The Seamster and The Demon

16. An Accident, I swear

Slight nsfw toward the end of the chapter

Also, please look at the beautiful Joong fanart a friend made for me!!!

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Once Seonghwa returned home with San and picked up Wooyoung on the way back to his house, his tiredness crashed down on him like a hungry wave. He could barely listen to all the interesting facts about Paddington Bear Wooyoung had leaned from the 3D animated movie today. It came to no surprise to Seonghwa that the minute he entered the house through the front door, he tumbled right against the wall to hold up his tired bones. Uncaring, Wooyoung continued his ramblings before he zoomed off to annoy Hongjoong. The man greeted them in the kitchen with a bright smile as if he had no clue why every single object on the kitchen counter had suddenly grown googly eyes. Wooyoung giggled about them anyway.

The coffee machine gawked at them funnily.

When Seonghwa dragged his tired bones past the kitchen to go right to bed, the demon's grin thinned a little. With quick steps, he came up to the man to halt him. Again, Seonghwa rested his shoulder against the wall heavily to keep his balance.

"Seong- mortal. Aren't you going to greet me?"

No more but an exhausted quirk of the corners of Seonghwa's mouth graced his face.

"Hey, Joong. What did you do today?"

"Nothing mischievous, that's for sure!"

Yeah, and Seonghwa believed him.

"Alright, good job." He turned to drag himself up the stairs. In the bathroom, the light wouldn't turn on, no matter how often he clicked the switch. Sighing, he supported his arms on the sink. His eyes burned from tiredness after his 15-hour-day without a break in between. Proud of his work and ready to get nagged, Hongjoong stood next to him. When Seonghwa looked past him without acknowledgement, his face fell.

"Wooyoungie? Could you go to the distribution board and-"

Hongjoong shushed him. From his hand, he lit a little source of light that shone like an orb, but it had the colour of the stars on the sky. It fit him.

"Here, take this. I'll turn them back on in a bit."

Grateful, Seonghwa nodded and brushed his teeth in the dim light of the orb. Hongjoong leaned against the doorframe and held it for him without a single comment. Both of them ignored how Seonghwa's eyes threatened to flutter shut, and he nearly fell asleep while standing up.

"Did you have a long day?"

Instead of a verbal answer, Seonghwa nodded and rinsed his mouth. His hair hung into his face lifelessly, but he would take care of that tomorrow.

"Could I ask you to bring Wooyoung to bed? And please, no games right now. We're both tired."

Hongjoong frowned, but he did as he was told. Without minding the success of his mission too much, Seonghwa went straight to bed.

He didn't awake to cold feet that night.

-

The morning began with darkness in Seonghwa's room from the closed curtains and a message from San.

Hey, something came up with Aeri. Could you maybe take the first shift until noon, and I will take over afterwards?

Seonghwa texted him back a quick 'yes' and got his clothes. By the time he finished his morning routine and joined the two boys in the kitchen, they already giggled over the mugs that eyed them curiously. On the table between them laid a piece of paper where the demon had been teaching Wooyoung to draw pentagrams and ancient runes until just now. A children's skill and guiding the pen over the perfect lines lacked a lot, but Seonghwa wouldn't complain about that.