Broken • Choi Yeonjun

Tar

I sit down in the open field of grass, in the middle of the woods.

The sun was high in the sky, its heat felt good on my skin. My mood was heavy though as I leaned my head on Beomgyu's shoulder. We were both sitting a few feet away from Taehyun as he worked away at making sure everything was in order for the ritual.

I felt bad as I watched him work, his brows were scrunched up, his tongue between his teeth as he kept looking from the spell book to the things he had laid out on a blanket.

I knew there was a lot on his shoulders, he was worried if he failed he would kill me. I wanted to let him know a part of me didn't care if I died, I just didn't know if that would ease his worry or not.

~~

"Okay, I think it's ready." Taehyun said as he stood up straight, arching his back a little to ease the tension from being bent over for so long.

His mind was filled with thoughts of how this could all go wrong, his eyes instantly going to Evelyn.

She was standing with Beomgyu's help. If this worked then she would be free of her pain. If it didn't, she would be free of everything, and Rerek would be free from hell.

He couldn't fail.

Evelyn walked over to where Taehyun stood wringing his hands together. She tried to offer him a smile, she wanted to ease his mind, but she didn't know how.

"Just sit next to me, when I pass you the bowel you have to drink it all in one go." He held his hands up with a half grin. "It will taste like crap but, you have to drink it all and keep it down." If you don't, you'll die.

That was unsaid, but everyone in the clearing knew what would happen if one thing got messed up.

Beomgyu, Huening Kai, and Soobin sat a few feet away, they could not be close to them, but they stayed as close as possible just in case.

Yeonjun had not bothered to come at all.

Evelyn sat with her hands in her lap, trying to keep her mind off the pain that took over the lower half of her body. She pulled her eyes away from Taehyun as he started to whisper in a language she couldn't understand, it just sounded like a very long tongue twister to her. She felt that if Taehyun had all eyes on him, he may become anxious, leaving room for error, she didn't want to cause him more stress than she already was.

Her eyes scan the grass field, trying to find anything to distract her from what was going on. She was shocked when she saw Yeonjun standing at the edge of the woods leaning on a tree trunk, arms crossed and face blank as usual.

When he caught her looking, he looked away from her. He didn't know why he even came, he wasn't needed here, none of them really were. The others came as support to their friend, he came because...?

Evelyn rolled her eyes as she pulled her eyes away from Yeonjun. Why show up if he wasn't even going to join them?

It didn't matter to her if he was here or not. His presence wasn't needed, or wanted...

Evelyn's thoughts were cut off as the bowl in front of Taehyun started to boil, its contents turning into a dark brown liquid.

That does not look drinkable.... She thought as Taehyun continued to add many random things to it. A cloud of black smoke coming from the bowl after he added the demon blood they had gotten.

Evelyn held back a cough as the smell hit her nose, it smelled just like a demon. Death, trash, and as Huneing Kai had called it 'hell fire'. The mix was enough to make her stomach churn.

She had to drink that? How was she even going to bring it close to her face?

Far too soon, it was time for that.

Taehyun paused his mumbling to pass her the bowl. Her taking it with sweaty hands, she was not mentally ready to drink this mess. It looked like tar, it did not look like it was meant to enter a human body.

Yeonjun pushed off the tree as he watched Evelyn bring the bowl to her lips. After she drank it, they would all know if she was going to make it through the spell.

Evelyn tipped the bowl up, taking the thick liquid as quickly as she could. It was like drinking body waste.

She gagged a few times, but she kept it in. Slamming the bowl down as she finished every last drop of it.

Taehyun grabbed her hands right away, back to chanting, even faster than before.

The others held their breath as Taehyun and Evelyn were surrounded by a blue light. It was like they had both turned into glow sticks, their skin had turned a dark blue. Taehyun's skin was also covered in black writing that none of them understood, they had seen this a few times when he would have to perform a complicated spell.

They had never seen so many of them before though, he would usually only get them on his arms, but now all his exposed skin was covered in them. Arms, neck, face, and even the little part of his ankles that showed between his pants and socks.

Evelyn felt her body turn numb as Taehyun chanted loudly with his eyes closed tightly. Her eyes were on his face, shocked by the marks that covered his skin. Just as she was taking in the markings covering Taehyun's skin, she felt her eyes grow heavy.

She knew she was meant to fight this feeling, she was supposed to stay awake until this was all over, but it was hard. She felt as if every ounce of her energy was quickly being snatched away from her.

Her breathing turned fast and deep as she fought to keep herself upright, she was begging for this all to come to an end. No matter how she felt about dying earlier, she knew she couldn't give up, no matter how much she wanted to slip under the weight in her brain, she didn't. She knew if she died, then Rerek would be free.

She may not want to live anymore, but she was not going to take the easy way out and leave the world to suffer all because she was weak.

All the others that sat in the clearing looked around quickly as a strong breeze started to swirl around the clearing. They had never seen Taehyun use so much power in one go, they were shocked by the power they could feel in the air whipping around them.

They knew their friend was strong, they had just never felt it so openly before.

Yeonjun could even feel the power in the air from his spot at the edge of the clearing, he felt some pride for his friend. He knew Taehyun was strong. Yeonjun knew he could handle the spell.

He just didn't know if Evelyn could...

Just as soon as Evelyn was sure she was going to fall under the pressure, it all stopped. The wind that had slapped her in the face, Taehyun's chanting, the heaviness of her eyes, the sick feeling in her stomach, the strange blue light that was coming from them, and the pain that had become a norm for her... it all stopped.

Her eyes met Taehyun's as he finally opened his. His eyes going to her bare feet right away.