Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Interlude - Promise

"It's not written down anywhere."

"Right."

"And you asked one of the seven deadly sins about it—how many years ago?"

"Five."

Hoseok stared down at the pentagram, crudely drawn with a purple magic marker—the only tool they could find after a brief raid of Yoongi's bedroom—and he found himself cringing away from the applewood, lavender, vanilla frosting, and pine forest scented smoke that wafted up from the candles surrounding the pentagram—the fruits of their frantic, door-to-door search amongst the neighbors.

"Is it supposed to be so..."

"Bad?" Yoongi supplied. "Not really. But the ritual isn't all that formal, so we should be fine."

"It feels like we're summoning a demon."

Jungkook stood from the living room floor and admired his work for a few moments. He turned toward Hoseok with a slight frown, as though he was personally offended by his critique of the ancient ritual.

"I didn't realize you were against demonic stereotypes," he said.

"I'm generally against anything supernatural, but I've learned to put up with you."

"Ha, ha."

Yoongi stepped into the middle of the pentagram and look toward Jungkook expectantly. "If I remember correctly, there's an ancient script that goes along with this, right?"

"It's just the chant we use to make people demons, but backward."

"How original," Hoseok said flatly.

"Makes our lives easier, at least," Yoongi said. "Have you been practicing your enunciation? I would think you're a little rusty after all this time."

"You say that like two months are enough to make me a beginner again."

"Nice to know you came to me almost immediately after you ended another person's life."

"Remember the druggie?" Jungkook said with a grin.

"Okay, point taken. Please," Hoseok said before Jungkook could come up with a witty reply, "just get on with it. I'm freezing."

Yoongi directed him to the ottoman, which hosted a colorful selection of blankets and duvets. Hoseok tugged a woven blanket of wool around his shoulders and watched Jungkook mutter the presumed chant under his breath, a brief practice session before the actual ritual.

"Hyung," Jungkook said once he was satisfied with himself, "are you ready?"

Yoongi shrugged and gave Hoseok a side-way glance. "As I'll ever be, I guess."

Hoseok felt his body tense in preparation for the trauma that was sure to be inflicted upon his ears. He cringed as the first offensive syllables escaped Jungkook in a breath and clapped his hands over his ears in a fruitless attempt to block out the ringing. He watched, breathless, as Yoongi's body seemed to seize, as though every joint and muscle were taut.

Hoseok watched, enraptured by the violet light that slowly bled through the pentagram and shrouded the room in its benevolence, as an orb of light flickered into existence. It gently bobbed toward Yoongi's chest and phased through his shirt's material, presumably piercing his chest, if the way Yoongi immediately collapsed had anything to prove.

"Should we have given him a pillow to land on?" Hoseok shouted, voice sounding small and muffled.

Jungkook's lips moved to give a trademark snarky remark, but it fell on deaf ears as Hoseok blinked blankly at the silence that followed. Jungkook frowned at his lack of response and stepped over Yoongi's collapsed body to place his hands over his ears. His hearing cracked back into existence, and Hoseok grinned wryly up at Jungkook's gentle smile.