Yunho was drowning in a sea of agony. His head felt ready to explode and no matter how he clawed at his head and scalp, the parasite wouldn't get out. It wriggled around in his skull, stabbing needles at his brain and infusing them with their poison.

Like a worm taking over the body of a host, it got comfortable in Yunho's head and Yunho could only wail in helpless pain.

His trashing body was caught and slammed into the ground, holding his wrists down onto the pavement. Yunho couldn't feel the grip as he gasped for air. He was sure he would die and that the demon would suck his life force out of him. As his heart hammered in fear, he could barely hear the voices around him.

Red eyes watched him. So many red eyes. Black tendrils dug into the folds of his conscience, exploring him and stripping his mind bare. Yunho tasted bile on his foaming lips, felt his body shudder and seize as it tried to expel the intruder.

But an S-class demon easily nestled into its new comfortable space of a brittle human mind.

"What's going on with him?" Jongho yelled when the same gloved fingers picked Yunho up, trying to shake some sense into him.

Irrelevant of Yunho's anguish, the battle continued in the distance and soldiers called all over each other.

"We need to get him-"

Another yell interrupted the scratch of that soothing voice.

"The S-class demon is retreating?!"

Yunho's lashes fluttered. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the sharp spikes kept digging and prodding at him, trying to penetrate his very being. He couldn't breathe, clutching to Mingi's shirt with a cramped fist.

The guide cradled him in his healing touch, but his other hand flew up to his comm.

"Shit. Kill it, Hongjoong!"

Kill it, let it retreat, whatever. Just stop the pain.

Yunho would beg for anything to make the suffering end. Even death sounded more inviting at this moment.

"We need to get him checked up; it looks like he took brain damage. I will take him to the van first. Can you check if anyone else needs me?" Mingi asked Jongho and his reply drowned in a massive explosion.

Yunho hung in Mingi's grip, not even sure anymore if he was awake or fainted because reality blurred into the haunting vision inside his mind. The red air around him lifted when the rift closed. Hot air rushed their way as the wails of the demons finally let up, but the parasite and its many red eyes stayed.

"We need water!"

Jongho left their sides, and Yunho felt himself get picked up. The heavy thumps of boots rushed them through an incoming rain shower that tickled on Yunho's cheeks. It was soothing, so real and natural.

But his brain still seemed to get ripped apart by the creature that made it its home.

Yunho's back harshly connected with a hard surface. His twitching eyes strayed over a blur of black and grey. A shadow loomed over him, stretching out hasty hands.

Yunho couldn't understand what he was told. Cold air brushed over his stomach and chest, accompanied by a warmth that seeped into his limbs. Healing.

He couldn't calm down. His instincts had him in hysterics, so aware of the being eating at him. In his desperation to get it out and away, he would readily jab a blade into his own head to get it out.

He would die, he would die.

A deep voice grumbled over him. Warmth gathered in Yunho's stomach while more cold brushed his thighs. His skin tingled when a sudden bliss washed over him, drowning out the pain. More. More of that.

Yunho heard himself whimper when some of the pain cleared. His arms flailed for the shoulders leaning over him, grabbing on for dear life. This was the person who could stop his pain.

A warm mouth covered Yunho's, licking up traces of his spit and where he bit his lip raw without even noticing. When clarity found a path through his mind, it spread out gradually, shoving away the parasite and its pain.

Yunho gasped into his mouth, pulling him closer, needing more. He leaned in until a tongue finally touched his and he sucked on it desperately, as if he could urge the guiding to come faster.

Something wet squelched between them. A weight rested on Yunho's body, rubbing up against him. So close, but not close enough. The pain finally let up; more, he needed more.

"Come to your senses, puppy," a laboured voice panted between them. Yunho keened, chasing those whispering lips.

He shuddered violently when another rush hit him, more bliss, more safety that cradled his brain in a protective membrane. He yelped, bucking his hips at the feeling and the body on top of him responded, a hiss falling from his lips.

Yunho was carried by the river of guiding, of safety. He fell into it readily, hiding from the eyes of the demon as he finally let his overwhelmed body pass out to claim the rest it needed.

-

When he came to, Yunho was, yet again, in a sick ward. This one he knew, at least. Tenebra's interior greeted him, the room small and cosy, and a familiar head of blond hair by his side. He blinked, expecting the suffering to slam right into him, but it never came.

He felt okay. Not extraordinarily well, but also not hurt in any sense. The peeping of machines indicated his heart activity, and its change in pace had Yeosang lift his head.

Their eyes met and relief crossed Yeosang's features. He rolled his chair over to come up to Yunho's side, checking on his vitals.

"How are we feeling?" He asked, and his tone didn't expect Yunho to be too enthusiastic and springing.

When his voice didn't comply the first time he tried, Yunho cleared his throat. Yeosang poured him some water and after a sip, he got out a hoarse mumble.

"I'm okay," he muttered, no longer under the pressure to act stronger than he was.

Yeosang added something to his infusion. God, Yunho was starting to hate those things hooked up to him all the time. The scars from last time barely healed before new ones joined.

"How is your head?"

Yunho listened into himself. He felt weird. As if his brain wasn't entirely his own. Out of touch, in a way, as if locked away in a glass cage.

"It doesn't hurt," he described, and Yeosang read the rest out of his frown.

"Mingi thought you had a stroke or some seizure. You connected with the S-class demon with the tentacles, didn't you?" Rolling through the room on his chair, Yeosang gathered up some papers while Yunho carefully sipped his water. The hunger snuck up on him now that he was up. How long had it been?

"Only briefly. I let go right away."

"Mingi had me run every CT, PET and MRI on your brain. He was sure something was wrong. Do you have any recollections of the incident?"

Yunho nodded. He knew they went to the rift, and he fought successfully with Jongho by his side. He also remembered Mingi on the balcony. Seeing the demon creep up on him.

The rest was missing.

He dimly remembered movements and warmth, but nothing else. From the moment he spotted that tentacle and drowned in pain until now, emptiness.

He told Yeosang, and the doctor's nod had assumed as much. He showed Yunho his findings.

"We couldn't detect any harm done to your brain, not even a concussion. But Mingi reported violent symptoms, so he needed to use his guiding on you to figure out what was wrong."

Yunho gulped. He was sorry to have become a hindrance, even when he only tried to protect Mingi.

"It seems the demon touched you through the link you established. S-class demons have special abilities we don't know the full scope of. Mingi assumes you have a piece of it in your head right now, since his guiding couldn't get rid of it. Does that make sense to you? Are you being controlled by another entity right now?"

Yunho's heart sunk. So it hadn't been his imagination. Mingi felt the same when he guided him. What of the demon? Did it really retreat? If it had died, its parasite in Yunho's mind also should have disappeared. Unless it could feed on him.

"I am not being controlled, but... I think it's there. Mingi's guiding sealed it away, but I can feel that something is off. Unnatural up there," he muttered, and Yeosang squeezed his hand when fear made his voice tremble.

"Okay. We will have to examine you further and find a way to remove it. Some espers have psychic abilities, so there should be ways to cure you without harming you. However, we need you to report back to us when it tries to do anything. If a demon starts controlling you..." Yeosang let the sentence hang in the air and Yunho hastily nodded.

"I will tell you whatever I learn," he promised. He just never wanted to be in that much pain again. It was worse than getting shot ten times.

The smile on Yeosang's lips was mellow, but confident they could help.

"Very good. If guiding keeps it at bay, make sure you receive enough of it. I will also prescribe you some medication against headaches." He scribbled on another note with the classy, unreadable scrawl of a doctor.

When Yunho curled nervous fingers into the blanket, Yeosang returned to his side.

"How is everyone else? Hongjoong and Jongho and Mingi..." Yunho asked, worried about turning on the TV to hear his blunder and distracting Mingi from his duties had messed up the entire mission.

Was it his touch that dimly spooked around Yunho's mind? His heat? How far did he go while Yunho was unconscious?

Yunho shuddered at the thought, but he forced himself not to make this about himself. Mingi helped him. He might have gone insane and clawed his eyes out without him.

They could talk as soon as Yunho's checkup was finished.

"They are doing good. Hongjoong suffered some burns from his powers, but Seonghwa tended to him and he recovered ever since. Jongho brought you flowers since he is concerned about you and took a day off to rest. Mingi is upstairs in his office at work if you want me to get him." Yeosang nodded at the bedside table to Yunho's left and he turned his head to spot a sweet bouquet in a vase. He couldn't make out singular flowers, but the yellows and blues spent wishes for his wellbeing and happiness.

When he blinked, touched by the gesture, Yeosang stood from his side.

"You lost your glasses and we are currently making you new ones, so please have some patience. Until I discharge you, they should be finished. Do you need anything else? I would like if you slept some more."

Yunho let his head drop into the pillows. He had no other obligations for today. Later, if he got bored, he could ask for his phone or a book, but for today, he just wanted some peace and quiet.

"I'm fine, thank you. No need to disturb Mingi."

"I will have to let him know you woke up," Yeosang grinned back at him and Yunho submitted to his fate.

"Thanks for stitching me back together," he mumbled, drowsy again, now that the medication kicked in and the initial shock of waking up subsided.

Yeosang poured him more water for the moment he woke up.

"No need to thank me. I will admit I almost had a heart attack when they brought you in, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Well, at least that's what I hope." His voice was concerned, but he still sent Yunho a reassuring smile.

"Sleep first. We can talk later. I will prepare something good for you to eat and my humble microwaving skills will have it at the ready for you."

Yunho gave him a drowsy grin. He looked forward to the food already.

When he closed his eyes, Yeosang silently went back to his work, not disturbing him again. Darkness came swiftly to carry him away.

Though they couldn't overpower him, Yunho felt those many red eyes resting on him. Waiting full of hunger until he was weak and gave them an opening. As they lurked in the shadows, icy fear haunted him into his nightmares.