Pray for the Wicked | ATEEZ

03.

"I'm sorry about that," San mumbled as he slipped through the door after the footsteps and voices had receded, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "I didn't mean to push you."

"Oh," I croaked, shaking my head a little, "No, it's- I'm fine."

I took a moment to look around the room in an attempt to distract myself from the fact that, now, I was truly alone with him.

The darkness seeping through the windows was forced back into the corners by the flickering candlelights and dancing flames from the torches along the wall, bathing the space in a golden glow that made me calm down a little.

I risked a glance back at San only for my eyes to widen as I found him already staring at me, quickly averting his eyes as he cleared his throat, "It's just that, uhm- you're the first angel I've ever seen and I'm just a little taken aback," he said almost apologetically.

I was slightly surprised to hear that, suddenly feeling flustered as I looked down as well and nodded a little.

And then the door suddenly flew open and several figures hurried into the room before slamming it shut again, much like San had done before. Except this time, startled by their sudden appearance, I flinched and instinctively reached for the ravenette, clutching the sleeve of his shirt.

San whipped his head toward me at that, staring down at my hand with a bewildered look on his face, the tips of his ears turning pink as the other seven demons all halted, looking at us with mixed looks of surprise and confusion.

I breathed out a sigh of relief only to immediately regret it as the ashy blond, Seonghwa, I remembered, chuckled a little, "Wow, San," he said, "I mean, I would have expected this from Wooyoung but not from you."

Following their eyes, I immediately realized what he meant and quickly pulled back my hand, leaving San's shirt creased and wrinkled as I quickly turned to look elsewhere, my cheeks burning.

Hongjoong said nothing as he simply looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face as the other ravenette took off the bag that had been slung across his shoulders, and poured out a collection of food and plates and silverware onto the floor.

"We brought food," he said, as if the now-scattered meal on the floor hadn't been telling enough.

I felt grateful for the fact that the two demons beside me had chosen to move closer to the others and give me a bit of space in the hastily-made circle where everyone had gathered on the floor.

They were eating as if the situation we had all gotten tangled up in wasn't critical at all, as if none of us had been put at risk by the fact that the portal between the two worlds had been reopened and that an angel was currently sneaking around in Odeion, the heir to Illenium at that, though, of course, they didn't know that.

Hongjoong was eating an apple, teeth digging into the blood-red skin, as I silently watched him, for some reason still finding myself unable to stop.

I swallowed thickly as I watched a couple of droplets of the juice trickle down his arm, a foreign feeling settling at the bottom of my stomach.

The auburn-haired man sitting next to me, looking slightly younger and broader than the rest of the group, carefully pushed a plate of food across the floor toward me. He didn't say anything and I found myself grateful for his silence as I offered him a small smile.

But I couldn't find it in myself to eat any of it. I bit my lip, "Can I please go home?"

The air seemed to turn colder the moment the question left my lips, and I didn't dare look up at any of them as I realized that the answer would undoubtedly be no, that maybe they would never get to see Illenium again.