"OKAY, THE GOOD NEWS, if this is even good news, is that we found out that Kwon Jiyong has Empathy. The bad news is...well, I think Mark left us with his own accord. Last week the Demons announced that Mark and Jackson were together even before the incident when Mark went missing," Lay shared with the guy who was standing beside him.

     "That's bullshit."

     Lay turned his head to the right, revealing a human figure, Yong Junhyung. He shrugged his shoulder from Junhyung's reaction, and Junhyung just sighed and massaged his temple.

     "Anyway, thank you for reporting to me Lay. And I'm sorry that you have to put up with this," Junhyung stated.

     Lay just chuckled and answered him, "Don't be too thankful. If the Fathers find out about the truth then I'm going to rat you out without any hesitation, you got that?"

     Junhyung narrowed his eyes and looked at Lay with a serious expression, "The truth? That we're together?"

     Lay blushed from the obvious lie. When Junhyung smiled from his reaction, he awkwardly laughed it off and smacked the back of Junhyung's head instead.

     "Stop with the jokes Junhyung. When I say the truth, I mean you forcing me to visit you in this convent every week just so I could report what the Arcs are doing. And we all know that it's against our Fathers' holy order to talk to you. You should be happy you're my brother," Lay explained.

     Junhyung doesn't say anything but nodded his head in understanding.

     "Oh yeah, when are you coming back to school? It's been a week; everyone in HAU has been asking if you died or something. Even Mark rebelled and turned his hair black," Lay told Junhyung, surprising him.

     "Didn't Mark like his red hair? Or is it because Hyunseung doesn't want anyone in their group to have the same hair color as him," Junhyung asked, more concerned about his brother's hair color than their concern about his attendance.

     "That's not the point here isn't it?" Lay asked him, annoyed that he's talking about Hyunseung again.

     Junhyung cleared his throat and apologized.

      Lay sighed and shook his head before looking back at his brother, "The Fathers told you to repent on your sins in this convent and asked you to pray in the chapel every day for forgiveness. But that doesn't mean you're not allowed to attend school. You want to fail your classes, you idiot? And the tuition fee is expensive for crying out loud! Do you think our guardian just picks his money from a tree?! He has to pay for the seven of us!"

     "What does our guardian even do for a living?" Junhyung asked instead.

     "Junhyung! You're not listening!" Lay angrily shouted, and Junhyung just laughed it off and patted his brother's shoulder, "I'm just kidding. I'll attend our classes tomorrow."

     Lay didn't answer and pushed Junhyung's hand instead. Junhyung was about to say something in return, but his expression suddenly changed when he asked, "So, has JS been doing okay?"

     Lay rolled his eyes in annoyance after hearing his brother's question, "JS? You mean Hyunseung? Why the hell are you asking about him now?"

     Junhyung quickly started to think of false reasons. And when he did, he looked back at Lay and said, "W-Well...just wanted to know if the fucker's dead."

     Lay looked at Junhyung with disbelief but answered anyway, "Well apparently he's not dead. And I know you're going to ask about it anyway so I'll answer it for you. He doesn't have a lover at the moment. Happy now?"

     Junhyung smiled from what he heard, but when he saw Lay glaring at him, Junhyung cleared his throat and said, "I mean, who cares if he doesn't have a boyfriend yet, right?"

     "Whatever you say Junhyung."

     While the two were talking, Seunghyun suddenly arrived and approached them.

     "Seunghyun!" Lay shouted in surprise. But what surprised him more was the fact that Junhyung wasn't surprised to see him. It was almost as if he was expecting him to arrive.

     "You come here every day except for Mondays because you said Lay might see you. What brings you here now?" Junhyung revealed, making Lay's eyes widen from shock. He looked at his two brothers and started pointing at them like they were criminals.

     "W-Wait...you come here to see Junhyung too?! And you know I visit as well but you didn't even tell me!?" Lay asked in disbelief.

     Seunghyun, who was panting ever since he arrived, looked at Lay and answered, "I'll explain that to you later, but right now we need to go. Junhyung, the Fathers gave us their permission to take you. You can return to the residence immediately."

     The atmosphere quickly changed, and Lay and Junhyung's expression became serious.

     "What do you mean?" Junhyung asked him.

     Lay went to stand beside Junhyung, curious about what Seunghyun was about to tell them.

     "It's about Mark. The Fathers informed something to us just this morning. The hair, his pale color, everything! They didn't know about it either. They just found out when we told them about what was happening to Mark," Seunghyun explained with a panicked voice.

     "I-I...I don't understand," Lay stated, now starting to feel the panic too.

     Seunghyun looked at Junhyung and Lay with a sad expression and finally revealed, "Mark's slowly dying." 

     The two froze. Junhyung even went out of balance; but good thing Lay was there to catch him before he could fall.

     "This can't be. Why all of a sudden? Is the demons doing something to him?! TELL ME WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY BROTHER!" Junhyung now shouted, anger visible in his face.

     Seunghyun had to take a deep breath before he could answer. He knew that Junhyung wasn't going to like what he's about to explain next.

     "It's not what the Demons did. It's what Mark did," Seunghyun answered.

     "What do you mean?" Lay asked, still holding Junhyung to support him.

     "Mark is slowly transforming into a Black Angel. Black Angels are made when an Angel betrays his clan. And that's the exact thing that Mark did. The bad thing about black angels is that they don't live to be black angels. They die and go to a world of nothingness. Junhyung, Mark is going to die and live in darkness for the rest of his life," Seunghyun explained further, and this time, Junhyung finally fell on the floor. 

     Lay was unable to support him and just gave up. So he lets go of Junhyung's hand.

     "This can't be...how could my brother...no, there must be a way..."

     "I know there is, but we don't know anything that could stop it. The only kind who know about these things are the Demons. Not just Sunggyu and the rest of his brothers, but all of the people in the underworld. Black Angels were made in their territory, so it's only natural that they could stop it too," Seunghyun told him.

     Junhyung slowly stood up and quickly went in front of Seunghyun.

     "How could you be so certain? Maybe you're right, black angels are made in fucking hell. But what if they don't know how to stop it? What if there weren't any way out of it!" Junhyung shouted, now helpless about what he just heard.

     Seunghyun looked at Junhyung straight in the eyes, and with a serious expression, he answered, "Transformations only last for four to five days."

     Lay looked confused on what his brother told them. He looked at Junhyung and Seunghyun and stated, "But Mark left us for about a week now."

     "That's right."

     The three looked at each other like they just hit the jackpot.

     Lay excitedly jumped off his feet as he said, "Then someone inside the Demons is helping him live. That's gotta be it, right?"

     "Helping him? Who on earth would help Mark when they planned all this in the first place?" Junhyung honestly stated, pushing aside his excitement over the matter. It was still too early to celebrate.

     "Isn't it obvious? It's Jackson!" Lay shouted, making Seunghyun and Junhyung look at him. 

     When both men had his attention, he continued, "We all know Mark lied when he said he was with Jackson because he was sick of us. The truth is, they did something to him, something to manipulate him to go against us. The Demons must have forced Jackson to make that happen since he has Illusion Casting, but after their successful plan, Jackson must have started feeling guilty. Which may be the reason why he's helping him live."

     The two became quiet. Shocked on Lay's clever conclusion.

     "Whoa," was the only thing Seunghyun could say to the young boy. Then, out of nowhere, Junhyung started laughing. In between the laughter, he tried to say, "Come on, a demon falling in love with an angel is just too crazy."

     Seunghyun quickly looked at Junhyung and said back, "Same goes to an angel falling in love with a demon."

     The room became quiet. Junhyung gulped and looked away after realizing what he said. It was obvious Seunghyun was trying to make Junhyung remember why he's a human in the first place.

     "Well, what's the plan then?" Lay asked so he could break the tension.

     "We need to talk to Jackson. I know it's risky but we need to try. Jackson's our only hope in saving our brother. If this turns well, Mark won't die and would even be back in our side," Seunghyun answered.

    Junhyung took a deep breath and brushed his hair back with his fingers, "I'll do it. I'll personally talk to Jackson."

*****

"Mark, we're going to have a party tonight at Jiyong's house. You coming or what?" Minhyuk asked his seatmate, Mark.

(NOTE: If you don't remember, Hyunseung switched seats with Mark before.)

     Mark looked at Minhyuk and weakly answered him, "No, I don't actually feel good. I'll just stay at Taeil's house tonight. He told me he was going to show me this cool new video game."

     Hyunseung was reading his book. Without removing his eyes from the book, he answered Mark, "Well, I guess it can't be helped. You've been feeling unwell for the past few weeks so I guess it's important that you rest."

     Mark nodded and continued writing his notes. Then Hyunseung smirked, happy that Mark was going to die soon. But Woohyun saw him smirk, making him furious. So out of anger, the pencil he was holding suddenly snapped, catching Hyunseung's attention.

     "You okay? Want an extra pencil?" Hyunseung asked, making Woohyun glare at him. He was about to say something to the demon, but he immediately looked away from him. Tears were about to come out of Woohyun's eyes. He was angry and in pain at the same time because he found out about Mark being a black angel just this morning, and Hyunseung wasn't helping at all.

     "What's with those eyes Woohyun? Want me to stab it?" Hyunseung continued to annoy him.

     Woohyun finally turned his head so he could look at Hyunseung. With an angry tone, he shouted at him, "I'm not doing anything to you so can you fucking leave me alone you slut!"

     Everyone became quiet. Minhyuk heard what Woohyun just said and quickly stood up from his seat, "What the fuck did you just say to him?!"

     Minhyuk was about to throw a punch on Woohyun, but Mark grabbed his hand to stop him, "Forget about it Minhyuk. Leave the fucker alone. He was my brother before but he's right, he didn't really do anything. So don't waste your energy on someone like him."

    "What did you just-"

     Hyunseung quickly stopped Minhyuk and said, "Mark's right Minhyuk, so sit down. It was my fault anyways."

     Minhyuk pushed Mark's hand away and sat down angrily.

    Hyunseung went back to his book. But he couldn't concentrate as he thought to himself,"What just happened? Did Mark just say all those things to Minhyuk with his own accord? I'm sure we programmed him right. He couldn't even talk straight and think straight before. Could it be that it's slowly wearing out?"

AT THE OTHER CLASSROOM

     "Jiyong! Didn't I tell you to stop with the parties?" Sunggyu stated as he looked at Kwon Jiyong who was playing a game on his phone.

     "I can't help it okay? I heard that a guy in our university had the coolest party ever. I had to beat the crap out of him and show him who the real king is," Jiyong replied, not removing his eyes on the screen.

     "Well that's stupid," Suho commented while writing down his notes for their next class.

     Taeil stood up from his seat and went in front of Sunggyu, Jiyong and Suho. Then Jackson followed behind him.

     "Hey guys, see anything different?" Taeil asked.

     "No," the three answered in unison. So Taeil looked at Jackson, making him answer instead, "Seunghyun's not here. Only his brothers Sungjae and Jihoon are present."

     "So, what's the problem?" Sunggyu asked, still confused why his two brothers are making a big deal out of it.

     "What if Junhyung and Seunghyun are planning something to get Mark back?" Taeil blurted out, making the three laugh at the same time.

     "Guys, whether they make a plan or not, they won't stand a chance. Look, Junhyung's a freaking human. And Mark? Mark's never gonna go back to those assholes," Suho explained.

     "And how could you shitheads be so sure?" Taeil asked, crossing his arms.

     Sunggyu smirked and answered his brother, "It's because we're demons."

     Jackson and Taeil sat back down to their seats, feeling neglected by their demonic brothers. Did they seriously think that if ever the Arcs planned something to them then it wouldn't be a hindrance to them anymore? Their confidence is definitely going to be their downfall if they continue on with it.

     "Good morning class," their professor greeted when he arrived at the room. Everyone greeted him back and settled down. Then he placed his things on the desk and looked at the students in front of him.

     "Mr. Yong Junhyung's been absent for days, and now Choi Seunghyun is absent as well?" The professor asked. But before they could be marked absent, Seunhyun arrived just in time, Junhyung right behind him.

     "Oh my. Welcome back Mr. Yong Junhyung," the professor stated. 

     The two angels bowed and greeted him. And when they were about to take their seats, Junhyung looked at the Demons first and smirked before taking their seats.

     Taeil leaned closer to Jackson and whispered, "See, I told you something's not right here."

     Jackson didn't say anything, but deep inside he knew that his lazy brother was one hundred percent right about it.

*****

The low church bell rang, signaling everyone that classes were over. Sunggyu and the rest of his brothers stayed, expecting the Arcs to stay behind too so they could have a one-on-one talk with each other, but they didn't, making Taeil even more suspicious on their actions.

     "So, I guess it's about time that we leave," Suho suggested, then the rest of the Demons stood from their seats.

    The five Demons went out of the room. Everyone was walking in a horizontal line, but Jackson stayed behind them. While they were walking at the empty hallway, Jackson saw shadows walking behind him as well, so he stopped and said, "Hey guys, I'll catch up with you okay? I think I dropped my wallet."

    "Sure thing big guy. We'll just go straight to the rooftop and wait for you there," said Jiyong, and then everyone left.

     When the Demons were out of sight, Jackson turned around and said, "What do you need from me Yong Junhyung?"

    Junhyung smirked. He went out from a classroom and answered, "You're really proving to me why you're the second most powerful prince Wang."

     Jackson didn't answer, but he glared at the man in front of him instead. But Junhyung ignored the reaction and took a step closer to the demon, "I want you to help us. In exchange, we'll help you."

     Jackson chuckled upon the request and said, "Thanks for the offer, but why the fuck do you think I'll help an angel like you?"

     Junhyung smirked and went even closer to him, "Then why are you helping my brother Mark?"

     Jackson flinched. He was shocked, but he didn't want to show it. So instead, he said back, "I don't have time for this shit." He was about to turn around and leave, but he quickly stopped when he heard what Junhyung had to say.

     "Jackson, when will our angel die? Next month? Next week? Or maybe even tomorrow?" When Jackson heard this, he quickly ran to where Junhyung was and pulled his collar upward.

     "Don't say that," Jackson stated, hurt and pain visible in his voice.

     Junhyung's expression softened when he felt Jackson's hand trembling. He looked at Jackson apologetically, so Jackson slowly let go of him, and then he turned around so Junhyung wouldn't see his face anymore. The last thing he wants is for a human to see how weak he has become.

     Junhyung went closer to Jackson and told him, "We know you're helping our brother. That's why I'm here. I want to talk to you so we could help you too."

     "I'm not here to help the Arcs. I'm here to help Mark alone," Jackson quickly answered, still not turning around to face Junhyung.

     "Jackson please, you're the only one who can help us bring our brother back. We know okay? We know that if he returns to us he'd live. Just tell us what we need to do so we could-"

     Jackson quickly turned around and shouted, "There is nothing that you can do!"

     Junhyung's heart broke when he saw trails of blood coming from Jackson's eye. He was not expecting to see something like that from him. Especially from the second strongest son.

     "There's nothing you can do," Jackson repeated but with a lower voice this time.

     Junhyung walked closer to Jackson and wiped the blood on Jackson's cheeks. He thought Jackson was going to push him away, but to his surprise, he didn't. So Junhyung seriously looked at him and suddenly declared, "I'll surrender myself to you...in exchange for my brother's life."

     Jackson slowly lifted his head. He was shocked to hear Junhyung's offer. He just made a deal with a devil, which was something that anyone could not be able to revoke.

     "That's a promise," Junhyung confirmed.

     Jackson quickly looked away from Junhyung's eyes and said, "There's only one way so that Mark could live, and that's for the Demons to give him back to you personally. Without any doubts, without any second thoughts, with an open heart, we'll give him back to you."

     "What did you just say?" Junhyung asked, surprised at what Jackson just told him.

     Jackson cleared his throat and finally looked back at him, "You wouldn't have a problem with me because I'd hand you Mark in a split second. But for Jiyong, Sunggyu, and even Hyunseung? I doubt that they would even listen to me if I tell them that we should hand Mark back to the Arcs. My brothers would never give Mark back to you, especially that we're so close to getting him killed."

     "Jackson, there must be another way. Is there some kind of antidote? Prayer? Ritual? Anything?!" Junhyung asked, now panicking when he heard about what Jackson just said.

     "Antidote? Prayer? Do you think the King of Hell would make something that could be cured by a prayer? And don't think that killing all of us would help either," Jackson explained further, and Junhyung couldn't do anything else but massage his temple in frustration.

     "That's why there's nothing you can do. If not that then there's no other way to help him. I just want to be as close with Mark as possible before he dies. I think this will be a great time to say your goodbyes to him before he could leave for good," Jackson stated with a pained expression. And then he walked away with a heavy heart. 

     He knew that just talking to Junhyung was betraying his brothers, but he had no choice but to give them that small information. Because he truly cares about Mark.

     "Shit," Junhyung mumbled underneath his breath. He wasn't expecting that the only way of saving their brother was making the demons give Mark to them.

     "Well, that sucks," someone behind Junhyung stated. Then the rest of the Arcs went out behind the lockers.

     "What now Junhyung?" asked Sungjae as he and his brothers went to where Junhyung was standing.

     "We can't just let Mark die like that," said Lay. Then out of nowhere, Woohyun punched a locker with his own fist, making the Arcs shocked on his sudden action.

     "If we only knew this sooner then we would have helped him," Woohyun stated, still angry that he only found out about this matter a few hours ago.

     Junhyung looked at Woohyun and told him, "You gotta keep yourself together Woohyun. We're all guilty and hurt just like you, but nothing will happen if we let our anger consume us. And even if we knew about it before, we still couldn't help him. You heard Jackson. The only way to save Mark is by letting the Demons give him to us."

     "So are you telling us that we just let our brother die like that?" Jihoon stated, his tone a little higher. He was angry because he wasn't expecting Junhyung to give up so easily.

     "Junhyung, there must be something we could do," this time, it came from Sungjae. "Our Father's allowed us to take you because they believed that you could-"

     Junhyung quickly cuts him off and shouted, "Then what am I supposed to do?! I was fucking isolated in a chapel to repent on a sin that I didn't really commit. I never wanted Mark to go missing when I asked him to do our plans. I know it might have been my fault but wasn't I manipulated as well? I'm a human now. Not your strong angelic leader. So what do you expect me to do?"

     Seunghyun went in front of Junhyung and held his shoulder, "You're not human, not even an angel. You're neither both of those things because you're our brother. Do you understand it now Junhyung?"

     "I have no idea on what you're saying," Junhyung honestly stated, making the Arcs laugh, breaking the tension.

     Junhyung smiled and gave Seunghyun a quick hug.

     "It's good to be back," Junhyung stated. And then Seunghyun looked at his brothers and told them, "Look, even though Junhyung keeps on telling us that it wasn't his fault, it clearly is so don't forget that. Well, no offense Junhyung."

     "None taken."

     "But we gotta trust him again. So are you all willing to listen to our brother even though he's now a human just like the others?" Seunghyun asked, and the Arcs looked at each other and shouted, "Yes Seunghyun!"

     Seunghyun nodded his head and looked at Junhyung. Then he gestured his hand so Junhyung could stand in the middle.

     Junhyung smiled and did just that, "Okay. While Seunghyun was talking shit earlier and telling me I wasn't a human when I clearly was, I quickly formulated a plan that might not or might just work. It would be worth a shot but are you guys willing to do it?" Junhyung asked as he looked at the Arcs.

     Woohyun then went forward and answered, "We'll do anything for Mark."

- END -