- Woo Jiho's POV -

THREE YEARS AGO

I'm Woo Jiho and I'm a nineteen-year-old high school student. You might be asking me why I'm this old. Well, it's because I'm a delinquent, and I've moved from school to school because of how I act around students, and of course, bad grades. 

     I repeated high school for 3 years, and yes, I should have been a college student by now. But I'm not, and do you know why? Well, it's because I want to be famous. And I don't see the need to study if you want to be famous, right?

HOLY ANGELS HIGH SCHOOL    

     "Okay, good morning everyone. Before we start with the discussion I want you all to meet your new classmate. He's a bit older than you so I hope you show your respect. Mr. Woo, please enter the room and introduce yourself to your new batch of classmates,"  the teacher said as he moved aside and gestured for me to enter. I went inside and stood in front to stare at the boys who were staring back at me.

     "He (Jiho's father) seriously did transfer me to an all-boys school," I thought to myself as I just continued to eat the gum inside my mouth.

     "Mr. Woo? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to introduce yourself?" The male teacher repeated, making the students laugh.

     "Looks like we have another weird one!" One of the boys in the back shouted. And again, waves of laughter were everywhere. I searched for the boy who said those words. When I saw who the culprit was, I took my gum out of my mouth and threw it on his face with no hesitation.

     "Right on the forehead," I said to myself with a satisfied smirk.

     The students became quiet. They stared at the boy I just threw gum at, then they stared back at me. The teacher was shocked too. And like what I expected, the boy angrily stood up, took the gum off his face, and threw it on the floor. But before he could say anything, the teacher stopped him and said, "Okay, let's not become violent here Mr. Kim, please sit down. Mr. Woo, if you don't want to introduce yourself then..."

     I stopped him right in the middle of his sentence and looked at the students in front of me.

     "I'm Woo Jiho. I've been to 10 different schools ever since I started middle school, and if you're asking, I'm nineteen, which is way older than anyone who's inside this room. Well, except for our old teacher here," I said as I bravely pointed at the teacher beside me, "Don't call me hyung or anything else. And don't mind my business and I won't mind yours, got that kids?"

     The students didn't say anything else, which satisfied me.

     "Okay then, please sit down beside the boy you just threw bubble gum at," the teacher instructed.

     "What?! But I'm already sitting beside the sleepy Lee Taeil and Shut mouth, Wang! (In short, the weirdoes)", the guy, who's apparently named Kim, stated.

     (Arrangement: Wang Jackson, Lee Taeil, Mr. Kim, Jiho's new chair)

     "Stop complaining. I'll just get my things so we could start with the discussion," said the teacher as he left the room.

     Everyone was still silent as I went closer to my new chair. As I went there, I grabbed Kim's bag and threw it at the chair where I was supposed to sit on.

     "What gives man?!" he shouted as he stood up and went close to my face. But he was shorter than what I expected, and I was taller than what he expected, so he instantly backed away a few inches from me.

     "You sit on that chair, I'll sit on yours. Since you don't want to sit beside us weirdoes, right?" I told him.

     Kim didn't say anything else and just sat down on the chair where I was supposed to sit. I placed my bag on my new chair, then I looked at Kim and kicked his chair so he could be farther away from me.

     "That's better", I stated as Kim just glared at me. He didn't say anything else, but I actually didn't care whether he did say anything or not.

     I now sat down as the teacher entered the room and started with his discussion. I secretly placed my headphones on and started listening to my rock music. Then I looked at my left, and there I saw the boy who changed my life.

*****

"Okay, you may now go." Everyone stood up and started leaving the room. I stood up from my chair and was about to leave the room as well when something suddenly caught my attention.

     "Taeil! Wake the fuck up. It's our lunch break now. You could sleep at the cafeteria if you want."

     I turned and saw my seatmates. The scary-looking guy was kicking the legs of the guy who was still sleeping, so I thought of helping him out. I approached him and tapped this guy's shoulder, making him look at me with a glare.

     "Can I give you a hand there kid?" I asked anyway, not threatened by him. He acted like he didn't hear me, so he went back to waking his friend up like he didn't hear a thing.

     I chuckled and touched his shoulder again, "Hey, I know you're scared of me, but if you want I could-"

     The kid pushed me with no hesitation, surprising me. He continued to glare at me as he replied, "I'm not scared of you. For fuck's sake just leave me alone."

     Wow, this is a brave one. I like it.

     "Well, I'm apparently a weirdo in this school and you guys are weirdoes too, so won't it be nice if we weirdoes could help each other?" I jokingly asked him, but then the boy continued to ignore me. I was about to grab his arm for the third time, but the boy finally looked back at me with such a scary look that it made the hair on my skin stand. 

     "Whoa," the only thing that I could say because it was my first time to actually feel afraid of someone younger than me. So I decided to just leave him be, but then he suddenly moved aside, finally giving me permission to help him.

    I smiled and nodded my head.

     "I didn't catch your name by the way," I stated as I went closer to the boy who was sleeping.

     "Jackson, Wang Jackson. And that's Lee Taeil," he answered, and I didn't expect him to answer me at all.

     "Well Jackson, there's a trick when you want to wake someone up, and it never failed," I tell him with a grin. Jackson didn't say anything else and watched me do my magic. So I kneeled on one knee in front of the sleeping boy and shouted right in his ear, "Lee Taeil!"

     He slowly lifted his head and looked at me angrily. But before he could say anything else, I leaned closer and gave him a kiss, making his eyes open wide because of shock. I moved away and saw how surprised the two were. Their expression made me laugh.

     "Looks like you're awake. Hey Lee Taeil, I'm Zico, nice to meet you."

     And I guess that was it. That was the start of my tight relationship with Taeil and Jackson. And the strange thing is that the only reason why I chose to sit beside Taeil was because I saw him sleeping, which meant I wouldn't worry about a noisy seatmate.

     Things happened fast between the three of us, especially Taeil and I. Because when I got together longer with Taeil, my feelings for him started to grow, and it's not in a friendly way.

     "Hey, Taeil! Do you have supernatural powers or something? Because you fucking sleep all the time!" I asked as I went to the rooftop to see Lee Taeil sleeping on the floor while using his bag as a pillow.

     Taeil didn't budge. He didn't even open his eyes when he answered, "Leave me alone."

     I went closer to him and sat beside him, "It's like as soon as you lay down your entire system just stops working. It's crazy." I continued to say, ignoring what he told me.

    "Are you even listening to me?" He asked, finally opening his eyes.

     I looked directly at him and smiled, making Taeil look away because of embarrassment, which was kinda cute. He sat up and crossed his arms. Without looking at me, he asked, "By the way, where's Jackson?"

     "Don't know."

      The atmosphere between us became awkward. I was about to say something, but Taeil lied down on his bag again and closed his eyes. Probably to escape the awkward tension. 

     I smiled again and looked at the view. As the wind blew harder, I called out, "Hey, Taeil..."

     Taeil doesn't say anything, so I continued, "I like you. Do you want to be with me?"

     The rooftop became quiet. Taeil didn't say anything for a while to I finally looked back at him with my cheeks turning red because of embarrassment.

     "Taeil?" I asked, but Taeil didn't but again. I tried to shake him, but he didn't move, which finally made me realize that this bastard was once again fast asleep. Or the saddest part is he's pretending to be asleep so he wouldn't have to answer me.

     I sighed and brushed my hair back with my fingers. I didn't want to say anything anymore because I didn't want to be disappointed. Disappointed that the first person I confessed to actually dumped me.

     "Okay," he suddenly answered, making me look back at him so fast I thought I'd break my neck.

     "W-what?" I asked, but Taeil still had his eyes closed when he replied, "I don't want to repeat myself. I'm too tired for this drama," he surprisingly stated.

     "So this means we're together now?!" I happily asked even though his answer wasn't worth the celebration. But come on, this was Taeil we're talking about. He says things straight to the point because he's tired of people asking him more questions and even talking to him. This was one of the reasons why I like him. He's so direct.

     "Yeah whatever," he answered.

     Without thinking of anything else, I quickly grabbed Taeil's collar and gave him a kiss, which finally woke him up completely.

     And that was it. We became together for a few months.

     Until I had the opportunity to audition in a band I really liked. And like what you guys have found out, I got in and became the new guitarist. But the consequence was, I had to leave the country and move to Tokyo to train and be part of the band.

     I had to talk to Taeil about it because I didn't want to leave him behind. But every time I ask him, his answers were the same. He would always tell me to go or follow my dreams, and some times, in worse case scenarios, he'd say he's too tired to even answer me. So I practically didn't know what to do. So with the shittiest decision that I made in my life, I left.

     And as for Taeil...

     "I heard from his mom that he was brought to the hospital. What happened to Taeil Jackson? Please tell me."  I begged over the phone.

     "So this is what you do? Play with his feelings and leave as if nothing happened between you two? Never ever call me again, especially Taeil. You got that?" Jackson answered with an obviously furious tone. Of course, I understood him. Taeil's practically Jackson's brother.

     "You know I didn't want to leave. It was Taeil who said that I should-"

     "You fucking moron! Taeil never wanted you to leave! He wanted you to stay so badly that he cried all night about it! You couldn't even see that!?" Jackson now shouted at me, making me grip on the phone that I was holding.

     "How the fuck was I supposed to know if he doesn't even show me how he cares about me?! Every time that we're together, he's on his own little world!" I shouted back, and the two of us ended up panting heavily.

     There was silence for a moment before Jackson could finally answer me, "He understood why you needed to go, which is why he agreed to it even though he didn't want to. He knew how much you wanted to pursue your dream, and he knew that you'd instantly drop it if he tells you not to leave. That's why he never said anything. But he called you every fucking day. And not even once did you answer him."

    I grip on the phone even harder I thought it would break. At that moment I knew that I was on the wrong. I saw Taeil's calls but I was always busy, and I never called him back because, for some dumb reason, I thought he wouldn't answer. I didn't even fucking try.

     "Well, I hope you're happy now you son of a bitch. Because of you, Taeil couldn't even sleep anymore." Jackson revealed, surprising me.

     "W-what did you-"

    "Because of you, he forced himself to take sleeping pills that weren't affecting his body so he drank the whole container and almost died. You should be happy I was there to save him. It was always me who saw everything you couldn't see."

     "Jackson, I'm going back to Korea, I need to-"

     Before I could finish my sentence, Jackson ended the call.

     "J-Jackson...no...Jackson!"

     And like what Jackson told me before I left Korea, the band went on bankruptcy and disbanded before I could even debut. And I never heard of Taeil and Jackson again.

     After two years of earning the money in Tokyo to go back home, I went to look for him. But everywhere I go, no one knew where the two were. I kept on calling Jackson, but he wouldn't answer. But I never gave up. I needed to see Taeil again.

- THIRD PERSON POV -

Jiho was back in Seoul. And his mission? Look for his friend Wang Jackson, and his once lover, Lee Taeil. But after a few months of waiting, he finally found out where they were. It was no other place but the Holy Angels University.

     "Taeil, please be here," he stated as he held the guitar pick in his hand tightly.

     Jiho was walking towards the gate of the campus when he suddenly felt something strange going on around him.

     "What the fuck, where is everyone?" he asked. As he continued to move forward, he felt someone following him. He quickly stopped walking and turned around, but no one was there. So he continued walking until he finally heard the footsteps. First he didn't panic, but soon he heard that it was already running behind him, finally making him run as well.

     Jiho didn't look back and just kept on running. He wasn't even sure if he was being chased or not. But when he was finally inside the school grounds, he stopped running and started catching his breath.

     "What the fuck was that?" he asked as he turned around, but no one was there. But the moment he turned back, he saw something in front of him that made him freeze. It was a creature he hasn't seen before. A monster and a beast combined. The King of Hell's loyal servant...a ghoul.

     Jiho was lost for words. His mouth was just hanged open, and his body was trembling in terror with the sight that was in front of him. Then, the ghoul spoke. His voice sounded like thousands of men were speaking at the same time.

     "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," the ghoul stated.

     Jiho was too terrified to even process what the ghoul just told him. He felt like he was going insane.

     "And as instructed by the king...YOU MUST DIE!"

     The ghoul suddenly cuts it's own hand until his blood started dripping out, then it ran to where Jiho was and pierced its blood-covered hand inside Jiho's stomach. Blood started to come out of Jiho's mouth as the ghoul just went deeper inside. Then he fell unto his knees, and everything that surrounded him became blurry.

     When all hope was lost, two figures appeared just in time to rescue him. It was Pyo Jihoon and Zhang "Lay" Yixing. Two members of the Arcs.

     "Man, Mark's not home yet, Where the fuck is he? You know, I really have a feeling that those fucking Demons took him. There's no doubt about it," Jihoon stated with anger in his voice.

     "Then we need to go back to our brothers and tell them that we-" Lay stopped when he saw what was happening in the corridor.

     "Jihoon! Ghoul!" he shouted, making Jihoon turn his head and look at what Lay just saw.

     Without any hesitation, the two ran to where it was and started summoning their weapons and got ready for an attack. But the Ghoul pulled his hand from Jiho's stomach and started attacking as well. Thankfully the two angels were still too stronger than the ghoul, so it fled and left the scene, leaving blood trails on the floor.

     "Should we follow it?" Lay asked while staring at the ghoul who got smaller and smaller in his view.

     "No, let it go. Let the demons handle that thing." Jihoon answered.

     Lay and Jihoon then looked at the person who was lying and the floor and was practically bleeding to death. They went to where Jiho was to check if he was still alive.

     "He's still alive," Lay stated, trying to check his pulse again to make sure he was not mistaken.

     "Then heal him! Hurry!" Jihoon commanded, and Lay followed and started healing Jiho. Jiho's wound was starting to close, but he started feeling immense pain, so he couldn't help but moan in agony. Later on the moans turned into screams. The reaction immediately made Lay stop.

     "What's happening to him?" Jihoon asked with worry in his expression.

     "The ghoul's blood is inside him so he's being poisoned. I can heal him and stop the poison but it will take a long time for his body to adjust to this, so he might be in a coma after. While I'm healing him, talk to him. He needs to still be awake so that my powers can easily move around his body," Lay instructed. 

     Jihoon nodded in understanding and looked at Jiho who he did not realize had already stopped screaming.

     "What is your name?" Jihoon asked, then Jiho tried to answer, "J-Jiho..."

     "Good, he's still conscious. Now. why were you attacked by a-" Jiho suddenly stopped him and handed the angel something, "P-Please find him for me...p-please f-find...T-Ta..." But before he could finish, Lay was done healing him, and Jiho finally became unconscious.

     Jihoon looked at his now bloody hand and opened it. There he saw a guitar pick.

     "The best option is to bring him to the hospital. Medicine can help make my healing powers grow faster inside him. For now, he would still be in a coma. My powers are currently fighting the poison of the ghoul. His body must be at rest so that the process could be complete. So, what's your plan? Want me to remove the memory of this man with his encounter with a demon slave?"

     Jihoon didn't answer and started thinking. He placed the guitar pick inside his wallet and said, "Don't speak of this to anyone for now. We have more problems than this human. For the time being, I will take care of him until he awakens. When he wakes up, I'll ask him the reason why he was being attacked by the ghoul. There must be something about him that made that ghoul want to kill him, right?"

     Lay didn't answer and just nodded in agreement.

     "Then let's bring him to the hospital, change clothes, and go back to the Holy Home. They might have news about Mark by now," Jihoon stated, and Lay nodded again. 

     The two brought Woo Jiho to be confined at the hospital like what they planned. While Jiho was lying unconscious on the hospital bed, Jihoon looked down at him and said, "Jiho-hyung, I promise to look for your T. In exchange, you need to tell me why that ghoul was after you." 

- END -