Pray for the Wicked | ATEEZ

20.

"Uhm- yes?" Wooyoung said, raising his hands in mock surrender as I turned to glare at him, "I thought you'd appreciate the honesty, but I guess not," he quickly added.

"Oh, shut up," Yeosang mumbled, rolling his eyes as the ravenette immediately did as told, but only after mumbling something under his breath followed by "women," and flinching as the blond next to him made a move as if to hit him before lowering his hand again.

"We know it's a crystal," Seonghwa piped up, "Onyx, to be specific."

"Still, that's not giving us a lot to work with," I sighed, trying to imagine where my mother could possibly have hidden it away, "I mean, what would that even look like-?"

"You should know that by now, shouldn't you?" Hongjoong mumbled from his spot next to me, offering me a knowing look as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall behind him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He gestured at my chest with a smirk that made me frown a little as I took a step backwards, not missing the way Yunho's jaw visibly went slack as he glanced at Wooyoung as if the heir to the Court of Lust would be able to offer an explanation.

"You have been wearing that necklace for quite a while, haven't you?" Hongjoong continued, "If it's not because of the stone, should I take it that you're wearing it out of gratitude or affection?"

"What necklace?" Yunho whispered, leaning slightly closer to Wooyung who simply shrugged.

"It's a nice piece of jewelry," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment over the fact that he had noticed, the fact that he had known about it despite the fact that I had made sure to hide it underneath my clothes.

"Don't make me regret wearing it," I huffed, clearing my throat as I turned back to the others, "What I meant was that we don't know the size or state of it which leaves us with barely anything to go on other than the fact that it's black. It could be uncut, smooth, enormous, or, with our luck, minuscule which means that it could be hard to find."

"Still, we'll have to start somewhere," Mingi said, his dark eyes brimming with such optimism that I didn't have the heart to contradict him. Jongho nudged his side which only made the son of Belphegor's smile grow bigger.

"We should split up," the youngest of the group said, auburn hair glowing like copper in the shade and firelight, falling into his face in messy locks that softened his features, made them look kinder, "That way we'll cover more ground."

Before any of us could agree, the sound of footsteps, of voices, echoing down the alleyway made everyone flinch as we fell into silence, awaiting disaster.

Mingi had already stuffed the helmet back over his face by the time they receded and several of us let out breaths of mixed panic and relief.

"Take it off, you moron," Yunho sighed.

"I'll go with Dahlia,"

"I'll go with Dahlia,"

San and Hongjoong both stepped forward at the same time, their voices echoing the same demand only to falter as they sized each other up, dark eyes blazing as if daring the other to oppose

"I'm going alone, actually," I said, shrinking back a little as all eyes suddenly went to me, though I avoided Hongjoong's as I glanced around the group, "We're nine, remember? It doesn't add up and if anyone has to split from the group it should be me-"

"Actually," Hongjoong said, interrupting me as he turned around and pointed a finger at Seonghwa who immediately tensed and straightened himself, "You're going with Yeosang."

He turned to Mingi who was still shaking out his hair after having just pulled the helmet back off, "You're going with Yunho, and you-"

Hongjoong took a step closer to San and jabbed his finger into the son of Satan's chest, "You're going with Wooyoung and Jongho."

"Who put you in charge?" I frowned only to immediately fall silent as he glanced back and focused his attention on me, "Because I'm a big bad demon and none of you could take me in a fight even if you wanted to."

"Now," he clapped his hands together, "If anyone has any complaints or would like to change their partner, now is the time to speak up."

No one did, all seven seemingly knowing better than to oppose the blue-haired demon.

"I thought so. Then we'll see you again at sunset by the stables."

And then all of them were gone, disappearing back out onto the streets of Illenium and putting the golden helmets back on before I got a chance to protest. San held my eyes for a moment longer than the others, but he too was dragged away by Wooyoung at last.

The hostility in Hongjoong's eyes melted away the very second the last of the demons left the two of us alone, turning to me with a look of pride on his face, of expectation, as if he was hoping for some sort of praise.

I looked the son of Lilith up and down with a look of slight distaste in my eyes and scoffed, taken aback by the sheer nerve of the man I know had to spend the rest of the day with.

"I could totally take you in a fight," I said, turning my back to him as I followed the others' example and made my way into the heart of Heaven.