"What-" He spun around to see Jooheon watching him. "Take me back!"

"No," Jooheon said, crossing his arms. "You'll just get in the way. They can handle this. Hoseok just needs to heal Hyungwon enough to the point where they can teleport him."

"But what if-"

"Trust them," Jooheon said, putting a hand on Taehyung's shoulder. "There's nobody in this world who cares more for Hyungwon than Changkyun, and as for Hoseok, Hyuwoo, Minhyuk, and Kihyun - they aren't bad guys. I know it's hard, but there's nothing you can do, Taehyung."

Taehyung looked down, unable to find fault with Jooheon's words.

"But-"

"Wait. Just wait."

***

The others appeared in the middle of the living room five minutes later.

Taehyung jumped up, both trying to get a read on the situation and having been startled by their sudden appearance. "How is he?" Taehyung asked, getting closer to where the five witches were clustered around a body.

Taehyung pushed himself between Hoseok and Minhyuk and opened his mouth to speak but found the words ripped away as he stared down at a very still Hyungwon who was still very much so covered in blood. His eyes were closed, and Taehyung couldn't tell if his chest was rising or not. "Is he..."

"He's alive," Hoseok said, and it was only as Taehyung looked over that he saw how pale and shaky Hoseok was as he stumbled back towards the couch, collapsing onto it once the backs of his legs hit the edge. "Barely."

"Did you use your own magic?" Jooheon asked with a slight frown. "Hoseok, that must have taken a lot. You could have-"

"I didn't want to tap into Hyungwon because I was afraid that Seungcheol might already have," Hoseok explained, his breaths coming out labored. "I thought he might have drained Hyungwon's magic to near empty so if any of us attempted to borrow from him, we'd accidentally cause his burnout."

Jooheon nodded, his expression dark but his eyes clear. "That was very smart of you. Thank you."

Hoseok nodded, his eyelids fluttered as he struggled to keep them open. "It's no problem. The stab wound is healed - lightly, though, so he can't be moving too much or he'll reopen it. I wasn't able to fix his finger yet and his ear is something I need to look at more closely, but I can try again after I rest up a bit -"

"Please, get some rest," Jooheon interrupted, gesturing for Hoseok to lay down on the couch. "We're very grateful for your sacrifice. You have no idea."

"There's nothing to thank me for," Hoseok denied weakly, but his eyes were already closing as he fell into a restorative sleep.

"Can you move Hyungwon into his bedroom?" Changkyun asked Jooheon, looking over with an unreadable expression, and Jooheon stared at him for a long moment before nodding. He approached Hyungwon's still body, bending down and sliding one arm beneath Hyungwon's upper back, the other beneath his knees, before standing up with Hyungwon dangling limply from his arms. He carried Hyungwon into the other bedroom before returning, shutting the door behind him with the gentlest of touches.

"Is he all right?" Jooheon asked softly, looking directly at Changkyun for honest answers.

"I don't know what answer you want," Changkyun said, ripping at his hair with one hand. "Hoseok was trying to heal him but Hyungwon was...I don't know how to describe it. He's usually so calm, quiet...but he was having some sort of attack. He was screaming. He looked scared of me. I don't..." Changkyun's voice grew softer as his eyes fell to the floor. "I don't know what to do with that. He's never been afraid of me before. Maybe at the very beginning, but it was because I was a witch. It had nothing to do with me personally. But this...it had everything to do with me."

"You think it's a result of Seungcheol's work?" Jooheon asked, and Changkyun flinched, his eyes growing darker in despair.

"What else can it be?" he questioned, his voice thin, his words futile. "I couldn't break his original curse, even after trying for hundreds of years. If this is the result of a curse as well, then..."

"We'll figure something out," Jooheon promised, but the worry in Changkyun's eyes didn't dissipate.

"Hoseok was only able to heal him after Jeonghan stepped in and put Hyungwon to sleep," Hyunwoo offered up calmly.

Jooheon's eyes widened. "Jeonghan did that?"

Taehyung looked over at Jooheon, hating feeling left out of the discussion. "Jeonghan was the one next to Seungcheol, right?"

Jooheon nodded, a troubled glint in his eyes. "He's one of the head coven. His magic is one of somnolence; he can influence drowsiness in a person, or basically render them unconscious, as long as he's in physical contact with them."

"He's sympathetic," Hyunwoo said. "To us, to humans. Not enough to betray his own coven, but enough to lend a hand. It's good for us that he did, or we wouldn't have been able to restrain Hyungwon and allow Hoseok to perform his magic."

Jooheon just kept quiet, a small frown on his face, but he'd seemed to grow more relaxed now that Hyungwon was back in their care. "So Jeonghan stepped in, and Seungcheol just watched as Hoseok healed Hyungwon? And then he let you all leave? I'm not the only one who thinks that was too easy, right?"

"This is what he wanted," Changkyun said with a sigh. "Which can only mean that he thinks that recovering Hyungwon will only hurt me more. That's his grand objective with all of this."

Jooheon's frown shifted into one of worry for his friend. "Changkyun-"

"It's fine," Changkyun interrupted. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out, like you said. What's important is that Hyungwon is safe again." He cast a sorrowful glance towards the closed bedroom door, and Jooheon followed his gaze.

"If you're that worried, go in and check on him," Jooheon suggested softly, and Changkyun hesitated before shaking his head.

"I don't want to scare him," Changkyun mumbled. "He needs to heal. Having me there won't help that."

"Chang-"

"It's fine," Changkyun repeated, turning in the direction of his own bedroom. "I'd appreciate if someone else would stay with him. Please let me know when either he or Hoseok awake." He gave a nod to everyone before going into his bedroom and closing the door.

Taehyung exhaled slowly. "We got Hyungwon back though, right? That's good, isn't it?"

The uneasy silence in the room was his only answer.