Seonghwa couldn't sleep and he almost preferred his nightmares over the restless night spent twisting and turning. His fever wore on him, made him drowsy, yet the urgency in his mind that they had to move robbed him of all the sleep. Perhaps picking up their pace to reach the witch as quickly as possible was worth the loss of rest. While he couldn't make such demands of his companions, Seonghwa at least wouldn't feel as if he wasted time sleeping when he should be running.

Was it too late already? Were his hours counted? Should he spend his time thanking his friends and wishing them farewell and praying instead of a hopeless race against time? Who knew when he couldn't get up anymore?

But Seonghwa wasn't the one to spend his last hours with needless optimism. Death wasn't scary. Even if it came for him too early, he had a place secure at the Lord's side and would be received with love.

Seonghwa's throat was parched. Hongjoong had closed the shutters when he had left to wait outside, conscious that his presence disturbed Seonghwa's rest. Not that he was the cause this time, but Seonghwa wanted to scoff at the sudden empathy.

When his lips parted to whisper a prayer, no sound escaped his lips.

"O merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray Thee, with the graces of Thy Holy Spirit, with love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Teach us to love those who hate us, to pray for those who despitefully use us, that we may be the children of Thee our Father, who makest Thy sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendest rain on the just and on the unjust. In adversity grant us grace to be patient; in prosperity keep us humble; may we guard the door of our lips; may we lightly esteem the pleasures of this world, and thirst after heavenly things; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

The prayer cleansed his mind, and he ended with a sigh. He hoped only for the best, didn't want to pass full of doubts and hatred. As he entered the beyond, his mind should be at peace, as it always had been. Now was not the time to fret over unfinished business.

Though, as he pondered it more, Seonghwa recognised that all of his unfinished business was recent. Only since he left Cardend, he had gained friends he wanted to stay with. Only since Hongjoong dropped from that roof, he had an enemy. And only since time had become scarce, he wished to have more of it.

If Seonghwa had died that night and Hongjoong never tried to elongate his life, would the end have been easier?

Or was it always hard?

Seonghwa was alone, despite his companions, but he wasn't the first to die. His father had died only a year ago, and his mother when he had been born. They all did it once.

Except for Hongjoong.

Seonghwa snorted to himself when the gargoyle found his way inside his thoughts, even now.

Hongjoong had a long life to live. A life of sitting on the roof of the chapel at home waiting for something bad to happen that required his services, but a long life. Would he get bored? Would the priest installed in the church after Seonghwa ever get to know him? Would Hongjoong bother him? Or desire him?

Seonghwa shook himself at that last thought. Hongjoong had made his intentions towards Seonghwa very apparent. He enjoyed tainting the priest with his sadistic morals and he abused Seonghwa's fragile state of mind to plant seeds of doubt and temptation.

As he was caught between waking and slumber, his thoughts drifted back to the nightmare of sin that had poisoned his mind. He relived it, images vibrant through his fever as if it had happened to him in his waking state just hours ago. Whenever the heat in his body bordered on too much realism, Seonghwa startled himself awake. With wide-open eyes and his chest heaving, he refreshed his cloth. But as he laid down again, his deranged mind picked up on it again and reminded him of his most dreadful moments.

Seonghwa was too frazzled to cultivate a faithful mindset. He stared against the ceiling for a while as his body shuddered with phantom trembles as it replayed the ghostly feeling of Hongjoong's tongue on him in his dream.

A knock on the door absolved him from his distress. Glassy eyes flickered to the blurry entrance.

"Yes?" Seonghwa called with his brittle voice. He doubted his visitor even heard him, but a moment later, San peered his head inside.

Seonghwa met his inquisitive gaze with a smile.

"It's you."

"It's me," San beamed back. "Can I come inside? Your scary gargoyle friend suggested I help you pack your things."

When Seonghwa pushed himself up on his bed with arms weak like sticks, the rag flopped from his forehead and into his lap. Its weight was almost too much for his fingers when he dropped it back into its bowl.

"He is not my friend," he clarified, but he swung his legs over the side of the bed to help San. His head spun, and he had to wait until its ringing noise stopped so he could give San pointers.

"Yunho mentioned you two came from the same place together when he met you. You're the only one Hongjoong bothers talking to, too." Curiosity showed in San's catty eyes as he gathered Seonghwa's bag from its corner. He unpacked Seonghwa's shawl so he could wear it later in the chilly winter breeze.

"I barely knew him longer than I knew Yunho. He appeared at the beginning of this journey and we met Yunho three days later. Hongjoong recognises he has to comply with my urgency, but he and I can never be friends."

San nodded in understanding. His insecure hands neatly folded every item he set inside Seonghwa's bag.

"He's intimidating. I couldn't imagine befriending him."

Chuckling, Seonghwa patted the back of his hands over his cheeks and forehead. He was still burning up. If he dared stand up, he would crumble like a leaf under a shoe. Hopefully, Yunho had arranged for a cart.

"I share that thought. If I make it, I don't want to see him ever again. He can go back to his business and I shall do mine."

San's work slowed as he tilted his head in interest.

"I never left the glen. What is it like in smaller places?"

Seonghwa entertained him with stories about his home. It kept both of them busy, and San never stopped cooing about the images Seonghwa painted. His little chapel, the cosy (not boring) village, and the beautiful people residing in it. The irony that a creature like Hongjoong guarded such a place never failed to mystify Seonghwa.

San nodded to himself after he asked some questions about Cardend.

"I am glad I met you and went with you. There is so much to see out there. Yunho told me such magnificent stories all morning. I shouldn't waste my youth away here." While unsure what drew him to faraway places, San sounded gleeful to explore them all. Truly, an adventurer at heart, if not a skilled one.

"You spent your morning with Yunho? What did he say?" Seonghwa was still pessimistic that Yunho wouldn't join them. Perhaps they would see each other again, but what if Hongjoong was right? What if Seonghwa didn't make it and never got to say a proper goodbye?

San blushed to the tips of his ears, and Seonghwa lost his train of thought. His disbelieving snicker had San duck his head further.

"That fast?" Seonghwa was baffled. To him, a lot more steps had to be done first while courting, but he supposed there were other ways. Not that he was knowledgeable. That dream had been the closest he had ever been to anyone else.

San averted his gaze as if that would save him.

"He's charming. I would have been a fool to refuse him. I never imagined I would lie with a man like him." He sighed and Seonghwa flushed in embarrassment. No more details were needed. Yunho was happy to teach San whatever skill set he could improve on. It was almost immoral how star-struck San was.

"Won't it trouble you to part with him to accompany us to the witch?"

"Not at all! The witch isn't far from here and Yunho just arrived. I can unite with him afterwards. While it's an adventure that draws me in, I wouldn't want a kind priest to find such a grisly end. If I can help, I will."

Seonghwa's gaze softened.

"Are you faithful, San?"

San shrugged.

"I never go to church or speak my prayers, but if I am in trouble, God is the first one I call out to. Aside from that, I trust priests do well, not just for people who believe. Look at what company you are in."

After a moment of consideration for what he had just said, San lifted sheepish eyes to Seonghwa.

"Is that abusing His kindness?"

"It's not. There is no right or wrong about how to believe. Your conscience shows your faith," Seonghwa soothed. San let go of a relieved sigh.

"If He exists, I hope He helps you. Yunho spoke highly of you, and even the gargoyle looks out for you in his way. I believe you can do good if you survive."

"If I die, I join the Lord's side. I wouldn't be insulted by either. He will relieve me of my pain." Reminded of it, Seonghwa massaged his chest.

San tugged the drawstrings of Seonghwa's bag shut. Neatly arranged, his warm coat and dry pair of socks remained with his other clothes to be worn later. The rest of his belongings were in his bag, ready to set out.

"I think you can rest a while longer, I will get you once we have the cart ready. Don't fret too much about arriving in time. We will take care of that for you." Courageous, San patted his hand on his own chest. Seonghwa smiled at him, endeared by his determination when he knew so little of what they were dealing with.

"Thank you, San. Just come to wake me if you need help with anything."

San nodded merrily and tugged the door shut behind him with a subtle click. He mingled again with Seonghwa's other friends, who were busy preparing for their journey while he could only lie around and trust them.

Which he couldn't complain about. Seonghwa was glad to have found such good friends who took care of him, even when he couldn't do his part. San barely knew him and yet recognised their urgency. Seonghwa was flattered by their care.

And Hongjoong had been entirely wrong with his presumptions painting them all as monsters. As Seonghwa had suspected from the very beginning.

Seonghwa tucked his legs back under his blanket and cushioned his throbbing head with the pillow. Light streamed in through the wooden shutters and the busy noise of the town outside hammered on his brain.

Yet, he relished in the softness of his bed, no matter how sweaty it made his feverish body.

He let his eyes slip shut, resting once more. Blissful darkness engulfed him and brought him to a painless place. Back into his chapel, to the familiarity of his home.

Hongjoong disrupted the image when he came in his dark cloud to terrify Seonghwa. His amber eyes bore into Seonghwa's bare and vulnerable form. His claws tugged on him, tried to possess him. His tongue did the most unholy things that startled Seonghwa out of his sinful thoughts with a bitter taste on his tongue.

As if chased by a pack of wolves, Seonghwa's lips moved again. Their movement was practised and faster than his own mind could comprehend.

"O God, who didst wonderfully create and more wonderfully redeem mankind, grant us with steadfast mind to resist the allurements of sin that we may attain to the joys of everlasting life. We beseech Thee to hear us, O Lord. Amen."

Amber eyes flashed in his mind. With a groan, Seonghwa buried his face in his pillows. He didn't dare sleep. As he stayed wide awake and waited for his friends to fetch him, he vigilantly avoided all temptation to reflect on his dream.

It wasn't good enough anymore. He couldn't join the Lord's side with such a tainted mind.

With Hongjoong's name a curse on his lips, Seonghwa thought of something to absolve his sins outside of a church.

**********

This book will have 33 chapters and an epilogue by the way!