"MR. PYO JIHOON?" A female voice asked as soon as he answered the unknown number.
"Yes, this is Pyo Jihoon, who is this?"
"This is from xxx hospital. This is Mr. Kim Jiho's nurse," the nurse answered, surprising Jihoon, "Oh, hello. How may I help you?"
There was a short pause before the nurse could answer him,"Uhm, it's about Jiho..."
"What about him? Is he awake now?" Jihoon asked, making him and Taeil stop walking.
"He's not just awake. He...escaped."
"What did you say?!"
"We are truly sorry for this enormous mistake. We will call the police so we could-"
"No, it's okay. I'll look for him myself. I'll send someone there to pay for the hospital fees," Jihoon calmly answered, but then he quickly turned his phone off and looked at Taeil with a worried face. He didn't know how he would tell this to Taeil.
"What was it? Was it about hyung? Is he awake now?" Taeil asked, giving Jihoon a hint that he wasn't going to like it if he didn't answer him.
Jihoon sighed and looked at Taeil seriously, "He escaped."
"What?! That can't be. Where could he possibly go to?" Taeil asked, quickly removing his hands from Jihoon.
"He's probably going to HAU. We're going back there just to make sure. I'll message Lay so he could go to the hospital and pay for the hospital bills. Hold my hand so we could go," Jihoon commanded as he showed Taeil his hand again. Taeil hesitated but took it anyway. Then the Demon and the Angel ran back to Holy Angels University.
When they arrived, Taeil and Jihoon realized that everyone on the campus was gone.
"We're too late. They're here," Jihoon stated as he lets go of Taeil's hand. It would we pointless anyway if they still held each other's hand now that Jiho's awake.
"Where could hyung be?" Taeil asked with a worried expression.
"I don't know, but for sure he's here on the campus somewhere. The ghouls wouldn't be here otherwise," Jihoon answered.
"Then we need to find him before-" Taeil suddenly stopped when he saw his brothers running towards them. But then he was even more surprised when he saw the Arcs running just behind the Demons.
Both groups were covered in black blood, and all of them were holding their weapons.
Taeil immediately ran towards his brother and stopped right in front of them, "What happened to you guys? You look like shit!" he jokingly asked, but deep down he was glad that they were okay.
"Dozens of fucking ghouls attacked us a few minutes ago." This didn't come from any of Taeil's brothers. It was Woohyun he answered it instead.
"I'm sorry this is happening, this is about-" Sunggyu cuts Taeil off and said, "We know about your hyung and your sudden memory loss. Jackson explained it to us earlier when ghouls started attacking and started looking for you."
"Oh, and I knew about it too even before that," Jiyong suddenly said, but no one actually cared, making him cross his arms and pout.
Taeil was shocked, but he knew that it was the right thing to do now that everything was falling apart. Jihoon looked at Junhyung, scared that his leader might get mad at him for doing all on his own.
"Lay told us about it too," Junhyung finally said to Jihoon.
Jihoon looked at Lay but Lay avoided his gaze.
"What are you guys standing there for? Let's look for that hyung and save his ass before the ghouls kill him. Because if we're too late, these ghouls are going to fucking kill us next" Jiyong stated, and everyone agreed.
"Even if I hate to admit it, it's best if we stick together. Those ghouls beat us by numbers. We need all our strengths to defeat them all," Sunggyu explained, shocking everyone. But everyone still agreed with the Demons' command.
"But what about hyung? The ghouls would have found him by now!" Taeil stated, worried about what might have happened to his hyung.
Lay held Taeil's shoulder to assure him that Jiho would be okay, "Don't worry about him. My angelic powers are in his blood. The ghouls would have a hard time detecting him. All he needs to do is hide and not be seen."
Taeil sighed in relief and nodded his head, "That's good. Then let's go."
"Yeah, but can any of you guys start time again? Because the longer this goes, the harder it is for us to breathe," Minhyuk requested because it was true. The longer the time wasn't moving, the harder it was for the Demons and the Arcs to breathe.
"We're sorry but we can't. Jihoon has temporal stasis, but this was done by a stronger demon, so we can't undo it. Maybe that's the reason why you guys are having a hard time breathing too," Mark explained.
"Shit. Who could that Demon be?" Minhyuk asked, but both members of the Demons and the Arcs just shrugged their shoulders.
While the two groups were talking and planning their strategies, Lay suddenly stopped them all and said, "I found him. I found Jiho."
"Huh? How are you so sure it's him?" Hyunseung asked as everyone was silent.
"I told you, my powers are flowing inside him. A few seconds ago I sensed something inside my chest, so it only means he's close by. Everyone, follow me," Lay explained, and without waiting for anyone to answer, he started running.
The two leaders looked at each other and nodded their heads, then the Arcs and the Demons started to run and follow Lay until they ended up in the soccer field.
"He's somewhere here," Lay stated as he and the rest were panting heavily. Everyone started to search for where Jiho was until Suho shouted, "Guys! I found him!"
All of them ran to where Suho was. Then they saw Suho and Jiho under the bleachers. Jiho was panting, tired of running as well. Especially with his state, it was impossible for Jiho to keep it together.
Taeil ran to him and shoved everyone away so he could go to where his hyung was.
"Hyung!" he shouted as he kneeled down to him. He closely looked at him and held his cheeks gently. The moment Taeil held his cheeks, a tear fell from his eyes. Taeil's been dreaming about this man, but now, he's seeing him face-to-face.
"W-Woo...J-Jiho..." Taeil suddenly stated. Everyone was shocked, even Taeil, because no one has told him his full name yet.
"Woo Jiho," Taeil repeated with a smile. He grabbed Jiho and gave him a tight hug. Then he started crying. It's been so long and Taeil finally found him. The Arcs and the Demons were happy for him too, but they wouldn't lie, they didn't like the said reunion. This would only mean that the possibility of all of them being killed is now even greater.
"T-Taeil...I finally...I-I...f-finally found you," Jiho whispered in Taeil's ear.
Jiho looked at Taeil and wiped the tears in his cheeks. Even though he was weak, he forced a smile. Taeil locked his eyes on Jiho, and slowly, he leaned closer and gave him a kiss. As they were kissing, something suddenly throbbed inside his head.
And the final memory was now unlocked.
FLASHBACK
"Should I call hyung again or...nah, I'm too lazy to...what the hell am I talking about? I should call him again. Maybe this time he'll answer and I could finally sleep and stop drinking those disgusting sleeping pills." Taeil said to himself as he walked to the desk to take his phone. When he was inches away from reaching it, an unknown force suddenly stopped him.
"Huh? What's going on...why can't I-" Before Taeil could finish his sentence, someone suddenly grabbed his neck and started to strangle him from behind. Taeil was trying to escape from its grasp but it was too strong. When his looked at the mirror, he saw who it was.
It was an ugly and terrifying ghoul.
Taeil suddenly felt his heart drop the moment he saw the ghoul. It scared the fuck out of him so he became even weaker.
The ghoul released Taeil, who fell on the floor to catch his breath. The ghoul then grabbed the sleeping pills and grabbed Taeil's cheeks. He forced Taeil to open his mouth, and then he shoved the pills inside. Taeil was refusing and digging his nails deeper into the hand of the ghoul but nothing was happening.
"Hmm!!"
When the container was finally empty, Taeil started vomiting the pills out. And then blood came out next.
"Ah!" Taeil shouted. His stomach was starting to hurt and he couldn't take it.
"H-Help..." he tried to say as he crawled towards his door.
The ghoul went closer to Taeil and stared at his eyes. Then the ghoul bit himself. When his hands started to bleed, he shoved his hands inside Taeil's mouth so he could drink the flowing black blood.
Taeil was forcing himself not to drink it, but the ghoul kicked his stomach, forcing him to drink it instead.
When the blood was finally inside Taeil, his eyes turned black. The ghoul then removed his hand inside Taeil's mouth and kneeled down in front of him. He opened Taeil's mouth once more and started "sucking" the memories out of Taeil.
When it was over, Taeil woke up and started vomiting blood again. But this time, Taeil had forgotten everything about Woo Jiho. Before he could faint, he heard the ghoul say, "King, I have taken the memory of Woo Jiho from the Prince of Sloth. Just instruct me if we need to kill Woo Jiho next."
Then it vanished.
END OF FLASHBACK
"I-I...remember everything now," Taeil stated as more tears streamed down from his eyes. But this time, it was blood because Taeil wasn't happy. He was in pain. Soon after, Taeil felt anger consume his entire being. He clenched his fist and started emitting a dark aura, scaring the Arcs and the rest of the Demons.
"How could they do such inhuman things to their own kind?!" Taeil finally shouted. He felt betrayed. He trusted the King before and believed that he was the one who gave them life. But now he finally realized that what they thought of him was all wrong. All Taeil wanted now was to see the King dead.
Taeil's dark aura was growing and growing, so his brothers quickly looked at each other.
"Taeil, calm yourself," Hyunseung quickly said as he kneeled down and held Taeil's shoulder.
When Taeil saw Hyunseung, he finally eased himself.
"I'm sorry," Hyunseung suddenly stated, then he continued, "I apologize for arguing with you when we should have been acting like brothers. I didn't know you've been carrying this painful burden. Well, even though I didn't know about it, I shouldn't have acted like an asshole. I hope you forgive me for acting that way. After all, we're all in this together right?"
Taeil finally calmed down and gently held Hyunseung's hand with a smile.
"I hate to burst your bubbles, but a herd of ghouls are running towards us," Seunghyun stated, making everyone look his way.
Everyone saw hundreds of ghouls running towards them. The sight made most of them nervous.
"Shit, everyone, in position. Lay, can you stay here and guard Jiho hyung?" Sunggyu asked, but before Lay could answer, Taeil went in between them and said, "No, I'll do it. I'll stay here and take care of him."
"No, we need you to fight with us," Suho explained. Taeil was one of their strongest brothers. They obviously needed him in battle.
Lay went in front of Taeil and assured him again that his hyung will be alright, "Don't worry Lee Taeil. Help your brothers, I'll stay here and guard him with all I can."
Taeil hesitated but finally agreed, "Alright."
"Let's go," Junhyung commanded when everything was settled, and everyone ran to the field. The Arcs started to summon their weapons, and so did the Demons. Then everyone stood in line as they waited for the ghouls' attack.
"Call my name if ever you get hurt alright?" Jackson stated as he looked at Mark. Mark nervously nodded as a reply. He was actually very scared deep inside because this was the first time they were going to fight these many ghouls.
"Answer me that you will call my name whatever happens!" Jackson now shouted, startling everyone.
Mark finally looked at Jackson and answered him, "I will call you. I promise."
Jackson looked at Mark worriedly. He grabbed Mark and gave him a quick kiss before anything else. Jackson wasn't worried about himself because he knew he could protect himself. But Mark doesn't even have half of Jackson's power so he's more worried about him.
As for Junhyung, all he could do right now was look at Hyunseung who was getting ready for battle. When Hyunseung noticed that Junhyung was staring at him, he quickly grabbed Junhyung's hand and held it tightly.
Minhyuk gulped and wiped the sweat on his forehead. Everyone got ready as they felt the ground shaking.
"They're getting closer. Everyone ready," Sunggyu stated as they saw the ghouls now meters away from them.
Just when they got even closer, the mob of ghouls suddenly stopped, confusing the Demons and the Arcs.
"What's going on?" Sungjae asked, but no one answered.
When everyone was looking confused, the skies suddenly turned red, and the grounds started to rumble. The Arcs were starting to get scared, but for the Demons, this was a common event.
"What's happening?" Seunghyun asked.
Jiyong smirked and looked up at the sky, "Our guardian just arrived."
- END -