Changbin couldn't wake up early the next day. He slept until the afternoon, and when his mother entered his room to ask if he was feeling well, he made up some lie that he was just tired, even if he knew it was another case entirely.

His room became suffocating after a while though, due to him not hearing anything other then his very slow heartbeat. That wouldn't have worried him before, but after hearing what Seungmin and Woojin said, he became highly cautious.

"Changbin, do you wanna head out? Felix is outside," Changbin's mother asked when she entered Changbin's room again.

"...Really?" Changbin asked, his voice slurred. That never happened before. Luckily, his mother didn't take any notice of it.

"Yeah. You can go out with him instead of staying cooped up in your room all day."

Changbin didn't feel like going anywhere, but he listened to his mother. He figured staying in his room all day would do him no good, and it would just make him feel more hopeless about the situation he was in.

Plus, he wanted to spend time with Felix, especially because of what happened between them early that morning.

After they'd kissed, Changbin had gotten too nervous and told Felix that he had to head back inside because he was freezing. That was kind of true, but the main reason was that Changbin had gotten nervous. He'd never kissed anyone before, and he didn't even know what to do with himself due to the fact that someone as attractive as Felix had taken his first kiss. He'd wanted some space from Felix, since he still couldn't believe what had happened.

Changbin reluctantly dragged himself off his bed, and made his way to the bathroom making sure that he was hidden from view. Even though he'd basically revealed himself to Felix earlier today, he still didn't feel comfortable showing his bare face to the Australian. And he didn't look good when he just woke up.

He quickly showered, still unable to shake off that feeling of tiredness, and put on a black long sleeved shirt and a random pair of jeans, hoping that he looked presentable enough.

Just like Changbin's mother had said, Felix was in the living room, chatting with her about something the half demon couldn't make out, to his frustration.

"Hey, Felix. Mom." Changbin greeted once he made himself known. Felix turned to watch him, and Changbin quickly looked away. He felt so freaking exposed without his mask on, like he was almost naked. That was obviously an exaggeration, but Changbin couldn't help it.

Changbin's mother smiled at his appearance, her eyes shining with blatant happiness in them. It wasn't often that Changbin was out and about without his mask and beanie on, especially not when other people were around.

"Uh...do you want us to go now?" Changbin quietly asked Felix.

"Wait, what about lunch? I can quickly whip something up before I head to that parent teacher meeting I have to go to," Changbin's mother suggested, already on her feet.

Changbin shook his head. "It's okay, mom. I don't want you to be late. Felix and I can just get something on our way."

"...Okay," she nodded. "Okay you guys, have fun. I'll lock the door for you so you won't have to."

Changbin and Felix obeyed her, and soon enough, they were outside the house. Changbin took out his mask from his pocket and was about to put it on his face when Felix stopped him.

Changbin stared at Felix with wide eyes. "What?"

"I want to stare at you a little longer."

Badum. Changbin's heart skipped a beat. "Aish, you're really corny."

Felix smiled, staring directly at Changbin. The shorter promptly looked away again.

"I'm sorry. We can take some time to walk to the bus stop, you know? So you won't be in a hurry to put on that mask," Felix muttered. His arm found its way around Changbin's shoulder, and he gave it a delicate squeeze. "And it doesn't matter if people are around, people in this neighbourhood mind their own business anyway."

"What about you, Mr. I don't want to show my freckles?" Changbin questioned, raising an eyebrow at Felix.

Felix's cheeks glowed a soft pink, before he placed his fingers on them and rubbed them until his freckles showed. "Okay, I'm not hiding them anymore. What about you?"

"I'm not ready," Changbin mumbled, "Maybe one day."

Felix nodded, and didn't say anything when Changbin put on his mask as they neared the bus stop. He, however, interlocked his hand with Changbin's own when they entered a bus and sat so close to Changbin that the half demon felt like he was suffocating.

"You're too close to me," Changbin said, staring out of the window to avoid staring any passengers in the eye. His eyes were still a very noticeable red, even though their brightness had dimmed considerably.

"Oh, sorry." Felix gave the shorter some space, but now his hand was on Changbin's thigh instead. "Let's go to that pizza place I had been talking about earlier. We can get some pizza and find somewhere else private to eat if you don't want to show your face."

Changbin nodded, despite feeling a bit wary about going to that pizza place. Jisung was the one who introduced Felix to that place, afterall. Felix had made sure not to tell Changbin what had taken place inside the school after his disappearance, and the half demon had been grateful for that. He didn't want to meet Jisung or Jaeha or any of their friends anytime soon. "Okay."

As soon as they got off the bus, Felix proceeded to hold Changbin's hand again. "I'm doing this because you look like you're getting cold, and because I want to."

"...Okay," Changbin nodded, feeling both nervous and excited. He was still tired, yes, but he was finding it hard to refrain from smiling now.

"It's nearing October. Would we have more creatures about from humans around here?"

"Because of Halloween?" Changbin asked. Felix nodded. "I guess? It's the Vampires that show themselves more than anything, and most of them are evil, so."

Felix looked at Changbin with curiosity. "Evil?"

"Yeah. Lots of them are bad, so it's a good thing that a lot of them don't live around here," Changbin replied. People often confused Vampires and Demons because of how similar they looked, but the fact was that Vampires were more eager to get revenge whenever someone wronged them, so they hated humans a lot.

Felix outwardly shuddered, which made Changbin laugh. "God, I hope I never run into any of them."

Both males exchanged no more words for the rest of their walk, and that was okay, because they got to hold hands the majority of the journey.

"We're here!" Felix grinned when they came across a rather wide fast food place with a giant, realistic looking picture of a slice of pizza was plastered on the top of the building.

Changbin immediately felt nervous, because not only was the interior of the place as big as it looked on the outside, but it had air conditioning and many people were inside. He almost wanted to run away when Felix gently tugged on his hand, and the Australian quickly noticed this.

"Hey, you okay?"

Changbin nodded. "Let's just...get our food and leave."

Felix nodded immediately. "Okay. Uhm," his eyes scanned the area, "you can take a seat at that corner near the window. The AC tends to hit here a lot, and I can tell you're starting to feel cold."

"Okay," Changbin smiled. He quickly sat down where Felix had recommended, and pulled on his long sleeved shirt, trying to generate some warmth. He even tried to try temperature warping, but the end result was too weak to work. The fact was that he wasn't as strong in it as he had been before.

He stared at his hands, and took notice of how rigid they were becoming. He prayed Felix would hurry up and they'd leave, before his hands started turning red.

His phone distracted him from his hands.

Chan and friends!

Minho: guys, i found something

Seungmin: what is it?
Seungmin: something that has to do with helping Changbin?

Minho: uh...no
Minho: i found another spell book to add to my collection!
Minho: it was in the library, but the librarian didn't want it anymore :)

Woojin: are you serious?

Chan: have you and Seungmin found anything yet?

Woojin: we live in the same house you could've just come to us

Seungmin: i know right

Chan: i want changbin to see this
Chan: changbin, are you there?

Changbin: yeah

Seungmin: woojin and i are still looking for a cure, changbin Seungmin: along with minho

Minho: yeah, but i havent came across a spell that can reverse the kind of disease you have
Minho: what you have needs something more powerful than that, and the witches that wield that kind of power are dark magic users, so its better we don't get involved with them.

Woojin: and the fact with power and magic is that for you to get something, you have to give something away, to restore balance and all that
Woojin: and that's the hard part
Woojin: because the people that want something usually don't want to give something important to them away

Chan: we'll ask other people we know, and maybe they'll have the answer

Changbin: thank you guys

Chan: you're welcome changbin :)
Chan: we don't want anything bad to happen to you

Jeongin: guys what did i miss?

"Changbin?"

Changbin's eyes moved away from his phone and landed on Felix, who was in front of him. He was carrying bags that held their food, and he handed Changbin some coffee.

"Figured you wouldn't like cold drinks, so I got you coffee instead," Felix explained.

"Thank you," Changbin smiled, placing his phone back inside his pocket. "Let's go?"

Felix nodded, before they started to walk outside. "We can head to the park to eat. There aren't a lot of people are there anyway."

Changbin slowly nodded, internally going over the conversation he'd just had with Chan and his roommates.

The fact with power and magic is that for you to get something, you have to give something away.

Changbin's eyes fell on Felix, who was busy sipping on his soft drink.

And that's the hard part, because the people that want something, usually don't want to give something important to them away.

"Is anything on your mind?" Felix asked, staring at Changbin with his pretty eyes.

Changbin bit his lip, before shaking his head. "It's nothing."

"I'm pretty sure it isn't 'nothing'," Felix chuckled, "but I won't force you to tell me if you aren't ready to."

Changbin nodded, unable to look Felix directly in the eye. "Okay."

I don't want to lose you.

_______

Changbin shouldn't have done this.

He stood in front of his school with Felix, fighting the tempting urge to turn around and go back home. But, he already missed too many days of school, and he had to face everyone sooner or later.

"Fuck," Changbin mumbled.

Felix stared at Changbin with worried eyes. "Do you want to go back home?"

The half demon quickly shook his head. He started to walk inside the compound, trying to ignore everyone and everything. People were definitely staring at him now, but he didn't look their way.

Classes were going to begin soon, and it made Changbin relieved. At least he'd be able to distract himself with school related work, and possibly Felix too.

When he and Felix entered their first class, he spotted Jisung and Jaeha with their followers huddled at a corner. Jisung immediately looked his way, but Changbin ignored him and took his usual seat at the back, Felix following after him.

"Felix!" Jaeha called out, "You don't want to hang out with us?"

"No thanks, I'd rather hang out with Changbin instead," Felix simply replied, and Changbin became alarmed.

"Why'd you say that?" Changbin whispered, and Felix frowned.

"Because I want to. I'm fine just being friends with you, but they, especially Jaeha, don't seem to get that."

Changbin could feel their stares burning holes into his head, and he hoped Felix wouldn't get badly affected because of this.

The class began and ended without any incidents happening, apart from the frequent glares Jaeha sent his way.

However, Changbin's next class was Physics, which meant that he was going to face Jisung and Hyunjin once again. He really didn't want to enter that class, considering what happened the last time he was there.

Ignoring all his feelings of anxiety, Changbin entered the class and quickly sat in the back, happy that everyone else seemed to be ignoring him.

He became alert as soon as Jisung entered, with Hyunjin trailing closely behind him, and he made sure he wasn't looking their way when they sat a few seats away from him, wicked smirks gracing their faces.

"Welcome back, Changbin," Jisung smiled, glancing at the half demon. Changbin didn't answer. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Ignore him. He can't speak anyway," Hyunjin replied, raising his hands in defense when Jisung glared at him.

Changbin couldn't wait for Physics to be over.

Surprisingly, Hyunjin and Jisung didn't bother him for the rest of the class and the other ones they shared. Hyunjin was too busy talking to his girlfriend and Jisung just looked impatient.

As soon as lunch came, Jisung lept on his feet and grabbed his bag, leaving the classroom before the teacher dismissed everyone.

After Changbin left the class, Felix met up with him and they started walking together.

"Back of the school?" Felix asked.

Changbin nodded, before handing Felix his bag. "I have to head to the bathroom first. I'll see you later."

Felix gave him a thumbs up, before going on his way.

Changbin quickly headed in the direction of the boy's bathroom. He just wanted to wash his face to try and get rid of the tiredness he was experiencing, and he hoped no one would be around.

Nearing the area, which was located at a corner, he walked up to the door and was about to open it when he realized that it was already opened halfway.

Changbin heard a sound within the bathroom, one that sounded like sniffing and shuffling of feet. He was about to walk away when his eyes caught sight of someone drinking something that looked suspiciously like...blood.

Changbin's eyes widened when he realized that the person was Jisung seated inside one of the stalls. Jisung ran a hand through his messy black hair as he wiped his lips with his arm, looking done with life.

Changbin stood still with shock. As far as he had known, Jisung was human, and he looked human too. Everyone in school thought he was human, because that was what Jisung always said, but here he was, drinking from what appeared to be a blood bag.

Jisung suddenly stopped, his eyes briefly glowing red. He quickly looked in Changbin's direction, but the half demon's reflexes allowed him to quickly hide away from view.

Jisung abruptly stood up, his footsteps gliding over the shiny floor. "Who's there? Show yourself."

Changbin started running down the corner until he was at the main school area, and he hoped that Jisung hadn't seen him.