SEUNGMIN HAD never wanted to hug someone so badly. 

hwang hyunjin stood behind him with a menacing look, his green eyes sharper than ever before. his whole demeanor was nothing like the flirty, friendly man seungmin had left behind; rather, he radiated energy that said take one step further and i'll make you wish you didn't. when the wizard placed his hands atop seungmin's shoulders protectively, the tailor could almost feel the magic buzzing beneath them, ready to be used.

the air was tense between the three of them until finally daehwi scoffed and turned around, slinking away like a cat with its tail between its legs. seungmin felt the buzzing in hyunjin's fingertips fade away as the wizard's grip on his shoulders relaxed; however, when he spun seungmin around to face him, his expression was anything but calm.

"what were you thinking, running off like that?" he yelled. "you could've gotten lost or hurt! do you know how long we spent looking for you?"

peeking behind hyunjin's shoulder, seungmin saw that the rest of their group had assembled themselves a short distance away, clearly waiting on hyunjin and seungmin to finish their conversation. a pang of guilt resonated in his chest. they were all looking for me? i must have inconvenienced them because i wandered off. he frowned. wait a second: the whole reason i wandered off was that...

anger surged through seungmin. "well, maybe if you weren't paying so much attention to all of those women, you would've seen me leave! it's not my fault that you were too busy courting girls this whole time!"

hyunjin's green eyes grew dark. "courting girls? you think that i would willingly waste my time courting girls?" he scoffed. "i am a wizard whose prowess is known throughout the kingdom. with that fame comes danger. people constantly try to take me down in various ways: potions, curses, and— in today's case— assassins disguised as beautiful women. but i'm no fool— i can see through their disguises very easily. since they pose a threat to me and my friends, i have to find a way to quickly— and quietly— dispose of them. luring them onto different attractions where everyone was preoccupied with screaming seemed to be the best way to do it." he folded his arms across his chest. "that's why i left you. satisfied?"

seungmin nodded, shame creeping through his veins. he had rudely assumed that hyunjin didn't care about him at all and didn't even consider the fact that he might have been doing that for his own good. would anyone have guessed that, though? he thought. it's very... out there. if it were anyone else saying it, i wouldn't have believed them, but this is the wizard hwang hyunjin, after all.

"but what about daehwi?" seungmin questioned. "he wasn't one of your assassins, yet you were just about ready to launch a spell at him. why?"

hyunjin cocked his head to the side. "how did you know that i was building up my magic?"

"i... well..." seungmin rubbed his arm nervously. "i could just feel it, i suppose. it felt like you were buzzing."

hyunjin stared at him for so long that seungmin was beginning to feel like he had said something wrong. "interesting," he mused after some time. "you're not a magic-user, are you, tailor?"

"no?" 

"very interesting." hyunjin shook his head slightly. "anyway, that boy was very dangerous. like a snake. a harbinger of evil."

seungmin blanched. "what? how so?"

"because... well..." the wizard quickly turned away and began to make his way back to the group. "because i said so. who's the one with magic senses here, me or you?"

that doesn't make a lick of sense, seungmin thought with an eye roll but followed hyunjin without another word.

❂❂❂

seungmin was glad when they finally returned to the castle in the evening, the sun sinking on the horizon. the day's events had been rather exhausting, and all he wanted was to get off of his feet. the walk back home had been filled with minho and jisung's bickering; apparently, jisung had gone to a stand that served fried cake and told minho that it tasted better than the ones that he made, leading them to argue over it for quite some time. one thing led to another and minho ended up smashing the cake in jisung's face. the two were quickly separated after that.

before hyunjin even raised his fist to knock, the door swung open, revealing an exhausted chan. seungmin had never seen him so drained, lifelessness practically seeping out of every pore in his body. but the thing that shocked him the most was chan's eyes— they were blood-red rather than the stormy grey he had come to familiarize himself with. what happened to him?

"i thought i smelled your scents, so i came down," he said, slumping against the wall. "come in. we're just about done, anyway, so it should be safe. i just have to finish up a few things." with that, he sped upstairs, leaving seungmin more confused and more curious than before.

"what's he talking about?" he whispered to felix. he had learned that felix was incapable of keeping a secret, so whenever he had any questions, he went directly to him.

"he's talking about the things he has to do to prep jeongin," felix whispered back. "i don't know much about the process, but i do know that he has to feed jeongin certain things on these days so that his hunger doesn't drive him completely insane. after that, i don't know what happens. chan is pretty secretive about what goes on. but i found out that when it gets closer to nighttime— so about now— chan has to put special chains on jeongin to keep him from getting loose. hyunjin put a spell on them a while back when we first found him." felix shook his head somberly. "chan stays outside his door all night, which is insane. i'd never be able to do that. some creepy stuff goes on in there, mate. i feel bad for both of them."

seungmin frowned. "why does he have to go through all this?" felix looked at him incredulously.

"because he turns into a hellhound on the thirteenth. didn't hyunjin tell you?" seungmin's eyes widened, which must have been an answer to felix because he quickly slapped his hands over his mouth. "oops."

thoughts were racing through seungmin's head at a million miles an hour. jeongin is a hellhound? aren't those supposed to be extinct? he seemed so sweet, though! is everyone in this house abnormal? isn't it dangerous to keep him here? what if he gets out of control? what if he kills us all? what if—

"seungmin?" the tailor jumped at the sound of his name being called. he turned to minho, who was staring at him oddly. "hyunjin said we could return to our room now. are you alright?"

seungmin glanced at felix, who made a motion of a zipper being slid across his lips. he hesitated. "i'm fine. let's get some rest, shall we?"

the two of them walked up the stairs and through the hall. as they passed the room diagonal from their own, seungmin heard voices resonating inside of it. however, he couldn't make out what they were saying, so he gave up trying to eavesdrop and followed minho into their shared room. as soon as the door closed, minho whipped around to face seungmin. "tell me everything felix just told you," he demanded, and seungmin complied, knowing that he would never be able to keep anything from his best friend. 

when he told him that jeongin was a hellhound, the baker nodded. "i had my suspicions that he wasn't entirely human," he admitted. "i can't say for sure what chan is, but if i had to guess, i'd say that it's possible he's some sort of rare werewolf breed."

seungmin's jaw dropped. "werewolf? aren't they a lot more...you know...furry?"

minho snorted. "werewolves aren't always wolves. they can become human, too. but typically they stay in packs with their own kind and don't associate with humans at all, which is why it would be weird for chan to be one. also, none of ingary's werewolves have grey eyes like chan; theirs are all red. but chan's eyes were red when we saw him downstairs, so it's possible that he might be one. add that in with his inhuman speed and his knack for sniffing things out, and i think we've got ourselves a werewolf."

seungmin gawked at his friend. "how in the world did you figure all of this out?"

"i read more than just recipe books, seungmin," minho laughed. "give me some credit here. i'm smarter than you think."

the tailor grinned, but it quickly dropped when the door fell down. thoroughly startled, seungmin turned to see chan standing at the now-empty doorway looking apologetic. shit. did he hear everything we just said?

"sorry, guys," he said. "i knocked and then, uh, the door broke." he chuckled embarrassedly. "i guess i don't really know my own strength, huh?"

you really don't! seungmin thought. "not to worry," minho said, "we'll be fine going without a door for a night. i can guarantee you that we've slept in much worse situations."

chan looked relieved. "alright. anyway, i just wanted to let you both know that you won't be able to leave your rooms until morning, so no midnight snacks, okay?" he waved his finger in a disapproving way that was clearly meant to be a joke, but he looked too tired for it to be amusing. "that's all. i would try and fall asleep now if you can. have a good night." chan then turned and left; a bit later, seungmin heard a loud crash and a groan. "not again!"

"this is perfect!" minho whispered. now that they had no door, they had to be quieter just in case someone was listening in on them. "now we can spy on them and find out what goes on with jeongin in the middle of the night! this couldn't be any better!"

seungmin nodded. in all honesty, he was quite excited to discover another secret that hyunjin's castle held. everything inside was so new and foreign to him that finding out more about it and its residents thrilled him. he was ready to get to the bottom of this mystery and discover something brand-new.

"no falling asleep, okay?" he said to minho, who rolled his eyes.

"on a night like this? never!"

❂❂❂

minho ended up falling asleep, which was upsetting because everything had just begun.

seungmin watched from his spot on the floor as hyunjin and chan approached what he assumed was jeongin's door, their backs facing him. "everything is in place?" the wizard asked. chan nodded in response. "good. it should be any minute—"

a blood-curdling scream sounded from jeongin's room. seungmin's eyes widened, fear pumping through his bloodstream. what was that? is jeongin okay? judging by the way that the pair outside took no immediate action, this seemed like it was a normal occurrence; still, that didn't stop seungmin from worrying.

chan's hand clenched. "i want to go inside."

hyunjin shook his head. "you know that he'll kill you. he's not human anymore— he won't hesitate to rip you to shreds."

"but we've spent so much time together!" chan hissed, and when he turned to face hyunjin, seungmin caught a glimpse of agony in his eyes. "surely by now the hound can recognize me enough to—"

"no. you're not going in, and that's final." the steel-like tone hyunjin used caused a shiver to run down seungmin's spine. suddenly, the fact that he was a wizard infamous for kidnapping and killing people ran through the tailor's mind, and the fear within him grew. 

chan and hyunjin glared at each other before a broken wail from inside the room caused chan to tear his gaze away. he placed a hand on the door and sighed. "you put a spell on here, didn't you?"

"it's for your own good."

chan growled lowly. "one day, i'm going to go in with him, and you can't stop me."

"i know. but not now. it's not safe yet, and you know it."

chan sighed again, hanging his head in defeat. "i know."

"good." hyunjin patted him on the shoulder. "you should get some rest. even if you can stand it, it's not healthy to stay awake all night. it's not good for this—" he jabbed a finger into chan's ribs— "or this." he poked chan in the back of his head. "now, i'm going to bed, and i hope you do the same. you can come to get him in the morning when he turns back, alright?"

chan nodded and hyunjin left him alone in the hallway. however, instead of heading back to his own room, chan turned around and slid down jeongin's door until he was sitting against it, head in his hands. seungmin watched him confusedly for a while before he realized in shock that chan was crying, silent sobs wracking his body.

the tailor's heart clenched. he really cares for jeongin, he thought. i wish i could go out and comfort him, but i have a feeling that some journeys are better taken alone.

suddenly, a loud roar ripped through the air as well as the sound of metal clinking together, as if someone was struggling to rip off chains. seungmin remembered how felix mentioned earlier that jeongin was forced to wear special chains so that the hellhound wouldn't be able to get free, and gulped. a series of howls and ferocious barks erupted, and the sound made seungmin want to run and hide. but what happened next chilled him to the bone.

"channie," said a voice, and it took seungmin a moment to realize that it was jeongin's— and it was coming from his room. "channie, i'm all better now. please free me."

chan didn't move a muscle. why isn't he freeing jeongin? seungmin wondered. that's his voice, isn't it? he said that he's back to normal. isn't it cruel to keep him there longer?

after a bit of silence, a broken cry sounded from the room. "channie, why won't you save me? i'm human again! i promise." chan still didn't move. "please, channie! it hurts! it hurts so much!" the voice wailed, clearly becoming more and more desperate. "channie! help me! help me!"

seungmin could see chan visibly trembling. he gripped his arms as if he were afraid of what he would do if he used them. the voice continued crying out to him, but he simply gripped tighter. the sight of it made seungmin more confused— and more scared. i don't understand. why isn't chan helping him? an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, yet he continued to watch, too enthralled to look away.

the voice went quiet, and chan let go of his arms with a sigh. his eyes seemed to glow sadly in the darkness of the hallway as his body relaxed, and he leaned against the wall, the light of his red orbs dimming as they closed.

and then the voice returned.

"i thought you loved me, channie."

chan's eyes snapped open and he leaped to his feet. "don't you say that!" he screamed at the door. "don't you say that with his voice! don't..." his voice cracked, and he fell to his knees, sobbing once more. "you...can't..."

"i guess you don't," the voice continued, but there was something different about it. it sounded twisted and demonic. "if you truly loved me, you would come in and free me. come on. free me. free me!"

this isn't right, seungmin thought as chan yelled, "no! never!"

"free me, channie!" the voice sounded distorted as if there were two people speaking at once: jeongin and someone else. "free me! free me!"

"shut up!" chan pressed his hands to his ears and faced his back to the door. his face was contorted as if he were in pain. "stop it!"

"free me!" the voice continued to chant, getting more and more demented with every word. "i thought you loved me! free me!" the sound of chains thrashing sounded from the room. "agh! free me! free me!"

"no... no..." chan whispered as the voices got louder. seungmin watched as he tilted his head back so that it leaned against the door. a thin trail of tears ran down his pale cheeks. "please stop... please..."

that night, seungmin discovered that some of the mysteries in hyunjin's castle were better left as just that: mysteries.