung simply smiled. 

“We already fixed this the last time we were here,” Heeseung told them, glancing at Jaeyun for a moment before turning to Jungwon and speaking with him directly, with much affection. “Together, meum corculum?” 

Jaeyun stepped closer to Jongseong to whisper, watching as Jungwon reached out to take Heeseung’s hand. Together, they walked forward, to the nearest shelf.

“What does meum corculum mean? And what are they doing?”

Jongseong smiled, whispering back. 

“It means my little heart—”

But before he could speak further…  

“Do you believe that, sometimes, books keep parts of the people who wrote them?”

Jungwon seemed to be addressing them both with his question, all without expecting an answer, as he touched the first shelf within reach. He closed his eyes, as did Heeseung, and for a moment, there was nothing. And then… 

The first lick of magick. 

Jaeyun felt the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stand up in reaction to the combined power of Jongseong’s friends. He was right—Heeseung and Jungwon were very powerful but, where the way it felt back in the club was tamed and hushed, a subdued warning, this one felt invasive, all-encompassing with the purpose of seeking something out. 

“We can determine the books by age based on the remnants of its writers instilled in the pages. Arrange it then by year based on this,” Heeseung explained in a soft voice. “Since you’re in the room, we won’t be able to help it: we’ll be able to get a feel of you. Put up a ward if you’re uncomfortable, Jaeyun. You too, Jongseong.” 

Jaeyun glanced at Jongseong in question. 

“They know me and I’m fine with it,” his ritual boy told him. “But since we’re bound… they can get access to you through me.” 

Right. Nodding his head, Jaeyun offered his hand to Jongseong, too. The air shimmered around them as they put up a ward together to keep the onslaught of Heeseung and Jungwon’s encroaching magick away. In fascination, they watched as the books started getting out of the shelves, moving about the room, sorting themselves out, the unsorted books giving way to the ones that were already finding their place.

Jaeyun couldn’t help but watch his ritual boy’s friends as much as the magick they were doing though and that was because, it didn’t seem like they were exerting much effort at all. They were walking around the room, Jungwon touching each shelf—they still had their eyes closed, feeling their way about not with their sense of sight but something else. 

It was pretty impressive, he wasn’t going to lie; they were doing multiple things at the same time, working with each other’s magick, and on top of that, Sunghoon’s mansion was already laced with its own ancient magick, too. 

At the same time though, he couldn’t help but think back on what Sunghoon had told them and the fact that with Jaeyun and Jongseong newly bound, they were more powerful than Heeseung and Jungwon at the moment. He wondered then… in what manner? Was there a way to test it? He was very curious, never mind that he disliked that vampire and what he’d done. Jaeyun had always been the type to learn new things, thriving on experimentation, trial and error, to be able to further his own abilities in turn. His mind was already racing—

“Jaeyun… what are you doing?”

Blinking, it was only after a few seconds that Jaeyun realized Jongseong was talking to him and that his friends had paused far off, across the room, looking over at him.

“What do you mean?”

His ritual boy looked very amused as he nodded at the shelf closest to them, to him in particular, one that Jungwon hadn’t touched. It took Jaeyun another few seconds to realize that none of the books seemed to have been rearranged and—

“Oh,” he exhaled sharply, realizing part of the ward had extended to the book shelf. As a result, it was “protected” from the sorting Heeseung and Jungwon were doing. “I’m sorry. I don’t… here.”

He withdrew the ward and, instantly, books flew from the previously magickally barricaded shelf to hover in the air, making space for the other books that needed to be in that one. Smiling sheepishly as he turned to Jongseong, he leaned in to murmur, making sure to soundproof their ward temporarily.

“I was thinking about how powerful we are compared to your friends and if there was a way to test by how much.”

His words made Jongseong laugh as he leaned in and pressed a kiss on his cheek, and where his mouth touched, a pleasant warmth encompassed Jaeyun. It made his soul sing but there were still remnants from last night—something bittersweet and painful because here they were just as he’d expected, in this mansion and library, to look for ways to become unbound.

“Jaeyun…”

Of course his ritual boy felt the mood switch, subtle as it was, but he just shook his head and turned away to not stare at the dying amusement in those eyes. And then he spoke quietly; as soon as Jongseong had fallen asleep last night, he’d had so much time to think and Jaeyun thought he knew what needed to be done here. 

However, to avoid misunderstandings, he needed to speak up and let Jongseong know what was on his mind. 

“Let me feel what I feel and I’ll let you feel what you feel,” he told him, squeezing their joined hands. Glancing over, he offered a smile. “Is that fair? It is, isn’t it, Jongseong? Let’s bear with each other until the end.”

This was what he’d thought about: Jaeyun realized there was no use fighting something that was going to come to a close soon enough once they found a way to break the bond. So he’d made the decision to go with the flow. It was the exact same with water—sometimes it was just better and he should’ve known not to fight the push and pull of a too strong current. The bond he had with Jongseong was the strongest current he’d ever experienced and he was giving in. 

He was Jongseong’s in the same way his ritual boy was his for as long as their bond lasted which, if they found what they were looking for here, would be quite short lived. 

“You’re sad,” his ritual boy muttered, turning now to face him fully and taking each of his hands. “You’re sad about it. We don’t have to—”

Jaeyun pulled one hand back to place his fingers over Jongseong’s lips, shushing him, because it would only hurt more. 

“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head and gazing back into such agonized eyes. Just a ritual, Jaeyun. “Don’t say it.” 

But it looked like Jongseong would. He was already opening his mouth. He—

“We’re done. These are all the books we need.”

Jungwon spoke then, shattering the moment. Jaeyun took his hands back and turned away, back to Jongseong’s friends who had about fifty stacks of books, ten apiece, in front of them on several tables scattered across the room. Heeseung pulled away from Jungwon, from his meum corculum, choosing a random table as he spoke to them all. 

“This is a lot of books. If we want to finish within this lifetime, I suggest we start going through them now.”

He heard Jongseong sigh but Jaeyun didn’t look at him, pulled completely away, going to another table to begin. He could feel him though, feel his ritual boy’s pain and pining, but no. They were here, weren’t they? If he really wanted to—

“Jaeyun.” 

But he simply busied himself with the first of the books, laying it on the table, palm hovering over it, the fastest way he knew how to read. It flicked open, pages turning; no information here. He sighed and glanced quickly at his ritual boy and his morose eyes, his pleading expression. 

“It’s ok, Jongseong. It’s going to be over soon.”

It really was because, if Sunghoon was to be believed, then this room had in it the most powerful witches in the core city at the moment. 

Surely, there was nothing the four of them couldn’t do together.