"I'LL BRING YOU TO where he is," Jihoon revealed, leaving Taeil speechless.

     "I can show you your precious hyung, only if you promise me that you will never see him after that," Jihoon demanded, shocking Taeil on the deal they're about to make.

     "Why not? Did Jackson put you up to this? Did Jackson tell you that we shouldn't meet each other anymore?" Taeil quickly asked.

     "No Lee Taeil, I didn't talk to anyone about this. I just felt like this was the right and the best thing I could do and offer you. So please just bear with me on this," Jihoon pleaded, wanting Taeil to understand him completely.

     "But what if I want to see him again? What if I want to know more about him and the reasons why I'm-" Jihoon's eye suddenly widened, making Taeil stop talking. Then he pulled Taeil and dragged him inside the men's restroom.

     "What are you-"

     "Shh!" Jihoon covered Taeil's mouth as he slowly peaked out of the door. While Taeil was confused about what was happening, a sword suddenly appeared on Jihoon's hand, shocking Taeil even more.

     "What's happening?!" Taeil thought to himself as he prepared himself too. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that it was something so serious that Jihoon had to summon his angelic weapon.

     After a few minutes, Jihoon summoned his weapon back and sighed. Then he removed his hand from Taeil mouth and looked back at Taeil who had a lot of questions ready.

     "What just happened?" he finally asked.

     "I have the power to stop time, so I know if it's happening. And just a few seconds ago, everything stopped. And the only ones who can move were the Arcs, the Demons, and the pack of ghouls who were running around the campus...searching for you, Lee Taeil," Jihoon explained, shocking Taeil.

     "M-me? Why are they-"

     "Listen to me carefully Lee Taeil. I believe that the "accident" that occurred to you was not just an accident that erased some of your memories. I believe that the demons erased it for you. The reason why you can't meet your hyung is that he's a third party, and according to your scriptures, a third party must be killed. Since your king thinks that your hyung is dead, you're up next. That answers your first question. This was the reason why Wang did not want you to get near him anymore," Jihoon explained further. 

     Taeil suddenly felt bad about not believing Jackson in the first place, when all the guy did was protect him.

     "B-but he isn't, right? He's not...d-dead," Taeil asked, starting to feel a lot more scared. He was now thinking that Jihoon might bring him to a graveyard.

     Jihoon tried to calm Taeil down, "Don't worry. When a ghoul attacked him while he was searching for you, we saw him and helped him out. That answers your second question about his guitar pick. That's the reason why I have it in the first place. And for the third question, the reason why I want you to see him first is because as an angel...that's the right thing to do."

     "But, I don't think I can hide from those ghouls forever," Taeil honestly stated.

     "That's right. That's why when my brothers found out something wasn't right about you guys, they wanted to help. We realized that you're stronger than all of us combined. And defeating you was very impossible. But there are things that we could do that you don't. We wanted you to offer your brothers to stay at the Holy House while you were still being chased because our house can be invisible to demons, so the ghouls won't find you there," Jihoon explained further.

     "I think I'm starting to understand things now," Taeil stated as he leaned on the wall, "I feel so stupid now," he continued.

     "Don't be. We make mistakes and misunderstandings but that can make us stronger," Jihoon suddenly told him.

     Taeil looked at Jihoon weirdly and said, "Man, you angels are so weird. But in a serious note...I don't think you guys are that bad like what our Fathers said."

     Jihoon smiled and replied, "You guys aren't that bad like what our Father's said either." Then the two started laughing. 

     Taeil looked at Jihoon and said, "Hey, that's the first time I saw you laugh like that. It's not bad."

     Jihoon quickly stopped laughing when he heard Taeil tell him that. He looked like he was embarrassed because of what the demon just said.

     "Well, you're always grumpy and serious so I didn't expect you to look like that. You should laugh more often Pyo Jihoon," said Taeil, but Jihoon didn't know what to reply. After a few seconds of silence, Taeil finally asked, "Well, how are we going to get to hyung without me being attacked?"

     "That's simple-" Jihoon took Taeil's hand and intertwined it with his, shocking Taeil on his sudden action.

     "Hey, are you fucking hitting on me Mr. Pyo Jihoon?" Taeil asked with a serious face, making Jihoon laugh his pants off.

     "Are demons always like that?" Jihoon teased, making Taeil glare at him.

     "What do you mean by that asshole?"

     "I mean, do you guys always conclude things?" Jihoon asked further. Taeil got annoyed by the questions that he made the temperature of his hand hotter so Jihoon could let go of him.

     "Aw! Why the hell did you do that?!" Jihoon asked as he ran to the sink to wash his burning hands.

     "I wanted to set my hand on fire but I didn't want to burn you. You were the only one who knew where hyung was so I had no choice," Taeil answered like it wasn't a big deal.

     "You really are a demon."

     Jihoon wiped his wet hand on his clean white shirt. Then he went to Taeil and said, "I held your hand because I'm an angel. I have the ability to lessen your scent. Ghouls can smell you so you need to hold onto me so we wouldn't be both in grave danger. Got it?"

     Taeil suddenly felt embarrassed, but he pushed the thought away and acted strong so he wouldn't look stupid in front of Jihoon anymore.

     "Fine, I get it. Here..." Taeil stated as he offered his hands to Jihoon this time. Without having any second thought, Jihoon took Taeil's hand and pulled Taeil out of the restroom. While they were walking, everyone was staring at them, making Jihoon feel uncomfortable.

     "I bet Trey is going to make an article about this," Jihoon stated as they kept on walking.

     "Yeah, no doubt about it. But I'm used to being in the school's newspaper so I have no problem with it," Taeil said proudly, but it looked like Jihoon pretty much didn't care about it. The Demon and the Arc walked their way at the street while holding hands. People were still staring at them but they didn't bother reacting because they knew that they had reasons for doing this.

     "So Pyo Jihoon, how was your-" Jihoon cuts Taeil off and said, "Call me Jihoon. It bothers me that you call me by my full name."

     "Well, is it okay for a demon like me to casually call you by your first name?" Taeil seriously asked.

     "I already told you didn't I?" Jihoon asked back.

     "Alright, change topic. What are the things that your fathers told you about us? You know, about the Seven Deadly Demon-Children," Taeil asked out of curiosity.

     Jihoon didn't answer like he was thinking of what to say. When he constructed the right words, he said, "Nothing serious really. They just told us that we need to destroy you because you will cause destruction and sin. But now, I doubt everything. How about you guys? What do your fathers tell about us?"

     "Well, they didn't really instruct us to cause destruction and sin like what your fathers said. The only thing they told us was that we have to kill you because you were planning to kill us. And that's pretty much it," Taeil innocently answered.

     Jihoon laughed once more, "Why does that sound like we're the bad guys now?"

     "Dunno," Taeil simply answered him with a shrug. While they were walking, Jihoon's phone suddenly rang. He took his phone using his free hand, and then he answered it, "Hello, who is this?"

     "Mr. Pyo Jihoon?" A female voice asked as soon as he answered the unknown number.

     "Yes, this is Pyo Jihoon, who is this?"

     "This is from xxx hospital. This is Mr. Kim Jiho's nurse," the nurse answered, surprising Jihoon, "Oh, hello. How may I help you?"

     There was a short pause before the nurse could answer him,"Uhm, it's about Jiho..."

     "What about him? Is he awake now?" Jihoon asked, making him and Taeil stop walking.

     "He's not just awake. He...escaped."

A FEW MINUTES AGO

AT XXX HOSPITAL

     It was a cold afternoon at the hospital.  Jiho's nurse just finished examining him. She took her chart and left Jiho inside his room. When the nurse closed the door shut, something glowed inside Jiho's chest, and only Jiho heard the low and loud voice.

     "Awake my child. Awake Woo Jiho," said the unknown voice.

     Jiho's hand twitched. Lay's power was done circulating inside his body. The ghoul's blood was finally out of him. He was now awake, and his mind was remembering everything that happened to him before he could fully open his eyes.

     "The King believes that you will be a threat to the Prince of Sloth. A great threat that will make him unsuccessful on the task that was given to him by his Fathers and King. And as instructed by the King...YOU MUST DIE!"

     "What is your name?"

     "J-Jiho..."

     "Good, he's still conscious...Why were you attacked by a-"

     "P-Please find him for me...p-please f-find...T-Ta..."

     "Jiho, you can't look for him anymore. I'll tell Taeil that you were the hyung he was looking for, but that's it. The consequences are crucial. If you make contact with him again you'd be attacked once more, and we won't be there to help you."

     "If I could just erase your memory of him inside your head then I would, but it's against the rules to erase a memory of a person, especially when they treasure that memory. Demons do it all the time, but that's the problem, they're demons...And I can't ask a demon to erase it instead, it would still be against the rules! Ah! Fuck, I don't know what to do with you! Why did I have to save you, why did you give me the guitar pick instead of Lay? Why am I the only one carrying this burden?"

     "Once you wake up, I will look for your relatives. Don't worry, everything that happened to you will be forgotten, I promise. May God be with you and your spirit."

     After that moment, Jiho's eyes finally opened. His body automatically went into a sitting position. He was panting, tired from all the sleeping. 

     He heard everything that Jihoon had told him while he was in a coma. Everything was confusing at first, but the longer that he was in his sleep, the more he understood everything that was happening. 

     He knew about the Demons and the Arcs. He knew that when he wakes up, he'd be attacked again. But everything didn't matter to Jiho anymore. He had enough of being a coward.

     "I need to find Taeil."

     Jiho took the oxygen mask off his face, removed the dextrose that was attached to his hand and so was the rest of the medical equipment that was supporting him while he was still in a coma. 

     When he stood up from the bed, he quickly fell on the floor. He's been in a coma for a long time so his strength hasn't been back to normal. But Jiho forced himself to stand up. He held on the hospital bed for support. Every step he took was painful, but he fought it all until he found clothes on top of a chair beside the bed. 

     He slowly went to the chair and carefully changed his clothes. When he was now dressed, he went to the door and left his room. Good thing his clothes are different because he went out of the hospital with no problem.

     "Taeil, I need to find you before those "things" find me first."

- END -