Broken • Choi Yeonjun

Wrong

Yeonjun paced his room as he watched Taehyun put Evelyn to sleep using magic. He was slowing her heart down to hopefully slow the decay that was crawling up her stomach.

"What do we do after this? Putting her in a magic-induced coma only slows it down, it's already so close to her heart."

"The only way to stop it now is for her to switch."

Taehyun had found traces of demon magic in the blood that was left in the bottle. Yeonjun and Taehyun were both beating themselves up for not catching on sooner. How could they both overlook the fact the blood was messed with? They were far to trusting of their boss, but they have never had a reason to doubt him. Now, all they had was doubt. What would drive Andromalius to let his son tamper with the blood for Evelyn?

"How are we sure Andromlius won't try something else?"

Taehyun thought over what Yeonjun said. "This may be just Andromalius trying to rush her switching because of the risk of Valefar. If that is his reason, he should have spoken with us, yes. Maybe he just wanted to make sure there was no way for her to back out of it?"

Taehyun finished the spell, his eyes running over Evelyn's face as she was now deep into a magic-induced slumber. His heart clenched as he recalled how close the decay was to her heart now. A few more hours of her being awake, and she would be dead. Anger bubbled up as he kept thinking over the tampered blood. He was stupid for not double-checking.

"I'm going to hell, Andromalius needs to answer me on why he did this." Yeonjun clenched is teeth as he thought over why his boss would risk her dying before they could contain the fragments. It seemed so far-fetched to think of him risking that, but it was even more far-fetched to think he had no idea what his son had done in his palace. Andromalius knew, there was no way he was clueless about this.

"Yeonjun, you need to calm down before you go. It is not a good idea to confront Andromlius without proof of him being involved."

"The state Evelyn is proof enough for me."

Taehyun shook his head, his friend was becoming reckless.

"If you get yourself killed, we all know how Evelyn would handle the news. Just think about that."

Yeonjun ran a hand through his hair as his eyes rested on her peaceful state. If he did get himself killed, she would probably blame herself. She did like to blame herself for everything. Something that was a little annoying, but that was just her.

"Fine, I'll be smart about it."

"Good."

Yeonjun walked over to his bed, bending over and placing a light kiss on her forehead. He could tell by the coolness of her forehead that her heart was beating just enough to keep her alive. He bit his lip as he straightened up and turned away from her. He was going to figure out who was out to kill her, and why. And when he did, he would kill them without an ounce of doubt as to why he would do it. Anyone that was after her, was after him in the end.

~

Yeonjun had told Taehyun he would go about this calmly, but what he said to him, was gone the moment his eyes rested on the doors to Andromalius' palace.

He kicked the door open and stormed in, his hands balled by his sides as he marched past lesser demons.

"Andromlius!" He called out even though he knew his boss was well aware he was here.

"Yeonjun, you know you're my favorite, but that does not mean you can just kick my doors in." Andromalius said as he walked into the main entrance hall.

Yeonjun didn't stop walking until he was right in front of his boss. "Tell me, why would you allow your son to tamper with the blood you gave me for Evelyn?"

Andromalius blinked a few times and pulled his eyebrows down. "What do you mean 'tamper with it'? What is happening to her?"

"She's dying even faster than before! Taehyun had to put her under a sleeping spell that slowed her heart to try and slow the decay reaching her heart."

Yeonjun could instantly feel the shift in the air. Andromalius was pissed, the air said that clearly was the temperature of it dropped.

"You think I would allow Soren to mess with the blood? Risking her dying and letting Apep's powers return to him?"

Yeonjun should calm down and backtrack, but he just couldn't, not when he recalled the fear that was in Evelyn's eyes. He had told her he would be there for her, no matter what the situation.

"How would your son be able to tamper with demon magic in your palace without you knowing?" Yeonjun threw at him, he knew all to well that nothing would slip past his boss, not here.

"Soren is not here. He is in Judecca watching over Valefar. I sent him there a few days ago, wanting to see how close Valefar was to returning to the human realm. Trying to make sure you were all safe while we waited on Evelyn to make her mind up about switching."

Yeonjun was taken aback. If Soren was in Judecca, there was no way for Andromalius to not know what he had done.

"How is he able to go there? He is your blood, you have no power over Judecca." Yeonjun called out the flaw in the story.

"I sent him on the grounds of him betraying me when he hurt Evelyn. He was meant to train her, not abuse her."

Now Yeonjun didn't know what to say, he was so sure Andromalius knew what his son had done, but he didn't.

"I understand why you're so angry, and I'm not mad at you for accusing me. Next time, talk to me and know the whole story before you kick my doors in."

Yeonjun bowed his head a little, he was in the wrong. He was lucky his boss didn't send him to Judecca for simply storming in here. "I apologize, sir."

Andromalius patted his shoulder. "No reason. As I have said before, I know what a soul bond can do to anyone. It clouds their minds, especially when the person you're bound to is dying."

Andromalius pulled his hand away and called a lesser demon over. "I'm going to call my son home, I need to ask him a few questions. Have the chains ready."

"Yes, sir." The demon rushed off after a bow of his head.

"Tell Taehyun to lift the spell, it needs time to wear off so when I go to turn her immortal, there is no risk of it failing. I know this is not how we planned for this to go, but we have reached the end of our grace period. We have to get this done before we lose her and Apep gains his powers back."

Yeonjun took a deep breath in, this was not how this was supposed to go. Evelyn was supposed to be fully ready on her own to make the switch, now they had no choice.

"What do I do to keep the decay from killing her before we return here?"

Andromalius walked over to one of the tables that lined the walls with random artifacts he had collected over the centuries when he visited the human realm. He grabbed up a small heart-shaped vial. Yeonjun didn't know his boss would want to collect something 'cute' like the bottle he had in his hand now. Andromalius was odd, that was something Yeonjun knew.

Andromalius then handed the glass to Yeonjun before slicing his own wrist open with a clawed finger.

"This should be strong enough to stop whatever is going on, at least until she can get here after the spell wears off. Taehyun needs to make sure there is no trace of his magic in her blood before we start this."

"I'll make sure he double checks before we come."