Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I need help,” Jinu confessed. He teleports in a puff of red smoke when Zoey launches a chair at him, which he dodges, and Mira summons her weapon. 

“How are you even alive?” Rumi asks, too stunned to properly enjoy that he is alive and standing in their home. Although, she does put a hand on Mira to keep her from getting too excited with her weapon.

“I can only guess at that,” Jinu confesses. “When I came to I was back in the demon realm, but Gwi-Ma… he has been reduced to practically nothing. He was the only reason any of us collected souls—”

“Killed people,” Mira drawls.

“Mira, give him a chance?” Rumi pleads.

“As demons we have abilities that are enhanced by souls, but only Gwi-Ma can turn the souls into power to be redistributed. None of us are willing to feed him and have his voice back in our ear, but I worry that restlessness will eventually cause someone to break,” Jinu explains.

“Wouldn’t it take a million years for any of you to do something that stupid?” Zoey asks.

“I want the demons to be safe from his voice for eternity,” Jinu says firmly, his eyes flashing to their demon form at the last word. 

“Yeah so we’ll threaten the idiots to keep them from collecting souls," Mira decides as she crosses her arms.

“Actually, I had something else in mind.”

“No,” Mira says.

“Absolutely not,” Zoey agrees.

“This doesn’t seem like a great idea,” Rumi admits as the five demons stand in their living room in their demon forms, but with pretty (stupidly pretty) faces.

“Asking for help from hunters was stupid even for you Jinu,” Abby says as he leans against the other and flicks his hat with a pointed claw. The motion caused his button down to ride up.

“How are you guys even alive?” Mira asks and avoids looking at his stupid abs. Stupid stupid stupid. Who even likes abs? And what happened to his stupid jacket?

“Your weapons,” Romance begins, disappearing and then reappearing next to Mira to touch the handle of her weapon. He smirks as she launches it at him and he disappears and reappears next to Mystery.

“Guys,” Jinu sighs and shoos Abby’s hand away. “Your weapons don’t kill us, they just send us back to the demon realm, but they deplete our strength. The weakest of us can’t transform or cross the barrier without being given more strength from Gwi-Ma. That type of solitude would drive anyone crazy.”

“Okay, and your point is?” Zoey asks.

“If someone thinks their next encounter with you three is going to result in them not being able to leave then demons might start collecting souls even if it gives Gwi-Ma his power back,” Jinu explains.

“What can we do then?” Rumi asks.

“We want to live on the surface,” Baby says like it’s obvious.

“And!” Jinu begins before the other three begin to protest. “We can help with handling demons,” he explains.

“How?” Rumi asks.

“They like us,” Abby says with a wink.

The three hunters remain silent and Rumi rubs her face as she wraps her brain around what a stupid idea this is.

“Without Gwi-Ma’s voice in their ear, the demons have no reason to collect souls. You guys can let them come hang out on the surface, and we can make sure they don’t try anything stupid,” Jinu explains. 

“What are you guys even gonna do on the surface?” Zoey asks.

“That’s why we’re here,” Romance says. “You three teach us how to live on the surface and then we’ll know how to keep other demons out of trouble.”

“But you guys were doing that before weren’t you?” Zoey asks. “As the Saja Boys?”

“Nah,” Baby says.

“After each performance we had to go back down. Jinu spent the most time up here,” Abby says.

“You guys stay here, and we can talk about it,” Rumi says and drags Zoey and Mira along with her to her room. She shuts the door behind her and looks to the other two. “Well?” She asks, expecting her friends to be opposed to the idea and having to convince them.

“We can always kill them if they act out of line,” Miya says with a smirk.

“Seriously?” Rumi asks.

“They don’t have a reason to collect souls,” Zoey shrugs. “I would wanna come here too after spending forever stuck with Gwi-Ma.”

“Okay,” Rumi nods with a smile. “I guess we should go give them the good news,” she says.

“Yeah, then it is getting late. We should have them leave until tomorrow,” Zoey says, but when they leave the bedroom the five guys have transformed into their completely human forms and are in pajamas and taking over the couch. Baby has his head in Romance’s lap and his feet in Mystery’s, while Jinu and Abby are both sitting next to Mystery.

“What are you guys doing?” Rumi asks.

“Do we get to stay?” Abby asks.

“If not, we'll send Jinu to convince you,” Baby declares with a smirk as Romance gently fixes stray strands of Baby’s hair.

“You guys need to leave for the night and come back in the morning!” Zoey says. “We have very important couch-ing to do until… then.”

“Please?” Mystery asks with a small smile.

“Ugh!” Zoey turns around to be not looking at them. “Mira, tell them!” she says, but Mira is distracted by abs since why is Abby shirtless.

“Rumi?” Mira nudges her.

Rumi sighs, but then looks at Jinu who smiles. “We’ll stay out of trouble, and we could join you guys for the uh…”

“Couch-ing?” Abby suggests with a smirk.

“Couch-ing is our time, sorry,” Rumi says, and is immediately faced with five pouts. “A little help?” Rumi asks only to see that Mira has also turned to not look at them. “Seriously?” Rumi groans. 

Jinu snickers before he stands up. “We’ll come back in the morning, the others will probably want to hear the good news. Come on guys,” he says and then the five vanish.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Mira groans as she and Zoey settle onto the couch where the demons had been.

“I can’t believe he’s alive,” Rumi breathes, but she joins them on the couch where Jinu had been sitting. Still a demon though. She supposes there is no getting rid of their patterns. She looks at her own with a smile and glances out the window at their iridescent honmoon. No cracks and yet the demons can still come. Rumi can’t help but wonder why, but she supposes it is something that they’ll have to learn together. So long as Gwi-Ma isn’t in control of them, she doesn’t think them being able to come is such a bad thing. 

“You said to come back in the morning,” Jinu says.

Rumi supposes she is glad she woke up first. It won’t be that way for long if Baby doesn’t quit burning eggs in their kitchen. “So you guys decided to raid our fridge?” She asks.

“Nah, just him,” Jinu says.

Remi rolls her eyes as she makes her way over, weaving between the demons, who are all on their pretty demon forms, and looking at the pan. “Do you guys even eat?”

“We don’t need to,” Abby says.

“He likes to,” Mystery adds.

“Okay,” Rumi says and takes the pan from him and discards the burnt egg. She puts the pan in the sink before grabbing a clean one and adding butter to it before putting it on the burner and turning the heat down quite a bit. “So,” Rumi begins as the demons watch her. “How old are each of you?” She asks.

“Asking a demon his age? How forward of you,” Romance teases.

“What?” Rumi tenses up and grips the pan tighter before releasing it with a thunk. She gets a bowl and cracks some eggs into it before she begins whisking them. “I wanted to know how much you guys are going to need to be taught,” she says.

“Jinu is the oldest of us,” Abby says as opposed to actually answering. Rumi supposes it might be a sore spot. She dumps the bowl of whisked egg into the heated pan and glances over to Baby who seems to be watching intently.

“And you guys don’t have different names?” Rumi asks.

“We don’t remember them,” Mystery says, “Gwi-Ma took the memory of our names away.”

“Not mine,” Jinu says when Rumi glances over to him. 

“We gave ourselves names when we formed the group,” Abby says.

Rumi nods, even if she thinks they could have chosen better. She supposes they could always choose again. “Wait, so what about before Saja Boys?” She asks.

“What do you mean?” Mystery asks with a tilt of his head.

“What did you call each other before that?” Rumi asks.

“Before Jinu came up with the idea we didn’t do much of anything, we had no reason for names,” Romance explains.

Rumi nods with a hum and has Baby grab her the cheese and chives from the fridge. She shreds some cheese and cuts some chives before adding both to the omelet and beginning to fold it. 

“Are you not able to cross over?” Jinu asks.

“Why would I try?” Rumi says, which is fair. Most demons wouldn’t stay if it wasn’t for Gwi-Ma dragging them back down. “Alright, this is done,” Rumi says and puts it on a plate before handing it to Baby who grins at the sight of it, before his grin falls and he tilts his head.

“Do you have hot sauce? He puts that on everything,” Jinu explains.

“Oh yeah, I think Mira does,” Rumi says and goes back to the fridge before she finds it and puts some on the omelet for him.

“Thanks,” Baby says before he goes to take a seat at the breakfast bar. The other demons watch him eat with what Rumi quickly realizes is envy.

“If you guys wanted some you should have said so,” Rumi says as she begins to clean up.

“What are you eating for breakfast?” Jinu asks as he swoops in to do dishes for her.

“Zoey, Mira, and I are going out for breakfast,” Rumi says.

“Can we come?” Abby asks with a grin. 

“We can’t have breakfast with you guys! It’ll be online everywhere!” Rumi says as if it is obvious, but the five guys either don’t understand or don’t care. “Unless you guys can choose different forms? Can you guys turn into girls?”

“Do you guys know anything about demons?” Abby asks.

“What he means is,” Jinu begins, “Transformation magic isn’t our specialty, and because of how some of us were sent back before the honmoon was sealed, some of us wouldn’t be able to hold it for very long.”

“Right,” Rumi sighs. “Well, I have to go get ready and I can ask the girls about this, but I don’t think they’ll go for it.”

“Why don’t you let us ask?” Romance suggests.

“Whatever,” Rumi says as she walks off and goes back into her room.

Two weeks into their three month hiatus and they have five demons in their house who want to live on the surface. Celine would disapprove, but Rumi hasn’t seen her since… Rumi hasn’t seen her. There is no rule book for this, and any rules that existed before were destroyed with the old honmoon and are being rewritten on pages lined with iridescent ink. 

It is exciting, but also terrifying. They have to keep demons from making the illogical and stupid decision to bring souls to Gwi-Ma, but after an eternity of his voice in their ears, it doesn’t seem like the most far fetched thing in the world. It is possible some may prefer that voice if the only alternative is silence.

“We should get to know each other,” Zoey explains her reasoning as the large group walks to a breakfast joint.

“Bobby is so gonna scold us later,” Mira says.

“Do we know the same Bobby? He’ll be sad we didn’t invite him to breakfast, but he is spending our hiatus at that no-phone spa,” Rumi says.

“Anyway, since you guys are like a billion years old I chose this place because they do modern and traditional breakfast!” Zoey explains.

“A billion years old?” Abby asks. All the demons in their human forms, fitted with modern clothes.

“Well you guys won’t say how old you are, so we can only assume,” Rumi shrugs.

Inside the restaurant they are sat at a table and Rumi sits next to Jinu with Baby sitting across from them. Zoey ends up next to him with Mystery beside her. Beside Mystery is Romance and across from Romance is Mira with Abbey sitting between her and Jinu. 

They are each given menus by a waitress who seems to be having an internal freak out about the two bands sitting in the restaurant, but is too timid to say anything.

“We should see if she wants to take a picture after!” Zoey says.

“Good idea, I think she might combust,” Mira says with a smirk.

“She did look ill,” Romance says.

“She’s just excited, you guys are pretty popular even after disappearing for two weeks,” Rumi explains.

None of them seem to know how to reply to that, although Rumi thinks it makes them a little flustered based on how some of their faces look a little warm.

“Oh! We can totally talk about songs now! Which one of you guys is the lyricist?” Zoey squeals.

“And the choreographer?” Mira adds.

“Baby and I did the writing,” Jinu says, “Although he does most of the back track and music with Mystery.”

“Otherwise it would sound old,” Mystery says as Baby nods very seriously.

“And Romance and I do choreo,” Abby sends a grin to Mira as Romance smiles in a far too friendly manner.

“It took forever for Jinu to learn it,” Romance adds.

“Hey!” Jinu protests.

“It did,” Baby insists as he flips through the menu. “They have kimchi,” he comments idly.

“Well you guys can order what you want, it’s on us,” Rumi says.

“What do you three usually get?” Jinu asks.

“Pancakes!” Zoey cheers. 

“As many kimbap as I can stuff my face with,” Mira says, determined.

“We usually get a bunch of things to share,” Rumi explains. Everyone else seems pretty on board with that, although Baby seems adamant about getting an extra side kimchi for himself (and then stealing the other sides when their food is brought to them).

Although the other four seem a little iffy about eating.

“We ordered all this food, it is rude not to eat,” Rumi says.

“Here, try this and this and this and this and this and this and…” Zoey trails off as she loads food onto Mystery’s plate. “And,” she says as he looks over to Baby. “You should eat something besides kimchi,” she says.

“If they have hot sauce here then sure,” Baby shrugs. 

“Just ask them for it,” Mira comments.

“Jinu, can you ask?” Baby requests.

“Seriously?” Jinu sighs. “Yeah, when they come around I will,” he agrees.

“Why can’t he?” Mira asks.

“He’s shy,” Romance explains.

“Had to hype himself up when we performed,” Abby agrees.

Baby flips them off as he shovels kimchi into his mouth. The action makes the two pink haired guys laugh and Jinu smiles at their antics.

“Well there is no time to learn like the present,” Zoey decides. 

“That is the point of this,” Rumi agrees. “So you should try asking for your own.”

Baby sighs and swallows his kimchi. When the waitress comes back around to get them more water and tea, all Baby says is “hot sauce”.

“Would you like some?” The waitress asks and Baby nods.

“Please,” Rumi adds, unable to help herself as she flashes an apologetic smile to the waitress who leaves. “What was that?”

“I don’t know!” Baby says as his face burns red and the patterns creep up his neck.

“Hey, it’s cool! It’s about learning, don’t be embarrassed,” Zoey says and sets a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but his eyes flash to his demon form and he pushes himself up.

“Let’s go to the bathroom,” Mystery decides and gets up to take him there as Baby keeps a hand on his neck to cover his patterns.

“Will he be alright?” Zoey asks.

“It’ll probably keep him awake at night,” Abby says. “Metaphorically! We don’t sleep,” Abby elaborates when the girls look at him, as if that makes it any better.

“That’s so weird! He is crazy talented on stage,” Zoey says.

“He gets into a different head space for that, normally he is uncomfortable talking to people,” Jinu explains.

“He talks to us just fine,” Rumi says.

Jinu shrugs with an easy smile. “I’m not sure how his head works,” he says. “Although we should eat, he’ll probably be more embarrassed if we wait for him.”

When they get back, the hot sauce is on the table and Baby has successfully kept all of his demon parts under wraps.

“I thanked her for you,” Zoey assures. “And she does want to take a picture with us afterwards,” she adds.

“Seriously?” Baby asks.

“Yeah, you’re her favourite apparently,” Jinu shrugs.

Baby glares at the hot sauce before he uses it on the food Zoey had plated for him.

After breakfast is done and paid for, they take pictures with the waitress and any other wait staff that want one since it isn’t very busy in the restaurant.

“Sorry about earlier, I have a hard time talking to people sometimes,” Baby apologizes with this overly friendly smile and gives her a slight bow.

“Oh it’s okay! I get it!” The waitress insists, flustered. “Could we get a picture together?”

“I’d love that!” Baby grins and tilts his head, his hair bouncing slightly as he hands Jinu the phone to get their picture together.

“How?” Rumi breathes as Zoey and Mira stare at him being all bubbly and friendly.

“He rehearsed it in his head, that’s why he didn’t talk for the rest of breakfast,” Mystery explains.

“Ah,” Zoey sighs but smiles anyway.

They make their way out and Baby’s bubbly deminur drops almost instantly as they make the walk back home. He seems more than ready to not socialize for the rest of the trip, which makes it a pain when they seem to constantly run into fans, but what else is to be expected by them walking.

“Couldn’t we have taken a car?” Baby asks after the fourth fan interaction.

“We are on hiatus, but we still wanna see our fans!” Zoey says.

“It’s important to keep the hanmoon strong,” Rumi adds.

“Can’t you guys teleport? You could head back if you wanted,” Mira mentions.

“Whatever,” Baby grumbles.

“You’re chatty today for someone who doesn’t want to socialize,” Jinu mentions and pokes his cheek even if he almost loses a finger to Baby’s teeth in the process.

“Besides, she is right,” Romance says. “You could stay down below if you don’t want to be out.”

“He just likes to complain,” Mystery says.

Baby rolls his eyes but otherwise stays quiet and doesn’t complain much aside from the occasional sighs until they get—

“This isn’t the house,” Baby says. If that skyscraper could even be called a house. 

“We’re just picking up a few things,” Mira says as they get to a high end boutique.

“Don’t you guys have people to do this kind of thing?” Abby asks even if he looks amused.

“But if we get other people to do this then we can’t window shop and convince Rumi to try on a million things,” Zoey explains.

“We gotta make up for lost time,” Mira agrees.

“Do we get to choose outfits for her?” Abby asks as the demons smirk.

“Well it would have been a yes until you guys did that,” Rumi rolls her eyes.

“What did we do?” Mystery asks.

“The whole demon eye thing and the creepy smirks,” Mira says as they all head into the store anyway. 

“Go to the men’s side,” Zoey shoos them away before they drag Rumi off into the store.

Abby groans, but Jinu drags him to the men’s side so they can all look around even if they don’t have money and don’t really need clothes. At the very least it can give them ideas for what to wear when they transform.

For a moment none of them actually look around, they’re all just waiting for the hunters to be done, but then Romance finds this white silk button up with gold embroidering.

“That must be actual gold,” Romance decides when he sees the price tag.

“You can just transform into it later,” Abby says dismissively.

“Yeah, but I never get the details right on these kinds of things,” Romance sighs. 

“We could ask one of them to take a picture with their phone,” Mystery mentions. 

“I hope being up here doesn’t mean we have to learn how to use those things,” Jinu decides.

“You would be helpless,” Abby agrees with a smirk as he looks at some button ups with patterns and Mystery pokes around some of the jackets.

“Probably,” Jinu agrees.

They get bored of poking around fairly quickly and end up waiting an eternity for the hunters to be done shopping. When they are done, they come to the front with one bag. 

“Seriously? We thought you guys were buying the entire store,” Abby says.

“Oh Romance,” Mystery reminds.

“Right,” Romance nods. “I was wondering if one of you would take a picture of a top for me.”

“Yeah sure,” Mira shrugs and the two head off.

“We could buy it,” Zoey mentions. “We really should have had you guys try on outfits.”

“Next time,” Rumi decides very seriously.

“I don’t think we would ever leave,” Abby says as Mira and Romance make their way back.

“Thanks Mira,” Romance smiles.

“Whatever,” Mira rolls her eyes, her face warm. 

“Are we going back now?” Baby asks.

“Yep!” Zoey grins. 

“We gotta work on a new song,” Rumi explains as the group begins to head back.

“We want to release an album once our hiatus is done,” Mira adds.

“You guys could work on a new single,” Zoey mentions.

“Might keep you guys from being bored,” Rumi agrees.

“What about your honmoon? I don’t think it likes our singing,” Abby says.

“We don’t know how this one will react, it’s new,” Rumi says and her patterns seem to sparkle with the honmoon itself.

“I guess if those two feel like writing something we could,” Abby grumbles and looks away from Rumi.

“You guys should, your singing is so good!” Zoey says.

“We do have those verses we took out from Your Idol,” Jinu mentions to Baby.

“I didn’t realize you wanted to learn more choreo,” Baby scoffs.

“I did not,” Jinu agrees.

“Yeah and because of that we got fewer lines,” Romance nods to Mystery, both not thrilled about having fewer lines. 

“Could we hear it?” Rumi asks. She doesn’t know about rereleasing the song, but they seem to enjoy singing and she thinks that can’t possibly be a bad thing.

“Sure?” Jinu says as he looks at the other guys who seem on board with it.

“No weird demon magic, I actually want to hear it this time,” Zoey says.

“No promises,” Abby grins.

“He’s kidding,” Mystery says.

In the elevator the guys learn that the hunters only live on a couple of the floors and that they have a floor dedicated to writing and recording music and another dedicated to practicing choreography. Zoey explains the layout of the building to them as they head to the floor for recording.

“The acoustics are good there,” Rumi explains.

“And we gotta do some writing after,” Zoey grins. 

“And you’re good to do this?” Jinu asks Baby.

“Yeah, it isn’t like we’re actually performing,” he says.

They head to what seems to be a writing studio and the girls sit on the couch. “Dazzle us,” Rumi grins.

“Acapella?” Romance asks.

“Do you guys have a uh…” Mystery trails off.

“Drum machine?” Zoey suggests and gets up to make sure it is plugged in and turns it on for Mystery to use. He messes around with it and Zoey smiles at the way he perks up as he learns to use it. Zoey sits back down as Mystery begins to mimic the backing music they had when they originally performed, and then Jinu and Abbey begin to sing.

The girls sit and listen as they go through the song, and the honmoon becomes visible just as the demons’ patterns reappear on their skin. 

“Don’t let it show keep it all inside, the pain and the shame keep it outta sight,” Mystery sings as he looks at the patterns running along his fingers. 

“Your obsession feeds our connection. 이 순간 give me all your attention,” Romance continues. 

“You know I’m the only one who’ll love your sins…” Jinu stops as the honmoon seems to glow brighter, illuminating the otherwise dimly lit room. Mystery turns off the drum machine.

“That was the only different part anyway,” Mystery says as the honmoon fades and the demons force their patterns to disappear.

“What about you guys?” Jinu says.

“Uh, what about us?” Rumi asks. The demons move on so quickly and avoid giving the hunters a chance to even think about why the honmoon did that and if it is good or bad. 

“You three gonna sing us that song you wrote about us?” Baby asks with a smirk as he holds up his hands to make a heart.

“What song?” Rumi scoffs.

“So sweet, so easy on the eyes,” Romance begins.

“But hideous on the inside,” Abby continues.

“Whole life spreading lies, but you can’t hide, baby, nice try,” Romance sings.

“I’m ‘bout to switch up these vibes, I finally opened my eyes. It’s time to kick you straight back into the night,” Baby sings with a grin.

“Yeah we’re not doing that song anymore,” Rumi says, before they can continue “How did you guys even get the lyrics?” She asks.

“Tiger,” Jinu shrugs, but has the decency to look guilty about it. 

“That song is badass,” Baby decides.

“It’s hateful,” Rumi says as she looks at her own patterns. “And I never want to perform that song on stage again if I can help it,” she decides.

“I’m…” Jinu trails off.

“Were you guys actually fighting that night?” Rumi asks.

“Something like that,” Mystery says.

“This one was getting a scolding from Gwi-Ma,” Abby nudges Jinu.

Jinu nudges him back, “We all kinda were.” 

“Why?” Mira asks.

“We were having too much fun, it isn’t eternal suffering with Gwi-Ma if we aren’t suffering,” Romance explains.

“Then he turned the voices up, we cut that verse and booked a concert,” Baby says with a dismissive wave. 

“I’m just glad it’s finally quiet,” Mystery nods.

“I feel like I could actually sleep and I haven’t slept since before this,” Romance agrees.

“You guys didn’t sleep?” Rumi asks.

“No, and there isn’t really a place to sleep down below,” Jinu says.

“Well no wonder demons are in such bad moods all the time!” Mira says and Zoey nods.

“You five should seriously go get some sleep up in the penthouse,” Zoey orders.

“It isn’t something we actually need,” Jinu assures.

“That isn’t as assuring as you think it is,” Rumi teases. “You guys are as free as you’ll ever be, right? That means you're free to sleep and the three of us will wish you good dreams.”

Jinu’s face flushes, as do most of the other guys.

“You three seriously want us to go sleep?” Abby asks.

“Go sleep or go couch, whatever gets you guys to relax,” Zoey decides.

“You guys are worse at it then Rumi,” Mira agrees. “Also, we’re going to the bath house tonight and unless you guys are going to the men’s you gotta find something else to do.”

“But worry about that later, there are guest rooms. Make yourselves at home,” Rumi says.

“Uh, sure,” Jinu says when the others are looking at him. Then they disappear into a puff of smoke.

“Hopefully they sleep,” Mira says.

“Hopefully,” Rumi agrees.

Chapter Text

“Okay,” Jinu says after walking around the place and all of them are back in their demon forms. “I only found two guest rooms. So we can do three and two or two and two and one person on the couch?” He suggests.

“This place is massive, how do they only have two?” Abby asks.

“Maybe they have another floor of guest rooms,” Romance teases. “Don’t pout about it, why don’t you two share one bed and the three of us can share another?” Romance suggests and nods to Baby and Mystery.

“You’re volunteering to be three in a bed?” Mystery asks.

“Or one of us can take the couch,” Jinu reminds.

Turns out, the group of demons aren’t the most sacrificial group and they end up putting names into a cup and drawing names. Abby gets the couch, Jinu and Baby end up in one room, and Mystery and Romance are in the other.

Apparently being tired is one thing, but actually sleeping is a completely different problem. When the hunters come back Abby is still awake on the couch and raises his hand in a wave so they know he isn’t asleep.

“You’re on the couch?” Rumi asks.

“Yeah, you guys only have two guest rooms?” Abby asks.

“We have more, but that’s our fault for not mentioning it,” Rumi decides.

“You didn’t sleep at all?” Mira asks as she leans over the back of the couch to look at him and her hair falls down like a waterfall.

“No,” Abby says. “How did the song writing go?”

“It didn’t,” Zoey groans. “But we’ll get there,” she says, determined.

“What did you guys do?” Rumi asks while walking to the kitchen to make some tea.

“Argued about who would sleep where and then drew names out of a cup to decide,” Abby says.

“That was hours ago, you’ve been laying here awake for hours?” Mira asks.

“Yeah, I can appreciate the silence that way,” Abby says with an easy grin and stretches his arms above his head.

Mira nods before she quickly turns and heads towards the kitchen for tea with Rumi and Zoey.

“I think so many of our songs have been about fighting demons that my notebooks are becoming useless,” Zoey groans as she lays her head on the table.

“They aren’t useless,” Rumi promises.

“You guys really aren’t going to sing about hunting demons anymore?” Abby asks as he appears beside the table.

“Sends the wrong message doesn’t it?” Zoey asks as she pours them each some tea.

“I guess,” Abby says and looks at the cup of liquid in the fourth cup that is clearly meant for him. 

“Do the rest of you guys know how Jinu is alive?” Rumi asks after Zoey sets the cup in front of him.

“Not a clue, we didn’t think we would see him again, so it was hard to be mad at him when he came back,” Abby says.

“Mad at him?” Rumi asks.

“We’re demons, self sacrifice isn’t exactly our thing. If he was going to do something stupid like that he could have at least said bye to us,” Abby decides.

“You care about him,” Rumi realizes with a small smile. 

“What?” Abby scoffs as his face warms. “No, certainly not. I was just annoyed that Baby was being… a baby about it,” he decides.

“Sure,” Mira says. 

“I think you guys should just go back to ogling me,” Abby decides as he drinks some of his tea.

“We did not ogle you!” Mira and Zoey insist.

“Yeah, of course not,” Abby smirks, clearly happy that the conversation has shifted back towards something he is more comfortable with.

“At least you have the decency to wear a shirt when you’re trying to sleep instead of strutting around our place half naked,” Zoey decides with a huff.

“How does that work anyway, the clothing,” Rumi asks.

“Transformation magic,” Abby shrugs.

“And is this what you guys actually look like? Most of the demons we have fought are…”

“Ugly?” Abby fills in for Zoey. He grins when she begins to apologize and runs a hand through his hair. “A hunter apologizing to a demon. Weird world. Romance, Baby, and Mystery use the most transformation magic,” he relents.

“On what?” Zoey asks, intrigued.

“Don’t act like we are making ourselves look completely different,” Romance says as he appears next to Abby in his yellow button up and jeans. While Abby makes no effort to make his skin and hands look human, Romance makes that effort.

“How was sleeping?” Abby asks as he drapes an arm over Romance’s shoulders once he is sitting.

“Fine,” Romance decides.

“Did you sleep at all?” Abby asks.

“No, apparently Mystery snores,” Romance says and leans into Abby.

“So you just watched him sleep? Adorable,” Abby says and puts a hand around his waist as if that is normal. Which… it is, but the girls honestly thought all the touching was just apart of their characters.

“Better than staring at the ceiling," Romance replies. The two continue making jabs at each other until Rumi shoves a cup of tea into Romance’s hands. 

“Less talking, more tea enjoying,” Rumi decides.

“Thanks,” Romance says with a small nod. 

“Oh yeah,” Mira opens up her photos to show Romance the picture of the top he likes and Romance seems to study it for a while before a bit of red smoke covers him and his shirt changes to a white button up with the gold embroidery on the cuffs. 

“So what do you think?” Romance asks as he looks at Mira.

“It’s fine,” Mira decides. “But you should learn to button your shirts up,” she decides.

“Both of you should learn to wear proper fitted clothing,” Zoey agrees as she nods.

The two continue nodding in agreement until Abby and Romance both crack a smile and, after a poof of red smoke, they are left in oversized gray hoodies and baggy jeans.

“Better?” Abby asks.

“You could focus on our pretty faces as opposed to objectifying us,” Romance says.

“Objectifying!” Mira scoffs as Zoey groans and they both begin to insist that the two aren’t even that attractive, and are, in fact, just as ugly as any other demon they have fought.

Rumi smiles as she watches it play out. She was once terrified to let her friends see her patterns, and now the two are bickering with demons that they had breakfast with.

“We’ll write a song about it,” Zoey finishes.

“Write a song about what?” Mystery asks as he and the other two make their way over. 

“You guys are loud,” Baby grumbles.

“About how the five of us are ugly,” Romance explains.

“Are you blind? We’re gorgeous,” Jinu says.

“Real modest,” Rumi says.

“My face is one of my best qualities,” Jinu points his chin down to an angle that looks unfairly good and grins. 

“So if you guys struggled with song writing today, you might be getting yourselves into trouble by trying to write about how ugly we are,” Abby decides.

“You can’t comment on my writer's block when you guys have only had two songs,” Zoey decides and crosses her arms.

“Yeah and Soda Pop would have tanked if Baby hadn’t helped Jinu out,” Mystery admits.

“He’s never even had pop before,” Baby comments.

“I feel like I am—” Jinu pauses and looks over when the tiger and bird come through a portal in the ground.

Jinu makes his way over and runs a hand through the overgrown cat’s fur. The tiger opens his mouth and Jinu takes a card off of his tongue. He unfolds it to read it as he scratches beneath the tiger’s chin with his free hand.

“We should get going, thank you for having us for breakfast,” Jinu says politely.

“Is there something going on?” Rumi asks. The honmoon hasn’t acted up, but it doesn’t change when these five come to the surface either. In fact, Rumi doesn’t think it ever did.

“Nothing serious,” Jinu says as the five transform into their demon forms, accompanied with their outfits. “Enjoy your evening,” Jinu adds.

“Sure, but when you guys do get a chance to come back, I’d like an explanation on what’s going on down there,” Rumi decides.

“True, as demon hunters we are embarrassingly unaware of how demons work,” Mira decides.

“And we can show you guys more human stuff,” Zoey cheers.

“We were all human once,” Jinu mentions since the others seem a little surprised that the hunters want them to come back. “Send a message if you need anything,” Jinu decides.

They disappear, but there is no tear in the honmoon, and the tiger and bird stay behind.

“I’m gonna write down our questions so they can’t dodge them,” Zoey decides.

“Good idea,” Rumi nods.

“I think your boyfriend is in charge down there,” Mira mentions.

“He is not my boyfriend!”

***

“So there is no way to be rid of him completely,” Jinu decides.

The underworld has looked different since the honmoon changed. Jinu doesn’t believe the lot of them deserve comfort, but when he woke up here again the place had changed. Before it had been a damp cold pit with a stage that held Gwi-Ma’s bonfire. Now, and nobody seemed to be able to coherently explain what happened that changed everything, there was light. Proper light. Jinu had never noticed before how Gwi-Ma’s flame never generated much light at all.

“Upon a stage that once seemed so bright, is a demon king who has become the smallest light. A flame so weak and a voice so small, surrounded by demons that the king can’t call,” Jinu sings to the stone lantern that holds what is left of Gwi-Ma. 

“We tried anything we could think of,” a demon tells Jinu.

“It’s alright,” Jinu assures. “Is this why we were called back?” he asks.

“He spoke,” another demon mentions.

“What did he say?” Abby asks.

“He called for Jinu.”

Jinu kneels down in front of the lantern. “Well you have my attention.”

He stares at the flame as opposed to the rest of the underworld. The stone of the small stage is clean and at the bottom of the stage is a stone path that leads to the gate. There are pools of hot water that seem to emit their own light, and floor, which had formerly been entirely ashy stone and dirt, was now smooth heavy rock that formed neat rows that the weight of demons couldn’t seem to disturb. It was similar to a zen garden, the trickling of water and the islands of grass and flowers that gave off a colourful glow, made this hell seem tolerable.

The flame stays silent and Jinu stands back up.

“Nobody else has attempted to leave?” Jinu asks. He, and his friends, follow the demon down the steps of the stage.

“No, everyone is mostly content to wait for your go ahead.”

“Mostly?” Jinu asks.

“Those that were defeated by the hunters shortly before Gwi-Ma was defeated are frustrated they don’t have the option of leaving.”

“The only thing that could give them back that option, will also return Gwi-Ma’s voice to our heads,” Jinu explains.

“Jinu you gotta tell them that, they’ll listen to you,” Mystery says.

“Not sure why,” Jinu says as he crosses through stone rivets and walks past a pool to an island of grass that he steps onto and kneels down to touch with his hand. The demon giving the update had stopped following them, and Jinu is thankful for that. The grass feels real, yet he half suspects this, and everything else, to be an illusion. He is half sure that he is dead and all of this will fade into nothingness.

“You survived Gwi-Ma’s rage. That is reason enough to listen to you,” Abby says. 

“And whatever happened made this place quite beautiful,” Romance adds.

“He doesn’t think we deserve any of this,” Mystery says as he sits on the grass.

“Probably not,” Baby shrugs and sits next to Mystery. He picks a piece of grass and toys with it between his fingers.

“We’re demons. We are supposed to be damned for eternity, it is what we deserve,” Jinu says. He takes off his hat and looks at it as if it will give him answers. 

“Is it?” Romance asks.

“If you don’t think it is, then tell us what you did,” Jinu insists as he looks at Romance who is standing with Abby.

“You know we don’t talk about it. We all gave into Gwi-Ma’s temptation, what is the point in comparing who is the worst person?” Abby asks when Romance stays quiet.

“I don’t know,” Jinu shrugs, deflating a little. 

“You should write something,” Mystery says. “I think that voice of yours is why everyone listens to you.”

Jinu nods slightly. It would make sense. His voice was enhanced by Gwi-Ma. Now, as they try to move past talking about what horrid thing they each did that landed them here, Jinu has to try and make sure he doesn’t become a new voice of shame. 

“And we could tell Zoey that writing something isn’t that hard,” Baby adds, smirking.

“Ugh, I wonder if our pools are anything like the bath house they’re going to,” Romance thinks out loud as he sits beside Jinu. “Would have been nice to feel clean.”

“They are separated by sex,” Jinu reminds.

“We would have used the men’s,” Abby says and sits on a stone that has moss growing over it. “Although bothering them would be so much fun,” Abby decides.

Jinu rolls his eyes and lays down and sets his hat on his chest as he looks up at the nothingness that spans above them. “Demons are beasts among man—”

“But now we are free from the game plan. The king’s voice has been shut down, but Jinu is both a demon and a clown.” Baby finishes and grins at the look Jinu gives him.

“Might need to be work shopped,” Jinu says, but he can’t help but smile.

“Because everything you sing is pure poetry, right?” Baby’s voice is dripping with sarcasm.

“Of course,” Jinu hums and closes his eyes. 

“You still have to go talk to the other demons,” Mystery reminds.

“Mhm, I will. They should all try this sleeping thing again. It might solve a lot of problems,” Jinu decides. “I can’t believe any of them would want to ruin this silence.”

“Some say being stupid is worse than being evil,” Romance mentions.

“I believe it,” Jinu nods.

Chapter Text

It takes two weeks for them to manage a trip back to the surface, and if it wasn’t for the tiger, that Mira denied loving but absolutely loved, and the bird, the hunters could have looked past the entire visit as a weird hallucination.

“I’m grabbing the question book!” Zoey announces when they enter the living room after finishing a writing session and seeing the five demons hanging around. 

“It’s been a bit,” Mira mentions.

“You missed us?” Romance asks and blows them a kiss. Mira dodges the floating heart as Zoey runs off to get her notebook.

“What is a question book?” Jinu asks.

“We wrote down all the questions we have,” Rumi shrugs.

“We probably won’t have good answers,” Jinu says.

“That’s fine. We want to know what exactly is different about our honmoon compared to the old one,” Rumi says.

They settle in the living room, with a number of throw blankets and pillows having been added to make the space more comfy for everyone.

“Okay,” Zoey cheers as she sits with Mira and Rumi. “What are the different types of demons?”

“Shouldn’t you guys know that?” Abby asks.

“Well we know them as water demons, regular demons, whatever you guys are, the horde, and Rumi,” Zoey explains and nudges Rumi who nudges her back with a grin.

“Well the horde demons are a direct extension of Gwi-Ma so if he doesn’t have power then they don’t exist,” Jinu explains.

“Water demons and regular demons are both the same thing,” Abby adds.

“Which is?” Rumi prompts when Abby attempts to stretch and be distracting by showing off his abs.

“A large portion of souls were turned into them, they’re all called Dokkaebi. They aren’t very smart, but without orders they are harmless,” Jinu says.

“And they are the best at using most demon magic,” Abby adds. 

Zoey takes notes dilligently, even when Mystery attempts to distract her by saying she looks cute taking notes.

“And you guys?” Mira asks.

They seem uncomfortable, but Rumi has already pieced together what they are. “All other demons are created by or are extensions of Gwi-Ma, but you guys are cursed souls. You still have your original soul and were human once.”

“Yeah,” Mystery says.

“So we’re smarter, stronger, and look the most human,” Jinu explains.

“And you have to make a deal with Gwi-Ma to become this?” Mira asks.

“Yep,” Abby says, shortly; his patterns glowing faintly to show is anger.

“We don’t talk about what we did,” Jinu says and sets a hand on Abby’s shoulder. 

“He tells us that this is what we’ll end up as when he grants our wish, but as a human it feels worth it. Then he makes sure that we remember where our greed got us and what it did to those we were supposed to love,” Romance says and corrects stray strands of Baby’s hair to keep from having to make eye contact.

“And we thought you guys just didn’t feel anything,” Mira says.

“That felt like the better option most days,” Mystery says.

“Most days?” Mira asks.

“Well he isn’t in our heads anymore. The whole place looks different,” Romance says.

“It’s kinda nice,” Mystery nods.

“And Jinu is basically in charge,” Baby adds. 

“I spent so much time trying to have my memories erased, and running from my shame, but I’m trying to find an alternative. The cursed souls… some of us, including myself sometimes, think we should be damned for eternity, but that doesn’t do anything for any of us. It just makes us want his voice back, which is foolish,” Jinu explains, but he says it like he is reminding himself.

“Damn right it is,” Abby grumbles.

“Ideally, if I am in charge,” Jinu rolls his eyes at the very idea. “I just think we should be atoning.”

“And I think you nearly got yourself killed and we don’t know how you survived, but the two of you are the reason Gwi-Ma isn’t in our heads,” Baby says, glancing between Rumi and Jinu as he jabs at his own temple. “You… you’ve atoned for whatever it is you did.”

“Hardly,” Jinu says.

“Seriously?” Abby asks.

“‘In 400 years you’ve never done a single thing that didn’t serve yourself’ how did throwing yourself in front of Gwi-Ma serve you ?” Mystery asks.

Jinu shrugs and his patterns glow faintly, he looks like he is remembering something.

“Why don’t we take a break from questions?” Rumi suggests.

“You demons really are an emotional bunch,” Mira says as her way of agreeing.

“I’ll make tea!” Zoey decides and sets her notebook down before taking off. Baby grabs it before Mira can manage to get her hands on it and looks through the questions.

“Some of these are personal,” Romance says as he reads over Baby’s shoulder.

“We wanna get to know you guys!” Zoey calls.

“So if you guys have questions for us you should ask them,” Mira adds.

“I could listen to you girls talk about yourselves all day,” Abby says with a wink.

“No floating hearts!” Mira shouts and hits the stupid thing away.

“Why are your patterns different?” Mystery asks Rumi.

“I think it’s because I accepted them,” Rumi says. “They’re apart of me, but they aren’t all of me.”

“Hm,” Mystery hums in thought. “And you two are fine with it?” He asks Mira since Zoey is still gone.

“It took a bit, and she kept it from us, but she is still our Rumi. We were sorry that she felt she couldn’t share them with us,” Mira says and takes Rumi’s hand to hold.

“Thanks Mira,” Rumi says.

“Okay! Tea is done,” Zoey says as she brings the tray with the pot and cups over and sets it on the ottoman. “Do you guys want to do our tea ritual with us?”

“Can it be called a ritual if we only started a month ago?” Rumi asks.

“I’ll do anything with you ladies,” Abby comments.

“What is it?” Jinu asks as he catches a floating heart and tosses it away.

“Instead of one person serving tea, we pour tea for each other,” Zoey explains.

“It was Zoey’s idea,” Rumi adds as she pours Zoey’s tea. Zoey pours Mira’s and Mira pours Rumi’s and they each thank the person pouring their tea.

“Makes the tea taste better,” Zoey insists.

“And when we say thanks we aren’t just saying thanks for the tea, it is more like an…”

“I appreciate you and love you and am reminding you that you’re fucking awesome,” Mira finishes Rumi’s thought.

“Yeah! I love it,” Zoey says.

Mira pushes the tray across the ottoman over to the guys who look at the tray as if it is a hanmoon weapon and not a tea pot and five ceramic cups.

“You guys do like each other, right?” Mira asks with a smirk.

“W-well uh um yeah,” Mystery stutters through. For a while, none of them dare to move and touch the pot, and then Abby, with a sigh, finally sets one of the cups to the side and begins to pour tea into it. He fills it and sets the pot down carefully before lifting the cup and offering it to Romance.

“Thanks,” Romance says as he looks down at the liquid. He doesn’t drink it right away and instead pours another cup full of tea before offering it to Mystery who thanks him. Mystery fills one for Baby who fills one for Jinu who fills one for Abby, and only after they are filled and thanked do they begin to drink the tea.

“Demons are self serving,” Mystery mutters to himself before smiling slightly. “Thanks for sharing that with us, Zoey,” Mystery says.

“No problem!” Zoey squeaks out as her face goes red.

“Have you guys known each other a long time?” Rumi asks.

“Yes?” Jinu says.

“We have known of each other, we weren’t close until Jinu wanted to put together his band,” Abby explains.

“What did you guys do before that?” Mira asks.

“Whatever Gwi-Ma wanted us to do,” Abby says, purposefully vague.

“Down there the option was either living in silence and hoping he forgot you existed, or doing what he ordered you to do,” Mystery explains.

“So why did you guys agree to do the boy band?” Rumi asks.

“It sounded… fun?” Baby decides, “We hadn’t had fun in so long.” 

“It wouldn’t be eternal suffering if we did that,” Romance says and the two smile at each other, “And then Jinu had us sleep on the sidewalk and I kinda wanted to kill him.”

“Oh yeah, that was not worth it,” Baby nods, “But learning the dance and writing the song and making the music and finally getting to perform it? It was more fun than any of us were allowed to have in a long time.”

“And the other demons down below liked it too,” Mystery says. “Which means they got to have fun too, just for a bit.”

“That’s really sweet of you guys,” Rumi says, “And you probably think you guys don’t deserve to have fun?” she asks while looking at Jinu.

“Pretty much, didn’t stop him from smiling when we had to teach him choreo,” Abby says. 

“For someone who doesn’t think we deserve it, I think you had the most fun,” Romance agrees as they both poke Jinu just to bother him until Jinu shoos their hands away and goes back to drinking his tea.

“Well when we were practicing or performing, I couldn’t really hear his voice,” Jinu admits.

“Must be anytime you are singing then since you told me you couldn’t hear it after we sang together,” Rumi mentions.

“You two sang together?” Zoey and Mira ask as the four demons look at Jinu like they should have been informed of that.

“Oh uh,” Jinu’s face warms and looks to Rumi for help, but her face is red as Zoey and Mira bother her for details. 

“We just went for a walk, it wasn’t a big deal,” Rumi insists.

“It seems like a big deal,” Abby decides with a smirk.

“Singing together and silencing Gwi-Ma’s voice? It sounds fairly romantic,” Romance adds.

“Did the honmoon glow?” Mystery asks, smiling.

“Dimly,” Rumi says. Zoey squeals as Mira smirks. “Not sure why. We aren’t sure why it glowed when you guys sang either.”

“Don’t turn this back on us,” Romance tsks.

“We want to hear about your date,” Abby agrees as they nod.

“It wasn’t a date!” Rumi and Jinu both insist.

“Very convincing,” Mira says sarcastically. 

“Maybe it wasn’t a date, dates include gifts,” Baby decides as he gets up and goes to sit with the tiger and bird and has his hands revert to their demon form as he pets the tiger who sticks out his tongue to show a blue and purple bracelet that Baby takes and holds up for them. “So I can keep this?”

“No,” Jinu huffs and forces himself to stay seated.

Baby slips it on anyway and when Jinu tries to go after him, Romance and Abby each grab an arm. “Looks cute on him,” Romance hums.

“Don’t you think, Jinu?” Mystery asks with a smirk.

“Yep,” Jinu decides. “Adorable,” he huffs out.

Rumi stifles a laugh and shrugs when Jinu looks at her.

“I’ll hang onto it then,” Baby decides. “It might provide some incentive to get another one, I’ll trade for one that is just blue.”

“I want a pink one,” Abby decides.

“Me too,” Romance agrees.

“I’ll take lavender,” Mystery decides.

“I’m not taking requests!” Jinu says and tries to pull himself away from Abby and Romance, but they seem determined to keep him right where he is. “Don’t you three have more questions?” Jinu asks, desperate to talk about anything else.

“They want to know what our demon forms look like,” Baby says as he sits on the ground and leans into the tiger and nods towards the notebook he had been reading.

“You’ve already seen them,” Jinu mentions.

“Yeah, but Abby says some of you guys use transformation magic even when in your demon forms,” Mira says.

“I’ll pass,” Mystery decides.

“Same,” Baby shrugs.

“Sorry, I like looking pretty too much, and our true demon forms might give you nightmares," Romance decides even as he reaches a hand across Jinu to flick Abby’s forehead meanly.

“As if, we’ve seen a lot of demons,” Mira says as she grabs the notebook and hands it back to Zoey.

“Why aren’t other demons coming to the surface?” Zoey asks.

“Or are they and we just don’t know?” Rumi asks.

“They aren’t,” Jinu assures. “They’re content down below for now. It looks very different down there.”

Abby lets go of Jinu to stand up and asks for the notebook and a pencil. Zoey hands them over and, after flipping to a new page, Abby begins to draw as he kneels next to the ottoman.

“Before it was a pit of dirt and stone with a gate and a stage for Gwi-Ma in the center,” Jinu shrugs.

“There is grass down there now,” Romance says.

“And pools of water with light,” Mystery mentions.

“And stones in rows and flowers that I’ve never seen before, they look kinda like spider lilies,” Romance continues.

“But they give off this beautiful glow,” Mystery says.

“We’ll bring you three flowers next time,” Romance decides as Abby shows them his drawing of the underworld.

“You are unfairly good at that,” Mira decides.

“Thanks,” Abby flashes a grin as Zoey takes the notebook and pencil back.

“It is pretty down there, so the demons don’t mind staying?" Zoey asks.

“For now, the other demons like us, the corrupted souls, they’ll probably want to come back to the surface sooner rather than later, but the common demons are content socializing with one another,” Jinu says.

“Hm, and you’re in charge down there?” Rumi asks.

“Not really,” Jinu insists.

“So what do we call the guy that everyone listens to?” Romance asks. “You’re far too modest,” he decides.

“Is that all you guys have for questions?” Jinu asks as opposed to replying to Romance.

“For now, yeah,” Rumi decides before Zoey can get carried away. “And you guys don’t have anything for us?”

They consider it, but they don’t seem to have any questions. It is probably more accurate to say that they don’t have any questions the hunters could answer. They sing and garner support to create the honmoon, but why is this one different? And why doesn’t it tear when the demons come to the surface? Maybe it can sense their intent?

“Are there coed bath houses?” Abby finally asks.

“I vote we kill them,” Mira decides after a moment of silence, and she summons her weapon.

“He’s joking!” Jinu says quickly.

“I am not! I said it would be fun to bother them!” Abby insists. 

“Oh that’s it I’m gonna—”

“That’s his way of saying he likes spending time with you,” Romance says as he grabs the handle of her weapon when she swings it. “We would be perfect gentlemen,” he insists as his free hand lands on his chest. He nearly saves them, but then he winks and Mira vows to murder them and the two demons disappear from the couch and reappear across the room on the other side of Baby along with the tiger and bird.

“You two might want to run a little further,” Rumi decides.

“Seriously? We usually do quite well for ourselves,” Romance insists.

Mira huffs and goes to storm over, but the two are basically using Baby and the tiger as a shield.

“They act out to compensate,” Baby says easily.

“I’m sure they do,” Mira decides and watches the two behind Baby nearly combust in an effort not to argue with him.

“What were you three up to before we interrupted?” Mystery asks.

“Song writing,” Zoey says as Mira has her weapon disappear back into the honmoon and goes to sit down after shooting a glare at Abby and Romance.

“Is it going any better?” Jinu asks.

“Yeah, it’s interesting having to find different inspiration though,” Rumi says.

“All my demon insults are wasted,” Zoey complains.

“I said you guys should still fire them off,” Baby shrugs.

“It doesn’t feel right anymore,” Rumi says. “I’m still learning to love this part of me, so the demon insults will have to wait.” She looks out the large floor to ceiling window. The sun is going down and their honmoon is still as radiant as always. “Well, we should get going,” Rumi decides as she stands up.

“Where?” Jinu asks.

“For a walk,” Rumi decides.

Outside, they all dress down to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves even if the occasional run in with a fan is most likely inevitable.

“How different are things from when you guys were human?” Zoey asks as Baby walks atop the wall in Naksan Park.

“A very subtle way of trying to figure out how old we are,” Romance says.

“What? No way,” Zoey shakes her head. “I’m just curious,” she replies, but then a hand lands on her shoulder and Zoey’s face goes red at Mystery touching her.

“What are you guys—”

“Shh,” Abby holds a finger to his lips when Mira starts talking. He nods up to where Rumi and Jinu had kept walking ahead, chatting with one another.

“Oh,” Zoey breathes and smiles. “That’s nice of you guys.”

“Well, she makes him smile,” Baby shrugs as he hops down from the wall.

“And he might not think he deserves it, but…” Romance trails off.

“You guys are a bunch of softies,” Mira says and pokes Romance’s shoulder.

“He’s worried about other demons, but we think if anyone believes they deserve having Gwi-Ma’s voice back in their ear it’s probably him,” Abby says.

“Not to say that the rest of us don’t live with regret, but we think he has been with Gwi-Ma the longest,” Baby says as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall.

“We haven’t asked, and he probably wouldn’t tell us, but we think he was the first,” Abby explains. “Keep that between us though?” He requests.

Mira and Zoey nod. “Why do you guys think that?” Mira asks.

“Just a hunch,” Abby says.

“You four are idiots,” Mira decides when the others nod like a hunch that Jinu was the first is completely logical.

“Are you guys coming?” Rumi calls down the pass when the two finally realize that the others had stopped.

“Yep!” Zoey calls as they begin walking again and Jinu and Rumi wait for them.

“Why did you guys stop?” Rumi asks.

“Us? Stop?” Mystery asks when Zoey and Mira can’t come up with an excuse.

“You two ditched us,” Romance nods along with Mystery.

“It’s cruel,” Abby agrees as he wraps an arm over Jinu’s shoulder.

“You guys are clearly the ones that stopped,” Jinu says.

“And you didn’t even notice,” Baby says. “So I think you should carry me the rest of the way,” he decides.

“You can literally fly,” Jinu says.

“Not in public,” Baby says and has Jinu crouch down so he can get on the other’s back. “Now you can see my bracelet.”

“It isn’t yours,” Jinu reminds.

“Only if you admit that it was a date,” Abby teases as the three go on ahead.

“What were you two talking about?” Zoey asks.

“Nothing,” Rumi insists far too quickly.

“A lot of smiles for it being nothing,” Mira teases.

“It really was nothing,” Rumi insists as they eventually stop walking and the demons get to see the glow of the city past the wall.

“I find that hard to believe,” Romance decides as Baby teleports back up onto the wall.

“Careful with the magic,” Jinu mentions.

“Nobody is around,” Baby waves it off. 

“We never really notice this stuff,” Abby mentions.

“What stuff?” Zoey asks as she pushes herself up onto the wall and crosses her legs.

“Anything really,” Abby decides, “Too self absorbed.”

Rumi hums and the honmoon reveals itself, a shimmering blanket draped over the city.

“It’s pretty like this,” Jinu says, but instead of looking at the city he is looking at Rumi.

“We’re not so different, after all,” Rumi sings, softly.

“Hm?” Mystery prompts.

“Kinda cheesy,” Abby decides.

“Don’t let it show, keep it all inside,” Mira sings the lyrics from Your Idol. 

“Your faults and your fears keep them out of sight,” Zoey modifies the lyrics as the honmoon shimmers as if dancing.

“All that pain and shame keep it locked down tight,” Rumi and Zoey harmonize.

“Our rejection of the old direction will spawn a brand new connection,” Zoey finishes.

After a moment of silence Baby tells them that rewriting their stuff doesn’t count as having done any actual writing, Zoey responds by shoving him off the wall and Baby teleports back up before he has a chance to hit the ground. When the honmoon fades, Mystery makes a comment about how it is much prettier now. “I almost miss seeing it.” 

“Then you guys do the singing,” Zoey says.

“Seriously, we’re supposed to be on break,” Mira agrees.

“You three are the ones that can’t seem to stop singing!” Jinu says.

“As if you have room to talk, you might as well speak in iambic pentameter," Abby decides. 

“Also, we aren’t hunters, whatever happened before was a fluke,” Baby decides.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Rumi says.

“Okay, so what theory do you guys have?” Jinu asks.

“Those lyrics were more honest,” Zoey shrugs. 

“It feels like a cry for help,” Mira nods.

“We created a honmoon with honesty, and we want to keep it that way. That’s why we can’t sing Takedown even if some of you seem to like it,” Rumi says.

Baby shrugs. “You could rewrite that song instead of ours.”

“Aww I wanted to take a crack at Soda Pop,” Zoey teases.

“Yeah? The song about consuming people? You guys wanna perform a cover of it?” Abby asks.

“Definitely not,” Rumi decides as Zoey’s face warms.

The group decides to continue walking, but when they end up in a shopping district is when they run into some fans. Baby doesn’t seem overly thrilled about it, but he just smiles and stays tucked against Abby for photos. 

“You guys have been gone for an eternity!” One fan complains to the guys.

“A few weeks?” Abby asks.

“More like a month of us neglecting our precious fans, Abby,” Romance insists, “Our apologies.”

“Baby and I have a smidge of writer's block and we can only release perfection for our fans,” Jinu explains and nods to Baby who makes a heart with his thumb and pointer for the fans.

“Thanks for your patience,” Mystery says with his hands clasped behind his back.

“They sure know how to work some fans,” Mira says after they take pictures and sign a few things and are left to wait as the guys get pictures.

“What are all of you doing out together?” One fan asks.

“It’s a surprise,” Mystery says.

“Although it might have something to do with some eagerly requested covers,” Zoey shrugs innocently.

The fans squeal and immediately ask for details, but Rumi says they can’t offer more yet. Once they are through that, Zoey leads them into a shop as Rumi groans at the thought of covering Soda Pop.

“It could be fun!” Zoey insists. “Just not live,” she adds.

“You guys could do the other song,” Jinu mentions as they follow the girls through the store, unsure of what they are even doing here until they get to a jewelry rack with bracelets.

“Alright, pick what you guys want before we change our mind,” Mira says.

They expect teasing and flirting and to tell the guys to forget about it while storming out, but all five of them seem quite a bit confused.

“Bracelets?” Zoey mentions. “I mean they have other stuff too, so really it is whatever you guys want.”

“And you guys can’t say no since we’re already here,” Rumi decides and the three of them nod. 

“Why don’t you three choose for us?” Jinu eventually asks when none of them seem to know what to say or think, nevermind choosing something.

“Is that what you guys all want?” Rumi asks.

They each nod and Mira tells them to wait outside.

“So it can be a proper surprise,” Zoey explains.

“Fine,” Abby says and the five head outside and wait outside the shop.

“I’ve never received a gift before,” Mystery mentions.

“That bracelet was my first,” Jinu says and nods towards Baby.

“Is this allowed? We aren’t going to burn in hell fire because they’re being nice to us, right?” Abby asks.

“I don’t think so,” Jinu says.

“We should return the gesture, it’s only proper,” Romance decides.

“We’re bringing them flowers,” Mystery mentions.

“Is that enough?” Romance asks.

“It’s a gift, I don’t think we are expected to return the favor,” Abby says.

“I guess, but it might be nice. Don’t you think?” Romance asks.

“I’m pretty sure they have everything they could want,” Abby says.

“I don’t think that’s the point of it,” Jinu says, “They know that we can use magic to make jewelry for ourselves, but they are doing this anyway.”

“So, a gift?” Romance suggests.

“I think it is a good idea,” Jinu says.

“Sure, but we still have to write a song at some point before people stop being so understanding,” Abby says.

“‘We’ he says as if Jinu, Mystery and I don’t do all the work,” Baby says.

“We do the choreo!” Abby says.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy being subjected to our hands on teaching,” Romance crosses his arms over his chest as Abby puts an arm around him.

They notice some fans eventually, some boys that were attempting the Soda Pop dance. “Well you two better but your teaching caps on,” Baby decides before waving to the three boys and gesturing for them to come over.

Romance and Abby briefly glare at Baby before they put on very friendly smiles. 

“You guys almost have it down,” Romance encourages.

“Probably faster learners than Jinu,” Abby agrees.

“Do you want to see the hand part slowed down?” Romance asks.

“Yes please!” One of the boys pleads immediately.

So Abby shows them it slowed down and helps them through it a few times and, by the time the girls come back out, he and Romance have taught the boys the part they were struggling with.

“We are never escaping that song,” Rumi decides.

“It’s so catchy!” Zoey says as her shoulders bounce with the beat of the music playing from a phone as Romance and Abby dance with the boys.

“I think the song is too fast,” one of the boys decides.

“Well you’ll want to practice it slowed down a few times first, but you’ll get it,” Romance assures with an encouraging smile.

“Just sing it slower for them,” Mira tells the two as if it is obvious.

“I don’t think—” Abby is cut off by the boys trying to contain their excitement. “Are you guys gonna—”

Baby gives them a thumbs down. Mystery says he is on vocal rest. “You two are doing so well without us,” Jinu shrugs.

Romance and Abby are definitely unimpressed, but Romance begins to sing the song a bit slower than how it actually goes.

“Cause I need you to need me. I’m empty, you feed me. So refreshing—”

“My little soda pop!” Baby cuts Romance off with a smirk as he and Abby continue singing a slowed down version of the song for the boys to dance along with (and if Zoey dances along too that might make it worth it). 

“That hand part is kinda tricky,” Zoey says as if she didn’t do it practically perfectly.

“Good luck with the practice,” Abby tells them before the group takes off. 

“Nice of you guys to help them out,” Mira mentions.

“I invited them over, those two didn’t even want to,” Baby says. “Do we get to see what you guys got?”

“When we get home, sure,” Rumi says.

“Do I get my not-gift back?” Jinu asks.

“So long as mine is blue then sure,” Baby says.

“Yours is blue,” Zoey promises.

“And we can’t have them now?” Abby asks.

“So someone can take a picture of us gifting you guys jewelry and then we never hear the end of it?” Mira asks.

“That sounds alright to me,” Romance hums.

“You two just got out of being in shit with her, why are you starting this again?” Rumi asks with a soft sigh.

“I think they are masochists,” Baby decides.

“I think you are trying to pick a fight with us,” Abby tells Baby.

“Me? No, never,” Baby insists, which sounds like bullshit. “I don’t start fights I don’t think I can win,” he elaborates with a devilish smirk.

“You started a fight with us,” Mira mentions.

“Under orders,” Baby shrugs as he continues walking ahead until he sees more people and falls back into their cluster. “Ugh, why are people out so late?” He asks and grabs ahold of Jinu’s jacket.

“I don’t think it’s that late,” Jinu tells him apologetically.

“You don’t want to go and meet people?” Romance asks. He and Abby shoot one another a smirk and Baby glares at them.

“It is for the fans,” Abby agrees. These particular fans seem content with just saying hi to the group of them and Jinu makes sure Abby and Romance don’t linger to try and start anything.

“It’s late and we are technically on break right now,” Rumi explains. 

“So at night people don’t really want to bother us even if we don’t mind,” Zoey says.

“Some people can be pushy, but most of our fans are super understanding,” Rumi explains. “And normally we would stay and chat, but we want to get back, don’t we?” She asks Abby and Romance as Zoey holds up the bag with their gifts in it.

“We got you guys pink,” Mira mentions with a grin.

“And Mira chose it out,” Zoey adds.

“Oh you do know the way to our hearts,” Romance says. Their squabble with Baby forgotten as the two try to flirt with Mira who is developing a steady immunity to it.

“So you really hate socializing?” Rumi asks Baby as she walks with him and Jinu while Zoey and Mystery go on ahead.

“I don’t hate it, I just tend to say the wrong thing so I just don’t,” he explains. “It’s like air gets stuck and then nothing comes out, but I don’t have that problem when I’m rapping. I can’t really make things up on the spot very well like Jinu can, but once it is planned out I can just go and go and go and it is just me. Doing it well feels good.”

Rumi nods. “And your patterns showed up at the breakfast place?”

“Anytime any of us get too emotional they show up,” Baby says as he lets go of Jinu’s jacket.

“You guys know that, at the very least, back at the building we don’t mind if you guys are in your demon forms,” Rumi mentions. Abby will walk around in his demon form, and Jinu with his patterns painting his human skin, the other three seem to try and stick to their human forms for the most part.

“We know,” Jinu assures. “It is hard not to be ashamed of them. At the end of the day it is Gwi-Ma’s mark.”

“Sure,” Rumi agrees. “But I guess I’m just trying to say that you guys can feel your feelings as strongly as you want.”

“Seriously? You sure that is good for your honmoon?” Baby asks. 

“We don’t know anything about this honmoon, but it glowed when you guys sang to us and it doesn’t tear when you guys come and go. We talked it over a lot, and we just don’t think you guys are bad for it,” Rumi explains with a smile that is far too earnest.

“We’re demons, if we can pass what does the barrier even do?” Baby asks.

“Rumi thinks that the honmoon knows you guys aren’t trying to start trouble,” Zoey mentions, glancing over her shoulder to look at them.

“Seriously? And there is nobody who knows more about this stuff?” Jinu asks.

“No, not really,” Rumi says, but her patterns glow faintly. “So we’ll figure it out ourselves.”

When they get back, Mira begins ordering them food while Zoey keeps the bag close so Romance and Abby don’t get any funny ideas.

“I think they should get theirs last, then they can learn to be patient or something,” Rumi says.

“Don’t make us beg,” Romance says.

“Although, we’ll do a good job at it,” Abby adds and dodges a throw pillow that gets tossed at him by teleporting and when he reappears he has resumed his demon form, although he is still wearing a, far too tight, sweatshirt, and jeans.

“First of all,” Mira starts as she makes her way to the living room and jabs Abby in the side when walking past him. “That isn’t necessary, and,” she continues and holds up two fingers before jabbing Romance’s forehead with them and then sitting on the couch next to Zoey. “I think you two would do a bad job,” she says as she crosses one leg over the other.

“I think you broke them,” Zoey says when they don’t reply. “Anyway, presents,” she says and begins distributing the small jewlery boxes. 

“You guys can open them,” Rumi mentions when none of them do.

“Thank you,” Jinu says. “You didn’t have to get me something.”

“Now he has two things,” Baby agrees even as he gives the bracelet back to the tiger before sitting down on the ground and leaning back into the tiger as he opens his box. As opposed to a bracelet made out of just rope or string, this bracelet has aquamarine beads, which are each separated by a smaller silver bead. He slips it on as his patterns steadily creep across his skin. “It’s alright,” Baby decides.

Rumi and Zoey laugh a little at how his words certainly don’t match his body language.

Mystery gets earrings with amethyst cut in the shape of rectangles dangling from silver hooks. “Thank you,” he says with a small smile. 

Abby gets a gold chained necklace with a rose quartz stone cut in the shape of a square and Romance gets a wrap necklace of pink pearls. They both go to thank the hunters but instead all that slips out is, “wow that might be a little forward,” from Abby and “it really wasn’t a date?” from Romance as they watch Jinu open a box with a ring in it.

A black obsidian ring with a silver ring running through the center. His patterns paint his skin and glow faintly as he stares at it, speechless.

“It's uh… it isn’t like that. Well, I mean—”

“It’s a thumb ring,” Mira cuts off Rumi’s rambling. “For your thumb,” she adds with a smirk. She gets up and makes her way over to the stupid demon. She plucks it from the box before asking for his hand and putting it on his thumb for him. “And shake your hand a bit to make sure it won’t fall off,” Mira tells him.

He does and it fits snug on his hand.

“Thank you,” Jinu eventually manages to say when he realizes he hasn’t said it yet.

“Mhm, no problem,” Mira says with a grin.

“It’s cute that we can see what makes you guys embarrassed and stuff,” Zoey says with a grin. “Rumi hates it too,” she adds when Baby flips her off.

“That’s why I don’t bother with the human shit,” Abby points out even if his patterns ripple with a faint glow when Jinu has to help him with the clasp on the back of his necklace. 

“Mm very subtle,” Romance teases as he gets his own necklace on. “So, not a date?” Romance asks Rumi.

“No it wasn’t,” Rumi insists. “And you guys each got something, so that can’t even be a date gift,” she decides with a nod.

“Although they’ll disappear when you guys transform, right?” Mira asks.

“Not sure, we’ve never put on extra clothes like this,” Mystery says as he takes out his earrings which disappear as soon as he isn’t touching them and puts in the new ones.

“And we would have to want them to disappear and why would we want that?” Romance asks far too genuinely compared to how he normally flirts. “I mean—”

“Wow, so you can be a sweetheart when you want?” Zoey asks before Romance can try and change what he said.

“I—” Romance fumbles through a retort before he sighs and looks down at the necklace. Patterns appearing along his hands. “Thank you. I haven’t received a gift in a long time.”

“Well we wouldn’t have gotten them if we didn’t think you guys should have them, so don’t overthink it,” Zoey decides.

“But we didn’t do anything,” Baby mentions.

“You didn’t have to,” Mira says and uses her hand to cover a yawn. “Ugh, we didn’t even get to go to the bath house today.”

“We still have two months,” Rumi assures as she lays a hand on Mira’s shoulder, “Plenty of time for lots of spa days.”

“We have to make up for lost time, so we should definitely go tomorrow,” Zoey decides even if she seems tired too.

“We should get going,” Jinu says as he gets up and the other guys get up too.

“You guys gonna be gone for another two weeks?” Mira asks as she gets up and helps Zoey and Rumi up.

“Counted the days?” Abby asks.

“You could have written for us,” Baby nods down to the sleeping tiger.

“We don’t want to be a bother, so you guys should write so we know we aren’t bothering,” Jinu mentions honestly.

“We would kick you demons out if that was a problem!” Mira insists.

“I think they know that,” Rumi says as Mira drags Zoey off to go get ready for bed. “You guys have a good night then?” Rumi says as she turns back to them. They’re in their demon forms with the clothing to match, but the jewelry sparkles like the new honmoon against their black robes. “Why are your robes like that?”

“Like what?” Mystery asks.

“They’re torn and tattered, you guys can choose what they look like, can’t you?” Rumi asks.

“This is what they are like when we first pass the gate,” Mystery says.

“And you guys have never thought about changing them? Or just not wearing them?” Rumi asks.

“I guess we haven’t,” Romance says as he looks down at it. 

“Think about it,” Rumi decides. “Also, you guys look nice like this.”

“You were just shit talking our clothes!” Baby says.

“I’m not talking about your clothes, have a good night,” Rumi says.

“Have a good night,” Mystery speaks for the group before they disappear from the living room in a puff of red smoke.

“Idiots,” Rumi smiles. She heads off to get ready for bed after giving the tiger a pet and letting the bird nudge her fingers with its beak. “Have a good night you two,” she breathes before she heads to bed. She opts to ignore the two animals following her. 

Chapter Text

“It’s easy to forget she is a demon too,” Abby says as they reappear in the underworld.

“That’s because she is gorgeous,” Romance says easily. “Our patterns certainly don’t look like hers.”

“Hers didn’t always look like that either,” Jinu mentions as he starts walking again. He doesn’t seem to stop walking whenever they are here, and the others follow him for the most part. 

Jinu knew that he was in charge, and that him being in charge was the most logical option. He was well known and somewhat respected among the demons. He had survived a direct hit from Gwi-Ma, so the demons seemed to think he was the strongest too. The two weeks in the underworld had been spent mostly talking to the demons in the area. Did any of the common demons know what was beyond the fog that walled them in? Would they be content staying here? The corrupted souls were more difficult to talk with. Gathering them was a pain in the ass, the younger ones didn’t seem interested in listening to him and the older ones were appreciative of the quiet. It didn’t help that Jinu, and technically the other saja boys, were the only ones named. It made things confusing and messy and incredibly unorganized.

It was two weeks of nothing when it came to the other corrupted souls. Jinu glances over to the stage wondering how Gwi-Ma did it. Shame. Shame and fear. Jinu knows this. He just finds it somewhat remarkable that Gwi-Ma could have the entire pit reduced to silence just by having the threat of his voice invading their minds. Now the underworld was in constant chatter and Jinu couldn’t keep tabs on a single thing going on among the corrupted souls. It was frustrating. 

“You could go spend time with her without us you know,” Romance interrupts Jinu’s train of thought as he teleports in front of Jinu and walks backwards.

“Yeah, did you appreciate our attempt at giving you two alone time?” Abby asks as he walks next to Jinu.

Jinu’s face warms and he looks down to the ring on his thumb. “It certainly isn’t something I deserve,” he says, thoughts of Gwi-Ma making him feel like his head is spinning. “She should hate me.” She doesn’t know how many orders Jinu carried out without much thought. She doesn’t know that there is no stronger rush than consuming a soul, even if it is just carrying it back to Gwi-Ma.

“Is it such a bad thing if she doesn’t?” Baby asks.

“Those three should hate all of us, and we should hate them, but that is what he wants isn’t it?” Mystery asks as he nods towards the stage that most demons tend to stay clear of.

“No,” Jinu shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s what he wants.”

“Seriously? Using us to destroy them was his main thing,” Abby says.

Jinu shrugs like he would rather not say what he thinks Gwi-Ma wanted from them. 

“You should talk to her,” Baby mentions when the silence stretches on for too long and makes him uncomfortable. “I mean you basically killed yourself for her. You clearly love her, so you should talk to her.”

Love. What a terrifying word. 

“I don’t want to hear about how I need to be honest and talk to people or whatever from any of you guys,” Jinu decides quite firmly. “And love?” Jinu laughs as his eyes get wet. I’m over reacting. He looks at the ring on his thumb and considers taking it off and throwing it as far as he can across rows and rows of smooth stone. “We are meant to suffer eternally, none of us deserve love,” he spits the words. 

His friends freeze and look at him. Some look at him with sympathy. This is why Jinu didn’t ever talk with anyone. His brain is crumbling after the pressure of 400 years of torture has finally eased off.

“Then stay down here and rot,” Romance decides. “Or better yet, why don’t you quit looking at him and just go and bring a soul back for Gwi-Ma? Put everything back to how it was?” he asks. His patterns glow as he grabs the other by his robe. “Why bring us up there at all if that is how you feel?”

“I…” Jinu trails off. Why does he get like this? He becomes so self deprecating and if he hates himself for being a demon, for succumbing to Gwi-Ma, then it makes sense that he should hate them too, but he likes seeing them smile. He likes watching them have fun, just like he liked dancing and singing with them. Then he sees all of them in their demon forms and in the robes that they wore while serving Gwi-Ma, and he wonders what it was that they agreed to. What deal did they make? Then he thinks of his own deal and it becomes a cycle of self hatred. “I’m not sure,” he says flatly. Romance frowns at how apathetic Jinu sounds, but Jinu just takes Romance’s wrist and peels the other’s hand off of him. “I left my mother and sister to die in order to escape poverty and live comfortably. That was my deal with Gwi-Ma. In 400 years I had never done something that didn’t serve me, and yes I wanted to save her, but I also wanted to just stop. I wanted to be free.”

“Death isn’t freedom,” Romance spits. He disappears.

***

“Thanks for writing,” Abby hums as he and Mystery appear in their living room a couple days after the argument between Romance and Jinu. 

“The others aren’t joining you two?” Zoey asks.

“You wound us Zoey,” Abby says dramatically.

“Romance and Jinu are fighting,” Mystery explains.

“So we don’t know where Romance went off to, and Jinu wants to be miserable, and Baby has been avoiding the whole thing until it blows over,” Abby explains.

“Smart,” Mira says sarcastically.

“They could come and talk it out,” Zoey mentions.

“They should,” Mystery agrees.

“But Jinu has been alive for so long that he could give everyone the silent treatment for decades,” Abby says.

“Decades? Like… plural?” Zoey asks. “Why don’t you guys talk to him?”

“Talking got us into this mess. He hates what he is and we remind him of that,” Abby shrugs. “So he hates us.”

“He doesn’t,” Rumi insists. 

“How long does it usually take to blow over?” Mira asks.

“I’ve never seen them like that before. I’ve never seen Romance angry like that and Jinu… he told us what he did. He hates himself. He has hated himself for so long though,” Mystery says.

“Well… then you guys should be there for him,” Zoey says.

“He wants to be alone, that’s how it is,” Abby insists.

“That’s how it was,” Zoey corrects.

“You guys care about him, right?” Rumi asks. “So you go and tell him that he isn’t alone. Him and Romance.”

“Yeah, your voices in his head instead of his own, right?” Zoey suggests as Mira nods in confirmation that Zoey is making sense.

“We’re demons. We do not—”

“Seriously?” Mira cuts Abby off. “Being hot doesn’t mean you can have a shitty personality. You gotta treat your friends right.”

“You think I’m hot?” 

“We’ll be leaving,” Mystery says and drags Abby off and after a couple steps they both disappear.

“Those five are stupid,” Mira decides.

“Yep,” Zoey agrees.

“But,” Mira sighs. “They’re pretty.”

“They are!” Zoey groans.

“Come on, if they’re busy we might as well start doing choreo,” Rumi says, which only increases their groans. “And we could do bath house after?” She suggests and smiles at their cheers.

“Fine,” Mira says with a grin and gives the tiger a pet. “Although you should talk to him,” she says as the three make their way to the elevator.

“What?” Rumi asks.

“Jinu, you like him,” Zoey teases.

“I like all of them,” Rumi shrugs. “Not like that!” She adds when Zoey and Mira shoot her a smirk. “I like…” Rumi trails off as they enter the elevator. “I like that things are different and that we are learning about demons. It makes me feel like the other half of me isn’t so bad. They are people who made a mistake, and, sure, we don’t know what that mistake is, but I can see the regret. I can see that they struggle with living with what they did. A demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live? We couldn’t have been more wrong, right?”

Mira and Zoey nod. “It helps that they’re all super pretty,” Zoey mentions.

“For sure,” Rumi nods very seriously. Then the three laugh as the elevator opens and they leave to get to work. 

***

“What are you doing here?” Jinu asks as he sits on the bottom steps that lead to Gwi-Ma. Abby sits next to him and lays a hand on his shoulder.

“A whisper in the dark?” Abby asks when he settles next to him and that voice comes back into his head. “It’s been a few days. You can’t keep doing this to yourself. You can’t spend this much time sitting so close to him.”

Jinu shrugs. “It’s what I—”

Abby covers Jinu’s ears with his hands as he shifts to kneel in front of him. They meet eyes, fully in their demon forms, and after a bit, Jinu allows Abby to help him up and away from the steps. Away from the voice.

“When you were dead… Romance and Baby, what emotional assholes, they cried. Romance, when he first got here, apparently, he cried constantly.”

“I wouldn’t know, I avoided everyone,” Jinu says.

“I know,” Abby says and continues to pull Jinu away. “He was here before me, but that is what I heard. Even when I got here, demons said to stay away from him. Him and you to be fair. You because Gwi-Ma always seemed aware of you and him just because. I never figured out why, but I listened anyway.”

“Do you know what happened to him?” Jinu asks.

“The same thing that happened to the rest of us,” Abby shrugs. Clearly he was not a social butterfly in the demon realm. “Gwi-Ma got into his head. Years of torture and eventually you just become numb to it all.”

Jinu nods as they continue walking, his hands no longer in Abby’s, but his left occasionally bumps against Abby’s right as they walk side by side along the path and towards the gate. 

“I am sorry that I didn’t say anything. I didn’t realize she would come back,” Jinu says with a shrug.

Abby laughs at that. A bitter sad laugh as they get to the gate. “That isn’t it. You hoped she would come back,” he corrects. “You just didn’t think we would care.”

Jinu exhales and clenches his eyes shut. “They really cried?”

“Yes, they did,” Abby says as he looks out past the gate even if it is all still concealed by fog. “Do you remember meeting?” Abby asks.

“It was quite a few years ago,” Jinu says.

“Is that your way of saying you don’t?” Abby asks.

“No,” Jinu breathes. “I do.” Even if a few years didn’t exactly do it justice. It was nearly 200 years ago when a new demon passed through the gate. 

Jinu sat at the roof of the gate. This is where he stayed most of the time if he could help it. There was the faint glow of hell fire whenever a new demon was forged from a lost soul, but Jinu ignored it. Other demons socialized, the corrupted souls seemed to think that it was necessary to keep from going insane. Jinu had spent thirty years alone before Gwi-Ma had managed to ensnare another human and the last thing he had wanted to do was talk. After the second person they seemed to come more frequently. Jinu would watch them come and watch them realize where they are and watch as each inevitably had a breakdown.

When this demon passed from under the gate, and Jinu could properly see him, the newly formed demon didn’t break down like all those who came before. He looked at himself, his clawed hands and patterned skin that was mostly covered by his robes.

“No regrets,” the demon breathes to himself.

“None?” Jinu couldn’t help but ask with a frown. Every demon regretted what they did. Every demon regretted what they did so much that it was taboo to talk about your sins. There was no bragging or pride in being a demon, there was only regret and shame.

The demon turns around to look at him and Jinu pauses. Everytime a corrupted demon was created, Gwi-Ma took pleasure in altering their physical appearance. This man hadn’t been subjected to that. He was attractive, even in his demon form he was attractive.

“Should I?” The demon asks. His patterns shimmer in what Jinu recognizes as shame. Jinu floats down from his spot and across from the demon.

“Everyone has regrets. Even you,” Jinu says and takes his arm and pushes his sleeve up to show the glowing patterns. “This is your shame.”

“I have shame,” the demon says as he tears his arm away. When was the last time Jinu touched someone? “I am ashamed of what I did, but I can’t—” he falls to his knees and his hands go to the side of his head. “What is that!?”

“That is his voice. You’ll get used to it, but you’ll never get a moment of silence ever again. You’re his new toy, he’ll want to play with you soon,” Jinu explains. He expects the demon to start breaking down, to shatter into fragments under that voice, but after a moment he pushes himself up. He stumbles and Jinu steps out of the way when the demon falls again. He gets up on his own and Jinu wonders why he won’t just stay down? Idiot.

After he falls again Jinu makes his way over and kneels down beside him, touching his shoulder. “Stay down. You can’t fight him, so just let him work his way through your soul and then you’ll be able to stand.”

He does as Jinu says until his patterns dim.

“I— I needed to be stronger— I swear it was to—”

Jinu covers the demon’s mouth with his hand. “We don’t talk about it. Confession will not absolve you of your sins.”

A tear escapes and runs down his cheek until it touches Jinu’s hand. There. That’s the regret. 

“You cried,” Jinu says as they stand beneath the gate. “The regret finally came?”

Abby shakes his head. “No, not really. Eventually it did, but I cried that day because you looked so broken. It made me feel broken. I realized pretty quickly that you were parroting what Gwi-Ma told you. Confession will not absolve you of your sins? I think,” Abby says and looks back where they came towards the fire. “He was scared we would understand each other.”

“So you think we should talk about it?” Jinu asks. He already confessed what he did.

“Hard things are worth pursuing.”

“What?” Jinu asks when it sounds like Abby is quoting someone.

“Someone said that to me once. I don’t remember who. He scrubs our memories of anything good and leaves only our mistakes. Must be why we all get so excited to go to the surface with you. It’s like being reborn.”

Jinu nods slightly. He doesn’t mention that his memories from when he was alive are perfectly intact. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel like I deserve to be happy.”

“Okay—”

“But I don’t usually think that about the other demons. Sometimes I do,” Jinu admits. “Sometimes I see all of us as the same, but the way you passed the gate… I’d never seen anything like it and I watched all the demons pass over.”

“All of them?” Abby asks.

“Yes,” Jinu admits. “You are the first one I talked to though.”

“So I’m special?” Abby teases.

Jinu shrugs and looks at Abby. It is hard not to see those patterns as a mirror reflecting himself. No regrets. Jinu reaches over and takes the other’s hat off of his head. He cups the other’s face with his hand. “Thanks for coming to get me,” he breathes. The cold stone of his ring is a relief against Abby’s heated skin. How do I live with myself? How do I live with the memories and with the shame? The question had buzzed in his brain the past few days. “I don’t know how I was alone for so long.”

“You’re not alone anymore,” Abby tells him and leans into the touch, always eager for touch. So when Abby hugs him, Jinu hugs him back and drops the hat to the ground. He presses his face into Abby’s shoulder. The motion pushes his own hat off and Abby makes sure the beads don’t get tangled.

“Can we go find him? I should apologize,” Jinu says.

“Yeah, we can find him,” Abby says, but neither of them let go for a while. When they finally do, Jinu lifts their hats from the ground and offers Abby back his hat. Abby looks at it before he takes both and sets them beside the pole of the gate. “Maybe we’ll come back for them later?” He suggests. “They’re uncomfortable,” he explains as he gives Jinu a look.

“We’ll come back for them later?” Jinu asks just to be sure. Abby nods even if he would rather ditch them here.

“So, how should we go about finding them?” Abby asks.

Jinu whistles and the tiger and bird come up from the ground. Jinu talks to them like they aren’t a tiger and a bird, and Abby smiles slightly at the sight as Jinu asks if they’ll help find Romance. They sink back into the ground.

“He is on the surface,” Jinu tells Abby.

Chapter Text

The sun was just beginning to rise, and Romance watched in his demon form atop Bugaksan Mountain. It was amazing to think this was the same sun warming his skin now as it was all those years ago.

He hums lowly and watches as the honmoon ripples faintly. He hears them and shifts to his human form even if he knows he isn’t being approached by humans.

Romance keeps one knee to his chest and the other dangles off the rock he is sitting on. He clasps his hands atop his knee as he turns to look at the other two with practiced neutrality.

“Jinu?” Romance asks, not expecting it. He and Abby are both in their demon forms. Jinu walks over to him.

“Can I sit with you?” Jinu asks.

“Sure,” Romance nods and shifts to the side and Jinu sits next to him on the stone as Abby says he is gonna go walk around. 

They sit in silence for a while, watching the sun rise. 

“I’m sorry,” Jinu eventually says.

“Don’t be. We’re demons, so it is in our nature to be assholes. Right?”

Jinu winces and shakes his head. “I mean… you aren’t.”

“I am,” Romance assures. “The sun… it looks like him sometimes.”

Jinu blinks. He looks at the sun and then at Romance and realizes that he had become the voice of shame in Romance’s head. Fuck.

“Ro,” Jinu says and places a hand over his eyes. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Romance repeats. “I don’t think what he said was true,” he says without bothering with trying to move Jinu’s hand.

“What?”

“In 400 years… I don’t think it’s true. Even if it is, you have done plenty of things that didn’t serve yourself lately. I’m the one who hasn’t changed,” Romance says easily. “I deserve to rot.”

“I doubt that,” Jinu says honestly. “You’re too kind.”

“I…” Romance sighs and takes Jinu’s hand off of him and holds it to look at it. “When I was properly alive my family had me engaged to a woman. She was beautiful and smart and she deserved someone who actually loved her, but I was a coward. Our time together was cold and unloving.”

Jinu nods slowly as he tries to understand. “We don’t have to talk about this—”

“I’m trying to not be a coward,” Romance admits with a wet laugh. “When I was in the military I realized why I didn’t love her like I should have. I met a man… I met several men,” Romance clenches his eyes shut and lets go of Jinu. “I never wanted it to end, I was miserable with her. Gwi-Ma told me it didn’t have to end. She would never have to find out and I could carry on even after my service. I agreed so quickly. My soul would be damned for eternity, but after what I let those men do to me I figured I was damned regardless.”

“He killed her?” Jinu asks.

“No,” Romance shakes his head. “Her sight went first, and then slowly her hearing began to go. She relied on me and I screwed around with men in our bedroom.” His voice is flat, but his face carries so much hurt. 

Jinu nods and tries to piece it together. He has a hard time seeing it. It has been years since then. He remembers Romance crying when he first came through the gate. Jinu hadn’t bothered with talking to him. “What about Mira?” Jinu asks.

“I’m not… I’m not gay,” Romance says. “Isn’t that just the nail in the coffin? It was just her. I didn’t love her, but she was who my parents wanted me to marry,” Romance shrugs. “I was too much of a coward to protest. I was too much of a coward to speak with her about it. The idea that she could possibly understand me or even felt the same as me never even occurred to me. So I blinded and deafened her instead!”

“Gwi-Ma did that,” Jinu gently, but firmly, corrects. “Were you two married?” Jinu asks.

“No, the patterns took me before we could be married. Then Gwi-Ma had me watch her die trying to carry our child,” Romance says. “He would always tell me my sin is lust. He wasn’t wrong,” Romance decides. 

“I don’t see it,” Jinu decides after a bit.

“Bullshit,” Romance scoffs.

“In the past? Sure, but now? How are you governed by lust?” Jinu asks. He doesn’t wait for Romance to reply. He doesn’t need to hear whatever self deprecating comment the other might make. “You are kind, too kind for a demon in my opinion. But, it isn’t like your end goal is to just have sex with people. It isn’t like you make decisions for the sake of getting your dick wet.”

“I flirt all the time—”

“But you don’t expect anything from it,” Jinu cuts him off. “You’re attractive and if you wanted to go indulge all the time you certainly could.”

“Thanks?” Romance says like it is a question.

“And you told me about the deal you made. That makes you less of a coward in my opinion,” Jinu decides. 

“Less?”

“You gotta start somewhere,” Jinu shrugs.

Romance nods and smiles slightly even as his eyes grow wet and his patterns appear across his skin. Jinu puts an arm around the other and rubs his side as Romance leans into him. “I’ll never not be ashamed of that. I didn’t know that he would take her—”

“I know. He leaves the details out,” Jinu says and rests his cheek on Romance’s head. 

“It isn’t an excuse,” Romance says.

“It isn’t,” Jinu agrees. The bright oranges and pinks painting the sky fade to blue as the sun gets higher. 

“Thanks for coming to see me. I’m sorry for—”

“You deserve to be loved.”

“What?”

“I… I said that none of us deserve love, but that is just because I think that I don’t. You deserve love, proper love. Lust isn’t the same thing.”

“How is it not?” Romance asks and the question shatters Jinu’s heart a bit.

“Love is just… it’s different. Lust is appetite and transactional. It’s like a drug. Love is constant and doesn’t always feel good. At least, that’s what I think,” Jinu says. He probably shouldn’t be talking. Has he ever loved anyone?

“You don’t know shit, do you?” Romance asks.

“Probably not,” Jinu admits. “Sorry Romance—”

“Just Ro, I liked when you called me Ro. Is that okay?”

“Sure thing, Ro,” Jinu says. He blinks and Ro has assumed his demon form. His complete demon form. The one with sharper claws and pointed teeth. The form with a slightly crooked nose and eyes that glow orange. Jinu only notices out of the corner of his eye, and he certainly doesn’t say anything. He knows how draining transformation magic can be, and he knows that some of them maintain it constantly, even when they are just around each other. 

When they hear Abby make his way back, Ro adjusts his form. Otherwise, they don’t move and Abby smiles at the sight. “Don’t you two look pretty,” Abby says. “So is talking all it’s hyped up to be?” Abby asks.

“No,” Jinu says.

“Certainly not,” Ro agrees.

“Mhm, I believe you two,” Abby nods and crosses his arms over his chest. “Hey Romance—”

“Ro,” he corrects. “I’m going by Ro now.”

“Alright,” Abby nods. “I’m into it, so Ro, do you know where Baby has been?” He asks.

“I don’t keep tabs on him, Mystery knows him better than I do. He doesn’t know?”

“He probably does and just won’t tell me,” Abby sighs. He leans against the rock beside them and seems to be trying to see what they’re seeing. “Do I have to thank the hunters now?” Abby asks.

“For what?” Jinu asks as he carefully adjusts a few strands of Ro’s hair just as an excuse to touch him.

“I was gonna let you two ignore each other for at least a decade, but they said that you guys might need a voice in your head that isn’t your own,” Abby says. “I told Mystery I would handle it, so he is probably off with Baby right now.”

“Probably,” Jinu agrees. “Those two passed over around the same time. They’ve been close for,” he wracks his brain for a timeline when it is hard to keep track of time down there. “Almost a hundred years.”

“Only a hundred?” Abby asks.

“A little less,” Jinu shrugs.

“So you know how old all of us are?” Ro asks.

“Not really, I remember those two because they were so close to one another. Only a few years off from each other. Baby was still at the gate when Mystery showed up,” Jinu says.

“Well, we should find them,” Abby decides.

Jinu whistles and the tiger and bird rise from the ground.

“Can you two take us to the other two?” Jinu asks.

“Do they have names?” Ro asks.

“I never thought to name them,” Jinu says. Ro gets up and fixes his hair. He shifts to his human form and clothes, and the side that had been pressed against Jinu is flush from the warmth.

“Well, we should get going,” Ro says.

Jinu and Abby both get up and shift to their human forms. “Alright, let’s go find them,” Jinu says and pets the tiger’s chin.

The tiger sinks into the ground before reappearing further down the mountain.

“Seriously? They’re in the human realm?” Abby asks.

“Yep,” Jinu sighs.

“You’re upset about that?” Abby asks.

“No, but it means we are going to have to deal with other demons soon enough,” Jinu says as the three begin to follow the tiger and bird.

They end up in front of Starfield Library, which doesn’t open for another couple of hours.

“Trespassing, of course,” Abby grins.

“At least they aren’t stealing,” Ro decides.

The three wait for the library to properly open as the tiger and bird disappear. When it does open they head inside and eventually find Mystery and Baby on the second floor at a table. Mystery with a pile of books and Baby leaned against him. 

“Nobody noticed you guys?” Ro asks.

“We came in after they closed,” Mystery says.

“You guys good now?” Baby asks, skeptically.

“Yeah, we talked,” Jinu says.

“You talked?” Baby asks.

“We did,” Ro says.

“Bullshit,” Baby scoffs and lays his head in his arms.

“Is it that hard to believe?” Jinu asks.

Baby and Mystery share a look before they both nod. 

“So, what are you reading?” Ro asks as they sit at the table with them.

“I read Almond and now I am reading Human Acts,” Mystery says.

“Can’t we check them out or something?” Abby asks.

“I don’t have a library card because we don’t have an address,” Mystery says.

“We could get one,” Jinu suggests.

“An address?” Abby asks.

“Uh— n-no? A library card. Rumi and Zoey and Mira have an address?” Jinu stammers out.

“Oh right, they wrote. Wanted to see us,” Abby mentions. “That was yesterday, so we should let them know we’re okay.”

“Why would we not be okay? We’re—”

“Better than ever,” Ro cuts Jinu off when some people round a corner and clearly recognize them. He puts a finger over his lips when the young girls seem ready to squeal. “We’re in a library, dears,” Ro says with a grin. “A picture before we leave?” He suggests.

The two girls nod dumbly and Ro makes his way over to chat with them. He asks them if they are students and what they study and asks them if they have a favourite. “I’ll try not to be heartbroken if it isn’t me,” Ro teases with a wink.

“He is far too good at that,” Baby decides before they make their way over after tidying up the books. 

It turns out one likes Abby and the other likes Jinu. “Good choice,” Ro beams. “I’ll take your picture with them?” Ro suggests and borrows one of their phones to take a few pictures. 

“It was nice meeting you two,” Jinu says.

“Enjoy the library,” Abby says as the five take their leave. 

“How is the song writing going?”

“HOLY SHIT!!!” Zoey practically screams as she summons her weapons and has to restrain herself from throwing them at the demons that appeared behind her. “Oh I should kill you idiots!” Zoey decides as she glares at Baby.

“Sorry,” Mystery says.

They are in the studio with just Zoey who had over two dozen notebooks splayed out on the floor.

“You doing this on your own?” Jinu asks.

“Nah, Mira is getting breakfast and Rumi is in the bathroom. How about you guys?” Zoey asks.

“What about us?” Abby asks as he sits down on a sofa while morphing into his demon form.

“Song writing? You guys gotta come out with something,” Zoey says with a grin.

“Well Jinu, what do you have that I can work with?” Baby asks.

“Me? Why is it all on me?” Jinu asks.

“So you guys have nothing?” Zoey suggests with a smirk as she goes back to writing.

“Well we still could do an official release of Your Idol and make a music video for it and Soda Pop,” Jinu shrugs. “If we still want to do that,” he says and looks to the other guys.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Abby asks.

“It’s fun,” Mystery shrugs.

“You guys still need to release other songs,” Zoey says.

“And we’re doing covers right?” Baby asks.

“Yeah, I’m kinda excited for that,” Zoey says with a grin as she continues scribbling in a notebook while tapping against her thigh. “Still, new song.”

“Okay, sure,” Jinu sighs. “Mind if I borrow this?” He asks and nods to the guitar.

“Go ahead,” Zoey says and pauses her writing to watch.

Jinu tunes the guitar before he begins plucking strings until he finds a chord progression he likes. “If,” he begins as the other guys get comfortable. “We release an album, we should probably follow the aesthetics of Soda Pop. That way we aren’t directly competing with you guys. So we make music that feels like summer.”

“I thought Soda Pop was about stealing souls,” Zoey mentions.

“Yes, it is our opener, because the beginning of summer is addicting,” Jinu says as he slows his playing before hammering on the D string while plucking it. 

“You gotta slow down after the sugar rush,” Abby says with a grin.

“Exactly,” Jinu says and glances over when Mira and Rumi enter the room while Mystery turns on the drum kit and starts a slow beat.

“Let me,” Ro begins before humming in harmony with the chord progression. “Guide you through the dark.”

“Through the dark,” the other four harmonize.

“Let me,” Jinu continues.

“Spark a light inside your heart,” Ro sings as he looks over to Jinu. His range goes the highest out of all the guys and even his simple vocalizations are pure music.

“Or something like that,” Ro says with a laugh. “I don’t do the writing, just the dancing,” he grins.

“That was good,” Rumi says as Jinu and Mystery stop playing.

“Not sure if it bridges off of Soda Pop super well for an album, but it is something,” Zoey says with a grin.

“It’s nice to see you all again. You look… different Romance,” Rumi says as she studies him to try and get an idea.

“He’s going by Ro now,” Abby says.

“Nice,” Mira says. “The rest of you guys still sticking with your stage names?” She asks. 

Baby flips her off when everyone seems to look at him. “I’ll let you know when I think of something,” he grumbles as he reads over one of Zoey’s notebooks. “You guys are recording the song you sang at our… concert and building the album around that?” Baby asks.

“Yep!” Zoey grins.

“We want to include the cover as a bonus track,” Rumi adds as Mira begins to hand out breakfast, grateful that she had gotten more than necessary even if the demons didn’t need to eat. 

“We’ll have to talk it over more with Bobby when he gets back,” Mira says.

“The internet is hyped about it so he will be too,” Zoey insists as she eats her breakfast sandwich.

“The internet?” Jinu asks.

“Oh you guys are so old,” Rumi breathes before she takes out her phone as she sits between Jinu and Ro and the other guys surround her so they can see.

“You guys posted the song, you can’t be this oblivious,” Mira mentions as she tosses a wrapped sandwich at Abby, who catches it without even looking.

“Yeah, I did that and set up some banking stuff and signed a merch deal and they deposited the money into the account, but I haven’t looked at it,” Mystery says with a shrug. “Oh also,” he continues, his face warming at everyone looking at him since he usually doesn’t talk this much. “Could I borrow your address for a library card?”

“A library card?” Zoey asks.

“Yes,” Mystery nods. 

“He likes to read,” Baby informs as he picks up a pencil and begins writing in the notebook.

“Sure, but we’re gonna also get your banking thing sorted,” Rumi decides.

“Okay,” Mystery shrugs.

“You guys are so unconcerned,” Rumi sighs and continues scrolling through some online forums.

A lot of it is fan theories about the guys along with pictures of fans with their merch or with the idols themselves. Then there was the ship art and the theories about relationships.

“What are these words?” Abby asks and points to ship names.

“It’s some of our names mashed together. It’s how people ship us, I wouldn’t take it seriously,” Rumi says.

“Fans take it super seriously though,” Zoey says with a nod. “There are the mainstream ones,” she starts and points to the RuJinu ship tag. “Rare pairs,” she reaches over to scroll to the MirYstery and AbZoe tags. “The people who ship the entire groups either together or separately, and any number of other combinations.”

Abby reaches over to tap on the RoJin tag without much of a thought.

“Damn, people are much more horny than I remember them being,” Abby says as Rumi quickly backs out of the tag as her face grows red.

“How do they choose who is on top?” Mystery asks as Jinu and Ro’s patterns glow faintly. 

“Typically, it is whoever’s name is first,” Zoey explains.

“You guys really shouldn’t pay attention to it,” Rumi insists. “Sorry about that,” she says and looks from Ro to Jinu.

“It’s fine,” Ro says with a smile.

“They would draw much worse stuff if they saw you two this morning,” Abby teases.

“Okay! Back to song writing,” Mira insists.

“Oh my gosh we weren’t doing anything like that!” Ro says immediately.

“We just had a chat,” Jinu adds.

“And cuddled,” Abby hums.

“We’re always touching each other so what does that even matter!” Jinu insists.

“Dude,” Baby snorts.

“Not like that!” Jinu scrambles to save himself but those patterns don’t stop glowing.

The girls are laughing at his embarrassment and Jinu groans and lets his demon skin cover his body as he slumps back into the couch.

“You talk too much sometimes,” Mystery decides.

“Flesh chained to two worlds with an ocean of pain in between, is cool but I’m not sure ‘ocean’ captures the right vibe,” Baby says, having moved on ages ago and was still reading through Zoey’s notebook.

“I didn’t think so either,” Zoey sighs. “I really wanted to do something with an ocean motif and maybe work that vibe into the sound?”

“Sure, but you guys should do something like a storm. Might be more you guys,” Mystery mentions.

“Something almost metal if you’re trying to be experimental,” Baby agrees. “Also,” he turns to Romance and Jinu and Abby (and Rumi since she is still sitting with them), “We should definitely continue Walk Me Through The Night as a closer, but we gotta build to that. I was thinking,” he then flips to what had been a blank page in the notebook and shows how they can get from Soda Pop to their other song. “Start with Soda Pop, then I started writing one that can be more Abby centric that has similar vibes to Soda Pop, but might be a little more explicit. I get a rap part in it too. I’m calling it Sand in Your Hair. Beach song, duh. Get Away is gonna be for Jinu, but Mystery gets a larger solo in that. I do want another ‘fuck me’ song in there though,” Baby explains even if they need a few more songs to have a full album.

“Wow, you have been busy,” Zoey says.

“Just… bored,” Baby shrugs and looks between Jinu and Ro.

“Sorry,” Jinu says.

“You guys wanna talk about it?” Mira asks.

“We just got into an argument, nice to see you’re worried Mira,” Ro teases. “We’re good now,” he promises with a wink.

“Quit that, does it kill you guys to be serious?” Rumi asks as she reaches over to pinch his cheek. 

“You’re gonna bruise my pretty face,” Ro pouts.

“You aren’t that fragile, are you Ro?” Mira asks with a smirk.

“Uh, no?” Ro tries as his face warms and he gently shoos Rumi’s hand away.

“Now your face matches your hair,” Baby points out without looking up from the notebook. Ro lifted his foot up to shove Baby’s shoulder, but the demon just teleported to be behind the couch and kept writing. “Could we borrow your choreo studio?” Baby asks.

“It is infuriating how good you are at this,” Zoey decides.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Baby asks.

“Fine!” Mira and Zoey groan.

“Oh! We’re going to the bath house tonight. You guys are coming, right?” Rumi suggests. 

“So you found one that is coed?” Abby asked.

“What? No! You guys are gonna be on the men’s side,” Rumi says.

“And it is just a big bath?” Baby asks.

“Yeah, they’re relaxing and fun!” Zoey says.

“We fought in one,” Rumi reminds.

“That was kinda gross,” Mystery mentions.

“This one will be more up-scale, now! We have a song to write. I can’t be outdone by you guys!” Zoey insists.

“Have fun! Enjoy the lyrics I tweaked,” Baby says before they leave to go work on choreo or something. Baby had a feeling they wouldn’t get much done.

“But if we transformed into girls we could join you guys?” Abby asks.

“No, absolutely not,” Mira says and flicks his cheek even as she looks over and Baby and Mystery have transformed into girls to bother them. Their hair is long and their angles softer. It only lasts for a moment before they turn back into guys. 

“You guys really aren’t good at holding that for very long,” Rumi says as they walk along the empty street to the bath house.

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who probably doesn’t know how to use any demon magic,” Baby decides with a huff.

“Do you know how to use any of it?” Ro asks when Rumi doesn’t reply.

“I uh… I can… I teleported once,” Rumi says after thinking about it.

“Rumi is struggling in the whole magic department right now,” Zoey says.

“Zoey!” Rumi huffs.

“What it’s true!” Zoey insists.

“What’s wrong?” Jinu asks.

“I haven’t been able to summon my sword,” Rumi admits quietly.

“But they can, and the honmoon is still sealed,” Jinu mentions.

“I wonder if this has to do with a certain demon handing over his soul,” Baby suggests and they all take a moment to look at Jinu, whose face goes red as he tries to wave it off.

“Probably not,” Jinu decides. “You three don’t know anyone who would know more?” He asks.

Their hesitation is a yes, but also doesn’t seem to be very helpful. “I doubt she would know anything anyway,” Rumi decides.

“She would probably be pissed that we didn’t tell her anyway,” Mira mentions.

“And she might not be too welcoming of…” Zoey looks over to the five demons.

“Who?” Ro asks.

“Celine,” Rumi huffs, as if that is an explanation.

“Who?” Ro and Baby ask.

“One of the hunters before you three,” Jinu comments and rolls his eyes. These idiots should know that. He tells them as much.

“Do we seem like the types to concern ourselves with names?” Abby asks.

“No,” Jinu replies. “Is it worth talking to her about?” He asks. 

“I haven’t talked to her since the idol awards,” Rumi says, which sorta is an explanation for some of them. The pieces slide further into place when her patterns shine a faint pink before dimming back to normal.

“We would come with you,” Zoey promises as Mira nods with a grin.

“So long as she doesn’t try and kill us we can come too,” Abby says with a grin.

“At the very least Jinu should probably go,” Baby mentions. “This is probably his fault somehow.”

“It almost certainly is, and it would be the gentlemanly thing to do,” Ro insists.

“Oh look the bath house,” Jinu gestures towards it. “Well, time to split up. You two get your flirty comments out of the way already so we can go enjoy this,” Jinu says and gestures towards Ro and Abby, before nodding towards Mira who did seem amused by the two being called out. Good, Jinu just wanted to change the subject so they can not spend the bath thinking about what Jinu did.

“Hey! It’s not nearly as fun when you call us out like that!” Abby says.

“I do enjoy an element of surprise,” Ro agrees. “But there is a certain domestic bliss when it isn’t a surprise. Especially when you smile at just the thought, right?” Ro asks as he looks at Mira who immediately forces a scowl as her face warms.

“I am not smiling!” Mira scoffs.

“Okay, okay, have a good bath,” Rumi says.

They agree on a time to meet back by before they separate.

Chapter Text

For a bunch of demons, supposedly consumed by sins, they were a bunch of prudes. They were each given a locker key and towels, but that was it for guidance. Not only had the demons never been naked around one another since they never had any reason to change or shower, they also had no clue what to talk about.

“Have you guys ever been to a bath house?” Baby asks as he and Mystery begin to undress and shove their stuff into the small lockers. Baby figured it was better to just undress and be as casual as possible as opposed to dwelling on the whole nudity thing, and Mystery didn’t seem to care.

“No,” Jinu says as he and the other two begin to undress.

“A couple times,” Ro shrugs.

“I don’t think so,” Abby says. Memories could be foggy like that and those three have been alive for a long time.

“Well just get undressed, and then we shower and then we bathe,” Baby says. 

“And sauna if we want,” Mystery decides.

“I still don’t get how this is supposed to be relaxing,” Jinu grumbles. 

“You probably haven’t bathed in 400 years, so I think this is more than just relaxing for you,” Baby decides as he and Mystery head out of the locker room to go have a shower.

“We don’t need to bathe,” Jinu grumbles.

“Might be nice,” Abby mentions. Jinu nods as he avoids looking at the guy. Nude with his arms crossed over his chest and waiting with Ro who seemed to be looking down at himself.

“You know,” Ro starts as Jinu shoves the last of his things into his locker. “I don’t think I’ve seen myself completely naked in… awhile. Maybe not since I was human?” He suggests.

“Mhm,” Jinu nods. “I definitely haven’t,” he says.

“Alright, ready to go?” Abby asks.

“You two didn’t have to wait,” Jinu says as the three head out with their towels. There weren’t very many men there, and most of them seemed outside of the age demographic for their fans, which was nice. Beside the locker room entrance was a half wall and showers, pools of water made up a bulk of the space with the sauna located on the opposite side of the room. Mystery and Baby were still showering with their towels on the ledge and Mystery scrubbing Baby’s back. The other three join them to shower. Jinu faces the spray and tilts his head back as the water hits his skin while closing his eyes. Okay. Maybe there was something nice about this.

“You need a hand?”

Jinu shifts out of the spray as he opens his eyes and Mystery is holding a cloth.

“Sure?” Jinu agrees, a little uncertainly.

“Look at you getting into it,” Ro teases as he washes Abby’s back.

Jinu thinks this is a little like the tea ceremony thing the hunters do. This leads to him thinking of if they wash each other, and that leads to him wishing the water was a little colder. He already needed the water to be a little colder the moment he saw the defined muscles spanning across Abby’s back. Mystery washes his back though and he certainly does a better job than if Jinu had done it himself so he can’t complain too much even if it feels oddly intimate.

“You’ve got knots in your back,” Mystery mentions.

“Knots?”

“It means you’re tense,” Baby says. “I’m gonna go snag a pool for us. Hottest one okay?”

“Please?” Ro says and Jinu glares at the ground at the slight whine in that asshole's voice from Abby helping him get clean.

“Dude, we’re in public,” Baby snorts before he turns and walks away with his towel. 

“Sorry,” Ro breathes. Somehow that’s hot too.

“Damn Ro, if you wanted to have a bath this much nobody was stopping you,” Abby teases.

“Whatever,” Ro grumbles, his face warm, and runs his hands through his hair to get the last of the soap out. “Thanks,” he says and flashes Abby a smile before he grabs his towel and follows after Baby.

“Sinful,” Abby comments with a smirk.

“Seriously?” Jinu rolls his eyes.

“He has a point,” Mystery says and pushes his hair out of his face after it is washed. “Ro’s always been pretty,” Mystery shrugs and looks at the other two. “Is it too noticeable?” Mystery asks. He is, of course, referring to his demon eyes that he was unable to change into human ones. None of them knew why, but they suspected it had something to do with his deal so they didn’t ask.

“I’ll make something up if anyone comments,” Jinu promises.

“Okay,” Mystery says and the three grab their towels before heading to the pool Baby and Ro were in.

The water is scalding, and it makes their skin flush. Ro has his head tilted back to lay against the edge, which… okay yeah Abby is right. The guys looks good.

Baby is chatting with him, and every response Ro makes has his adam’s apple bobbing.

“What are you guys talking about?” Abby asks as he takes a seat and leans his elbows against the edge of the pool with his fingers barely dipped in.

“Existentialism,” Baby says very seriously.

Jinu, Mystery, and Abby both stare at the two, who break out into smirks before laughing.

“You two suck,” Abby grumbles.

Jinu sits next to Mystery and does his best to get comfortable, until Mystery jabs two fingers against his chest and tells him to stop moving so much. 

“Nah, we’re talking about songs, he’s really taken to the writing part of it. Your job might be in trouble Jinu,” Ro says.

“I thought we were co-writers?” Jinu asks with a huff.

“We are,” Baby assures. “You write good stuff, but you get writer's block too easily.”

Jinu rolls his eyes and drags a hand through his hair to comb it back. “I like to be inspired.”

“You can’t wait for inspiration,” Baby argues immediately. “If we want to keep doing this we need a place to record and we need to be more consistent.”

“Do we want to keep doing this?” Mystery asks. “We don’t have to, that’s all I mean.” The others look at him and it is silent for a moment, aside from the constant noise of water trickling in from a spout that seems to circulate and filter the water. Mystery’s face warms and he shrugs as he looks down at the water. 

“If you don’t want to then—”

“I like making music with you guys,” Mystery cuts Baby off. “I just… you three have been alone for so long, aren’t you guys gonna get sick of it? Sick of pretending for audiences and maintaining an image and performing?”

The three older demons glance between one another before Jinu flicks Mystery’s head. 

“What was that for!?”

“You’re being stupid,” Abby decides.

“Don’t you think that after being alone for so long we’re tired of being alone?” Ro asks as his face warms. “I hate being alone… I just thought it was what I deserved.” He looks at Jinu who gives a small sad smile.

There is no escaping the shame of their pasts, but they need to live with it all the same, right? Death isn’t freedom.

“Wait,” Baby looks between the two of them. “You told him?” Baby asks Ro, disbelief colouring his voice. “I thought we don’t talk about that shit?”

“We don’t,” Ro says.

“We didn’t,” Jinu corrects carefully. 

“What?” Baby frowns.

“I don’t know. I wanted to forget, and then I wanted to live in silence and let the shame stew, but that makes me feel like an imposter,” Jinu tries to explain.

“I don’t feel better about what I did, telling him made the ache feel fresh all over again, but… I don’t know,” Ro shrugs and lifts a hand out of the water to wipe a tear away. 

“But that’s not all you are,” Jinu breathes. “That is what she said to me. She was pissed off, rightfully so, and she still said that— I don’t get it either, but she’ll still be around me and you guys will too, and it turns his whisper into a murmur. I don’t get why any of you choose to be around me, but it… it helps.”

“We’re demons. Can’t exactly judge. What is the point in sharing and getting into a dick measuring contest of who did the most fucked up thing?” Baby scowls.

“You’re such an asshole sometimes,” Ro breathes. “What are you even mad about?”

“I’m not mad, I’m just not joining your stupid sharing circle. I’m beyond good,” Baby says.

“Sorry,” Ro shrugs, unapoligetic. “You don’t have to though, took me…” he pauses to calculate it. “329 years to tell someone what I did. We have endless amounts of time.”

“And now we’re being existential,” Abby groans. It works to break the tension. 

“Anyway,” Ro sighs. “I do want to keep doing this with you guys.”

“I do too,” Jinu decides. “Was this your way of asking for an out?” He asks Mystery.

“No, I like making music,” Mystery says and gives a small smile.

“What about you, Baby?” Abby asks and pokes his forehead.

“I don’t want my songs to go to waste,” Baby grumbles but avoids looking at the smiling idiots. 

“I still don’t know if this is relaxing or not,” Jinu sighs.

“I’m relaxed,” Ro shrugs. “I only wish we didn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances.”

Sure, there weren’t many people there and they could converse freely, but giving up the transformation magic was certainly not an option.

“What are you talking about? You keep up appearances even when we don’t have to,” Baby says.

Ro shrugs and sinks further into the water. He slips further down until his head goes under. When he comes back up he rakes hands through his hair to keep it all out of his face.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that,” Jinu mentions.

“Woops,” Ro offers with a shrug.

Abby glances to the ledge by the entrance and sees some buttons that they had all ignored or hadn’t noticed when getting in. He chooses one to press and water begins to bubble as it is pushed out of these holes along the wall of the pool.

“Shit,” Baby breathes as the four seem to slump into the water.

“Thanks Abby,” Mystery nods.

“Whatever you did is…” Jinu trails off with a nod and Abby rolls his eyes as he sits back down in front of a set of the holes. He immediately gets what the others are groaning about as he leans back.

Eventually, the five end up in the sauna with their towels wrapped around their waists and sweat dripping down flushed skin.

“Alright, I get it, those three were right, this is amazing,” Jinu decides. The others nod, but they keep their talking to a minimum since two older men are also in the sauna, chatting about their adult children. The man’s hands are oil stained black as he talks about how his son wants to go to an art school and how it is a waste because he is too smart.

“What do you five do?” The man asks and it takes them a moment to realize that they are being talked to.

“Musicians,” Jinu says apologetically. “If your son is smart, perhaps he is smart enough to know the risks of choosing art school over…” he trails off.

“Autobody repair,” the man says. “He better know,” the man decides before settling into silence.

Good, Jinu has no clue what the fuck autobody repair is. Baby smiles at him, clearly aware and amused that Jinu wouldn’t be able to continue that conversation. Eventually they both leave and the five are left on their own in the sauna. “Mystery, you keeping track of the time?” Abby asks.

“Yep,” Mystery nods, glancing at the clock every now and then but often forgetting about it completely.

“It is amazing how relaxing sitting around is,” Ro decides.

“We should do this again,” Abby agrees. The others seem to nod or hum in agreement. “I liked the talking too,” Abby says. “The last few days have been quiet,” he explains as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Haven’t you guys been alone for, literally, hundreds of years?” Baby asks.

“Yeah,” Abby nods.

“And I thought we all liked the silence,” Baby adds.

“Yeah, but—”

“So quit being stupid,” Baby decides with his arms crossed above his head.

“The silence is nice,” Ro says. “But we aren’t used to it. I feel like I need some noise or I might go crazy,” he explains and Jinu nods in agreement.

“You guys will probably go crazy then,” Baby decides after looking at Mystery who shrugs.

“You two are assholes,” Ro decides.

“Yeah that is a lot of talk coming from the person who missed Jinu the most,” Abby decides.

“Missed? W-what? As if. You are full of shit,” Baby scoffs even as his patterns ripple along his body. 

“I am—”

“Nope,” Baby cuts Jinu off. “Quit with that shit. I don’t want to hear it.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” Jinu argues.

“Probably something stupid,” Baby shrugs. “I’m gonna go have a shower. You guys have fun being naked and vulnerable,” Baby decides as he gets up and leaves.

“We still have half an hour,” Mystery says, but the door falls shut and, somewhat ironically, the group goes quiet as they settle in. 

He had a name at one point. What was it again? He knew it when he first got here. How long had he been here? He tries to remember, but he can’t. Whenever he tries to remember anything, the only thing that comes to mind is how he got here in the first place. Then the markings on his skin begin to glow and his body aches as he curls in on himself, his back pressed against the post of the gate. He spends most of his time pressed against this post. 

From the edge of his vision he sees a glow. He squeezes his eyes shut, expecting the burning to start again, but it doesn’t. Instead, the light dims and the man opens his eyes, only to see another creature. He has lavender, almost silver, and is dressed in the same clothes as the man against the post. He walks forward before he stumbles and trips. The etchings on his skin glow bright and the man sobs.

He doesn’t stop crying. ‘Was I like that?’ The man against the post thinks to himself. He looks around at the other creatures. Does nobody else hear him? No. That isn’t it. Nobody cares. ‘I shouldn’t care either.’ 

“It gets quieter after a bit,” the man against the post says. He doesn’t mean to. He meant to just stay quiet and ignore the lavender haired man. The lavender haired man looks at him as tears continue to stream down his face. 

“It doesn’t stop?”

The man shakes his head and frowns as a new wave of tears flood down the lavender haired man’s face.

“How are you not insane?” He asks. “How have you not bashed your head against that post to make it stop?” He seems to be genuinely wondering and the blue haired man shrugs as a hand picks at the flesh behind his ear, a constant itch.

"It won’t stop his voice, and I don’t think we’re alive, but I was crazy the moment I made a deal with him. There isn’t getting anymore insane than that.”

The blue haired man touches his own throat, sore from not using it. This is the longest conversation he has had in… how long has he been here?

Chapter Text

Baby sits on a bench outside as he waits for everyone else. He is dressed and has his bracelet slipped back on. He is wearing a white hoodie with a light pink corduroy jacket on top and blue jeans that match his bracelet and hair. He can feel other people looking at him and he knows some people are taking pictures of him. He isn’t quite sure if he regrets this persona or not. He isn’t expected to talk much and he has fewer people wanting to fuck him then the other guys, but people stare instead. They stare and some people are too touchy and some people do want to fuck him.

He should get a phone, then he can be online and know what the fuck he is supposed to be doing right now. Will fans think he is a prick for ignoring them? Ugh, but talking to people sucks. Alright, he can do this.  He can give a wave and ask if they want to take a picture with him instead of taking pictures of him like a creepy stalker and hopefully that is all they want. What if they want to talk more? He exhales in irritation at the thought. What if his patterns flare up like at that breakfast place? He scratches behind his ear as he thinks about it, but when he glances over he accidentally makes direct eye contact with the group of girls.

Fuck.

He smiles and gives a small wave, which they take as an invitation to make their way over. 

Shit.

“Hi! You’re so pretty in real life!” One of the girls squeals. Baby thinks it sounds like a dog whistle.

Not on camera? Baby thinks, but that is too much like Ro or Abby or Jinu. “Thanks,” he beams instead. The five coo and call him adorable and one of them touches his hair and mentions how soft it is. “Uh, please don’t touch,” Baby asks, trying his best to be polite. When she doesn’t stop, Baby grabs her wrist and removes her hand from his hair.

“Hey!” She yanks her hand away and Baby realizes how hard he was grabbing her wrist. Ugh. Humans are fragile, aren’t they? Humans minus the hunters. The hunters aren’t fragile in the slightest.

“Uh… sorry,” Baby says and frowns at himself. Fuck. He should have just stayed inside and—

“He can be strong when he wants, huh?” Baby looks over to see Abby and Mystery making their way out. “Did you apologize?” Abby continues as he places his hands on his hips.

“Yes,” Baby says and avoids looking at the idiot.

“And you three are okay?” Mystery asks as he sits beside Baby, providing a barrier between himself and them.

“If you need him to kiss it better he will,” Abby says.

“What?” Baby looks at him as his face burns.

Abby laughs and Baby pulls his knees to his chest.

“He can be shy,” Abby says as he puts a hand on Baby’s shoulder. “I would be happy to take responsibility for his actions though.”

The fans squeal and Baby is glad his face is hidden when he rolls his eyes.

Abby… entertains them and Baby leans into Mystery as the two watch. He wonders where Jinu and Ro are, but maybe the two just want to avoid this whole thing. Smart. Well would be smart if they had enough brain power to do that, instead the two make their way out and say hi. Ro and Abby play off one another, effortlessly flirting as they both lean into Jinu. So much physical contact. They must also be touch starved, Baby pointedly ignores the fact that he is leaning against Mystery.

Eventually, after Baby apologizes again, the ladies leave. Jinu sits on Baby’s other side, Abby next to him, and Ro goes behind the bench and begins gently fixing Baby’s hair.

“She basically petted me,” Baby grumbles.

“She shouldn’t have,” Ro says. 

“You can’t hurt them though,” Abby says.

“I don’t know how you guys deal with it,” Baby says since, thinking back on it, fans always wanted to touch those three. Bicep, chest, even at the library some fan touched Ro’s hair and still left with every single finger intact. Ro finishes fixing his hair before gently trailing a finger along his cheek and down to his chin to tilt his head up instead of having it be buried in his knees.

“We probably need to be PR trained,” Mystery murmurs, which makes Baby snort.

“PR trained?” Ro asks.

“Told how to act in front of people,” Baby says.

“Hm, I don’t know if any of us would be very receptive to that,” Abby says.

“Well, the girls have been PR trained… probably, maybe they would have some advice?” Mystery suggests.

“That’s… actually a good idea,” Baby says.

“What’s a good idea?” The five look over to see the three hunters exiting the bath house with Mira giving them a skeptical look.

Mystery explains the situation as they walk to a nearby ramen joint for dinner. The hot ramen is heavenly after a bath, and Zoey takes their concerns super seriously while Mira laughs at the description of the interaction.

“You’re the maknae of the group,” Zoey says.

“The what?” Baby asks.

“The youngest member, the baby of the group?” Rumi suggests.

“I’m not actually the youngest though—”

“But that is your label,” Zoey says as she plants a hand on the table. 

“She’s entering PR mode,” Mira says flatly, but with an amused smirk.

“The five of you based your names on tropes, right?” Zoey asks, ignoring Mira’s comment.

“Yeah,” Jinu nods, what was the point in trying to deny it?

“So your stage presence is characters. Although it should ideally be characters you all like playing,” Zoey says and gives Baby a sympathetic look. “But, Baby and Mystery are smaller so fans expect them to both be cute while you three are…”

“Stunning?” Jinu suggests.

“Hot?” Abby adds. 

“Sexy?” Ro offers.

“S-sure,” Zoey says as her face warms.

“We’re cute?” Mystery asks with a tilt of his head. Baby snickers at the way Zoey loses steam as her face somehow becomes more red. 

“The point is that you three can be protective of them and fans will eat it up,” Mira shrugs. “It’s expected that you guys protect your maknae,” she explains.

“So if Zoey is is your maknae does that mean that you two are—”

“Hot?” Mira asks.

“Sexy?” Rumi suggests.

The two laugh when Jinu avoids looking at them.

“But yeah, PR world says you guys should be possessive of him and help him. When he doesn’t want to be touched you guys can stop the person or he can hide behind one of you. Fans will get the idea pretty quick that he is off limits,” Zoey explains.

“What do you think, baby? That work for you?” Ro purrs as he leans against the table and Abby drapes an arm over the back of his chair.

“Whatever,” Baby grumbles.

“You guys are a nightmare,” Mira says flatly.

“Jinu, you gotta be protective of all of them, you’re the leader,” Zoey mentions.

“It’s true,” Rumi nods when Jinu looks over to her to see if that is even a thing.

“But Ro and Abby handle it well enough, don’t they?” Jinu asks

“But you gotta be protective of them,” Zoey explains.

“This deal is getting better and better,” Abby grins.

“Does Mystery have to do anything?” Jinu asks.

They consider if and glance over to Mystery who is finishing the last of his ramen.

“Nah, he’s doing great,” Rumi says. The three nod and Mystery thanks them for the compliment after he sets his bowl down.

They keep chatting about their roles even after they are all done with their food. Apparently their characters weren’t as simple as just the names they gave themselves. Online (how does Zoey know so much about their online fandom?), Jinu and Romance are seen as princes, Abby is thought of as a body guard because of how often he touches Jinu (someone counted all the times they touched in a recording of their Soda Pop performance), Baby learns what a tsundere is and that most people classify him as that, and Mystery is labeled as a dandere.

“You aren’t even this involved in our fan space,” Mira comments.

“I can’t be!” Zoey says immediately. “Reading what people think of us is way too embarrassing.”

“But reading about us is fine?” Baby asks.

“Pretty much,” Zoey shrugs.

“It is a source of entertainment given what we know about you guys,” Mira says and the two nod.

“You guys don’t even know very much about us,” Abby points out.

“Yeah, but seeing fan theories about demons is super funny,” Mira shrugs.

“Ugh, we seriously need to get phones,” Baby decides.

“I don’t want to learn how to use that,” Jinu huffs.

“But,” Zoey argues. “We could all have a big group chat if you guys do,” she explains. 

“Group chat?” Ro breathes. 

“We are getting closer to guessing your ages,” Rumi decides.

“Group chat it is,” Ro decides.

“Whatever that is,” Jinu breathes. “Also,” he starts and frowns slightly. “are you not at all worried about your sword?” He asks.

The table goes quiet and Zoey looks up from her phone to Rumi.

“Should I be? Is something going on down—”

A pink glow of the honmoon ripples through the restaurant before it bends in the direction the demons are. Rumi frowns before she gives Jinu a look.

“We’ll come, this doesn’t have to be violent,” Jinu says.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Mira says.

After paying, the group of eight ends up in the Myeondong night market. It is bustling with people, which makes it hard to find demons. Well for the hunters it does. Typically they have to find ‘people’ acting off or with patterns, but Jinu inhales deeply before he looks towards an alley. His eyes shifting to their demon form before going back to their human form.

The eight make their way over and the demons shed their human forms, but they maintain their human clothing as they look at the two demons dressed in black: corrupted souls.

“Hi,” Ro chirps when the two demons notice them.

“The hunters!” One of the demons squeaks.

Jinu looks over to see that Mira and Zoey have summoned their weapons. “Rumi,” Jinu says.

“Guys, no weapons?” Rumi requests.

Jinu makes his way over to the two. “I told everyone that I wanted to be notified before any trips were made. What are you two doing?” Jinu asks. His voice low and steady as his patterns pulse.

“We didn’t think—”

“That I’d notice?” Jinu suggests. “If you two want to be on the surface that’s fine, but if you two aren’t telling me about it then that means you two want to do something incredibly stupid. Now please tell me I’m wrong.”

“He said—” he pauses and both of their patterns glow and Jinu immediately knows that they spent too much time near the stage. 

“He isn’t to be listened to,” Jinu says, much firmer. 

“But I can’t just—” the demon collapses against the wall as he seems to realize what he was about to do. The other demon puts a hand on his shoulder and their marks burn bright against their skin. “I’m going crazy,” he decides. His hair is brown and his patterns are thin like crashes in the sidewalk. The other demon has long green hair like sea weed that runs to their thighs.

“Do you want to be on the surface?” Jinu asks.

“I don’t… I don’t know. I’m gonna end up screwing us all,” he says.

“Hey, it’s okay,” the green haired one says.

“It isn’t,” Baby scoffs. “One soul and we all go back to being tortured,” he snaps as he makes his way over in a cat-like manner as his eyes glow bright. His clothes turn back to his black robes as he hoists the brown haired male up by the fabric of his clothes. “Would you like his voice back in your head?” Baby taps two pointed claws against the idiot’s forehead. “Because I can volunteer to fill the void just fine—”

Mira and Zoey haul him back and away from the two demons.

Rumi makes her way over, her patterns a sparkle amongst the glow of all the emotional demons. She kneels next to the two demons.

“You’re a hunter,” the green haired demon says.

Rumi nods. “And a demon,” she breathes. “Did you come to stop him?” She asks.

The demon nods. “He wasn’t thinking, I figured I would stop him or you guys would show up and being sent back down is better than having Gwi-Ma back in our heads.”

“Jinu,” Rumi looks over to him. “Tell these two that you aren’t gonna beat the shit out of them,” she decides. She can see the way they shake, terrified of the five demons in charge of hell. And Jinu was the one who insisted this didn’t have to be violent. 

Jinu scoffs, but Mira and Zoey glare at him until he makes his way over. “I’m not going to hurt either of you, but he is trying to find those of us with weak wills to break down. You two are newer, right? Any of the newer demons can’t be near him. It will be hundreds of years of ache and pain. I lived it for hundreds of years, so I can promise you that we do not want to go back to that,” he says. His voice becomes gentle towards the end.

The two nod and Rumi gets up before offering a hand to help them up, but after they get up the brown haired one yankes her arm and presses a hand to her throat. Her soul glows bright instantly as the demon attempts to take it, but Abby teleports to physically shove him off and into the brick of the building. 

“Rumi!” Mira and Zoey make their way over to her as she staggers backwards and Jinu keeps her from falling.

“Guys, keep him from—” Jinu hears the crunch of Abby’s fist making contact with the demon’s face. Yeah, there was no stopping that one. 

“Abby, you’re gonna kill the guy,” Ro says as he and Mystery try to hold Abby back with very little success. He doesn’t reply, but continues to beat the demon. His fist covered in a black blood that looks more like ink or maybe tar.

“Jinu, go take care of it,” Baby says as he clenches his hands into fists, concealing his rage, as he takes Jinu’s place keeping Rumi up.

Jinu stalks between them and the honmoon glows from Rumi to Jinu, in strings connecting the two, as Jinu presses fingers to the brown haired demon’s head and sends him back. “Go,” he orders the green haired demon in a voice that is sharp and commanding. “Make sure your friend isn’t dead,” he hisses and the demon leaves.

Jinu then turns to Abby who looks at him with unconcealed rage. “They’re gone,” Jinu says and takes his hand and wipes the blood on his sleeve. “And everyone is okay,” he promises.

Abby gasps as his patterns go from bright to dim and he clings to Jinu.

“Jinu,” Ro starts. “How did you… how did you send him back like that?” He asks.

“I don’t know,” Jinu breathes as he lets Abby hold onto him tightly. He feels more awake somehow. He feels alert and steady and he frowns at the feeling. “I don’t think he’ll be able to come back,” he admits as he clenches a hand in Abby’s shirt and one in his hair. “Are you okay?” Jinu asks and looks to Rumi. 

Rumi nods even as her eyes grow glassy.

“We’ve never had a close call like that,” Zoey mutters.

“We never let demons get that close,” Mira adds. The two of them having taken Rumi from Baby.

“It was so easy,” Rumi breathes. “Just one hand on me and,” she chokes on her breath as she stumbles backwards and falls against the brick. “And you guys can do that too?”

“We wouldn’t,” Mystery says.

“I never realized that there isn’t really a way to fight back against it,” Rumi says as tears drip down her face.

Jinu pulls away from Abby and makes his way over to them and keeps his hands to himself. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let that happen,” Jinu says. “You,” he starts and realizes Mira and Zoey are weary about all of them, on alert. “You need your weapon back,” he breathes and looks at his own hands. “I—”

“Don’t even think about it,” Rumi whispers. “I don’t know why you’re alive, but I want you to stay Jinu.”

Jinu opens his mouth, but a light shines down the alley and all eight of them vanish from the alley. They reappear on top of a nearby roof and Baby sits down, dizzy from teleporting the three hunters.

“No more demon magic for a bit, I might puke,” Baby says as his eyes go completely dark when he isn’t able to maintain the transformation magic. He presses his face into his knees to hide it and waves a hand dismissively for them to continue.

“Making friends with demons! What were we thinking?!” Mira breathes and runs hands through her hair. “We need to go see Celine. As soon as possible. Ideally tonight,” she decides as she pulls out her phone.

“She won’t look at me,” Rumi mutters as she leans into Zoey. Mira, having not heard Rumi continues scrolling through her contact list. “Mira,” Rumi starts again. “Mira, please don’t call her. Please.”

“Mira…” Zoey trails off. “Wait until the morning?” Zoey asks.

“Please,” Rumi says.

“How about,” Mystery starts and holds up his hands in surrender when they look at him. “We’ll get you three home and then we’ll go back down below.”

“I’m not teleporting them that far,” Baby grumbles.

“I can,” Jinu says. “We’ll get you guys home and you guys can use tiger to write, but otherwise we can stay down there and try to clean up the mess.”

“Fine,” Mira says before Rumi and Zoey can say how unnecessary that is. “Don’t barge in unannounced. We need to talk this out,” Mira says.

“Of course,” Jinu says. The other four say bye before teleporting away and Jinu is left with the girls. He takes a steady breath before teleporting all of them back to the penthouse and relaxes when he sees he got them there.

“Okay,” Jinu nods to them. “Have a good night,” he nods respectfully, but then Rumi is in his arms, hugging him tightly. Jinu carefully hugs her back. One hand at the back of her head and the other on the back of her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry for being scared,” Rumi breathes.

“Don’t be,” Jinu says instantly. “I would never allow a demon to claim your soul,” Jinu promises and gently tilts her face to look at him.

“I didn’t know demons could bleed,” Rumi mentions.

“Only other demons can make that happen,” Jinu says. 

“He looked like he wasn’t in control,” Mira mentions, her voice dry and clipped.

Jinu wasn’t sure what to say. “He was trying to protect her,” he says as a frown makes its way to his face. “Just because you three never saw any blood doesn’t mean you didn’t hurt anyone,” he says and carefully runs the back of his hand along Rumi’s cheek. She's still here. Good. Fuck. “You’re okay?” Jinu asks.

“Yeah, and I’ll… I’ll see if Celine is free and write to you guys?” Rumi suggests.

Jinu nods. He’ll have to get a better grip on what is going on down below. He was content to leave the demons in the realm to their own devices, but after this he doesn’t think that is the right approach. He carefully lets go and wishes Mira and Zoey a good night with a slight bow before he disappears completely.

Chapter Text

Jinu reappears in the underworld at the base of the stage where the rest of the guys are back in their black robes. He morphs to his, his hat missing from the outfit, but he’ll have to go retrieve that.

Seize control. 

He blinks as if nothing happened and moves away from the steps and towards the two corrupted souls. The one he sent back here has fallen completely unconscious. Jinu wonders if that is because of what he did or what Abby did. 

Demons don’t kill each other. The only exception was when Gwi-Ma chose to dispose of someone. Typically, their wounds heal over time regardless of severity, but Jinu had sapped the energy from the brown haired demon. He wasn’t even sure how he did that, but he did it and he wasn’t sure if he would give it back even if he could.

“Is he going to die?” The green haired demon asks. Their voice trembling and their hands hovering over the body.

Jinu looks at the body and sighs. “He won’t, but he won’t be able to go back to the surface,” he says. “He won’t have the energy for it.” His body feels like a flame with extra kindling due to sapping that idiot's energy.

“Good,” Baby grumbles. 

“He made a mistake,” the green haired one insists.

“Exactly,” Jinu agrees. “So he can stay down here. If he wants to go back to the surface then he’ll have to explain to the entire realm what he nearly did to us. Now, leave,” he says.

The demon nods and teleports the two of them away and Jinu drags a hand against his face as he sighs.

“Jinu,” Abby starts, but he doesn’t seem to know where he is going with it.

Jinu turns and makes his way over to pull Abby away from the steps. “You with us again?”

“Yes,” Abby nods. “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine,” Ro insists.

“Better than the alternative,” Mystery nods.

Abby shakes his head and runs both hands through his hair before pulling it.

“Your sin is wrath,” Jinu suggests. Abby’s patterns glow in confirmation even as he shakes his head to try and deny it. “He almost killed her, you protected her and he is still alive. He’ll recover,” Jinu assures.

“I wish he wouldn’t,” Abby admits.

“He will,” Jinu says matter-of-factly. “And you’re gonna leave it alone because I’m asking you to,” he says.

Abby nods and his patterns dim.

“I think,” Baby begins with a frown. “We need to figure out how to run this place,” he says.

All of them were avoiding it, Jinu especially, but demons having free rein with no ruler was clearly not working.

“Jinu, you’re in charge,” Ro mentions.

“I don’t want to be,” Jinu says quickly. He’ll get carried away. He’s too greedy. He shouldn’t be in charge. He’ll end up being that voice of shame all over again.

“You are,” Mystery says. “But you aren’t alone, you want us to keep you in check, right?”

“We will, if you like it or not,” Baby assures. “We gotta get a handle on this. Without that voice people might succumb to their sins again.”

“I’m not being that voice—”

“You don’t have to,” Ro says. “Being without purpose and guidance is going to lead people back to Gwi-Ma. They need a ruler and the demons listen to you.” He makes his way over to the two and gently lays a hand on Jinu’s back. “The dokkaebi are social creatures. They’re happy socializing here and they listen readily. None of them approach the stage and they aren’t strong enough to cause problems. It isn’t like you need to rule over them with an iron fist.”

“The other corrupted souls are the ones that need a ruler,” Mystery agrees.

“They need a ruler and they need purpose,” Ro nods.

“Our purpose before was being tortured. There’s nothing to do here,” Jinu says. It was a nice area, but there wasn’t much to actually do. It was why they had concerns about demons going to the surface.

“We’ll have to come up with something,” Baby decides. “Maybe the hunters would have an idea?”

“I don’t think they’ll want to see us again,” Abby grumbles.

“Rumi said she would write, they have been told to hate demons for most of their lives. They're scared because of what that other demon did,” Jinu explains easily, and he believes it. Sure, Mira had concerns about Abby’s temper, but Jinu knows the two were primarily concerned about Rumi and their concern had just morphed to general anger. He didn’t blame them.

“Okay,” Abby nods.

Jinu gently takes his hands and looks for any signs of demon blood. “You didn’t stop when Ro and Mystery tried to get you to,” he mentions.

“I don’t remember,” Abby admits. “I just… I got angry.”

Jinu nods and supposes that is a bit of a problem. He is strong. Jinu toys with the idea that his deal with Gwi-Ma enhanced his strength, but he doesn’t dwell on the idea since there won’t be much to do about that. He squeezes Abby’s hands before releasing them. 

“So, you’re going to actually rule?” Baby asks.

“If that is the only choice we got, then yes,” Jinu decides. “But you guys need to keep me in check, okay? I can’t… I don’t want to be him,” he says and nods towards the stage.

“Of course, we don’t want that either,” Ro says.

“So, first order of business, your highness?” Baby asks with a grin.

Jinu rolls his eyes before he considers it. “I want the corrupted souls gathered and I want that brown haired demon to be made an example of. They should know what happens if they try to gather souls.”

“Will you be able to do that again?” Mystery asks.

Jinu looks at his own hands before he nods. “Yes, I will,” he says.

“Alright,” Ro nods. “We’ll gather them, and Jinu?” He says and tilts his head so Jinu looks away from his hands and at Ro. “Thanks for doing this. We know you don’t want to, but…”

Jinu nods as he looks at the other demon. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admits.

“You led us, you can do this,” Baby assures.

Jinu nods even if this certainly isn’t the same thing. He takes a breath and clenches his hands into fists at his side before he stares at the steps leading to the stage. “I want them gathered by the gate, the weak willed ones shouldn’t be here,” Jinu decides.

“Makes sense,” Baby nods before the four disappear and Jinu begins to walk towards the gate.

The problem isn’t that Jinu doesn’t think he can do this, he is certain that he can. The problem is that he won’t know when to ease up. He wonders if he can trust the other four to catch him when he falls.

***

Rumi thinks there is something off about the demons next time she sees them. They look tired, and Rumi didn’t think they actually got tired. She doesn’t ask them about it since she really should be focusing. They’re walking along the old training grounds. The shrines for the previous hunters are here, and at the center of the cemetery is a large tree with fabric attached to some branches.

“What’s with the tree?” Baby asks. They haven’t spoken much since coming to the surface aside from Abby’s apologies.

“It marks the spot where the first honmoon was created,” Zoey says. “It is mostly ceremonial,” she explains.

“I don’t know about that, the energy here is different,” Baby says, but shrugs it off.

“Celine is meeting us here?” Mira asks.

“Yeah, she said she would,” Rumi says as they get to the base of the tree. “I don’t think she will have any answers.”

“Is she going to try and kill us?” Ro asks. The demons were in their demon forms but with modern clothes. “I just want to know how much dodging I need to do,” he explains and tries for teasing but it doesn’t quite land.

“Are you guys—”

“You brought them here?”

Rumi looks to see Celine walking down one of the paths, she looks horrified, or maybe just pissed off, that Rumi would bring demons here.

“I said we needed help,” Rumi tries. Celine still won’t look her in the eye and it makes Rumi’s patterns burn.

“You didn’t say you would bring them here, they need to leave,” Celine insists.

The demons don’t move to leave, but they do look to the current hunters to see if they should.

“They’re nice demons?” Zoey tries.

“They’re not going to hurt you,” Mira adds.

Celine’s lips part before she presses them together in a firm line. “Choosing you three was a mistake,” she says quite firmly. “A demon should have never been a hunter, and now you’ve infected them with—”

“I gave you the chance to get rid of me!” Rumi snaps as her patterns pulse pink and her eyes shift to their demon form. The honmoon ripples pink at her raised voice and the demons watch it ripple outwards. Rumi presses a hand over her mouth and tries to contain herself. She feels sick. Eventually she takes her hand off and sucks in a breath, “You didn’t take it, so you can’t—” Rumi pauses and shakes her head.

“They sealed the honmoon, isn’t that what you hunters always wanted—”

“If it was sealed you five would be rotting in the underworld with Gwi-Ma,” Celine snaps at Jinu as she summons her weapon, a sickle with a faint glow.

“She’s not gonna be any help,” Baby grumbles.

“Can you not see that it is sealed?” Mira asks.

“I see demons in front of me, you three failed,” Celine insists.

Mira and Zoey look angry, but also hurt.

“We didn’t,” Rumi insists. As she holds onto herself. “Gwi-Ma is trapped down there. The honmoon sealed him down there,” she says and nods to herself. “Will you just listen to what happened? After that, if you can’t help us, we’ll leave,” Rumi says.

Celine exhales but offers a single nod. “Put the weapon away,” Mira says steadily. “No need for you to flinch and cause unnecessary problems,” she says.

“So protective,” Ro hums but receives glares from even the other demons. “What?” He huffs but takes a seat at the base of the tree and leans back against it even if Celine doesn’t seem happy with that choice. Regardless, her weapon disappears and she gestures for Rumi to explain, and Rumi does.

She explains the concert and how Gwi-Ma directed a blast at her and how Jinu took the brunt of it. “And then I gave my soul to her,” Jinu mentions.

“And he turned to ash, but a couple days later he came back,” Abby adds.

Mira and Zoey glare at both of them for not keeping their mouths shut, but Mira sighs and nods. “Now she can’t draw her sword,” Mira says.

Celine doesn’t look at any of them. Her eyes going from the ground to the tree to off in the distance amongst the shrines of the former hunters. “His soul became integrated with the honmoon,” she says.

“How do you know that?” Ro asks. It makes sense, but she did come to that conclusion awfully quick.

Celine frowns, as if it is painful to even talk about it. She shakes her head and looks over to Rumi, not at her, but near her. “Your father also touched the honmoon,” she says. Her father. The demon.

“What do you know about him?” Rumi asks as she takes a step closer, but Celine takes a step away.

“I… can only show you what is left of your mother’s things,” Celine says.

“You never met him?” Rumi asks.

Celine hesitates before shaking her head and beginning to walk along the trail. The eight follow her to a temple that looks like it has just been built despite clearly being older. The paint seems fresh and the colours, the blues and yellows, are vibrant. The floor inside is wood and creaks in certain spots. There are photos on the walls and a shrine in the center of the main room.

Celine takes them past it and into a room with books and papers everywhere. “Under the desk,” she says. “There is a hatch, her things are down there.”

“Seriously?” Baby breathes, but Jinu and Abby make their way over to lift and move the heavy desk. “Way to bury a dirty secret,” Baby grumbles. The hatch is revealed and Rumi makes her way over to open it and reveal a set of stairs.

“There’s gonna be spiders down there,” Zoey pouts.

“It’ll be alright, we’ll be there,” Rumi says and Mira lays a hand on Zoey’s shoulder.

“Well, you guys coming or what?” Mira asks and looks at the five demons.

“You would have them—”

“Yes,” Rumi cuts Celine off. “Thanks for your help, but you don’t have to keep forcing yourself to be around us,” Rumi says shortly. She leaves and Rumi’s eyes shift to their demon form before she blinks and they go back to normal.

“You don’t have to keep it together for us,” Mystery mentions.

“What?” Rumi breathes.

“Transformation magic is hard,” Mystery shrugs. “I can’t even keep it up.” 

“And you have nice eyes either way,” Baby agrees with a smirk.

“Whatever,” Rumi grumbles, but she smiles slightly. “Ready to go?”

“Absolutely! I hope this place is haunted,” Mira smirks.

The group goes down and the girls use their cell phone flashlights to light the way. They get to the bottom of the stairs and end up in a room. Rumi finds a string light and pulls it.

The room is covered in bookshelves and there is a desk in the center of it. The shelves have books, but also music awards, and photos. The desk in the middle has scratches along the wood that Rumi traces. The others begin to look at the books, trying to find anything useful. Meanwhile, Rumi opens the drawers on the desk and exhales softly. They’re all empty, their contents either tossed or reorganized. She reaches a hand into the empty drawer, as if something will materialize in the empty space, but instead, when she touches the bottom it shifts slightly.

Without commenting, Rumi takes the drawer out and carefully tilts it to the side. A false bottom falls out along with a book.

“Found something?” Zoey asks.

“Maybe?” Rumi puts the drawer back and lifts the journal. She turns it over to be face up. Soft brown leather with a tie holding it shut. Rumi undoes the tie as the others gather around to watch before opening the book and the first page has a photo. The photo is of Rumi as a baby, her mother, and a demon: Rumi’s father.

The demon has purple hair and ashy skin. Patterns run along his body, but they are so faded that they almost blend into his skin.

“Do you guys recognize him?” Zoey asks.

“So all demons know each other?” Baby asks and grins at the way Zoey huffs and argues that they probably should. 

“Jinu?” Abby prompts.

“I…” Jinu frowns. “Gwi-Ma killed him,” Jinu says.

“Well, I figured,” Rumi says.

“Sorry, I mean,” Jinu sighs softly. “I never saw him cross over,” he explains.

“I thought you didn’t remember everyone who crossed over?” Abby mentions.

“I vaguely do,” Jinu admits. “But I don’t remember him. I remember the day Gwi-Ma killed him though. Common demons and the horde? Those got burnt all the time, but corrupted souls? It took so much of his energy to create us that we were never killed. Tortured? Sure. Killed? No.”

Rumi nods slightly and can piece together why he was killed.

“Gwi-Ma probably scrubbed our memories so nobody would try and do what he did, but he made a point to gather us all together to witness the execution,” Ro says. 

“I’ve never heard a demon scream the way he did,” Mystery nods.

“All for falling in love,” Rumi whispers.

Zoey hugs her side as Mira lays a hand on her shoulder. 

Rumi turns the page and the notebook is filled with writing. The entire notebook is full of writing and, when Rumi realizes, she closes the notebook. “I guess I have some reading to do,” she says with a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. They keep looking around and eventually find scrolls stored in a chest in the corner of the room.

“I… cannot read these,” Zoey says after opening one.

“I know you read better in English but you can’t be serious— yeah. No. I can’t read these,” Mira says as she comes over to look over Zoey’s shoulder. They both look over to Jinu.

“I’m not that old,” Jinu grumbles, which makes Rumi smile even if it is just a small thing. He makes his way over and looks at the scroll. 

“They seem old, are you gonna be able to read them?” Baby asks with a smirk.

“They’re not that old,” Jinu says as his way of admitting that he can read them.

“Are they written in hanja?” Baby asks with a smirk.

“Well yes—”

“So it’s ancient,” Mira decides with a smirk.

“Ancient?” Ro breathes the word as Baby laughs and Mystery has suppressed his laughter into a smile.

“Now you two can be lumped in with me,” Jinu tells Ro and Abby.

“I can’t read it,” Abby shrugs. “So it is just you two who are ancient,” he says and pats Ro on the shoulder to console him, but Ro slaps his hand away.

“Would you make translations for us?” Rumi asks with a smile that Jinu isn’t going to be able to say no to even if he has his hands full trying to get everything sorted out down below.

“I can do it,” Ro says smoothly. “Gives me an excuse to spend more time with you girls,” he adds.

“He’ll help me with it,” Jinu corrects. 

“We should take all this stuff back with us,” Abby says. 

“Then we can spend less time here,” Baby agrees and glares up the stairs.

“Baby,” Rumi says with a sigh.

“What? I hate looking at people but that lady could at least look at the person she is talking to,” Baby grumbles.

“And I have a feeling she is lying,” Mystery adds.

“About what?” Rumi asks.

“Meeting your father,” Mystery says.

Rumi frowns even if she can’t help but agree. She doesn’t comment on it and instead says they should get going. Abby lugs the chest up as Jinu begins reading one of the scrolls and everyone else follows suit.

Chapter Text

Back at the penthouse, Jinu and Ro get started on the scrolls as Mira makes coffee for everyone. Zoey attempts to teach them about laptops, but they very quickly realize that it will be faster if the two demons just write everything by hand. Picking up on the fact that the other three demons seem… tired? — The hunters still aren’t sure if they can be tired — Zoey tries to get them to hang out and do some well earned couching, but apparently yesterday has them really shaken up. 

“We should go check on things down below,” Abby says.

“That’s a good idea,” Jinu says before Zoey can protest.

“What’s going on down below?” Mira asks.

“Trying to avoid a repeat of yesterday,” Jinu says flatly.

“What happened to that demon?” Rumi asks.

Jinu looks up from the scroll, unable to focus on reading with everyone looking at him. “He won’t be back,” Jinu says.

“Okay, what happened to him?” Rumi asks again. 

Jinu isn’t sure Rumi would be overly impressed with what they decided to do with him. He was ashamed that he came up with the idea even if it seemed to be effective. He wonders if he would have come up with the same punishment had the demon tried to steal the soul of some random human. 

“Jinu,” Rumi says when Jinu doesn’t reply.

She has this look in her eyes and her arms are crossed. She isn’t gonna drop this, is she?

“Since he wanted to spend time near Gwi-Ma, I figured he could be chained to the stage for a decade or so.”

“A decade?” Rumi breathes.

“Not only did he try and kill you, but had he gotten a soul back to Gwi-Ma we would all be fucked,” Jinu tries to explain himself.

“His mind is going to be completely fucked by then,” Mira exclaims as she turns away from the french press.

“I’ve had his voice in my head for 400 years,” Jinu counters.

“And now you're chaining a guy to him for falling to his influence. Maybe your head is fucked,” Mira says coldly.

Baby snickers from his spot at the breakfast bar and both Jinu and Mira glare at him. “Sorry,” he says, entirely unapologetic. “You guys have sent demons down without a second thought, but now our torture methods are too extreme,” he says as he laughs.

“This is rather tame compared to what Gwi-Ma would have done,” Mystery agrees.

“You guys want to be compared to him?” Rumi asks which has the two younger demons shutting up. “I think last night scared you guys.”

“So now you’re all over correcting,” Mira agrees.

“Instead of being super hands off you guys are trying to rule with cruelty,” Zoey says. “It’s what you guys have known for a long time, so it makes sense.”

“Us? Scared?” Baby scoffs.

“Uh yeah, you guys all freaked out,” Mira nods.

Jinu considers it and sighs softly. “So what do you three suggest I do with the guy?”

“It isn’t about what you should do with him, but what you should do with Gwi-Ma,” Rumi says.

“Do something with Gwi-Ma? We’ve tried. We can’t seem to get rid of him completely,” Ro explains.

“Well, a different voice instead of his,” Zoey says easily. “He’s already stuck down there, that’s punishment enough.”

Jinu sighs and nods to Mystery who disappears to go handle it. “I can’t believe you guys want me to ease up on the demon that tried to kill her,” he grumbles, but goes back to reading. His face warming as the girls thank him.

I have been in a state between life and death for too long to track. Others like me track how long they have been forced to kneel to Gwi-Ma, but I lost count after seventy years. What was the point in tracking how long it has been since I sinned? Part of my suffering is the slow loss of my memories. I was a scholar in life, and now, to ward off insanity, I have taken to studying the demon realm. 

Jinu rewrites the scroll with vague interest. He can’t imagine that this supposed scholar managed to actually figure anything out about the demon realm, but Gwi-Ma did end up, and maybe it wasn’t just for loving a human. 

Abby had headed off to the demon realm and Baby was sleeping against the tiger with Zoey taking pictures. Mira had given them each coffee before her, Rumi, and Zoey chatted song lyrics and scheduling concerts after their break was done on the couch. Ro had rewritten a scroll regarding common demons even if he seemed bored out of his mind.

The two go through scroll after scroll and translate to the best of their ability. Common demons, corrupted souls (Jinu had frowned at the scholar’s attempt to keep logs of the corrupted souls and uncover their shame), the scroll on spirit animals was the briefest, and the scroll on the honmoon itself was riddled with questions and very few answers.

Then they got to the scroll that looked the newest. It was held shut with a leather string and Hunter written in characters on the card attached to the string. Jinu undoes the tie before he begins to carefully open the scroll. It begins with a definition for what a Hunter is and attempts to write a history regarding them. It is mostly accurate based on what Jinu remembers, but he itches to make corrections on some of the content described before the scholar’s time.

“In exchange for my freedom,” Jinu begins after rewriting the ending and Rumi quickly makes her way over. “My freedom being the ability to traverse between realms without being called upon,” the man defines. “I have made a deal with Gwi-Ma. Disguised as a human, my goal is to corrupt or kill the hunters. Eight months into this endeavor, and I am aware that I will not succeed. I will die by hellfire, for I have fallen in love.”

Jinu pauses to see all three of the hunters gathered, listening with Ro.

“He loved her,” Rumi breathes, relieved that he did. Relieved that she had been born out of love as opposed to any alternative.

“I was aware that music tended to quiet his voice, the demon upon the gate often sings to maintain his sanity,” Ro leans over to read and nudges Jinu with a smirk.

“Whatever,” Jinu rolls his eyes.

“But her voice silences his,” Ro continues. “The strengthening of the honmoon by the hunters revealed my identity to her. I expected to be banished back to the underworld, but she couldn’t. I have never felt greater guilt over my existence than when I watched her crumble to the ground and say that she had failed her duty. I was meant to kill her then, but instead I failed my duty and embraced her.”

“Cute,” Zoey grins.

“What about the rest?” Mira asks.

Jinu sighs, knowing already that the story doesn’t have a happy ending. “She told me she was carrying my child, I told her I would give everything I have to protect them. I meant it. My sin was greed, but what if all I want is to love them?”

The writing changes, the penmanship is different and the original scroll is no longer written on hanja. It matches the writing in the notebook.

“Your mother wrote the rest of it,” Jinu says and pushes the scroll over to her. He rewrote it anyway just so it was complete, but it didn’t need to be rewritten.

“He didn’t have a name,” Rumi reads. “I called him Yeonghon. I kept him from the others, but it didn’t matter. How could I kill demons knowing that one loved me? When the others discovered his patterns, I was told I needed to kill him. My duty was to kill him and then seal the honmoon. I couldn’t. 

Celine took matters into her own hands. She tried to strike him with her sickle, but I got in the way. Yeonghon reminded me of his promise, and the stupid demon told me his soul was mine. I’ve never seen a soul so bright as his. He was gone, but he was also with me. He would appear, sometimes, to protect me as if a day hadn’t passed since we last saw one another. He had abilities other demons didn’t, everytime he assisted me he grew stronger. 

Eventually, our time together would come to an end. He appeared when I needed him, but didn’t disappear immediately afterwards as he usually did. He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him. He told me he was sorry, and I wasn’t sure what he had to be sorry for. I never found out, another demon came to collect him. I never saw him again and my ability to draw on the honmoon faded into nothing.”

Rumi finishes reading the scroll. Torn between anger at Celine, sorrow at what happened, and confusion. This didn’t answer her questions. This didn’t help her gain her sword back. She looks over when she hears Zoey sniffle.

“Zoey?” Mira asks.

“It’s so sad!” Zoey insists and tries to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“It’s a little unhelpful,” Rumi mutters and sighs softly. 

“Well, after you three sealed the honmoon you must have done something,” Jinu says.

“Me?!” Rumi asks, offended.

“Yeah, you have the abilities of a demon and a hunter. I was dead, but you must have relinquished my soul,” Jinu decides.

“Harsh rejection,” Ro nods.

“So how do I summon my sword?” Rumi crosses her arms. At this, the two demons shrug and Rumi wants to kick their asses for being useless.

“You could try learning to use your demon magic, he touched the honmoon and you accepted your demon half. Both of your abilities shifted,” Baby suggests, appearing next to the table and stealing Ro’s coffee after having woken up.

“Isn’t demon magic just teleporting and making yourself look pretty?” Zoey asks while tapping her chin in thought.

“No, that is just the easy stuff,” Baby says and flicks her head before he drinks some of the coffee. “Dude,” Baby coughs after swallowing it. “How much sugar is in this?”

“I have a sweet tooth,” Ro says.

“This has gotta be mainly sugar and milk,” Baby insists and switches it for Jinu’s but doesn’t even take a drink of it. “Is this black?”

“That’s how I like it,” Jinu reaches to take it back. “Get your own.”

“You two are crazy,” Baby decides. “Crazy in opposite directions, but still crazy.”

“Crazy in opposite directions,” Zoey hums. “Could be a good song idea.”

“So demon insults are off the table, but regular insults are fine?” Ro asks.

Zoey looks over to Rumi who shrugs. “Pretty much,” Zoey decides.

“Last night,” Mira starts. “The honmoon connected you two and that was when Jinu stepped in and sent the demon back. I bet that was him using hunter magic as opposed to demon magic. If your magic is crossed,” she nods from Rumi to Jinu, “Then Rumi must have given you that ability. Generosity has always come easy to her—”

“Mira,” Rumi breathes as her face warms.

“It’s true!” Zoey insists.

“And I assume it isn’t in your nature to give?” Mira suggests as she looks to Jinu.

“Certainly not,” Jinu breathes. His primary sin is greed after all.

“So you probably just need to give her sword back,” Mira shrugs.

“Well you killed yourself once for her, giving the sword back will be a piece of cake,” Baby decides.

“Sure,” Jinu breathes.

“It’s like watching a toddler learn how to share,” Mystery mentions. Watching Jinu attempt to relinquish some of his power to Rumi, patterns glowing bright, before he forced himself back and gasped in breaths while insisting that he was going to fall apart, was a little funny. At least Baby insisted it was, which was why he had to grab Abby and Mystery so they could all watch their leader learn how to share.

“Shut up!” Jinu hisses, the honmoon glowing pink with frustration.

“So you guys have a hard time going against your primary sin?” Mira asks as she flips through one of the translations.

They were on the rooftop patio, lounging on the furniture out there as they watched Rumi patiently (endlessly patient) extend her hand out to Jinu who was having a hell of a time with this.

“I think this might just be him,” Baby says with a snort as Jinu runs a hand through sweaty hair.

“Well, what are the rest of your original sins?” Zoey asks, innocently. 

“You are getting less subtle with that—”

“Greed,” Jinu pants, cutting Baby off.

“Lust,” Ro admits.

“Wrath,” Abby rubs the back of his neck.

Baby rolls his eyes and leans into Mystery. His hand tightening around Mystery’s shoulder so the asshole will stay quiet, unlike these three traitors.

“Okay, so this seems like a JJP,” Zoey decides.

“What’s that?” Jinu asks.

“A ‘Just Jinu Problem’,” Zoey and Mira says.

“It’s okay, we can try again later,” Rumi says.

“Maybe he has performance anxiety,” Baby snorts.

“He’s trying,” Abby says mentions.

Jinu rolls his eyes as he sits on the ground. The tiger and bird make their way over and the tiger digs his head under Jinu’s chin as the bird moves to sit on his shoulder. “Okay, enough,” Jinu breathes and pets the tiger. “I could try again,” he offers.

“It’s okay. Mira and Zoey back me up,” Rumi says.

“Damn right we do,” Mira nods.

Rumi makes her way over and carefully runs her fingers through the tiger’s fur. “Besides, I can see that you’re trying. You’ll get there,” she says.

“Hmm,” Jinu presses his lips together in a flat line. “Did you…” he trails off before shaking his head. 

“What is it?” Rumi asks.

“You,” Jinu sighs and wobders if he should be alone with Rumi to ask about it, but he has a feeling Rumi would insist on Mira and Zoey hearing. No more secrets, or something like that. “You told Celine that you gave her the chance to get rid of you,” Jinu says.

Rumi frowns. This time she moves away from him. She stands up and holds her hands behind her back. “You were the first person to make me feel like I wasn’t a mistake, and you said it was all a lie. I felt like a fool. I felt like a mistake.” 

The others go quiet. Rumi and Jinu hadn’t properly talked about all that had happened. 

“We should go,” Abby says.

“It’s fine,” Rumi reaches a hand in front of her to wave it off. “I’m over it—”

“I’m sorry,” Jinu breathes. “It wasn’t a lie. You’re incredible,” he says it so honestly it leaves everyone speechless. “You two are also amazing for indulging my request,” he nods to Mira and Zoey. “And the four of you…” he looks over to the other demons who are glaring like they want to kill him for being so honest. “I didn’t mean to leave you guys like that. I would do it again and again and again, but the four of you deserved more from me than that.”

“It’s—”

“Not fine,” Baby cuts Ro off. “You could have said something! We could have worked something out! And now you’re saying that you would do it over and over again?” he asks as he gets up and marches his way over. The tiger and bird flee from Jinu who doesn’t move as Baby’s patterns burn against his skin. Jinu keeps his mouth shut, which just seems to piss off the other demon. “Say something before I kick your ass.”

“You would have never gone against Gwi-Ma,” Jinu says far too easily. He braces for it, but the pain still comes sharp and hot like lava across his skin when Baby punches his cheek.

“You looked at her,” Romance mentions as he fixes his hair in the mirror for the millionth time.

“Did I?” Jinu asks, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t play stupid with us,” Abby grumbles as he adjusts the collar of his dark purple silk button up.

Jinu crosses his arms over his chest as he goes from looking at the two to staring at the ceiling while leaning back on the couch in the waiting room. They had to go on soon. “No clue what you guys are talking about.” Make sure they lose. That is what Rumi wants from him, but… if it doesn’t work? All five of them will be dragged below the barrier and all five of them will be killed. He glances over to Mystery and Baby, accidentally meeting Baby’s eyes in the process. Instead of human-blue, his eyes glow orange and his pupils are wide.

“Does she actually make you think you can be free?” Baby asks.

“No,” Jinu says immediately. “How do you even—”

“Liar,” Baby says as Mystery puts a hand on his knee to keep him seated.

“Whatever,” Jinu breathes. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“A lot of apathy coming from the person whose idea this all was,” Mystery says.

Jinu exhales as patterns ripple across his skin before fading into nothingness.

“Wow, a reaction from our dear leader,” Romance says. He smirks and stalks his way over before pressing a hand to Jinu’s shoulder and pinning him against the couch. “What’s on your mind? We do this and we’re as free as demons can be.”

“If they sealed the honmoon while we are on the surface, would we be dragged back to hell?” Jinu asks.

“What kind of stupid question is that?” Romance asks, taking his hand off the other as if Jinu had burnt him.

“Of course we would, you know that. The stronger the honmoon the harder it is for us to pass,” Abby says with a roll of his eyes.

“Sure, but they’ve never achieved a golden honmoon so—”

“Oh my… you believe her?” Baby scoffs. “Why not tell her the truth then?”

“You really are cozying up to Gwi-Ma, aren’t you?” Jinu asks and flashes a smirk. “He doesn’t care about you.”

“He lets you get away with anything,” Baby shrugs, not denying Jinu’s claim. He waves a hand and a stack of papers appears in his hand. “You're the master of illusion 나를 속이려 하지마. Look at all the masses that you're foolin', but they'll turn on you soon, so how? How can you sleep or live with yourself? A broken soul trapped in a nastiest shell,” Baby reads before tossing the papers to the ground. “Cute song about us, don’t you think?” he asks with a smirk.

“Your feelings hurt?” Jinu asks. He has already read the song. He already knows what it says. “When your patterns start to show I see a pain that lies below…” he sings. This brings a pause to the other demons as they all look at him.

“You care about her,” Romance breathes the fact into existence.

“You lied to her,” Baby points out, somewhat calmer this time. “And you’re in good with Gwi-Ma, why would you want to jeopardize that?”

“Maybe,” Jinu breathes as he goes back to looking at the ceiling. “Maybe after this I can tell her the truth. I could tell you guys too. I told her I would make sure we lose,” he admits the truth into the air, and it feels good to tell them. He hadn’t felt great about leaving them in the dark. The argument starts immediately. Each of the members of their band yelling at him until a stage hand comes in before saying that they can perform after the girls.

“Was that part of the plan?” Abby snaps as he morphs into his demon form. His patterns burn bright as he walks over to Jinu and grabs him by his shirt. 

“Abby,” Jinu says and grabs his wrist. He can see the rage carried through the other’s body. “If I’m a liar, what do you think about Gwi-Ma? You think he is gonna let us go? He isn’t. Who cares if we win or lose?”

“You don’t get it,” Abby scoffs as he shoves Jinu back into the couch.

“What don’t I get?!” Jinu stands up and shoves Abby back.

“We…” Mystery sighs. “We are having fun doing this with you. If we win, and he lets you go then maybe you’ll stay like this.”

“Instead of speaking one sentence every decade,” Romance adds with a shrug. “We wanted to keep doing this with you. It’s been fun.”

“The singing makes him so quiet,” Baby breathes. As soon as the last word leaves his lips the five of them are dragged down. They disappear from the dressing room and are in front of the demon king himself.

“In-fighting? Your fans will be heartbroken,” Gwi-Ma purrs. “Don’t worry. I’ll play the role of manager and correct that,” he says. Jinu gets to watch first as the other four begin to feel their shame all over again. Abby hits his own head, Mystery curls in on himself, Baby pulls at his hair, and Romance falls to his knees as tears stream down his face.

Jinu watches them and opens his mouth to demand that the demon king stop, but he remembers where he is. He remembers who he is. He is nothing. He stays standing as Gwi-Ma infects him with shame. He has lived through 400 years of shame and guilt and torture, he can handle this. “We…” he breathes and the memories feel fresh all over again. What was he thinking? Did he seriously think Rumi would understand him? “We prepared a back up plan,” Jinu reminds. 

“Very well done,” Gwi-Ma says. “But you five will be performing. We wouldn’t want to disappoint your fans. Only after the hunters are defeated, will I remove the memories.”

“Thank you, Gwi-Ma,” Jinu says. His eyes are wet, but he doesn’t dare cry. 

They end up back in the dressing room, Golden clearly being performed on stage. Was it all a hallucination? Jinu looks to the other demons in various states of distress. He makes his way over to Baby, who is the closest, and gently touches his shoulder. “Are you—”

“Don’t,” Baby snaps and hits his hand away. “Quiet, but not gone. We’re performing, so don’t think about disobeying again. You get off easy! Every single time! You dream of freedom? I dream of being treated like you!”

Jinu swallows and nods. “Make the arrangements.”

“We’re demons,” Ro explains after Abby keeps the girls from stepping in on the fight between Jinu and Baby. 

“No shit!” Mira says and tries to get Abby to move, but the muscular asshole stubbornly refuses.

“We are beasts. Not human,” Mystery clarifies.

“Strong emotions feed into our demon attributes. Those two might be able to talk it out later, but if they don’t exert some physical energy they’ll be like a live wire,” Ro explains. “They’ll be ready to bounce each other at a moment's notice, and Baby has been bottling it up for a while now.”

“Sounds like they need to fuck,” Mira grumbles with an eye roll.

“I think that would be more productive,” Ro agrees and shifts out of the way when a shoe whizzes by him. “We can’t all be as smart as you are with that idea, Mira,” Ro hums.

“At least they aren’t wrath demons,” Abby decides.

“Baby isn’t?” Zoey asks.

“No, he’s an envy demon,” Mystery mutters. “I’m a sloth demon,” he admits as if that somehow balances the scales for telling the girls what kind of demon Baby is.

“They won’t be able to seriously hurt one another,” Abby assures.

“It isn’t pretty, but it’s what we do,” Ro shrugs. 

“Overgrown children,” Rumi mutters to herself as she looks over at them. They had thrown a few punches at one another, but it was a lot of pushing and shoving and swearing at one another. Although, at one point, when Jinu has Baby pinned to the ground, Baby teleports out from underneath him before kicking his side.

“Fucking prick,” Jinu breathes as he holds his side.

Ro opens his mouth to ask if they are done putting on their little show, but stops before he can start when Jinu pushes himself back up and punches the other demon in the jaw. 

Eventually, the two seem to have exhausted themselves and are mostly just throwing insults at one another. 

“All you do is lie,” Baby grumbles as he wipes blood clear from his nose, sitting while curled in on himself.

“At least I’m trying to change,” Jinu says as he lays on the concrete and stares up at the sky. 

“Fuck you,” Baby’s patterns glow bright as he hugs his knees to his chest. “I…” he looks over to the others. Ro and Abby were chatting with the girls, probably explaining what the fuck that was, as Mystery looks over to the two demons. “He treated you better than the rest of us,” Baby argues.

“He treated me differently, not better,” Jinu whispers. “So, what? You want to be the favourite tortured soul?” Jinu asks as he pushes himself up to look over at the other.

Baby shrugs. “Yeah,” he admits. The burn of his patterns has him aching, and he wishes it would stop. “I have always wanted what others have. I… I traded places with my best friend when I was human. That was my deal.” He doesn’t elaborate on it any further, and Jinu doesn’t ask him to, especially not when the others are all looking at them.

“Was it better on the other side?” Jinu asks.

“For a bit,” Baby says. “I would always find someone who had it better than me and I was never satisfied.”

Jinu nods and watches as Baby’s patterns dim after he admits it. He reaches over and lays a hand on his shoulder before squeezing firmly. “If you hated me, why did you cry when I was gone?” He asks.

Baby shakes his head and looks over to Jinu with those bright orange eyes. They’ve always reminded Jinu of gold or maybe the sun. “I never hated you,” he admits as his face warms and he rests his chin on his knees. “I did envy you.”

“Did?”

“Not anymore. I watched you burn up on stage into nothing and I admired you,” Baby shrugs. “And the more I see how fucked we each are the more I… I’m sad? I’m sad that we were all tricked by him, I hate feeling that way so I don’t want to hear about it.”

“It’s hard,” Jinu agrees. “Hard things are worth pursuing,” Jinu mutters and looks over to Abby who smiles at them.

“So you two are done beating the shit out of each other?” Mira asks.

“For now,” Baby shrugs.

“Well come inside, we’ll get a cloth for your nose and some ice,” Rumi decides.

“Seriously, you two are getting demon blood on our patio,” Zoey says.

“Okay, sorry,” Jinu says and gets up before helping Baby up to his feet. 

“Sorry,” Baby mutters.

“It’s fine… that is seriously a demon thing? I was half convinced Ro just wanted to watch,” Mira says.

“Yeah it is, but usually it is worse,” Jinu admits.

“Worse?” Mira asks.

“They weren’t gonna go all out on your patio,” Abby says as the group heads inside.

Back in the kitchen, Rumi gets ice for the already forming bruises even if the demons insist they can just transform to hide them. “Not the point,” Rumi says and holds ice to Baby’s jaw as Baby holds a tissue to his nose. “So is the fighting really necessary?” She asks.

“I tried explaining it to them,” Ro shrugs as he leans against the kitchen counter.

“It isn’t just because we are angry,” Baby says.

“So, explain it to us,” Zoey says as she dabs the blood off of Jinu’s knuckle.

“It’s hard to explain. If one of us didn’t want to fight we would have just left though,” Jinu assures.

“Demons aren’t human, we’re beasts. It’s in our nature to fight, but it isn’t so dangerous for most demons. It only becomes dangerous when two wrath demons are fighting, but they’re rare,” Abby says.

“Greed and envy would be the most common?” Rumi suggests.

“Or maybe greed and lust?” Mira mentions.

“Following the pattern, what about gluttony and pride?” Rumi asks.

“We all have those, but a demon's primary sin revolving around gluttony or pride is rare,” Mystery says. “Probably hard to make them feel shame or regret.”

“Greed and envy is probably the most common though,” Jinu says and looks over to Baby who tries to push Rumi’s hand away since the ice is too cold. Rumi rolls her eyes and wraps the bag of ice in a cloth before holding it again.

“Better?” She asks, unimpressed.

“No,” Baby grumbles but doesn’t try to stop her.

“You two are cleaning the blood off of our patio,” Zoey decides.

“Fine,” Jinu says. “It’s mostly Baby’s anyway.”

“The fuck it is! I kicked your ass.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Jinu scoffs. “I win every time we fight.”

“You certainly don’t,” Abby says.

“I think he holds back sometimes,” Ro nods.

“He likes punishing himself,” Mystery agrees.

“Masochist,” Baby mentions and the four demons nod.

“And you all fight with each other?” Mira asks.

“Only a couple times,” Abby shrugs.

“I don’t get that itch, but if they want and as long as they don’t hit my face,” Ro shrugs.

“I don’t,” Mystery says.

“You demons are idiots,” Rumi decides as she sets the ice down.

“You’re a demon too,” Jinu says. “Only half, but still,” he shrugs. “I’ll figure out how to give your sword back to you,” he promises.

Rumi nods slightly. “You should work on being able to grab it from the honmoon first, then you could physically hand it to me.”

“Okay, how do I do that?” Jinu asks.

“When you guys sing honestly the honmoon reacts, you guys should start there,” Zoey says.

“I thought we agreed that it was a fluke?” Mystery mentions.

“When Ro was singing to himself it glowed too,” Abby mentions. 

Ro flips him off for telling everyone about it, which makes Abby laugh.

“So your homework is to come up with a song,” Zoey looks to Baby who grins. “That is honest, not one that will top charts. If it does both that’s fine, but honesty comes first.”

“You are ruining my summer album work,” Baby groans.

“Hold onto it, we’ll get to it after,” Jinu promises.

“Fine,” Baby huffs.

Chapter Text

The underworld: once a pit of nothingness, and once a zen garden, had shifted and changed under Jinu’s rule. He had quickly realized that, because of his time being tortured, combined with some self hatred, he didn’t know how to rule in a way that was fair. This meant deferring to his friends or the hunters when he thought someone had over stepped.

After sapping energy from three demons — who tried to oppose him for what he did to that brown haired demon — preventing them from going back to the surface, Jinu felt alight with power. He didn’t think it was a good idea to be holding so much energy, but he didn’t know what to do with it and he had a hard time giving it up.

He spent a great deal of it reshaping the underworld. Mystery had told him about a book he read on architecture and sociology, and how the underworld had very little architecture to support a functioning society of demons.

“That’s what we are, a society of demons,” Mystery had said when the others looked at him strangely. Abby had laughed at the comment while Ro and Baby had grinned but agreed with him. 

So Jinu wanted to change the environment. He wanted something more civilized, but the jump between the pit and the garden was far too great. The monotony and boredom had people seeking out Gwi-Ma. At least, that was what Mystery theorized. Changing the environment was a necessity to ward off insanity, but — Baby had mentioned — it would also serve as a show of Jinu’s strength. And a show of strength it was.

While standing atop the stage, he placed a hand on the hot stone that held Gwi-Ma and the land began to change. The pools became canals and the rows of stone morphed to walkways. Buildings formed, homes for the demons, and the stage that held Gwi-Ma began to lower towards the ground. The thick fog disappeared and revealed nothing but sky and clouds. There was nothing past the gate aside from a fall towards who knows where. The path from the gate crossed through to the other end of the underworld towards a temple with a court yard.

“You’re gonna use all your energy,” Abby warns as the demons watch Jinu.

“I’m almost done,” Jinu says. For now anyway. There would be more to change once he had the stamina. For now, he finished by adjusting every single demon’s attire. Sure, transformation magic could be used to adjust their clothing, but their default attire should not be the cloth Gwi-Ma chose for them.

He dressed all of them in hanboks. The common demons received different colours to compliment their skin tones, and the corrupted souls received untattered white garments with either a coloured vest or jacket over top. Wrath demons received red, lust got pink, sloth got purple, envy got green, and greed got yellow. Their gats were removed entirely.

“I appreciate looking nice, but was this really worth spending the extra energy?” Ro asks as he looks down at the light pink fabric that descends to his ankles and the wide sleeves with silver embroidery and a silver rope cinching his waist. 

Baby’s outfit was similar but green with gold embroidery, while Abby and Mystery dawned red and purple respectively and wore long vests with their sleeves being of the white undercoat instead. They also had embroidery, which the other corrupted souls didn’t receive on their outfits.

“We aren’t his prisoners anymore, so we shouldn’t dress the part,” Jinu says as he drags his fingers along the stone before turning back to the demons in his yellow hanbok. “Please feel free to explore and enjoy the city, I will be moving Gwi-Ma into the temple. When everyone has had a chance to settle, we will begin discussing time on the surface.” He keeps his voice firm despite the exhaustion running through him. The other four seem to notice anyway, and they approach to assist with teleporting Gwi-Ma to the temple. 

The former demon king’s new spot is in a room that has water constantly running from fountains that dispense from the ceiling into pools at the floor. Stones provide walking paths and a platform in the center is what Gwi-Ma rests on. “I made it look nice, hopefully you can appreciate that and refrain from bothering anyone,” Jinu tells him.

He receives no response. Aside from speaking in their heads, the former king doesn’t talk. The running water muddles his voice even further.

“I can’t believe you couldn’t have given us modern clothing,” Baby says as they exit the chamber. Abby closes the door behind them.

Jinu goes to explain that this was easier to accomplish considering what he started with, but instead he stumbles forward and Ro is left to catch him.

“It was too much all at once,” Mystery says.

“I’m fine,” Jinu says. “Just a little dizzy.”

“You need to rest. Did you make a bed in one of these rooms?” Ro asks.

“Yes, but I’m seriously fine—”

Abby lifts Jinu, cradling him, “Give directions,” Abby says.

“Or we’ll take you to the hunters and they’re busy preparing for their post hiatus come back,” Baby says.

The five demons had gotten kicked out after the girls insisted they were too distracting. Abby and Ro had been high off that ‘compliment’ for a few days. Regardless, they weren’t allowed to bother the girls, and, frankly, the demons were busy writing and choreographing their own songs. Regardless, bothering them while they were working was a non-option and might lead to Zoey killing them if they interrupt her when she is in a flow state.

Jinu, left with no other option, gives Abby directions without complaining too much about being carried. It gives the demons a chance to see some of the temple Jinu made. The floors are wood and, through doors slid open, they can see an inner courtyard where the tiger and bird are staring into a fish pond. With a large tree providing shade for them. There are rooms that will have to be properly explored later, but for now the demons enter a bedroom with a large bed low to the ground.

“How did making all of this not kill you?” Baby asks as he drags a hand along the sheets of the bed.

“How did you make all of this is the better question,” Abby breathes as Mystery goes to pull the blanket back. Abby sets him down on the mattress before he kneels and begins to help the other remove his shoes.

“I just need to sit, I’m fine,” Jinu insists

“Get over yourself,” Baby scoffs. “And answer our questions,” he adds as he sits at the foot of the bed and Mystery sits down with him while Ro removes the gold tie holding the hanbok shut and pushes the yellow outer jacket off.

“It is just transformation magic,” Jinu shrugs.

“No it isn’t. At least not the kind we typically use,” Abby says when he sets the shoes on the floor and they don’t disappear. 

“It’s like you rewrote the entire demon realm,” Mystery agrees.

Jinu nods, “The garden offered no privacy and the stage made everyone feel like they were being watched.”

“They use a similar design in some prisons,” Mystery mentions since he had been the one to tell Jinu about it.

“So it looked pretty, but it was just another prison,” Jinu shrugs as he lays back when Ro pushes him down. “Fine for us since we don’t have to stay, but not for everyone else who spends most of their time here.” His voice drips with exhaustion and Abby pulls the blanket over him as Ro hangs his overcoat up.

“You really thought about this,” Mystery says.

“We talked about it for a while,” Jinu shrugs.

“You really didn’t have to take my comment about the clothing to heart,” Ro insists. “It was entirely unnecessary!”

“He does look like a girl now,” Baby teases with a smirk.

“I wanted you to all look pretty, and you all would have been mad if I didn’t give myself new clothes too,” Jinu mutters as he tries to keep his eyes open.

“Thank you,” Ro finally says as he drags fingers through Jinu’s hair. “You really listened to all of us, didn’t you?”

“Mhm,” Jinu hums as he begins to drift off. Ro goes to take his hand away, but Jinu is quick to grab his wrist. “Let me be greedy,” he breathes as he cracks his golden eyes open to look at the other before glancing to the other three demons as well, “Stay?”

“O-of course,” Ro breathes and continues combing fingers through his hair. 

“Calls himself greedy,” Baby grumbles once Jinu is fast asleep.

“He’ll spin this to say that it somehow serves himself,” Mystery mentions.

“Yep, his own self interest is what had him building homes for everyone and maintaining spaces for the spirit animals and changing everyone’s clothing and moving Gwi-Ma. That’s all just self-interest,” Ro says sarcastically.

“‘I wanted you all to look pretty’,” Abby quotes. “Doesn’t get more self-interested than that,” he says with a smirk. “He practically had a crisis when we left our gats at the gate, but he’ll change all of our clothing because some of us think it is prisoner attire.” He laughs softly and sits on the floor beside the bed with his head tilted back to rest on the mattress.

“I’ve never met someone so selfish,” Baby agrees. He takes his shoes off and tosses them on the floor before laying back on the bed and looks at the silver embroidery on the moss green cloth. “He could have given me blue.”

“Green with envy,” Mystery mentions.

“Asshole,” Baby grumbles.

“Selfish asshole,” Mystery corrects.

“Yep,” Baby hums, smiling since it feels so far from the truth. The selfish asshole even made sure to keep all their gifted jewelry in place. “You do look like a girl though Ro.”

“A pretty girl?” Ro asks.

Baby tilts his head to look at him and watches the way his long slender fingers, with claws that can cut skin, delicately sift through Jinu’s hair. “No,” Baby decides.

Abby exhales a laugh before letting his eyes close. “You make a pretty girl,” Abby assures.

“You make a pretty man,” Mystery corrects.

“Pretty demon,” Baby corrects once more.

“Pretty demon?” Ro asks, a finger trailing along Jinu’s cheek and down his chin. He watches the rise and fall of Jinu’s chest before pulling his hand back as he takes in a sharp breath. “Thanks,” he says with a gentle smile as he sits up straight and holds his hands together on his lap.

“You’re doing it again,” Abby mentions.

“Doing what?” Ro scoffs.

“We’ve heard about how you are. Avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid and then indulge,” Baby explains.

Ro rolls his eyes. “It has been over fifty years, and I can go at least another couple decades,” he assures.

“And then you’ll be in a three year long orgy?” Baby asks.

Ro reaches past Jinu, his sleeve barely grazing the other’s nose, before flicking Baby’s forehead. 

“That wasn’t a no,” Baby says as he rubs his forehead. 

“I would rather avoid it,” Ro decides.

“Yeah, isn’t that what you do before eventually giving in?” Abby asks.

“I would rather avoid it entirely,” Ro shrugs. “I would miss out on far too much.”

“You would miss us?” Mystery asks, tilting his head.

“That isn’t what I said,” Ro scoffs. He goes to get up, figuring he has sat here long enough and can probably just leave to go look around and clear his head, but the damn greed demon grabs Ro’s arm while sleeping. “Greedy asshole,” Ro huffs (far too fondly but the other three don’t comment on it).

“Just indulge him, I’m surprised doing all this didn’t kill him,” Abby waves it off.

“Fine,” Ro grumbles and jabs Abby with his shoe. “Take them off, if I’m gonna stay here I’m gonna lay down.”

“Okay, behave yourself,” Abby teases and helps him with his shoes. He gets the light pink jacket tossed on his head as thanks before Ro opens the blanket.

“Wh-What?” Jinu grumbles sleepily. 

“I need room, move over,” Ro says. He doesn’t expect the other demon to actually listen, but Jinu does move and Ro gets under the covers. He lays on his back, expecting to just get some rest for however long Jinu sleeps for, but then Jinu puts an arm around him and his hand clenches into the white fabric of Ro’s under jacket.

“He’s a cuddler,” Baby mentions, familiar from when they shared a bed.

“Of course he is,” Ro sighs and shifts to face Jinu. “Whatever gets him to sleep I guess.”

“Such a sweetheart, you should get some sleep too,” Abby teases. He is kicked in the shoulder by Ro for the comment, but otherwise the demon seems to take the suggestion to heart.

Chapter Text

“This was a great idea,” Baby decides as he sets up social media for the Saja Boys. He had taken to modern technology quite readily once they each had gotten a phone after Zoey helped them get access to their money. Ro, Jinu, and Abby only used their phones for phone calls and the occasional (very slowly written) text. Mystery discovered he could get books on his phone and seemed to enjoy that, but Baby had seven different video games on his phone and three different social media apps. He had already posted group photos, teased a full album to accompany Soda Pop, and teased a crossover with Hunt/x. He had even put up a poll to see which song of theirs the fans wanted the guys to cover.

“We are mainly between ‘How It’s Done’ and ‘Golden’, but ‘How It’s Done’ is winning by a bit. There are also a few of their older songs being suggested, but none of them are even close to being in the lead,” Baby explains, hunched over his phone as he looks at their analytics. “Some people want to know if we are going to do the original key or have it pitched down.”

“Can any of you guys even hit those high notes?” Rumi asks while the girls take a break from running through new choreo.

“I would be more concerned about their ability to do all the rapping. That’s okay guys, I can just have more lines,” Baby says with a smirk.

“I haven’t seen you rap as fast as Zoey does, you sure you can handle that?” Abby asks.

“Also those high notes are going to kill us,” Ro says and nods to Mystery.

“Well ‘Golden’ probably won’t win, and then I can watch you guys trip over all the fast parts in ‘How It’s Done’,” Baby hums with a smirk.

“What about the high parts in ‘How It’s Done’?” Mira asks with a smirk as she wipes the sweat from the back of her neck.

“What high parts?” Jinu asks.

“Sing it for us?” Mystery requests when Zoey goes to grab her phone and show them.

The guys smile far too innocently for demons, but the girls sigh and indulge them. While they are singing, Baby mouths the words to himself as he scrolls online to find old performances of the song and shows Ro and Abby the outfits so if they do decide to make a music video or perform it (which Baby insists would be great publicity), the two can get excited about a change in outfits. He nearly drops his phone when, at the end of the song, Zoey begins to sing the highest note of the damn song, which is only in the back up vocals. 

“Oh and look at that, I died,” Ro says as Mystery nods.

“In a recording booth I think you guys could get it!” Zoey encourages.

“Or we could pitch it down,” Mystery mentions. 

“Soda Pop isn’t nearly as challenging,” Jinu complains.

“It’s soooo sexual,” Mira groans.

“Sexual? What do you mean?” Ro asks, blinking innocently.

“It is only about consuming souls,” Baby insists. 

“Don’t argue with the authors,” Jinu adds before the two start laughing.

“But also don’t sing it in front of us, it might get hot in here,” Abby decides.

“The five of you are in a good mood,” Rumi points out. “Things are going well down there?”

“Yeah, I think so?” Jinu suggests and looks at the others who nod.

“Speaking of which,” Ro begins before he disappears only to reappear with a vase with the flowers that looked like spider lilies, with the main difference being there were multiple growing from one stalk. “A gift,” he says. “We never got you one to thank you all for the jewelry," he elaborates with an easy smile

Mira takes it from him and holds it. Zoey, Rumi, and Mira’s faces all flush at the gift. “Thanks,” Zoey says as she takes them from Mira. “We should put them on the island! Or on the piano! They would look so pretty on the piano!” she rambles a bit.

Mira rolls her eyes at Zoey. “Subtle,” she mutters.

“You can be such a sweetheart when you are like this, Ro,” Rumi mentions as she reaches over to adjust one of the stalks.

“Hardly,” Ro insists with a dismissive wave. His face was beginning to match his hair. “It’s just flowers, there is probably thousands of them across the realm,” he explains.

“And you took the time out of your day to pick some—”

“Which didn’t take very long and I have been alive for hundreds of years—”

“And put them in a vase—”

“That I sent Mystery and Baby to buy with our phones, so it was practically on the way—”

“And put them in water—”

“That I scooped from the fish pond in our courtyard. It took like two seconds—”

“And now, you’re being modest about it,” Mira says. She is smirking by the end of it.

“You are unfairly attractive,” Ro breathes.

“Real smooth Ro,” Abby mentions.

“He has a habit of ruining it,” Jinu agrees.

They both wait for Mira to storm off since she doesn’t typically seem to appreciate when Ro or Abby are overly blunt, but instead she takes her pointer finger and taps her lips before laying her finger on top of Ro’s lips. “They’re right, you should learn to shut up,” Mira says. 

“I think he’s dead,” Zoey says when Ro doesn’t so much as move.

“It was very nice knowing him,” Mystery agrees.

“The lust demon that hardly ever fucked,” Baby nods in mourning.

Mira smirks as she tucks her hands into her hoodie pockets. “See he’s pretty when he shuts up like this.”

“Just keep complimenting him until he explodes,” Baby says.

“The heat might give him brain damage,” Abby sighs. 

“Give him?” Baby snorts.

Ro flips to glare at them. “You two are dead to me,” he decides as he disappears into a poof of red smoke.

“I see why you two like bothering me now,” Mira says to Abby.

Abby shrugs and rubs the back of his warming neck. “Well he is about due,” he mentions.

“Due?” Mira asks as she drinks some water so the girls can reset and run the choreo again.

“The lust demon that doesn’t fuck,” Baby reminds.

“He’s horny,” Mystery says.

“Are you guys not going to help him out with that?” Zoey asks, genuinely curious.

After a moment of silence, the four demons rush to explain that it isn’t like that and their voices layer on top of one another until it becomes a garbled mess. Abby (the idiot) insists that none of them are even into men like that. Mystery swears that Ro has people for this kind of thing… probably. Baby says that Ro has a perfectly decent left hand. Finally, Jinu shrugs, “he didn’t ask.”

“Hold on,” Rumi says and pauses her efforts to get their song booted up again. “‘He didn’t ask’?”

“I mean… none of us like men?” Jinu corrects.

“Cap,” Zoey says flatly.

“What?” Jinu asks, confused.

“It means you are full of shit,” Baby explains.

“Well,” Jinu begins as his patterns appear across his skin. “He sees all sex as just a form of lust, so he avoids indulging,” he explains.

“And you didn’t correct that?” Mira asks.

Jinu avoids looking at her as his entire body morphs to his demon form. “You correct him,” he counters like a perfectly mature adult who has totally had sex with another person at some point in the over 400 years he has existed… totally.

“Oh my god,” Rumi snorts.

“Don’t laugh at him!” Zoey insists. “It’s sweet!”

“Wait, you haven’t?” Abby asks.

“Not even with another demon?” Baby asks.

“Maybe he slept with someone while he was alive and Gwi-Ma scrubbed it from his memory?” Mystery suggests.

“You guys really don’t talk about anything to each other, do you?” Rumi asks.

“Only our deepest traumas and shames,” Jinu says flatly. “I don’t want to hear it from you anyway, there is no way you are…”

“Pulling,” Baby fills in.

“There is no way you are pulling with the stupid pajamas you wear,” Jinu decides.

“Excuse you! Rumi is always hot as fuck,” Zoey insists.

“She is gorgeous,” Mira agrees.

“Why do your opinions matter?” Baby asks.

“Unless…” Abby trails off.

“Go check on Ro,” Mira decides, rolling her eyes. “We gotta practice and you guys are distracting us.”

“Are we still going to the bath house and then ramen?” Abby asks.

“Fine, yes,” Mira says. “Seven tonight?”

“Sounds good,” Abby grins before the four disappear.

The four walk around in search of Ro around the temple. They are quick to find him in the center court yard. He is watching the spirit fish swim around the pool. Koi fish that emit a red glow in the water. Ro presses the tips of his right hand’s fingers into the water, and the fish make their way over to his fingers.

“You didn’t explode,” Baby comments as he makes his way over and sits down next to Ro. The lust demon’s patterns are flowing and dimming, timed with the demon’s heartbeat.

“Funny,” Ro says flatly.

“You still coming to the bath house tonight?” Abby asks.

“Yeah, I’m good for a while still,” Ro assures.

“What’s the plan for when you’re not good?” Baby asks.

“Find another lust demon to shack with,” Ro shrugs. 

“Is that what you always do?” Mystery asks as he sits on Ro’s other side.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure the other lust demons have taken claim to one of the buildings and turned it into a brothel,” Ro says. “So when I’m not good I’ll just go there for a bit.”

“Hm,” Mystery hums noncommittally. “I don’t think you’ll have the time for that,” he says.

“Excuse me?” Ro looks at him.

“When our album drops and we are booking concerts? You can’t spend all your time here fucking around, it’s impractical,” Mystery explains.

“Impractical?”

“Exactly, and I hear swallowing cock can fuck with your vocals,” Mystery continues, very matter of factly as he dips his fingertips into the pool and the fish move from Ro over to the newcomer. “Not to mention the impact this will have on your ability to do the hellish choreo that you and Abby insisted on. The other lust demons are brutes, so it simply doesn’t make any logical sense for you to spend your time with them.”

“So what is the alternative?” Ro asks.

“I don’t know,” Mystery shrugs. 

“You are talking to someone who is allergic to work,” Baby reminds.

“I wouldn’t learn that choreo if I was,” Mystery huffs.

Ro rolls his eyes. “Thanks for your complaints. I’ll take them into consideration,” Ro decides flatly. He gets up and excuses himself before heading back inside.

“What was that?” Jinu asks.

“I was being logical,” Mystery shrugs.

“You could have been a little more flirty about it instead of acting like you were about to draw up a contract,” Abby mentions.

“Wait, are we trying to sleep with him?” Jinu asks.

“If you aren’t pissed off at the idea of sharing him then you certainly aren’t a greed demon, and you might not even be a demon in general,” Baby decides.

“Sure, but are we trying to sleep with him?” Jinu repeats as his face warms. Why are the other three so unconcerned about it? He expects it from Mystery, but the other two seem very unconcerned about what they seemed to be trying to do.

“The other lust demons are brutes,” Abby mentions as he rubs his jaw.

“And Ro is all soft and gentle,” Baby agrees with a nod. “I’ll talk to him,” he decides as he gets up and makes his way inside. The others follow along and they search around the temple for Ro again until they find him in the temple library where he is reading from some of the scrolls there.

“Following me?” Ro suggests, not looking up from his scroll.

“Nope, just reading,” Jinu says. He picks a scroll at random before sitting down. Mystery and Abby join him and Baby goes to sit with Ro.

“So your lust is for sex?” Baby asks after a while.

Ro hums in acknowledgement as he continues reading. He has one leg crossed and the other with his knee up and the scroll resting on it. His free hand fidgets with his pearl necklace, and he looks unfairly good like this. What kind of demon has the right to look like a damn god? 

“And why can’t you just use your hand?” Baby asks. “Y’know, it would be less time consuming.”

Baby is thwacked across the head with the scroll before Ro leaves and tells them not to follow him around anymore.

“Nice going,” Jinu says.

“I don’t want to hear that from Mr. 400 year old virgin,” Baby scoffs.

“You told him to masturbate, I haven’t had sex, but I don’t think it is quite the same thing,” Jinu rolls his eyes.

“Wow I’m surprised you have masturbated,” Baby fires back.

No reading gets done in the library.

“Okay, which of you two are next?” Baby asks as they try to find Ro an hour or so later. They couldn’t find him along the temple grounds so they made their way through the city, following the tiger who sniffed at the ground in a dog-like fashion.

“We’re just finding him to see if he still wants to go to the bath house, nothing else,” Jinu says.

“Sure,” Baby rolls his eyes.

“And he needs to know what time to come back at,” Jinu adds.

“Mhm,” Baby hums and looks at Mystery who seems somewhat amused.

They turn down a walkway and the smell of lilies is strong in the air. The grass between buildings and walkways is filled with flowers in bloom, most notably being lilies.

“Did you do landscaping too?” Abby asks.

“No, but Ro told me he gave some demons permission to go to the surface for gardening supplies to stay busy,” Jinu shrugs. The flowers are mainly different types of lilies: orange, yellow, pink, and many white ones too. There are also some rose bushes that a couple of common demons seem to be tending to and Jinu wonders, briefly, how much money Ro let them spend on flowers. He doesn’t get to think about it for too long since, when they turn a corner, Ro is standing with another corrupted soul demon. The demon has a pink sleeveless overcoat and instead of wide white sleeves, his are cuffed at the wrist. His long white hair is tied back and, while Ro leans against the stone support of a building, the white haired demon has a hand pressed against the support beam beside Ro’s head.

Ro is smirking and his hands are clasped together in front of him as the other demon flirts with him. He laughs periodically, but one glance over to them and his smirk falters before he maintains it and looks back to the white haired demon. When the white haired demon goes to turn his head to see what Ro was looking at, Ro brings a hand up to tilt his head back over to face him.

“Hm,” Mystery hums. “I think I might be jealous,” he decides.

“You keep thinking about that,” Abby decides and goes to march over, but Jinu grabs his wrist. “What?” Abby turns to look at him and he looks furious. Jinu drags him down a side street and the other two demons follow along. “What is it?” Abby snaps, teeth longer than usual and patterns bright against his skin.

“I’m gonna take a crack at grabbing him,” Jinu explains easily.

“What?” Baby scoffs. “That is probably the worst idea,” he decides.

“Mhm, but it is either that or Abby goes and punches someone and I don’t think Abby even knows who to punch yet,” Jinu says, “so wait here.”

Despite his words, the other three watch from around the corner as Jinu makes his way over. He taps the white haired demon’s shoulder.

“We’re a little busy right now—”

“Hi Jinu,” Ro says and the other demon jumps back and away from the two.

The white haired demon begins to apologize, but Jinu ignores him and instead reaches over to adjust a strand of Ro’s hair that the white haired demon had knocked out of place before gently adjusting the fabric of his overcoat. “Have you given yourself a name?” Jinu asks the white haired demon. He doesn’t look at the white haired demon and instead keeps his eyes on Ro, who is still smirking.

“Sh-shiro,” the white haired demon says.

“Well, Shiro,” Jinu says. “Keep your hands off of what’s mine. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes sir,” he says and bows in apology before he teleports away.

“I didn’t realize I was yours,” Ro says. “I will eventually need to find someone though, Jinu.”

“Why not me?” Jinu asks, mad that the idiot is still going to seek someone else out.

“Can’t be you,” Ro says as his smirk drops completely.

“Why not?”

“Because this is a lust thing.”

“So?”

“So, it can’t be you,” Ro says again. “I… I won’t ruin things with you or any of you because of my lust,” he says, speaking louder to the other three. 

“Why would it ruin things?” Jinu asks.

“It just would,” Ro says.

“Well then… you’re gonna have to fight me,” Jinu decides quite readily.

“What?” Ro scoffs.

“Either you fight me, or whatever demon you choose to screw around with is gonna have to fight me.”

“None of the other demons are going to fight you,” Ro says.

“They shouldn’t,” Jinu agrees. “Because I won’t hold back,” he says.

Ro’s posture straightens before he nods slightly, a shiver running through him. “So what do you expect me to do?”

“Not give into your sins I guess,” Jinu decides. “Or do, but you know I’m the only one who’ll love your sins,” he breathes out the lyrics as he reaches a hand up to cup the other’s cheek.

Ro grabs his wrist before Jinu can make contact. “I’ll be fine for a while, until you guys all get over whatever this is. What time are we going to the bath house at?”

Chapter Text

“And we are absolutely positive that if I turn into a girl I can’t join you guys?” Ro asks. “These four are being weird,” he elaborates.

“And swapping your sex to bathe with us is less weird?” Rumi asks. She can acknowledge that the other four, who are walking quite a few steps behind them and muttering to themselves, are being weird.

“Yes,” Ro decides after considering it. “I won’t look, and I won’t touch and I will be a perfect gentleman… a perfect lady?” he wonders. 

The three hunters look at each other before sighing. “Fine,” Mira says, “but if you try anything I will be forcing you back to hell.”

“You have my word,” he beams. So they stop near an alley, which gives the guys a chance to catch up just as Ro is exiting the alley after having transformed. His hair is longer and thicker, going down to his calves, and the sections framing his face drop down to his shoulders. He changed his clothes to be wearing a white blouse that should really be buttoned up all the way, and it is tucked into a yellow ruffled wrap skirt that accentuates his waist.

“Uh… what are you doing?” Abby asks after they have caught up.

“You look so pretty!” Zoey squeals.

“Since you four are being dickheads, I asked if I could join them,” Ro explains, his voice not very far off from how it normally sounds, perhaps a little softer — but his lips are fuller and his face is rounder.

“The rest of you aren’t allowed,” Mira says before they can complain.

“Jinu I get, but what did the rest of us do?” Baby asks.

Ro rolls his eyes— wait, “are your eyelashes thicker? How often do you practice this?” Jinu asks.

“It is very detailed,” Mystery mentions as he lifts Ro’s hand to look at how he has restructured it.

Ro pulls his hand away and pushes his bangs back. “Unless you wanted to apologize, Jinu.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” Jinu says with a shrug. “You do look very nice though,” he says.

Ro shrugs and turns back to the three hunters.

“You’re still so tall!” Zoey compliments. “You could be a model!”

“It is giving goddess for real,” Mira nods.

“And you promise to behave?” Rumi asks.

“Best behavior,” Ro promises. “I am getting a lot more compliments from you two in this form then the other one,” he mentions to Zoey and Mira with a grin.

Zoey and Mira shrug, “We don’t know how often you choose to look like this, so we want to be supportive,” Mira decides even if both of them look a little warm at having been called out.

“Thanks, I worked hard on it,” Ro beams.

They get to the bath house and the guys try to argue their case once more to get Ro to come back, but Ro just waves them off and tells them to have fun without him.

“Seeing the look on their faces has already made this worth it,” Rumi decides as they head to the change room.

“What did they do anyway?” Mira asks.

“They’re trying to tell me that I’m not allowed to sleep with anyone,” Ro says as he undresses. He puts his jewelry in the locker and wraps his towel, which is much larger than the one they give to men around him to cover everything.

“Hm, sounds like they’re jealous,” Rumi says.

“They were telling us that because you’re a lust demon you get…” Zoey trails off as she finishes undressing. 

“Horny?” He suggests.

“Yep,” Mira says.

Ro avoids looking at any of them while they undress since he certainly doesn’t want Mira to kill him. “A little oversimplified, but I don’t want to sleep with any of them to satiate myself.”

After they are all undressed they head to the showers and Ro keeps his eyes and hands to himself as he sets his towel on the ledge and begins to clean himself. He does think it is unfortunate that Abby isn’t here to wash his back.

“You should let me braid your hair afterwards,” Rumi mentions once they have all gotten into one of the pools.

“If you would like,” Ro says with an easy smile.

“You made it so long and pretty,” Zoey says. “We could do so many different kinds of braids! Or we could curl it,” she grins.

“It will probably take forever to dry,” Mira mentions.

“It does,” Ro nods with a soft sigh. “But I do think it looks nice,” he nods.

“It does, I think the others thought this form looked pretty too,” Zoey teases.

“Yeah, well they are driving me mad,” Ro scoffs.

“Is there a reason you don’t want their help?” Rumi asks. “You should be honest with them.”

Ro shrugs and sinks down a little lower into the water. “I don’t want to feel lust for them,” he says as his face warms, he blames that on the hot water.

“You’re such a sweetheart when you want to be,” Mira teases.

“I should use this form more often since you guys seem to have an easier time complimenting me while in it,” Ro mentions with a smirk.

“Whatever,” Mira scoffs. “So you don’t sleep with people you love?”

“Who said that?” Ro asks as his face goes red and he tries to sink lower into the water, wishing it would just swallow him at this point. “I won’t sleep with them because they all look like they’re probably bad in bed,” he decides when the girls look to him for an explanation. 

The girls laugh at that before they opt to give Ro a break with the questions and the compliments and instead begin to talk about their comeback tour. “And Bobby will be back a couple weeks before we start up again,” Rumi reminds.

“Oh I’ll be so happy to see his face again,” Zoey groans.

“He is gonna be buried in paperwork,” Mira snorts.

“Who?” Ro asks.

“Our manager,” Rumi says. “We sent him off for our break so he could take a break too,” she says.

“‘Manager’, what does he do?” Ro asks.

“He takes care of any merch deals and finalizes tour schedules and books fan events and generally anything that isn’t dancing or singing,” Zoey explains. “He’s the best,” she adds.

“Maybe we need someone like that,” Ro considers. 

“You guys definitely do, who deals with that stuff now?” Rumi asks.

“Mystery mostly,” Ro shrugs. “We’re also thinking of getting an address,” he adds.

“Buying a house together?” Zoey teases.

Ro rolls his eyes. “Well… we have a house in the underworld now that Jinu made,” he explains. “We kinda just need somewhere to record music,” he says.

“Wait,” Mira raises a hand out of the water to keep him from talking. “Jinu made you guys a house?” she asks.

“Oh yeah,” Ro nods. “We still don’t know how he did it, but he changed the entire underworld into a city because of some sociology book Mystery was reading. The demons seem happier and Gwi-Ma has been quiet since the change.”

“But he can’t give Rumi her sword back?” Zoey snorts.

“We have been working on it,” Ro promises when Rumi and Mira look unimpressed. “We have songs that the honmoon reacts to, but none of us have figured out how to actually interact with it,” he explains. 

“Well we had teachers, so I guess it makes sense that you guys might need to be taught too,” Rumi decides.

“Yeah, Jinu would appreciate it,” Ro says as he presses his finger tips together. “So,” he begins, wanting to backtrack to this whole manager thing. “How do we get ourselves a Bobby?”

“You guys can’t have him,” Zoey insists.

“We could ask him to put you guys in touch with a few people,” Rumi suggests.

“But wouldn’t it be easier if you guys had a manager who you guys didn’t have to hide all the demon stuff from?” Mira asks.

“Does Bobby know you guys are hunters?” Ro asks flatly and he is met with silence. “I see your point though. I could see if there are any demons down below who would be suited to help. I think there might be a couple who were lawyers, so they would know contracts… but they’re also greed demons,” Ro sighs.

“Jinu is a greed demon,” Rumi reminds.

“Yeah, but Jinu…” Ro trails off. “He’s different,” Ro settles on.

“Do the other demons not have the same amount of regret?” Rumi asks.

“Yes, but a lot of demons think that, as demons, we are hard wired to want to seek out our primary sin,” Ro rolls his eyes.

“You don’t?” Rumi smiles at him and Ro thinks her hair looks quite pretty when it isn’t tied back in a braid.

“I don’t know,” Ro says. “I guess I do, but it isn’t like Gwi-Ma explains any of this to us, and even your father didn’t get very far in his studies,” Ro shrugs. “And the only time we used any of our abilities before was in service of Gwi-Ma, so we never had a chance to see if our abilities differ because of our sins or what the extent of our abilities are.”

“Probably doesn’t help that it all seems to be turned on its head now that Gwi-Ma is out of the picture,” Rumi mentions.

“We’ll never not be thankful for that,” Ro promises. “And I do believe that your honmoon is what keeps him sealed and keeps him quiet, but I am sorry that the rest of us demons can still pass through.”

“Why are you sorry?” Zoey asks.

“We uh… we like seeing you guys,” Mira says, her face warming.

“Sweethearts,” Ro hums as he looks at the two.

“Whatever,” Zoey huffs.

“Yeah, you five are just a bunch of overly emotional demons,” Mira grumbles.

“Which you guys like seeing?” Ro teases.

“Unfortunately,” Rumi says. “So, you guys need a recording studio? What did you guys do for Soda Pop?”

“Rented a space?” Ro suggests like he doesn’t really know. 

“Well you guys can use ours until you find something,” Mira says.

“Although there is going to be a lot more people hanging around once our hiatus is over,” Zoey mentions.

“Is that a problem?” Ro asks.

“Well, people might get the wrong idea,” Zoey explains.

Ro considers it for a moment before his lips part slightly and he nods. “And that would just be terrible?” He purrs as he looks at her with his eyes half lidded.

“Yes,” Mira says as Zoey’s face goes red. “It would be a huge scandal if it got out.”

“Hm,” Ro hums and drags a hand through the hair at his scalp to push it all back. “So we should stay away once you all are working again?” He asks.

“Probably,” Rumi says, but the three don’t seem thrilled about it. “Being seen together as a large group in public is one thing, but you guys coming over to where we live is another.”

“We could hang out in public,” Zoey suggests.

Ro tilts his head back against the edge of the tip and considers it. “I wonder if we could have you three over.”

“To the recording studio?” Zoey asks, since the other option seems insane.

“No, to the underworld. Not just to visit, but if you three could get rid of Gwi-Ma for good that would take a lot of stress off of Jinu, he’s so worried about it,” Ro explains. “Plus, he did a good job with the place. It should be appreciated. He tells us that he had the energy from the demons he drained to do it, but there is no way that supplied him with enough energy for it.”

“Don’t the other demons hate us?” Rumi asks.

“Not really. We were all following orders,” Ro shrugs. “I mean some might, but none of us would let anything happen.”

“She’s considering it,” Mira says flatly when Rumi has her thinking face on.

“There is no way it’s even possible,” Zoey insists.

“We don’t know what’s possible yet, and we could get rid of Gwi-Ma for good,” Rumi argues.

“Yeah, it might be possible for you but you need your sword back,” Mira insists.

“We don’t know what’s possible yet,” Rumi repeats.

The guys are waiting outside when the other four make their way out. They had all collectively agreed on giving Ro the silent treatment until Ro decided to quit being an ass.

“Woah,” Abby breathes. Ro’s hair had been braided into two dutch braids that laid down the front of his shoulders. The girls must have also made outfit suggestions since the blouse and skirt had been replaced with a black ribbed long sleeved body con dress that dropped off his shoulders and ended at his mid thighs. He was also wearing pink heels that matched his necklace and hair.

“Dude, it is literally just Ro,” Baby huffs as the hunters laugh at Abby’s reaction. 

“Yeah Abby, it’s just Ro,” Ro teases with a smirk.

“You could dress like this more often,” Abby shrugs.

“You mean you like this form?” Ro asks.

“You would look good in this in either form,” Abby assures smoothly. 

“Are you staying like this then?” Jinu asks.

“Are you going to apologize?” Ro replies.

“For what?” Jinu scoffs.

“Then I guess I’m staying like this,” Ro shrugs. “So, ramen?” He asks after turning to the girls.

“Absolutely,” Zoey grins.

“And he behaved in the bath house?” Abby asks.

“He did,” Rumi says easily.

They were sitting at the ramen place, breaking off into their own conversations, but Abby and Jinu were huffy about Ro and Rumi had gotten stuck sitting with them.

“And he let you guys braid his hair?” Jinu asks.

“I did one and Zoey did the other,” Rumi confirms after shoveling food into her mouth.

“Finish eating before you speak,” Jinu groans.

“I was just replying to your question,” Rumi shrugs and then swallows her food. “You two are jealous?” Rumi suggests.

“That he gets to spend time with you three? Of course,” Abby says with a grin.

“More like that he didn’t spend time with you four,” Rumi corrects. “Tell me I’m wrong?”

“You are wrong,” Jinu says immediately. Rumi isn’t buying it.

“He did mention that you made them a house, that’s nice of you Jinu,” Rumi says and gently nudges him.

“They deserved it,” Jinu shrugs.

“You guys should see it,” Abby nods before he goes back to eating.

“That’s what Ro was saying. What is it that he wants you to apologize for?” Rumi asks.

“Nothing—”

“He cockblocked Ro,” Abby pauses his eating to say.

“Both of you need to learn to eat with your mouth closed!” Jinu huffs as his face warms.

“How did he do that?” Rumi asks, ignoring Jinu.

“Scared off the demon he was flirting with and tried to proposition himself,” Abby says, also ignoring Jinu.

“Seriously?” Rumi snorts.

Jinu’s face burns at the memory. It is far too fresh to be chatting about it like this. “Whatever, he shot me down. He said none of us should have to deal with his lust.”

“Huh,” Rumi hums and glances across the table where Ro is arguing that they should learn the choreo for whatever song they intend on covering with Baby seeming somewhat on board and Mystery rejecting the idea as being far too much work. “Is it lust?” She asks.

“What?” Jinu asks as he and Abby look at her.

“Nothing,” Rumi waves it off.

The walk back to the penthouse is mostly fine, until some over eager fans make their way over to excitedly ask about new content from both of the band leaders.

Jinu and Rumi are perfectly polite, but one of the girls ends up fairly handsy with Jinu. One touch lasts for longer than five seconds, which is all it takes for Ro, having stepped away to resume his male form (and clothing), and Abby to intervene.

Abby wraps an arm around Jinu and brushes the girl’s hand off as Ro flattens the fabric on Jinu’s shirt while flashing him a smirk before looking back to the fans with a perfectly gentle smile and tells them how much they appreciate their support.

“We can do a couple pictures,” Abby offers.

“Mystery and Baby are feeling shy tonight, but they don’t mind taking the pictures if that’s alright,” Ro says, assuming the two were more than happy to not be a part of pictures since they were trying to stay out of the way.

The fans squeal with excitement and the three Saja Boys along with Huntr/x get a few pictures with the fans that Baby takes as Mystery peers over his shoulder and comments suggestions to him.

“Be sure to tag us, we love seeing the pictures!” Zoey beams.

“I hope they turned out okay,” Baby mentions.

“I’m never cleaning my phone again,” the fan breathes. Getting too excited, they try to go in for a hug after taking the phone, but Baby steps out of the way and behind Mystery. He does his best to look shy even if the heat on his face is from anger.

The other fans, thankfully, apologize and drag the over eager one off before it becomes evident how displeased Baby is.

“You good?” Ro asks and gently combs fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, thanks for turning back,” Baby mentions.

“Of course, you didn’t want to be in pictures right? Or did I read that wrong?” Ro asks.

“My hair is messy since you weren’t there to fix it,” Baby grumbles.

“Oh, so it’s my fault?” Ro asks.

“It certainly is, the rest of us don’t do it right, you know this,” Abby insists. 

Ro watches as the other demons nod in agreement and he rolls his eyes even if he can’t help the small smile that quirks his lips upwards. He gently fixes Baby’s hair, taking a moment to get it just right even if it means they have to stop walking. “There, perfect,” he hums and looks from Baby’s hair down to his eyes, which are looking at Ro. “Don’t you think?”

“It’s marginally better,” Baby settles on before grabbing Ro’s arm to drag him along in order to get everyone walking again. 

“Marginally?” Ro asks.

“Of course, but there are thin margins between not doing it right and perfection, right?” Mystery suggests.

“I… I suppose.”

Chapter Text

The guys bicker all the way back to the penthouse, and the girls are thankful they’re getting along again. Jinu and Abby shed their human skin in exchange for demon forms, and this time Ro joins them in that.

“Spent too much time transformed?” Abby teases.

“Worth it,” Ro decides.

“Oh I bet it was,” Abby smirks as he looks from Ro to the girls.

“You are trying to get me in trouble,” Ro says.

“You are trouble,” Abby insists as he follows Ro into the living room. They crash onto the couch, bumping shoulders before Ro leans into the other demon and Abby puts an arm around Ro. 

“He was a gentleman,” Rumi mentions.

“Which just tells us that you wouldn’t be,” Mira adds, sitting down on the couch — away from the two morons.

“The flowers look nice there,” Baby mentions and nods towards the piano. The red flowers cast a faint glow. 

“Yeah? You guys will have to get us more,” Zoey says as she falls into Mira on the couch. Rumi joins them and crosses one leg over the other. 

“Any of you guys know how to play?” Rumi asks and nods towards the piano.

“Jinu does,” Abby nods towards him.

“I thought you played a tiny guitar?” Baby mentions.

“Bipa,” Mystery corrects.

“I have… had a lot of time,” Jinu says.

“You don’t even sound like you believe yourself,” Rumi says as Mystery chooses one of the chairs to sit on while Baby sits with Ro and Abby on the couch.

“Gwi-Ma had me learn,” Jinu admits.

“He did?” Ro asks. This seems to be news to everyone. “When?”

“What year was the piano invented?” Jinu asks before smirking when everyone looks shocked. “I’m kidding, he had me start in the early 1800s,” he says. 

“Why?” Baby asks.

“Entertainment,” Jinu decides. “The bipa was too easy, so he wanted me to learn something more challenging.”

“What was the catch?” Baby asks, frowning slightly.

“Why does there have to be a catch?” Jinu asks.

“So you just played for the demon king?” Rumi asks, smiling despite thinking Jinu is full of shit.

Jinu gets up and goes over to the piano. He sits down at the bench and opens the cover. “Tuned regularly?” He asks.

“Of course,” Rumi says. “Why did he have you play?” She asks.

“Entertainment,” Jinu repeats before he plays. His fingers dance along the keys as he plays Chopin’s ‘Waltz in C Sharp Minor’.

“And piano was entertaining for him?” Rumi asks.

“Sure,” Jinu says as he plays through the first theme with little difficulty. “Well maybe not the piano itself, but he liked watching me play. He preferred classical, hated jazz, and—” he pauses as he goes through the faster theme before the song slows to a gentle swing as Jinu sways his upper body with the music. “I think his favourite part was that whenever I…” Jinu begins the faster theme once more. He purposefully plays the wrong notes until the song has become a bastard of its original composition. “He would coil wire around my body until I bled,” Jinu explains before he plays the song perfectly once more. The song walks before it runs, and then Jinu arrives at the ending and he is unharmed. He looks at the others who watch as if they aren’t all musicians.

“Would you play more for us?” Mira eventually asks.

“You don’t have to be polite,” Jinu says.

“Polite? You play well, even with the wrong notes,” Baby says. “And is Mira the type to ask for more just to be polite?”

Mira glares at him before she crosses her arms over her chest, “He is right. You don’t have to if you don’t want.”

“Although, we should get a piano for the house,” Ro mentions.

“Will you stop being mad at me if I play for you?” Jinu asks as he begins Tchaikovsky’s ‘Waltz of The Flowers’.

“Is that what we are calling an apology now?” Ro asks.

“I’m not apologizing,” Jinu says without faltering in his playing.

“Hm,” Ro hums and keeps an arm wrapped around Baby while gently fixing his hair since he really does do it better than everyone else. “Of course not.”

“You should probably apologize—” Rumi stops talking when Jinu gets to the ending of the intro of the song before beginning the next section.

“He is a demon,” Abby mentions.

“And apologizing would be… not like a demon,” Mystery agrees.

“All four of you are jealous little shits,” Mira snorts.

“The four of us?” Baby scoffs.

“Yeah, all four of you,” Zoey agrees.

“And you guys would rather fight than talk about your feelings, which… yeah that seems pretty demon-like,” Rumi decides.

“Do you speak from experience?” Abby asks.

“Yes,” Rumi decides, honestly, “I do.”

They listen to Jinu play, and he plays perfectly. He doesn’t make a single other mistake other than the one he had made on purpose. It is hard to tell if he likes this music. He has many pieces memorized and plays mostly Chopin, but as the night gets later he opts towards one of Beethoven’s sonatas and ends with Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’. By the time he finishes, Zoey is asleep between Mira and Rumi and even Baby and Abby had fallen asleep due to the lack of chatter and calming music.

“Do you like playing?” Rumi asks.

“I…” Jinu trails off. Does he? He did just play for them for the better part of an hour. It isn’t the same as performing with the Saja Boys though. He is playing alone and he didn’t write or compose or even choose any of this music. It was handed to him by Gwi-Ma and drilled until he was half convinced he hated music. He didn’t realize he loved music until he performed with them. “I like playing for you guys,” he settles on. “Which one of you three plays?”

“We all play a little,” Mira says.

“Will you play for us again?” Rumi asks.

“Whenever you want,” Jinu says.

“Will you learn something you like?” Ro asks.

“What?”

“Learn a song on there that you like instead of the stuff Gwi-Ma had you play,” Ro says.

“Something you don’t have memorized,” Mystery agrees.

“We might need a piano down below,” Ro decides.

“Do you forgive me then, Ro?” Jinu asks. “I’ll play for you, but only if you forgive me.”

Ro sighs, but he carefully straightens a strand of Baby’s hair before he begins to get up. He leans Baby against Abby in an effort to keep them both asleep, and thankfully it works. He makes his way over to the piano and sits next to Jinu on the bench. “Play something,” Ro requests.

Jinu listens and begins to play one of Chopin’s nocturnes. 

“I’ll want you to play for me fairly frequently. I’m insatiable that way,” Ro explains as he watches. “Lust is just another form of greed, you know that right?”

“I know,” Jinu assures, not looking away from the piano.

“So, do you understand what you are trying to get yourself into? Do you understand that the general greed you feel, I feel about just one thing? Do you understand that, Jinu?” 

“I understand that,” Jinu says as he looks at the other demon and slows his playing to a stop.

They are eventually kicked out by the hunters that need to go to bed, and, after gently waking Abby and Baby, they teleport home. Each of them has their own room in the temple, although they don’t require sleep they still do like to spend time in each of their own rooms. 

“I feel like you don’t need to be carried,” Jinu tells Baby.

“You woke me up,” Baby shrugs and stays curled against his chest as Jinu carries him towards his room.

“Okay, sure thing Baby,” Jinu says. “And you’re following along because?”

“I want to go back to sleep?” Abby suggests.

“With Baby?” Jinu asks.

“He’s warm, and he doesn’t mind, right?” Abby looks over to Baby who somehow managed to look cute in his full demon form. 

They get to his room, a bare room with a bed — much like Jinu’s — since Jinu had told them they had to decorate their rooms on their own. So far all Baby had added was books to write songs in. Jinu sets him on the bed and works his shoes and overcoat off. Abby kicks his shoes off and tosses his overcoat to the floor before getting into bed.

“I put so much effort into making us each a room,” Jinu mentions.

“Oh, are you going to be in your own bed?” Baby asks.

Jinu wonders how the little shit head even picked up on that, he picks up their jackets and hangs them up before straightening out their shoes. “I’m not going to bed because I’m not tired,” he says, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

“Mhm,” Baby hums.

“Have fun,” Abby teases as he snakes an arm around Baby’s waist and brings him close as he noses into Baby’s neck.

“You’re not… jealous?” Jinu asks, a little confused since they had all been jealous earlier.

“No,” Baby says. “It’s you, and that’s okay.”

Jinu nods even if that confuses him a little more. He doesn’t dwell on it and instead takes his leave. He finds Ro chatting with Mystery about where they could fit a piano since apparently Ro was serious about wanting one.

“If Gwi-Ma wasn’t taking up space that room would look lovely with a grand piano in it,” Ro says.

“It would,” Mystery agrees. “Too bad the demon king is taking up the space,” he says with a playful smile.

“Well if the girls could kill him then…” Ro trails off.

“What about the front foyer?” Jinu asks. “Between the inner courtyard and the outer courtyard we have that empty foyer. It might be cramped with a piano, but if we keep all the doors open it could be nice.”

“You might get an audience,” Ro mentions.

“If other demons like it then we could look into putting a piano in a community space,” Mystery suggests.

“That’s a good idea,” Jinu agrees. “I know the common demons don’t mind being here, but it would be nice to give them a lot of options for things to do.”

“Well it isn’t like we have much else to spend money on,” Mystery agrees. “I’m gonna head to our library. I have some books borrowed from the human one that I’d like to get through before they are due back. Have a good night, the walls are thin and Ro’s room is further from the library so please make use of that one,” he says. His voice is far too neutral before he takes his leave from the two.

Jinu’s face warms as his patterns glow dimly. “Asshole,” he grumbles to himself.

“We don’t have to,” Ro promises with an easy smile. Practiced and patient. Jinu doesn’t think that smile gives off lust. 

“I want to,” Jinu says. “If you’ll have me then I want to.” He keeps his eyes on Ro even if it is difficult. He may be inexperienced, but he is quite aware of what Ro had been referring to. It came with a new wave of an emotion he remembered faintly, but couldn’t quite name, stirring in his gut. It wasn’t arousal, he was aware of how that felt. No, this feeling made his stomach spin and made his palms sweaty. Perhaps ‘nervousness’ is what it was called? He didn’t think that was quite right. Ro’s lack of immediate response made the feeling worse.

“Come on,” Ro eventually says and places a hand on his shoulder to lead him along. Jinu follows, obediently, and they end up in Ro’s room. Ro shuts the door behind them before he goes to sit on the bed. “Sit with me.”

Jinu does as he is asked and sits with Ro on the edge of the bed. 

“You’re anxious?” Ro asks.

“That’s the word,” Jinu sighs before he nods a little.

“Have you ever been with a man?” Ro asks, still smiling.

“I haven’t been with anyone,” Jinu admits.

“Ah,” Ro breathes, patterns brightening against his skin. “And you’re sure you want this to be with me?” He asks. Jinu nods, but that isn’t good enough. Ro puts a hand to his cheek to turn Jinu’s face so that Jinu has to look at him. “I need you to tell me that this is what you want, you can back out at any point of course, but I’m not going to indulge in this at all if you can’t even tell me that you want me.”

“I want you,” Jinu breathes.

“Say it again,” Ro says. A smirk gracing his lips as he holds Jinu’s face in place.

“I want you,” Jinu says again, obediently.

“Good,” Ro says and presses a kiss to his cheek. He pulls away and kneels to undo Jinu’s shoes and slide them off. He takes off his own before they can both sit further on the bed as opposed to the ledge. “Have you kissed anyone?” Ro asks.

“No,” Jinu admits with a shake of his head.

“Not even that hunter?” Ro asks. “Rumi?” He teases.

“No!” Jinu insists as his patterns burn against his skin.

Ro laughs a little and sits next to him. “Over 400 years old?” he asks and smiles at the glare Jinu gives him. “Hey, that’s okay,” he promises. “Did you…” now Ro’s face warms as his eyes glance to Jinu’s lips before looking back into his eyes. “Did you want to kiss me?” Ro asks.

“Yes,” Jinu breathes, far too quickly to even attempt to be subtle or coy about it.

The distance between them closes as their breaths intermingle before their lips touch. Jinu keeps his hands to himself, unsure of where to place them or what to do with any part of his body, but Ro places a hand at the base of Jinu’s skull and the other takes one of Jinu’s hands to hold. The soft press of lips against lips is nice, but then Ro pulls back slightly only to kiss him again, his lips are slightly parted at first when Ro kisses Jinu’s bottom lip and the feeling is slightly wet. Jinu carefully squeezes Ro’s hand at the feeling, before attempting to return the favor when they kiss again — for the third time.

They continue this motion as they lay down next to one another. Ro takes Jinu’s hand and places it on Ro’s hip, which Jinu squeezes when Ro’s tongue brushes against his upper lip a fraction of a second before Ro kisses him again. It takes awhile longer before Jinu works up the nerve to have his tongue brush against Ro, but, when he tries to do it again with the very next kiss, Ro meets him with his lips parted and their tongues brush against one another. This time Jinu reaches his free hand to the back of Ro’s head to keep the other from pulling back when he tries to. Instead, their mouths stay locked together as Jinu brings Ro closer to him. 

When they do part, saliva strings the two demons together as they pant into one another’s mouths.

“Quick learner,” Ro teases, breathless.

“Good teacher,” Jinu replies as he blinks his eyes open to look at the other and sees that Ro is looking at him too. “So, are you going to teach me more?” Jinu asks.

Ro gently drags his nails from the base of Jinu’s neck down his clothed back. “Just kissing for now.”

“Why?” Jinu asks, huffing in disapproval and frowning when Ro laughs at him.

“Because I said so, and I like kissing you, Jinu. Besides, you won’t be able to keep up with me yet, but we’ll get there.”

Jinu nods and weaves his fingers through Ro’s hair. “You know I want this, right?”

“I do,” Ro promises. “But… you aren’t some random demon. You’re Jinu, and I can’t just… I won’t treat you like some random demon.”

Jinu nods, and so they go back to kissing. The passage of time is weird for demons. They have been alive for so long that they develop a strong sense of patience, or maybe it is time blindness.

Maybe the two spend the better part of three hours making out, groaning against one another and trading positions until Ro is straddling Jinu and pinning both hands against the bed with his own, because they are blind to everything but one another. Jinu is sure he could do this for days on end, until his lips are too sore from Ro’s teeth to be able to kiss him without the dull throb of a bruise, but he doesn’t get the chance. Instead, Ro kisses him once more, pulling away with Jinu’s bottom lip tugged between his teeth, before he kisses down Jinu’s neck and then bites. 

“Fuck!” Jinu groans much louder with his mouth unoccupied. 

Ro kisses the spot to sooth the bite before laying his head against Jinu’s shoulder. “Sorry,” Ro says, unapologetically.

“It’s fine,” Jinu breathes. “Wasn’t expecting it.”

“Couldn’t help myself,” Ro explains. He lets go of Jinu’s hands to tangle his fingers in the demon’s black hair as he lays on top of the other. “I’m okay here?” He asks.

“Mhm,” Jinu hums and wraps his arms around Ro’s waist. 

“Good, I wasn’t gonna move,” Ro decides.

“And you’re good to stop? You don’t want more?” Jinu asks.

“I’ll worry about what I want,” Re decides, choking on the response, which has Jinu knowing that the lust demon must be trying to restrain himself. “You worry about the bruise that is gonna form on your neck,” Ro decides.

“Asshole,” Jinu grumbles. He smiles as he runs his fingers up and down the other’s back before snapping his fingers and their overcoats are removed and teleported to the hooks near the door. 

Eventually they part, only to get under the blanket, before they hold onto one another again. They talk about nothing important — like where that piano should go, and if Jinu actually wants to play the piano more, and if Ro has any hobbies (which he does, he enjoyed archery and baduk when he was human although he enjoys dancing much more these days). 

Then Jinu kisses Ro again. It is only fair that he initiates considering he has been pestering the lust demon all damn day. Jinu tries to feel some amount of guilt for it, but then he is returning the favor for the earlier bruise by biting Ro’s neck and the groan Ro makes can only be described as music.

“Don’t tempt me,” Ro breathes, there is an edge of desperation in his voice, as if some part of him truly is pleading for Jinu to quit with the temptation.

Jinu has never been good at giving up what he wants.

Besides, how could this possibly be a sin?

Jinu presses Ro into the mattress before shifting, wordlessly, to straddle the other demon. His own patterns are dim, but Ro’s patterns illuminate the space in that familiar pink. When Jinu pulls from their current kiss and rests his weight back, Ro’s patterns pulse brighter. Jinu tilts his head, smirking when Ro refuses to look at him. “I want you,” Jinu breathes, his own patterns beginning to brighten the space. “I’ll say it as many times as you want me to, but” Jinu, pressing Ro’s hands into the mattress as Ro had done earlier and then, experimentally, rolling his hips, says it again: “I want you.”

“Shut up,” Ro groans. “You’re a greedy asshole.”

“And I want you,” Jinu repeats, patterns refusing to dim as he releases Ro’s hands. As opposed to using magic, Jinu undoes the tie holding his white jeogori together before untucking the garment from his baji and pulling it off. Ro, the stupid lust demon, continues to avoid looking at Jinu, so Jinu takes the other by his chin and forces his gaze back onto Jinu so he can see the way Jinu’s patterns glow along his arms and down his bare chest. “I want you,” Jinu repeats again, a little breathless. 

He watches the way Ro swallows while his eyes flick along Jinu’s body. 

“I’m yours to indulge in,” Jinu breathes, which seems to cause something in the other demon to finally snap.

Ro reaches up, grabbing Jinu by the back of his head, before bringing him back down. They kiss, but there is more tongue and more teeth and more noises being forced from Jinu’s throat as the lust demon pushes them onto their sides so he’ll have an easier time shoving his own undercoat off. If Ro would stop testing to see if demons need oxygen and let Jinu pull away to breathe, Jinu would be able to see how the patterns struck across Ro seem to burn like hot metal against his skin. Ro doesn’t give Jinu the chance to get a good look, and any thoughts Jinu has of trying to get oxygen in his lungs and look at the pretty demon disappear when Jinu feels friction against his clothed cock. 

Jinu chokes on a gasp and tilts his head back, leaving himself vulnerable to Ro biting his throat, as Ro grinds their clothed cocks together. He opens his eyes and tries to tilt his head to look, but Ro’s hand covers his eyes and presses his head back down. “Ro—” He feels wet heat in the form of Ro’s tongue pressed across his neck. That hand stays, covering Jinu’s eyes, as Ro kisses down along Jinu’s chest. Those kisses, open mouthed and wet and full of teeth, go back up his chest until he reaches Jinu’s mouth. Jinu’s lips, slightly parted as he drinks in oxygen, have no choice but to accommodate Ro’s tongue as Ro kisses Jinu and grinds against the other demon.

Jinu shifts his hips upwards, understanding fully what Ro meant when the lust demon said Jinu wouldn’t be able to keep up. He feels like he is just laying there and taking whatever Ro offers him. Ro nips at Jinu’s lower lip as he pulls away and presses a kiss to Jinu’s jaw. “Can you keep your eyes closed?” Ro asks.

“I want to see you,” Jinu replies.

“Not this time,” Ro breathes. His breath comes as splashes of boiling water against Jinu’s skin.

“Next time?”

“Yes, next time. This time keep them shut, okay?”

“Okay, Ro,” Jinu breathes and keeps his eyes closed. He wonders if the other demon has dropped all his transformation magic, or if there is another reason why he insists on this. He continues thinking about it, a little distracted as he thinks about Ro's slightly crooked nose or his larger teeth or—

“Ah! Fuck—” Jinu tilts his head back, hands gripping the sheets. Ro had taken Jinu’s cock out of his trousers and swallowed him down into the wet heat of his mouth. Ro doesn’t move for a moment, the lust demon’s hands are planted on Jinu’s hips and keep him from jerking his hips up into that wet heat. Up into Ro’s pretty mouth. Jinu wants to look at him. He says as much too. “Ro, please. Fuck, please. Just for a second, then I’ll— I’ll close my eyes again. But just for a second.”

Ro pulls off and Jinu whines at the loss.

“A greedy demon like you?” Ro breathes, running his tongue from base to tip. “No, you’re gonna keep your eyes shut,” hot breaths hit the tip of Jinu’s cock. 

“What if I don’t?” Jinu tries.

“Then I can’t be faulted for what my teeth do,” Ro says, very seriously.

“You’re an asshole,” Jinu decides.

“Seriously? I’m an asshole?” Ro asks, amusement in his voice as his hand wraps around Jinu’s cock. “You are in this position because of your own choices, remember that, okay? Now, I expect you to sing for me,” Ro breathes before wrapping his lips around Jinu’s cock and sinking back down, swallowing around him and tugging those moans free from the older demon’s lips. His claws digging into the flesh of Jinu’s thighs, causing pricks of blood, but Ro will have to apologize for that later since this seems to be the only thing keeping Jinu from attempting to fuck Ro’s throat. 

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Ro moves. Bobbing his head and swirling his tongue around Jinu’s cock for all of twenty seconds before Jinu cums down the other demon’s throat. His chest rises and falls rather quickly as he pants and Ro pulls off of him. Jinu hears him cough and nearly opens his eyes to check on the other, but he restrains himself since he hasn’t been told he can yet.

“Sorry,” Jinu breathes, still trying to catch his breath.

“You’re fine,” Ro promises.

“Could I—”

“No,” Ro cuts him off.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” Jinu grumbles, pouting. He feels Ro fix Jinu’s pants and he shifts to make it easier.

“You want to return the favor, but not this time,” Ro says.

“Next time?” Jinu asks. Ro settles next to him and Jinu shifts to be in Ro’s arms, who kisses his forehead and says he can open his eyes if he wants, so Jinu does.

“Maybe,” Ro says. Jinu continues to pout and it must be noticeable. “Was that not good for you?” Ro asks. His patterns dim and Jinu’s glowing faintly.

“Was it for you? I wanted…” Jinu trails off, face warming at the thought. “I didn’t last very long and I wanted to…” he trails off, his face warming. “I thought you wanted to fuck.”

“You haven’t ever had anyone else touch you in over 400 years. You lasted long enough,” Ro promises, that amused smile still on his lips. “And that was fucking.”

“No it wasn’t,” Jinu huffs.

“Oh, you mean you wanted me to press my cock into your ass?” Ro asks, smirking. “Or maybe the other way around?”

Jinu’s face burns, but he nods slightly anyway. “You would have with other demons.”

“You’re not other demons,” Ro breathes. He carefully reaches a hand over to comb through Jinu’s hair. “Besides, you couldn’t handle it,” Ro tells him.

“I want to though,” Jinu mentions, leaning into Ro’s touch.

“Such a greedy demon,” Ro breathes. “Another time.”

“You have too much restraint for a lust demon,” Jinu decides, pouting and huffing. Ro laughs at him and sits up to fix his clothing. He helps Jinu with his and gently presses a kiss to his temple.

“I really don’t,” Ro promises. “Remember how it was a no earlier today? It was no until you kept offering yourself to me over and over and over again. How am I supposed to deny my sin with you doing that?” Ro asks.

Jinu shrugs since that feels like a non-issue. “Don’t?” He offers and lays down, pulling Ro with him so they can hold each other under the covers. “How was that even a sin?”

Ro doesn’t reply and Jinu doesn’t press the question. He knows what Ro did when he was alive was different, but it was different. How is what they did just now anything like what Ro did when he was human?

“I keep expecting to feel like shit,” Ro mentions at some point. They had arranged themselves to be more comfortable. Jinu’s head was on Ro’s shoulder blade and hand was on Ro’s chest, tracing the edge of his clothing. Meanwhile, Ro had an arm wrapped under Jinu and the other was carefully fixing Jinu’s hair.

“Hm?” Jinu hums.

“Everytime I have screwed around since becoming a demon I always feel like shit after. He always knew what we were up to, and… he would just make sure we knew that we hadn’t learned anything. I guess I still haven’t. Couldn’t even say no to you for longer than a few hours. Fuck, that’s pretty pathetic?”

“Hey,” Jinu presses against Ro’s chest to get his attention and keep the other demon from spiralling further. “How is this anything like when you were human? We aren’t sneaking around or anything like that.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ro breathes. 

“I’m sorry for being pushy.”

“Are you?”

“Not really,” Jinu admits and smiles when Ro snorts. “If you truly hated it then I am,” he decides.

“I didn’t.”

“You didn’t even get off,” Jinu scoffs. “I could still—”

“No,” Ro kisses his temple. “I meant it when I said you couldn’t handle me, now drop it before I tell the others you didn’t even last a minute.”

“I thought you said it was fine!” Jinu complains, face burning in embarrassment.

“It is,” Ro assures.

“Next time I’ll last longer.”

“Mhm,” Ro hums and lets his eyes close.

Jinu keeps his eyes open, staring at the lust demon. Eventually, because Ro isn’t the one who is trouble — Jinu certainly is, Jinu goes from tracing his clothing to pressing a hand against his skin. Trailing his hand up towards the other's throat but never touching, instead Jinu runs his hand back down. He repeats this cycle a few times, before, like the greedy asshole he is, trying to reach further up and Ro grabs his wrist.

“Do you want something?” Ro asks, eyes opening to look at Jinu who shakes his head. “You’re so full of shit, you always want something,” Ro decides.

When his hand is released Jinu presses it against Ro’s chest again. He glances down to the other’s groin. The blankets and their trousers make it difficult to know if Ro is hard or not. If Jinu does want something, it is to touch and return the favor to the best of his ability. Ro said no though, and Jinu would rather avoid pissing off the lust demon — he might not want Ro to go screwing around with anyone, but getting what he wants will be a lot easier if Ro is on board. 

“To kiss? I’d like to be good at that,” Jinu decides.

“You’re fine at that,” Ro assures.

“So you don’t want to kiss me?”

“... I didn’t say that. You have to take the lead though.” 

Once Jinu gets over the challenge of having to initiate, he quickly becomes comfortable kissing the other demon. Ro is patient and assures Jinu that he can bite harder if he wants or lick deeper or do whatever feels good, and Jinu promises that it all does feel good.

Eventually, while they are in the middle of exchanging kisses, with the two demons laid next to one another and Jinu tucking Ro’s hair back as he tells Ro how pretty he is between kisses, Baby barges into the room.

“We’re busy,” Ro mentions without taking his eyes away from Jinu. Jinu is both embarrassed by another demon walking in, and happy that Ro seems eager to continue.

“Cool, you guys have been busy for seven hours,” Baby says as he gets on the bed and forces his way between them. He inhales through his nose, “Did you two even fuck?”

“We… didn’t get there,” Jinu decides.

“Did you need something?” Ro asks

“We’re gonna go for breakfast and then record some of the new songs today, remember?” Baby mentions.

“Right,” Jinu says and runs a hand through his hair before sitting up. “I’m gonna…”

“Cold shower?” Baby suggests with a smirk.

Jinu glares at him which makes Baby and Ro laugh. He gets his shoes on and puts his overcoat back on. “I’m gonna go find the other two,” he decides.

“They’re in the court yard,” Baby mentions. “We’re just waiting on you two.”

“Waiting,” Ro hums and pokes Baby’s cheek as Baby settles in next to him. “Is this what waiting looks like?”

“Yeah, I’m just waiting in a different spot than the other two,” Baby smirks. “I wanted to see how it went. I’m disappointed to see that it didn’t,” he teases.

Ro rolls his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you,” he says before sitting up, but before he can stand Jinu is helping him put his shoes back on. Because Jinu is an old man, the process involves a footwrap as opposed to socks before Jinu can slide each shoe over Ro’s feet. Ro’s tongue brushes his lower lip as he watches. Maybe Ro can get on board with the lack of modern clothing that Jinu had decided on. Who was he kidding? Ro, thinking about all of them in their hanboks, is certainly on board. How could he not be? None of it was form fitting, but there was something delightfully attractive about seeing each of them in their respective outfits that made Ro feel like he probably wasn’t going to last without indulgence for as long as he typically does. Like most things, it’s all Jinu’s fault really.

“Thanks,” Ro says and gets up. He grabs his overcoat to put on even if they would be leaving soon. Jinu worked hard to change all their outfits, so it felt right to wear what was made for him.

“So, you two ready to go?” Baby asks as he gets off the bed. Still smirking, clearly proud of himself for interrupting the two.

“Yes, we are,” Jinu says.

“It’s cute that you missed us,” Ro says and adjusts a strand of Baby’s hair, which wasn’t quite right from his earlier sleep.

“Missed you two?” Baby scoffs. He swats Ro’s hand away as his face warms. “That is a load of bullshit and you two know it.”

“Of course,” Jinu says. “You came to get us purely to be an annoying little shit.”

“That and we have work to do today,” Baby explains.

“Mm,” Ro hums. He tilts Baby’s head up just to look at his hair.

“Quit it,” Baby huffs.

“I’m just trying to make sure,” Ro says, “and…” he trails off as he uses the thumb of his other hand to clear away a fallen eyelash that had been resting on the other demon’s cheek. “There, perfect,” he breathes before pulling away to head off towards the court yard.

Jinu and Baby watch him leave before Jinu looks over to Baby, whose patterns near his face are burning bright. “I’m gonna kill him,” Baby decides.

“I think it is more likely that he kills us,” Jinu confesses.

Baby doesn’t reply to that, and instead the two follow Ro out and to the courtyard where Mystery has his stack of books to be returned and Abby is laying with his head in Mystery’s lap.

“So, how did it go?” Abby asks.

“They didn’t fuck,” Baby says before Jinu or Ro can reply.

“Seriously? Is Jinu’s dick broken? If it is never used, does it just break?” Abby asks, tilting his head to look at Mystery as he wonders.

“I don’t think so,” Mystery says. “Perhaps it was too much for him? He might have a long refractory period so they never had the chance to actually have intercourse.”

“I don’t even believe that you’ve had sex,” Jinu decides.

“I have,” Mystery assures. “Finding a partner is a lot of work, and finding one that suits my needs is usually more effort than it is worth.”

“Have you since you became a demon?” Abby asks, apparently he has doubts too.

“Yes. Now are we going to the library and then breakfast?” Mystery asks.

“Yep, and I’ll text Zoey and see what time we can use their recording studio at,” Baby decides.

“Sounds good,” Ro says with a nod.

Right before they are about to teleport to the surface, Abby frowns and pushes himself off the ground before putting a hand up to stop them. “Both of you, put on your human form?” he requests. Jinu and Ro do, only for Abby to laugh. Mystery’s posture tenses as he looks at Jinu.

“What is it?” Jinu asks, but Baby pokes his neck, which is littered with bruises and indents from Ro’s teeth.

“Shit, you’re gonna need a scarf or to make those disappear,” Baby says.

“What are you even talking about?” Jinu huffs and goes over to the pond to see his reflection in it. “Ro!” Jinu hisses and turns to him.

“You didn’t mind at the time,” Ro waves it off having already used transformation magic to hide his own as soon as he saw Jinu’s neck. “See you on the surface!” He says before disappearing.

“Make sure you cover that up Jinu,” Abby snorts before he, Mystery, and Baby disappear. 

Jinu looks at it in the water before looking over to the Tiger. “Is it believable if I blame you if someone asks?”

The tiger looks at him, unblinking, while the bird pecks at the tiger’s head. “You two are no help,” he sighs before disappearing.

Chapter Text

Rumi had told them they could keep the scrolls in their temple, but aside from that they relied on the library for reading materials.

“If our phones worked down there then we could watch videos,” Baby mentions as they look around the library, mostly following Mystery’s lead.

“Yeah I’ll get right on that,” Jinu rolls his eyes. He was wearing a white sleeveless turtle neck tucked into blue jeans and a blue unbuttoned button up over top. He looked good, but the clothing was mainly for the possibility that he screwed up the transformation magic. Bruises from when he and Baby beat the shit out of one another somehow felt infinitely easier to deal with then if a fan manages to snap a pic of the marks along his neck. At least he has enough demonic energy that they’ll be gone by tomorrow.

“I can read out loud to you if you want,” Mystery mentions as he takes books down every now and then before handing them to Abby to hold.

“Really? I can find one with a lot of sex in it,” Baby decides, trying to embarrass the other.

Mystery shrugs. “I already grabbed The Monk and The Sins of the Cities of the Plain, but knock yourself out I guess.”

“I think you might combust before he does,” Abby teases as Baby rolls his eyes.

“So nothing rattles you then?” Baby asks Mystery.

“It’s just words on a page. I enjoy reading them, but if you want me to read erotica out loud that says more about you then me,” Mystery decides, even if the exposed parts of his face look a little warm.

“I bet if I printed out that fan stuff and had you read that then—”

“We are not printing out something so amature-ish,” Mystery cuts Baby off. “Waste of ink,” he grumbles.

Meanwhile, Ro texts the girls for a recommendation on something that could pull a reaction out of Mystery and soon is stacking a few books in Abby’s arms.

“Couldn’t you carry these yourself?” Abby asks. Jinu takes half of them from him, which is a mistake as it just ends with them carrying more books they have to drop off at home after checking them out.

When the two do appear back on the surface, they walk out of the washroom and exit the library to join the other three who are chatting with some fans… well Ro is chatting. Mystery is quietly nodding along and Baby is tucked against Ro’s side.

“We should go help them,” Jinu decides since this is a lot of fans for Ro to handle on his own.

“We definitely should,” Abby agrees. “But carrying those books was exhausting,” he mentions with a mean smirk.

Jinu gives him a look before he nods sympathetically. “It really was a lot of hard work, and Ro has it covered. Besides, we need to find out where that breakfast place is at,” Jinu reminds.

“We do, don’t we?” Abby nods and pulls out his phone while pretending to search for the app that will show him where the breakfast place is.

They wait by the library entrance for a good five minutes before they make their way over.

“Hey guys, we’re gonna be late for our breakfast reservation,” Abby says, lying about any sort of reservation, as he slides an arm around Ro.

“Is that so?” Ro asks with a grin that tells Abby that Ro had seen them standing off to the side. “We should get going then, thanks for saying hi,” he says to the cluster of fans before Abby guides them along.

“You two are assholes,” Baby mentions.

“What? Were you guys not having fun?” Abby asks.

“You know I wasn’t,” Baby huffs.

“Do you really hate it that much?” Mystery asks.

“As long as people don’t touch me it’s mostly okay,” Baby admits. “I’m just never prepared for it and don’t know what to say to people. The rest of you guys are so good at it too.” He shoves his hands into his hoodie pockets as patterns briefly streak across them.

“You’ll get there. It is something to work on,” Jinu tells him and puts an arm around him. “We could schedule fan events after the album drops? You don’t have to be amazing at talking to every person we bump into on the street.”

“Speaking of, the girls highly recommended that we get a Bobby,” Ro mentions.

“What?” Baby and Jinu ask.

“A manager,” Ro elaborates. “That way we can focus on music and they can focus on the stuff we don’t want to deal with… but Baby gets to keep doing our social media pages.”

“I do hate reading contracts,” Mystery mentions.

“I’m worried you’ll sign something without reading it one day,” Jinu admits and Mystery’s shrug doesn’t make him feel any less worried.

“The girls think we should find someone like us who would want to do it,” Ro explains.

“Like who?” Abby asks with a huff.

“Shiro?” Ro gets four ‘no’s in response to that suggestion. Ro suppresses a laugh at their jealousy even if it makes his chest feel warm. “Okay well we should find someone, and they should probably come from down there.”

“Most of the demons down there who would understand contracts like this are either greed or envy demons,” Jinu mentions.

“So what?” Ro shrugs. 

“We don’t define each other by our sins, why should we define the other demons by theirs?” Mystery asks.

“We are literally having you not do it because we are worried you’re gonna flake on it,” Baby mentions and flicks his cheek. Mystery just shrugs since it isn’t like any of them offered to read pages and pages and pages of boring contracts and research if they were getting a half decent deal in terms of payment.

They go to a cafe for breakfast and sit inside the place to enjoy their drinks and snacks, which Baby posts a picture of online and figures out how to tag the place. While eating, they continue to try and figure out if anyone down below would make a half decent manager for their group. It was a confusing conversation since they mostly had to describe people because of the lack of names, but sometimes the description went along the lines of “I think he is a pride demon?” which kinda shut down anyone wanting that demon as their manager.

They decide that they’ll have to ask around down there, and if they don’t find someone then they’ll try and steal Bobby before eventually settling on some other human.

“I just don’t want to have to be rechecking their work,” Jinu explains after having shot down every suggestion everyone else has made since Jinu doesn’t really know anyone outside their group.

“I feel like you could just threaten to…” Baby trails off and everyone gets the point.

“I would rather not,” Jinu says. Draining that one brown haired demon had sparked others to act out and Jinu didn’t want to deal with that again. Yes, the feeling of sapping their energy was addicting, but the aftermath made him feel gross. It was too much power for someone like him to have.

“Well when groups don’t like their manager they fire them, so if whoever doesn’t work out we just tell them that we don’t want their help anymore,” Mystery mentions. “Logically, we can’t be the only semi-reasonable ones down there.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Jinu sighs.

“And we all need to like them too, that’s a requirement,” Ro adds, which does make Jinu feel a little better. 

“I didn’t realize we all liked each other,” Baby says without even looking up from his phone.

“That’s why us all liking each other isn’t a requirement,” Ro shoots back, smirking as he drinks his far too sweet tea.

“People online want me to tag each of us over what we ordered,” Baby mentions.

“Tag?” Jinu asks.

“Like… list personal accounts next to our order,” Baby says.

“I’m not making an account,” Jinu says.

“That seems like a lot of work,” Mystery sighs.

The other two also go to complain about it, but Baby waves it off and says he’ll just edit the caption to list what each of them ordered. Although… some of them had swapped and shared. He decides to just stick with what they each originally had.

“You know, just because people ask for it doesn’t mean you have to do it,” Ro mentions.

“I know, but I like doing this stuff and I’m good at it I think,” Baby says.

“I don’t know why people care about what we had for breakfast,” Mystery mentions. “I barely care about what we had for breakfast,” he says. It isn’t like they need to eat. Although he certainly wasn’t going to say no to a caramel latte with a small foam cat peeking out to look at him or the lemon poppy seed loaf that he had split with Baby.

“Then don’t get anything next time,” Baby says and flicks his cheek.

“Have you even touched your drink?” Abby asks.

“I don’t want to kill the cat,” Mystery shrugs. Although the cat had almost dissolved into the drink, so Mystery figured he could go ahead and start drinking it now.

They continue talking about a manager and decide that they should all have access to the group email and banking information until they find someone suitable, and probably even after that. Baby and Mystery get them logged in on all their phones and Jinu sighs at the amount of unread emails they have.

“Ignore all the agency ones. We don’t want to sign with an agency,” Baby decides.

“Why not?” Abby asks, not bothering with looking at the emails since Jinu can be stressed enough for all of them.

“Because we have all lived for too long to be okay with some agency telling us what kind of music to make and what we can eat and that we can maximize profits by doing this, this, and that. I’ll go crazy,” Baby says.

“Yeah I don’t think that would go over well with any of us,” Jinu breathes. Another reason why they should have a demon manager who at least understands not to step on any toes. He goes to turn off his phone but a pop up appears with Rumi’s name. He answers and brings the phone to his ear. “Hello.”

“Hey, Jinu! We are done practicing choreo so you guys can use the recording studio for the rest of the day,” Rumi says.

“Alright, and you’re sure it isn’t a bother?”

“Positive, but if you guys release your album the same day we come back from hiatus then Mira will kill you guys,” Rumi mentions.

“Okay, we won’t. Thanks again for letting us use the studio.”

They say their goodbyes and Rumi hangs up before Jinu can figure out how.

“We should release our album the same day they come back,” Baby says with a smirk.

“You heard that?” Jinu asks. “And we aren’t doing that. They’re being nice to us.”

“But Mira is so pretty when she threatens us,” Abby says, with Ro nodding in agreement as he finishes the last of his strawberry shortcake. 

“Teasing her is one of life’s greatest pleasures,” Ro adds.

“Yeah? Until you nearly combust after giving her flowers,” Baby snorts.

“Hey!” Ro huffs as his face warms.

“I’m so jealous that she touched you,” Abby pouts. “I’m giving them the flowers next time.”

“I don’t think she is going to do that again,” Jinu says as he drinks the last of his americano.

“If you two were just—”

“Shh,” Baby shushes Mystery. “It is infinitely more fun this way. Besides, if you look at Zoey for too long she starts fidgeting and giggling, you have it easy,” he says.

“Seriously, do you even like her?” Abby asks, more like demands while crossing his arms over his chest and ignoring Baby stealing the last of his almond croissant.

Mystery shrugs and attempts to avoid the question by having his drink, but the others don’t move on. Ugh. “She has a lot of energy,” he settles on. “I don’t really think I could keep up with her in any sort of relationship. I mean, I’m pretty sure the five of us only work  as friends because you guys can bounce your energy off of each other and you don’t expect very much from me.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like you’re dead weight,” Baby grumbles as he nudges the other.

“Sorry,” Mystery apologizes. He doesn’t sound like he means it, he just sounds like he is avoiding an argument. Jinu always thought his and Baby’s sins were the easiest to feed into casually; he never really considered that Mystery’s sin is probably even easier. Jinu doesn’t think he has ever met another sloth demon and when he redressed everyone there had been less than a dozen demons dressed in purple including Mystery.

What even was sloth? Wrath was anger. Pride was arrogance. Envy was jealousy. Lust, greed, and gluttony all fell under excessive indulgence. Sloth was… being lazy? Jinu wouldn’t describe Mystery as lazy though. He could understand how some religions view sloth: a lack of dedication towards the divine, but that didn’t match with their reality. The reality being that a deal related to their primary sin had to be made with Gwi-Ma in order for them to become corrupted. What kind of deal could a sloth demon make? A deal to do nothing? That sounds depressing more than anything else, and it begged the question about how Gwi-Ma could control sloth demons with their shame if their deal had been to be lazy. 

“Jinu, quit thinking about my sin,” Mystery says when everyone else had moved on but Jinu was still thinking.

“Sorry,” Jinu apologizes. “I guess there are so few sloth demons that I have a hard time imagining what kind of deal could be made that would make sloth a primary sin.”

“So quit trying to imagine it,” Mystery suggests. “Are we leaving soon?”

“Yeah, just let us finish up,” Abby tells him. “You gotta finish your drink too,” he reminds.

“Besides, we don’t have to rush, we’ll have plenty of time to record,” Ro mentions. “And we’ll need a lot of takes to get those high notes in How It’s Done,” Ro reminds.

“Right,” Mystery murmurs.

“We’ll pitch it down if you two need, I don’t want either of you to hurt yourselves,” Jinu says.

“Sure, but… it would be pretty cool if we could do it,” Ro says and looks at Mystery, who does nod slightly.

“I do kinda want to try, maybe not live but,” Mystery tilts his head back and forth. “I think only one of us should sing Rumi’s solo, but it would be cool to do a harmony at the end for the backing vocals.”

“You’re gonna kill us, I love it,” Ro grins.

“Seriously, you probably have so much stuff you want us to do, but it is gonna be awesome,” Abby grins. 

“Ideally, I want our cover to perform better than the original,” Baby nods. “They’ll kill us, but it’ll be worth it.”

Chapter Text

At the recording studio, they manage to get a few good takes of the songs for the album when the girls come in and sit on the couch. Nodding for them to continue, and Ro and Mystery quickly realize that one of these traitors (probably Baby), told the girls they were going to be working on the cover of the song.

“We better get to listen to you guys sing Soda Pop after this,” Ro grumbles as he drinks some water. They weren’t even at the challenging part yet since Mystery wasn’t a fan of the way Abby and Jinu were delivering the lines in the second verse. Apparently Ro and Baby agreed considering they could barely keep from laughing.

“I love that this song won,” Mira decides when Mystery asks Abby to rerecord ‘fit check for my napalm era’ for the seventh time. At least they had moved on from Mystery telling Jinu he needed to bring more energy to the line before that. 

“Well we would love some words of wisdom from you three,” Jinu mentions as Abby has a water break and Mystery seems to be relistening to parts they had already recorded. With other songs they could record the entire song together, but Mystery had told them they probably were going to need to practice the song in sections before they could sing it the entire way through, he had been right about that.

“You guys could try and have more fun with it,” Zoey suggests.

“You could pretend that you guys are as cool as we are, might help,” Mira shrugs.

“Helpful,” Jinu says sarcastically before looking at Rumi. 

“Why not have Baby sing Mira’s part and Abby do Zoey’s?” Rumi suggests. “Just for this part.”

So they run it again with her suggestion and Baby definitely does the line better than Abby does, but Jinu sings up a third on ‘make it cute and savage’ to harmonize with Abby and all five of them join in for the ‘us, hello’ end of the verse.

“That was better,” Mystery decides after listening to it again.

“So much better!” Zoey agrees. “Who got assigned what?” She asks as she gets up and makes her way over to check it out. A lot of it was done out of necessity, they put Ro and Mystery on the high parts with the other three taking the bulk of the rapping, but… “can I make a suggestion?” Zoey asks.

“Sure,” Mystery nods.

“Maybe cut this section in half and have Ro rap this part?” Zoey suggests as she marks off ‘took blood, sweat, and tears to look natural’. 

“He is singing the high part right after that,” Mystery mentions.

“You could take it,” Ro mentions with a grin. “Or I could probably still do it, but I don’t want to hog all the lyrics.”

“You two don’t get much of anything until the end,” Jinu assures.

“We could add more harmonies,” Mystery mentions since he likes making their lives hell. He watches Zoey make notes over his sheet music, reassigning some of the earlier parts to who she thinks would better suit the lyrics as opposed to who can musically handle them.

“What if,” Zoey begins and Mystery finds himself smiling since her ideas tend to make the song more challenging, but they tend to make the song sound better too. “The second time the pre-chorus comes around you give Jinu the melody instead of the harmony part?”

“Jinu, you think you can handle that?” Mystery asks.

“You’re both sadists,” Jinu decides, which is his way of agreeing.

Zoey giggles and takes her lower lip between her teeth as she erases and reorganizes everyone’s parts in that section.

“Thank you Zoey,” Mystery says and watches as her face warms while she insists it was nothing.

“How did the other songs go?” Mira asks.

“Good? Did it go well, Mystery?” Abby asks, but Mystery has the headphone back on and is staring at the laptop that held all the music files.

“It went well,” Jinu says, leaning into Abby who has his arm wrapped around Jinu.

“We still haven’t officially released Your Idol yet, but Abby and I want to rechoreograph the entire thing,” Ro mentions.

“We’re trying to avoid changing too many of the lyrics, so we are going to reblock the song to be singing to each other instead of the audience,” Abby explains with a grin.

“That’s a really cool idea,” Mira decides after considering it. “There was also a lot of teleporting in the original choreo,” she mentions.

“And flying,” Zoey adds.

“And those floating hearts better not be a part of the actual Soda Pop choreo,” Mira mentions.

“They are,” Ro says and makes a heart with his thumb and pointer as Baby sends one of the floating hearts over to them from the couch the four guys are sitting on while they wait for Mystery to call up whoever is next. 

Mira swats the stupid thing away. “How are you guys so unconcerned about using demon magic in public?"

“Demon magic? This is a result of our love for our fans,” Jinu insists.

“Bullshit,” Mira huffs.

“We’re heart broken,” Abby teases with the other three nodding until Mystery says that he wants them to take a crack at the pre-chorus. He uses the keyboard in the room to play the melody for Jinu.

“So you sing that, Ro gets the upper harmony and Baby is taking the lower. Then, after the first line, I’ll join Ro and Abby will join Baby for a deeper harmony,” Mystery explains.

“Can we make it a four part? I’ll go lower?” Baby asks with a grin.

“We can try it,” Mystery decides.

The girls watch them go through the rest of the song and they work well together. Mystery is clearly in charge when they are recording, but he takes suggestions and explains to them, using basic music theory, why some of their suggestions should be ditched. If they are persistent enough he still lets them try it so long as they also agree to do it his way, and nearly every time the group decides that Mystery’s original idea was better. It was clear that everything Abby and Ro know about music theory had been taught to them by Mystery. The only time any of them get genuinely frustrated is when Ro and Mystery spend ten minutes at the end trying to get the high parts of the song.

“You slipped into falsetto again,” Jinu mentions.

“I know,” Mystery grumbles. 

“We can pitch it down,” Baby reminds for the fourth time.

“We’ll get it,” Ro insists, as if he wasn’t struggling with Rumi’s part that he ended up keeping, nevermind the damn backing vocals at the end.

“Why don’t you guys sing the main part so they can actually be backing vocals?” Rumi suggests.

“Yeah! They can totally get there, but it is a head game too,” Zoey insists.

“Or Zoey can sing with them,” Mira adds. “It is easier to match other people than to do it on your own.”

“Would you sing with us, Zoey?” Ro asks as he and Mystery look at her.

Mystery thinks asking her so directly like that was a mistake given the way she blushes and fidgets with a string on her pants as she agrees. They start a little further back then Mystery was having them start, instead beginning with her rap at the end of the third verse which they had given to Baby. When they get to the bridge, Ro takes over and Rumi sings it with him before she continues to sing the main chorus while the three do the backing vocals and, after three tries, the guys nail it.

“Now you two do it without me,” Zoey says.

“We can record that far back,” Baby suggests and starts that far back for them, and Ro nearly nails the bridge. They carry on to the outro anyway and, even if it is just Ro and Mystery singing they do nail that part.

“So you can definitely sing the bridge,” is all Mystery says afterwards.

“I only got that high because you sang it with me,” Ro teases as he hugs Mystery, far too excited at having finally gotten it. 

“Mm,” Mystery hums, but leans into the hug anyway. “Thanks for singing with us Zoey,” he mentions.

“Yeah, no problem,” Zoey beams. “You guys should all be running vocal exercises daily though.”

“It’ll help maintain and extend your range,” Rumi agrees. “We’ll give you guys some to do,” she decides.

“Thanks, Rumi, we appreciate that,” Mystery says as he tries to relisten to the recording anyway, despite Ro’s hugging. “We’ll have to do a full run through at some point.”

“You think we could get it performance ready? As a treat for our fans?” Jinu asks.

Mystery tilts his head back and forth. “Maybe, but doing all of this with some type of choreo is…”

“Oh now that,” Abby begins as he and Ro smirk like devils, “Would be fun.”

Mystery rolls his eyes and asks Ro to run through it a couple more times so Ro can get a handle on the bridge. They get a couple good takes of it before Mystery decides they can call it a day.

“Or at least have a break,” Mystery decides after listening to a section to one of their songs that could probably use a do over.

“Can I post this clip of you three singing on our socials?” Baby asks and shows a video of Mystery, Ro, and Zoey singing that he had taken during one of their run throughs.

Mystery shrugs, Ro agrees, and Zoey asks that he tag her in the post.

“So,” Baby begins as he posts the clip. “When do we get to hear the Soda Pop run through?”

“Never?” Mira suggests. 

“It is very suggestive,” Rumi mentions.

“I got the dance down!” Zoey grins.

“You’re far too excited about it,” Rumi decides.

“You guys don’t want to sing it for us?” Abby asks, purrs really.

“Definitely not,” Mira decides. “You guys don’t need to run through choreo?”

“We can do that at home,” Jinu decides quickly.

“He is a slow learner,” Ro reminds.

“You didn’t seem to think so earlier,” Jinu huffs, his face warming at the memory. His words don’t even seem to embarrass Ro, who has this smirk on his lips that look like the very definition of trouble. Jinu can’t say he is complaining, he has thought, more than once, about continuing right where they left off earlier and having Ro teach him more. 

“When it comes to choreo he is slow,” Ro corrects.

“Yeah I don’t know about that one, seven hours and not fucking doesn’t seem like ‘quick learner’,” Baby snorts.

Mira covers her mouth to conceal a laugh as Rumi insists that they really don’t need to know about that even as a blush colours her cheeks.

“Seven hours is a long time, what did you guys even do,” Zoey asks as she tilts her head and ignores Rumi, who seems scandalized that Zoey would even ask.

“We’ve been alive for a long time so we feel the passage of time differently,” Jinu explains while he avoids looking at anyone.

“What he means is that I take my time and I don’t get bored quickly,” Ro elaborates. He avoids being too annoyed that Jinu, having claimed that they were not fucking, clearly left out what they did do. He decides not to spend too much time wondering why since it is probably because of how quick the demon finished, as if Ro gives a fuck about that considering he had to use magic to make sure his pants were clean. 

“So it was just foreplay?” Zoey decides. “Hm… well good for you Jinu, we should have you play the piano more often if it leads to that!”

“Zoey,” Rumi groans.

“I agree completely,” Ro says, much to Jinu’s embarrassment. 

“Ro,” Mystery suddenly speaks up as he pushes the headphones off and offers them to the pink haired demon. “Can you listen to this?” he asks.

“Sure thing,” Ro says and puts them on before listening to a part of a song they had recorded earlier. “Uh yeah… we should redo that,” he decides.

“Great, I thought you would agree. I’ll add it to the list,” Mystery says and Ro can see the other demon has a… substantial list of things they need to do or things they need to redo or things they need to fix.

“Oh,” Ro mentions and looks from the list to the girls, already having moved on from talking about his not fucking with Jinu. “If we brought some demons up, would you three help us find a manager? We don’t know what we are looking for.”

“Or what the red flags would be,” Baby agrees.

“Either that, or we steal Bobby,” Abby decides.

“You guys can’t have Bobby,” Zoey insists.

“So you three have to help us,” Ro grins. “Although… maybe we could try bringing you three down below instead of bringing a bunch of demons up here?”

“I don’t really want more demons in our house,” Mira nods. 

“Hey, if that is what you need to tell yourself to justify coming over go ahead,” Abby hums.

“Although, you know we would love to have you over whenever,” Ro adds.

“So I can spend seven hours doing foreplay?” Mira fires back.

“Seven hours doing something,” Ro drawls, and Mira’s confidence shrinks back as she scowls while her face goes darker than her hair.

“We don’t even know if we can go,” Rumi reminds before Abby can jump in on teasing Mira.

“Well, we don’t know about humans, but there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to go,” Jinu tells Rumi. “If you want, we get it if you are uninterested.”

“I’m not uninterested, I just…”

“She’s never been over to a guy’s house,” Baby sing-songs his guess, which turns out to be right on the nose when Rumi scoffs and tries to promise to kill him but all that comes out is a garbled mess.

“Jinu is a 400 year old virgin and I am beginning to suspect that Rumi isn’t that far off,” Mystery notes as he saves their work before shutting the computer down. He is met with scoffs and scowls and arguments from both of them, but he doesn’t seem all that concerned about it even if it makes the others laugh.

“So what have you three been up to today?” Jinu asks in an effort to move on from the topic. The group makes their way to the elevator as Zoey goes on and on about how busy they’ve been preparing for their return.

“You guys are going to come to our comeback concert, right?” Zoey asks at the end of the rants (and raves) about the new choreo.

“Let us know when you have it booked,” Abby decides.

“I don’t want to sit in the pit with everyone else,” Baby groans.

“Yeah you guys would either be backstage or in a private booth,” Rumi decides, not even entertaining the idea of these five being with the rest of their fans.

“Private booth would be nice, so we can actually see,” Mystery mentions, even if Rumi and Jinu certainly haven’t forgiven the comment he made earlier.

“And you guys will come watch when we book a concert?” Jinu asks.

“Yeah, book without the demon magic first and then we’ll consider it,” Mira decides.

“You guys don’t think we can?” Baby asks.

“Well how much of your performance was enhanced by demon magic?” Zoey asks.

“Only our closer,” Mystery says.

“We put our souls into Soda Pop,” Abby says. “I can’t believe you guys think we would cheat.”

“You sent floating hearts at people and nobody questioned it,” Mira says flatly.

The elevator opens with Ro and Abby still arguing that the floating hearts were necessary for their choreo.

“Hi Bobby!” The girls say in unison when the elevator opens and their manager is standing in the hall.

Abby, who was in his full demon form, mentally flipped between turning into his human skin and staying as he was, ended up paralyzed with indecision and nearly stayed in the elevator until Ro tugged him out of it.

“You’re back early,” Rumi comments, not even commenting on the fact that their competition was in the pent house.

“Yeah, I got a hold of my phone and— should I come back later?” He asks, eyes darting from the girls to the boy band (particularly Abby).

“Don’t be silly,” Zoey insists. “How was the retreat?” She asks.

“Our makeup artist practiced on him earlier for a music video we are planning on shooting,” Baby explains when Bobby keeps glancing over to Abby.

Bobby’s lips form an ‘O’ as he nods and Ro drags Abby off to the bathroom to get cleaned up. “I told you to wash that shit off earlier,” Ro complains just to add to the lie.

“But I look hot!” Abby whines as they head upstairs (having no clue where the bathroom is, but this seems like a good enough guess).

“Sorry about them,” Jinu says and nods his head in apology.

“So why are you back early?” Mira asks.

“Oh yeah, you are back early aren’t you?” Zoey asks. 

“You got a hold of your phone, didn’t you?” Rumi asks.

“Well…” Bobby trails off, which tells the girls all they need to know. The three scold him, but Bobby is quick to show them just how many photos had been taken of the girls with the Saja Boys. “You guys had such strong feelings that I was worried something happened!”

“Aww,” Zoey grins. “Thanks for caring Bobby!”

“What would have happened?” Mira asks.

“I… I don’t know, but I was worried!”

“You should have called,” Rumi says.

“It is sweet that he is concerned,” Jinu comments. “I hope we aren’t causing any problems for anyone,” he adds, sounding far too sweet compared to how the five demons normally tease the girls.

“Well you five went on a hiatus at the same time as them, which has led to people assuming…” Bobby trails off as he makes a ton of hand gestures that the three boys play stupid at understanding. “Dating!” he confesses right as Ro and Abby are coming back down after having guessed at how long it would have taken to clean off that makeup (if Bobby wasn’t panicking it would have been more obvious that it wasn’t nearly long enough).

“Dating? Who started that delightful rumor?” Ro asks as he and Abby smirk at Mira who scowls at them.

“We’re just friends,” Rumi clarifies.

“Excluding those two idiots,” Mira nods towards the two pink haired men who go to stand with the rest of the guys.

“You break our hearts, doll face,” Abby says, both of them maintaining polite smiles that reminds Mira of the stupid fan signing event and makes her want to kill them.

“We’re sorry if we have caused any problems,” Jinu says as he puts a hand on Abby’s shoulder to try and keep the two from acting out, entirely unaware that their ‘polite pretty boy’ act made the hunters want to murder them.

“No, no,” Bobby decides and waves the issue off. “I mean fans don’t see any of you guys as just friends, but if you guys don’t care—”

“That’s such a cute photo! I bet the rujinu shippers are so happy!” Zoey says as she peeks at Bobby’s phone.

Jinu and Rumi look at one another before making their way over and seeing a photo of the two of them when the rest of the group had split off on their walk. Jinu was smiling and Rumi was laughing and they definitely looked like they were on a date. 

“So you two aren’t dating?” Bobby asks.

“Ew no!” Rumi insists as Jinu shakes his head quickly.

“Wait, ‘ew’?” Jinu asks as he looks at Rumi.

“What? You can say that I’m not your type but I can’t say ‘ew’?” Rumi asks as she crosses her arms.

“You’re not my type,” Jinu doubles down.

“Smooth,” Abby comments.

“I mean—” Jinu can see the anger forming on her face and is pretty sure he has about ten words before she somehow summons her sword and sends Jinu straight to hell in front of Bobby. “It is significantly less rude to say that then ‘ew’.”

“Oh my Gwi-Ma,” Mystery mutters to himself as he rubs his forehead.

“Cool,” Rumi says flatly, sounding a lot like Mira as she crosses her arms.

Fuck.

“What I meant is—”

“We gotta get going,” Baby interrupts as he grabs Jinu’s forearm. 

“It was nice meeting you, they have told us nothing but wonderful things,” Ro says.

“Have a nice evening,” Abby adds and grabs Jinu by the shoulder. Mystery offers a wave before Baby and Abby drag Jinu straight back to the elevator.

Once the five are inside and the doors are shut, Jinu groans and rubs his face.

“You’re an idiot,” Ro decides. 

“She is hot as fuck,” Abby agrees.

Jinu is torn between saying ‘I know’ and ‘shut up’ and ends up just saying both before the five demons disappear, leaving the elevator to open empty on the ground floor.

Chapter Text

So Jinu definitely fucked up, that was based on the fact that the girls had been ‘busy’ for the last week. Even Mystery has told the idiot to go apologize to Rumi and talk to her, but Jinu was being a stubborn asshole. They have all tried to get the two to talk one on one and the two just keep not talking.

It certainly doesn’t help that Jinu has been… distracted. Sure, there is the song writing and learning the choreo, but Ro also makes for a very pretty distraction too. In the span of the week, the lust demon has gotten more comfortable with the idea of being closer to them. No fucking, which Abby might not be a lust demon but he is still a little upset about. They are all beginning to understand how Jinu spent seven hours with the guy. Although, outside of Ro — who had gone back to just-kissing, and seems to be unwilling to budge from that spot — the others don’t screw around with one another.

They’re both in their demon forms. 

Fooling around in the temple library where Ro had been actually reading. Abby has the lust demon pressed into the floor as they grind their hips against one another.

Ro’s patterns tend to glow whenever Abby presses down just right. Abby is pretty sure this might be the time Ro lets Abby undress him and worship all of his skin. Baby and Mystery had taken off to the human realm library and would be gone for a while, and Jinu was writing a new song. There wasn’t anyone to bother them.

Abby licks into Ro’s mouth as he rolls his hips down and savors the moan Ro emits. He can certainly feel how worked up the lust demon is, but his own condition isn’t any better. He pulls away to undo the string holding his outer jacket together before stripping it off and begins to work on getting the inner jacket off too, leaving his upper half bare. Ro drags his claws over Abby’s abs before yanking him back down by the back of his skull to crash their lips together. Ro rolls them over and begins to kiss and suck and bite along Abby’s skin, starting at his throat and trailing down his chest.

He reaches to undo his own jacket when a blue portal opens in the floor right beside them. They both pause as the bird appears followed by the overgrown cat. Abby and Ro watch the cat rise out until the portal closes and the cat blinks slowly at them before opening his mouth and a card falls next to them with a splat. Some of the spit lands on Abby’s shoulder. 

“If Jinu can’t keep his pets to himself, I’m going to kill him,” Abby decides.

Ro laughs, but he picks up the card and unfolds it, apologizing when another glob of spit lands on Abby’s chest. “It’s for us. We’re being asked to go to a cafe in the human realm.”

“Okay, can we go in like… thirty minutes?” Abby asks as he crosses his arms behind his head, not so subtly flexing to try and tempt Ro into ignoring the note that was probably from Baby or Mystery who were too lazy to just come and get them.

“Thirty minutes? Who do you think I am?” Ro asks and snaps his fingers. Abby's clothes disappear from the ground and reappear back on his body. “Come on, it might be fun,” Ro says and leans down to kiss the other. They kiss for another five minutes, getting far too carried away, before the tiger bumps his head into Ro and knocks him off of Abby entirely.

“What a prick,” Ro groans as the tiger rests his chin on Abby’s chest. “That was my spot,” Ro tells the tiger but holds a hand out for the bird to come and sit, which the bird takes and Ro adjusts his hat before he stands up. “Let’s get going?”

“Fine,” Abby grumbles and pushes the tiger’s head off of him before he gets up. The tiger keeps pressing his head into Abby and the two decide that Jinu is probably neglecting the poor thing. “You would think Jinu could make him look normal or something,” Abby mentions.

“Could we not?” Ro suggests. They had never considered attempting it before, but he holds out a hand to the cat’s head. Red and pink smoke surrounds the tiger before he transforms. He ends up as a fairly large cat. His teeth have transformed to that of a normal cat, but his eyes and fur remains…

“You couldn’t make him a different colour?” Abby asks.

“I don’t think he wants to be a different colour,” Ro says.

“Sure,” Abby says and the cat hops up onto his broad shoulders.

“Okay, you’re next,” Ro looks at the bird. He swears the bird shakes its head. Either way, it doesn’t stay still. They opt to leave, figuring the bird will stay out of trouble if it doesn’t want to transform.

The pair of demons — Ro dressed in light pink slacks and a white button up with the sleeves rolled up and three buttons undone, and Abby in (a slightly less atrocious than usual) floral button up and jeans — walked from an alley to the cafe after Ro looked it up for directions. The cat stayed perched on Abby with the bird nowhere to be seen. It was late at night, which fed more fuel to Abby’s theory that this was Baby and Mystery fucking with them. Then they get to the cafe, and nobody else is there.

“They were for sure screwing with us,” Abby grumbles as he pulls out his phone to try and text them.

“You want anything?” Ro asks since they are here.

“Whatever is fine,” Abby says.

“I’m swooning,” Ro says sarcastically before he goes to order for them. He spends some time deciding as Abby tries to work his phone, and right when he starts ordering he hears the door opening. Ro ignores it, getting himself a strawberry sweet tea and ordering Abby a coffee with condensed milk. Right when he is trying to decide if he wants anything to eat, Mira has stepped beside him.

“I’ll have a matcha latte with oat milk and we’ll each get a filled croissant. You can surprise us with the filling,” Mira says and pays with cash. She is wearing a black sleeveless button up tucked into white joggers along with round glasses and a hat.

“You wear glasses?” Abby asks, far too distracted by that to deliver his usual pick up line.

“I wear contacts most of the time,” Mira says.

“Wait, are you the one who wrote for us?” Ro asks as they wait for their order.

“Yeah. Were you two busy or something?” Mira asks.

“A little,” Abby grumbles.

“Not really,” Ro corrects. And he’s supposed to be the lust demon. “Regardless, you could have included your name, we thought Baby and Mystery were fucking with us,” he explains. The cat jumps off of Abby to go nuzzle against Mira, which has them getting kicked out by workers who notice him. Abby and Ro apologize before going outside to wait for Mira with the cat.

“You are so unstealthy,” Ro tells the cat as they choose a table outside to sit at. They both sit on the same side and the cat sits at the back end of the table.

Mira brings their stuff outside and the two apologize for leaving her with it.

“It’s more his fault than yours,” Mira says and scratches under the cat’s chin. 

“So you just missed us this much?” Abby asks as he stirs the condensed milk into his coffee before sipping at it. He and Ro trade drinks and croissants so they can each try the other person’s.

“Mystery would like that,” Ro nods to Abby’s drink before taking out his phone to write down what it is. 

“None of them would like yours. What is that shit?” Abby groans.

“I don’t know, it has strawberries in it.”

“And the same amount of sugar as a cake?” Abby suggests.

Ro shrugs. “I have a sweet tooth,” he complains.

Abby glances over to Mira who is looking at the two with squinted eyes and her arms crossed in front of her. “See something you like?” Abby asks.

Mira shakes her head slightly before she blinks a few times and seems to actually focus. “You two like each other?”

“What does that mean?” Ro asks.

Mira shrugs. “I don’t know. You guys said you only really met one another when forming the group, but you two seem actually close.”

“Well… Uh… Gwi-Ma gave us similar tasks every now and then, but—”

“Tasks?” Mira looks to Abby.

“Isn’t there a reason you wrote?” Ro asks instead of replying. She stays perfectly quiet as she waits for clarification on what they mean by tasks. The two demons could leave and get back to what they were doing before, which is certainly tempting. Ro almost wants to, but it isn’t like they have a chance to talk about it before Abby jumps in.

“Collecting souls,” Abby informs.

“That was a task that needed to be done together?” Mira asks, skeptically.

“No, but it wasn’t really our choice. Honestly, how much agency do you think we had? We were told to do the collection process together and honestly the company made it easier,” Ro decides. 

“Killing people,” Mira reminds.

“Either that or torture,” Abby reminds. 

“Self interested demons,” Mira scowls.

“You don’t know what our lives were like,” Abby snarls, his patterns appearing along his skin and framing his face before disappearing all together.

Ro rests a hand on Abby’s forearm to try and keep him steady. He certainly doesn’t need to deal with the fall out of Mira sending either of them back. How much power would they lose? Ro doesn’t want to think about it. “I don’t want to be rude,” Ro begins again, since he doesn’t. He thinks Mira is a nice person and fun to tease and he enjoys being around the hunters as a whole. “But you know what we are Mira. I know you don’t like demons, but that is what we are and we have been alive for a very long time. Yes, we did things that served ourselves, but there was no real choice. Now, is there a reason why you wrote for us?” He asks.

Mira sighs softly and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. She looks like she is torn between wanting to talk about their task more, and dropping the subject. Thankfully, she chooses to drop the subject. “Does Jinu like Rumi?” She asks.

“Of course he does,” Ro says immediately.

“You know what I mean,” Mira huffs. “Does he care for her?”

“He stopped existing for her, Mira,” Abby says. “He was gone-gone.”

“You gave me my soul back, and now I give it to you.”

It felt like a brief moment, but also an eternity when they watched Jinu disappear. A blue light went from him to that hunter and his physical body was destroyed by Gwi-Ma until he was gone.

“That idiot!” Romance hissed. Mystery was taken out by Zoey. Romance was knocked back by Mira who then sliced into Abby. He stumbled back and Baby caught his arm.

“We’re not winning this one,” Baby says and the two disappeared before the hunters could come after them. 

The sealing of the barrier sent waves of demons crashing back into the underworld. It had never been so full before. The corrupted demons spent the most time on the surface, doing Gwi-Ma’s bidding all over the globe, but now it was an ocean of black in the demon realm. Baby reached above his head and the honmoon glowed bright, keeping them contained. The stage looked dark, but nobody dared go near it. What if the demon king was still alive?

Romance brings his arm down. “We gotta find Abby and Mystery, let’s focus on that?” He suggests.

“But what about…” Baby trailed off. “Okay.”

Romance, still gripping Baby’s arm, drags him around the other corrupted souls. He’s trembling as he tries to keep himself together. Do they only come back down here after taking hits from hunters due to Gwi-Ma’s power? What if those two are dead too? Romance brings his other hand up to wipe at his eyes.

“Romance, are you—”

“It’s nothing,” Romance insists as he continues going through people. Too short. Too tall. He shifts demons’ gats up to see their faces if they seem like the right height. He gets shoved and sworn at for that, but he doesn’t care. He already lost… “Why is Jinu so fucking stupid? What was he thinking?” Romance snaps as he looks over to Baby.

“You’re grabbing too hard,” Baby says, but the tears running down his face aren’t from the pain. Romance releases him before apologizing and hugging Baby tightly. 

“It’ll be okay.”

“What if they aren’t… what if they died?” Baby asks.

“I…” Romance struggles for a moment. What if Abby and Mystery are gone too? Romance has existed for a long time. Too long. Maybe it will be about time he stops— he looks down at Baby who is sobbing against him. “We’ll find them.”

“If we don’t?” Baby asks.

“We’ll have each other, come on,” Romance decides. He pulls Baby around the sea of black for a while, until he realizes they are looking in the wrong spot. He shifts directions and begins to head towards the gate with Baby. When they get there, they find Abby pacing back and forth, from pole to pole as Mystery sits with his back against one of them.

“He’s gone,” Mystery says, it doesn’t sound like this is the first time he has said it.

“Don’t say that! He’ll come back! Either he’ll come back or I’ll go up there and kill that fucking hunter—”

“He loved her,” Romance says. 

“He’s an idiot!” Abby snarls. His patterns burning against his skin like lava through fissures. Romance is sure it hurts. It doesn’t always hurt when they glow, but he is sure that this is hurting the other demon.

“It’s sealed. We can’t go back,” Baby mentions as he tries to clean tears away, but he can’t seem to stop crying. “We’re stuck here now,” he breathes. He chokes on a sob and presses a hand against his mouth, attempting to physically stop it from coming.

“Abby,” Romance breathes, wishing the other would just stop for a bit.

“What?” Abby snarls. His fury runs so deep that his patterns glow brighter with every word and cause the barrier to glow outwards across the realm.

“You’re drawing attention to us,” Mystery mentions as he watches.

“At least I give a fuck! At least I’m not sitting there like nothing happened! I know you’re a lazy prick, but can you try giving a shit about anything?” Abby snaps as he storms over to the other. The honmoon illuminating with every word as he hoists Mystery up by his black robes.

Romance makes his way over and grabs Abby’s wrist before digging his claws in until the other demon, weakened from being forced back here by the hunter, releases Mystery due to the pain. “Just because he isn’t angry like you are doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Now quit it. If you want to fight then you can fight with me, but Jinu made his choice… so just… I’m sorry you lost him.” Romance has tears streaming down his face. 

The fight seems to drain from Abby as the wrath demon collapses to the ground. 

The honmoon is sealed and now they are trapped here. It will be a very long eternity, but it has already been a very long eternity: hasn’t it? 

“He gave his soul to her. Demons don’t do that, especially not greed demons. He went against hundreds of years of obedience for her. He loves her so much and you’re right!” Abby keeps his voice low, but he talks with passion. His hand colliding with the table as the honmoon glows and his eyes shift to their demon forms. “We,” he pauses and gestures between himself and Ro even if he means all of them, “are demons. We are disgusting, filthy creatures. We are sinners who are afraid of death and you three should not give a single damn about any of us. He loves her, but he doesn’t think he should.”

Ro smiles sadly at how passionate Abby had gotten. He looks back to Mira who is quietly looking at Abby as he talks.

“I believe you,” Mira breathes. “Why won’t he tell her?”

“Because he hates himself,” Ro says with a shrug. He sips at his drink as the two demons watch Mira digest that. 

“Didn’t you two…” Mira trails off.

“Yeah, but I’m harder to hurt,” Ro says, regardless of if he feels if it is true or not. 

“Bullshit,” Mira scoffs.

“What do you mean?” Abby asks as he pets the cat.

“You guys were human once. You have all the emotions of a human. Physically you might not be fragile, but you’re all learning to trust someone else again for the first time in a long time, aren’t you?” Mira asks. “And he hurt you guys when he gave his soul up, didn’t he?”

“He did,” Abby admits as he crosses his arms tightly against himself. “We knew how he felt, but we asked him to stay out of it.”

“We told him we would handle it, just stay by Gwi-Ma and if we win then we win and if we lose we get dragged back to hell. We knew he wasn’t going to stay still as soon as Gwi-Ma tried to kill Rumi,” Ro breathes as he looks up into the night sky. “So yeah, he loves her.”

“Loves her as strongly as a demon can,” Abby agrees.

“Okay,” Mira nods.

“Does she care for him?” Abby asks. “We don’t want to see him hurt.”

“She does,” Mira admits under her breath. “I’m pretty sure she does. We were taught wrong, and I think part of the reason she likes that all of you come up is because we were taught wrong. Jinu isn’t an exception, you guys just aren’t the creatures you claim to be.”

“Yeah? You still don’t seem to like us,” Ro half-teases. 

“You do seem to struggle with this the most,” Abby agrees.

“Whatever,” Mira scoffs. “I just wanted to make sure that he actually gives a shit about her, maybe get him to come up and see her or something?” She tries to brush past it, but the two demons glance at one another.

“We have tried—” Ro breathes out a laugh at the glare Mira gives him. “We’ll try again,” Ro agrees.

“But,” Abby begins just when Mira is beginning to relax in her seat. “We would like something in return,” he decides.

“What? Doing something to make your friend happy isn’t enough?” Mira scoffs.

“We’re demons, we don’t just do favors,” Ro insists even if he has no clue where the other demon is going with this.

“What do you two want?” Mira asks.

“Go on a date with us,” Abby says. Ro has to contain his laughter at the idea, but he realizes that Abby is serious, which makes it much more amusing. He leans into the other demon automatically when Abby puts an arm around him.

“Are you two serious?” Mira asks, her face turning red in what might be embarrassment but could just as likely be anger.

“Very serious,” Ro says. “We should get to know each other, then maybe you’ll realize that we aren’t so bad.”

“Unless you want us to be,” Abby smirks. “Do you have a coin?” He asks.

“Yeah, why?” Mira asks as she pulls out a 100 won coin from her pocket.

“Heads we plan the date and tails you plan it,” Abby explains.

“But you have to actually try,” Ro adds. “I’m a sucker for romance,” he winks.

Mira looks at the coin, like she is actually considering it before she pockets it and stands up. “I just wanted help nudging them together, you two will get bored of sitting around down there,” she says, lifting her drink and adjusting her hat. The two demons get up and Ro tosses his cup and garbage as Abby, with the cat getting back on his shoulders, brings his drink along as the two begin to walk with her. “What are you two doing?”

“Walking you home,” Ro shrugs.

“It would be rude to let you walk home alone,” Abby agrees.

“I’m a hunter, I don’t need protection,” Mira scowls. “Especially not from either of you hot heads.”

“We are perfectly aware,” Ro promises.

“So you two should buzz off. Someone is going to take a picture of us walking together, and it is going to be the end of me,” Mira grumbles. The two demons exchange a look before they both smirk and Ro leads her down an empty street until Mira yanks her arm away and tells them not to touch her.

“Sorry, I should have asked,” Ro agrees.

“Please let us bring you home?” Abby asks and both of them extend a hand in offering.

“What is this?” Mira asks, crossing her arms. “Are you two planning on teleporting me or something? I’m not interested.”

“No, I don’t have the energy to teleport anyone but myself,” Abby assures.

“That’s true,” Ro says. “We’ll bring Jinu up tomorrow,” he offers. 

“Lock him and Rumi in a room together,” Abby decides.

Mira seems to be considering it once more, before she puts a hand in each of theirs. They both shed the human skin and Mira wants to tell them they’re gonna get caught, but then her feet aren’t touching the ground. The two demons bring her above the main city buildings and into the sky. “Why lose the human skin?” Mira asks, but her nerves are evident in how tightly she is holding each of them.

“One less thing to focus on,” Ro says.

“Sorry, I know we’re prettier the other way,” Abby teases.

“You can’t focus on both?” Mira snaps at Ro.

“Would you like us to?” Ro asks. “You’ve jumped out of a trashed plane, haven’t you?”

“Doesn’t mean I want you two idiots flying me around,” Mira insists.

Ro tilts his head, confused, but whatever. They begin to fly her back and at some point, when the wind blows by and Mira grips their hands tighter, Ro realizes that she wouldn’t be able to draw her weapon like this. He pauses and shifts to hold her forearm instead so her hand is free. “Better?” Ro asks.

“That’s probably less comfortable,” Abby mentions.

“This way she can kill us if need be,” Ro drawls. Abby is quiet for a moment before he laughs.

“You really are something,” Abby decides.

“What does that mean?” Mira scoffs and shoves away from them when they touch down on the roof top patio.

“You don’t trust easily,” Abby smirks.

“Well I am perfectly aware of what you two can do,” Mira replies coldly. 

Abby’s smirk falls and he rubs the back of his neck with the hand that had hit that demon in the alley way. Those hands, four of them, could steal Mira’s soul at any point. The two demons didn’t even think it was Abby’s violence that had Mira on alert, the hunters were too violent themselves for that. Ro is pretty sure this is Mira’s way of maintaining distance from them. She doesn’t trust them, and she probably shouldn’t. There is no reason for any of the hunters to give them any sort of trust.

“You aren’t scared of us,” Abby scoffs. “I think you are just searching for a reason to hate us. That’s what Gwi-Ma wants. You know that right? If you send me back again I’m pretty sure I’ll be stuck down there.”

“I don’t feel bad about doing it the first time,” Mira says.

“You shouldn’t,” Abby decides. “I’ve never been more pissed off than watching that idiot kill himself for her.”

“You’re a wrath demon, right? What is it that you did? What did either of you do?” Mira asks.

“Straight to the point,” Ro teases as the two glare at one another. He snaps his fingers and a coin appears in his hand. He flicks it in the air, calling heads before catching it and pressing it to the back of his opposite hand. He keeps it covered as he comes over to Mira. “You want to get to know us? Then take a chance,” Ro says. 

Mira rolls her eyes before lifting Ro’s hand, with ashy skin and marks of shame and claws that can cut skin, off the other hand. A 100 is facing her. It disappears like it was never there and Ro smirks. “I guess you’ll be taking us out. We look forward to it Mira,” Ro grins.

“Why do you two do this? You know I don’t like either of you,” Mira mentions.

“Yes, you hate us,” Ro agrees.

“Which is why you wrote for both of us as opposed to Baby or Mystery?” Abby suggests. “Anyway, we were very busy before this,” Abby decides.

“Would you like to know what we were busy with?” Ro purrs.

Mira flips them off before storming inside.

Chapter Text

Mira slams the door closed behind her and the two demons laugh. “Are we gonna continue with what we were busy with?” Abby asks with a smirk.

“We should probably talk to our dear leader,” Ro decides.

“Boring,” Abby grumbles as he snakes an arm around Ro’s waist and squeezes his side.

“If he joins us, is it still boring?” Ro suggests.

“I don’t think I can do seven hours of kissing,” Abby whines.

“That’s too bad considering that was all we were doing too,” Ro mentions with an eye roll.

“I still don’t get why,” Abby huffs as they disappear from the patio and reappear in the inner courtyard.

“Because,” Ro shrugs. “It is what I want,” he says and sets the cat down before helping him turn back into a tiger. “I think it is a good balance?” He suggests.

“A good balance?” Abby breathes. “What do you think is going to happen?” He scoffs as their human clothes shift back into their robes.

“I don’t know,” Ro says. Lies. Maybe he was slightly bothered about Jinu’s insistence that they weren’t fucking. “What if I fuck around with you, but then I get bored and I want to fuck someone else?” Ro asks, which isn’t at all what is actually bothering him. What if we go to bed together and I end up alone?

“Jinu is there,” Abby shrugs.

“And if I get bored of him?” Ro asks. What if he doesn’t want more after he gets all that he wants?

“Then I think Mystery wants a crack at you and you know Baby hates being left out and if the point is that once we have screwed around I’m not going to let you screw anyone else,” Abby decides. “I have already decided that you don’t get to go and whore yourself out,” he smirks and backs Ro against the tree.

“Excuse me?” Ro asks as he crosses his arms. His face warms as he looks at Abby’s smirk, particularly his teeth. At the very least, Abby certainly isn’t Jinu. Abby isn’t gonna keep what they are doing a secret.

“I mean it, because we can and we will tame that lust of yours. You don’t get to be ruled by your lust anymore because Jinu’s in charge Ro,” Abby breathes. He glances over when Jinu makes his way into the inner courtyard, having heard them return and wanting to ask where they had been.

“Baby said no fucking in the courtyard,” Jinu reminds.

“Hey Jinu,” Abby ignores Jinu’s comment. “What happens if Ro gets bored of us? He is already thinking about finding someone to screw.”

“Not happening,” Jinu says immediately. He stays where he is standing, posture straight and radiant with authority.

“Seriously? You can’t even—”

“What happens if Ro gets bored of us in twenty years? Fifty? A hundred?” Abby cuts Ro off as he steps away from Ro before making his way over to Jinu and putting an arm around his shoulders. 

“Then he better hope I’m not in charge, your lust is mine for as long as I want. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Ro breathes. His earlier point is forgotten as the possessive edge to Jinu’s words bounces around Ro’s bones. Ro walks over and tilts Jinu’s head just to look at him. He bites on the words that want to spill from his mouth. The fact that he isn’t sure what he feels is lust. He knows what his pure unfiltered lust feels like, and this is close but not quite right. This feeling is something different. “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

“Not yet we don’t, but we will,” Abby smirks, delighted apparently. 

Ro shoves him as he laughs far too hard for such a stupid joke. “Idiots,” Ro decides. Ro can’t help but feel delighted too. There was something about them coming to him but not each other that made him feel gross. “Besides, you two ought to think about what the girls will think of this whole arrangement,” Ro mentions. Why is he mentioning it?

“Hm?” Jinu hums.

“Humans are typically monogamous?” Ro suggests.

“How is the lust demon killing the mood?” Abby groans. 

“We said no screwing in the courtyard,” Baby says as he and Mystery appear beside the pond and their human disguises shift to their demon forms. “So there shouldn’t be a mood to kill.”

“We weren’t,” Ro promises as he steps away from the other two. “How was the library?” Ro asks.

“It was fine,” Mystery says as he begins to carry his stack of books away, but Abby comes and takes half the stack from him as Ro opens the door. “Jinu, have you made up with Rumi yet? Ro told me that he got this book recommendation from Zoey and I would rather wait until you two are done fighting before I start fighting with Zoey.”

“What was wrong with the book?” Ro asks.

“He nearly cried while reading it,” Baby explains as they walk towards the library.

“Rumi and I aren’t fighting,” Jinu insists as he follows along.

“You do not look cute when you play stupid,” Ro decides. Mystery and Abby set the books down in the temple library before Mystery sits down and opens a book, as if he hasn’t spent the last few hours reading.

“How am I playing stupid?” Jinu asks.

“Because Mira took me and Abby out for coffee just to try and get us to convince you to go see Rumi,” Ro says.

“That isn’t all that surprising,” Mystery mutters.

“She could write,” Jinu shrugs.

“Or you could go see her,” Abby says as he sits with Mystery and pulls the other into his side automatically.

“You can’t ignore humans for decades, they don’t live that long,” Mystery mentions, which really kills the mood.

Humans don’t live that long. The demons kinda forgot about that, didn’t they? Despite all the comments about how old they are, the demons kinda forgot that they would almost certainly out live the three hunters. This, the Saja Boys and Huntr/x, and spending time with them and smiling and laughing and avoiding any real feelings, was temporary. 

Time passes so differently for demons that they could wake up one day and the three hunters might be gone, a distant memory in heads full of memories from living long lives.

“What you had with her, is it real?” Ro asks after they had been quiet for far too long. Discomfort stirs in his gut. 

Humans don’t live that long. 

Humans are typically monogamous. 

It was real. What we had was real! I know it was!

“For us,” Abby continues before Jinu can reply. “It’ll be a blink, you know this Jinu. You know this better than any of us.”

“What about…” Jinu trails off. He looks from one demon to another, even Mystery had stopped reading to look up at him.

“We’re demons. We’ll be here after a blink,” Baby mentions with a shrug. “For us, waiting isn’t a big deal.”

Jinu frowns and turns before making his way towards the door, “I’ll make up my mind by morning.” He closes the door behind him, a clear sign that he doesn’t want to be followed by them.

Ro exhales shakily. Humans typically prefer monogamy. Maybe the hunters are different, regardless, Ro thinks Jinu should be with Rumi while he can. Despite his attempts at being logical, Ro feels the whiplash of going from Jinu staking his claim on Ro — something that had made his body shiver with want — to the chill of feeling empty. He has never felt like this because he couldn’t have someone before.

He hates the feeling.

“Abby?” Ro speaks up after looking away from the door.

“Yeah?” Abby asks.

“Come to my room and fuck me before I find someone else who will,” Ro says bluntly. 

“Seriously?”

Ro glares at him as his patterns glow against his skin. 

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Abby pushes himself up.

“How long are you two going to be busy?” Mystery asks.

Ro shrugs, unsure of how much heat he’ll need to chase away that chill.

“Can we join?” Baby asks.

Maybe Ro isn’t the only one feeling that chill. “Both of you?” he asks.

“If you’ll have us,” Mystery says, setting his book down entirely. 

*****

“Japanese?”

“Yes, I’d like to go to university, you know this,” M— shrugs, reading over the textbook even if none of it seems to register in his brain.

“Sure, but you want to go for music, you don’t need a degree to do that shit.”

M— doesn’t react to that. He just focuses back on his textbook, ignoring his older brother. 

“Is it worth being a traitor in order to pursue this shit?”

Then his brother storms off.

M— doesn’t look up from his textbook.

*

He pushes his hair back and ignores the way that it falls right back in front of his eyes again. He probably needs a haircut. Another day. He sits, slumped in a theater seat with his feet pressed against the chair in front of him as he scribbles across sheet music while listening to the string quartet playing. Their cello player is the weakest of the four of them. Without looking M— knows that the cello player must be sweating. He must have sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he attempts to keep up with musicians who have out classed him, musicians who should leave him behind and find someone who can keep up. He scribbles in a language only he can read across the lines where linguistics crosses into math. 

“Would you play this for me?” M— asks.

“Am I supposed to be able to read this?”

M— had approached the first chair violinist after the quartet was done practicing. The man has blue hair, blue eyes, and awful Japanese. His face is soft and rounded, baby-faced. His attitude sucks. 

“Would you play it?” M— asks.

The musician glares at him before nodding towards the music stand. M— sets up the pages before standing out of the way.

“And you can’t play this because?”

“It is for the violin. I don’t own a violin.”

The musician rolls his eyes before reading over the sheet music, nodding his head in a perfect 82 beats per minute as written at the top of the page. “Hm,” he hums before adjusting his instrument to rest his chin on the hold. He then brings his bow up and music fills the space.

M— sits in one of the chairs, taking notes without ever looking at him once he actually starts. He plays it perfectly, despite his complaints regarding M—’s writing.

“Was that alright?”

“You’re an excellent sight reader,” M— comments.

“Of course I am. Do you know who I am?”

“No, and I don’t particularly care so long as you’ll play what I write.”

The man scoffs and lowers his instrument. “You’re weird,” he says, in Korean. “Why not learn how to play your own music?”

“I don’t play well,” M— replies, speaking Korean too.

“So you can play? What do you play?”

“A little of most things, none of them well,” M— says dismissively. He is offered the other man’s violin, which M— takes before beginning to play the same piece. He doesn’t make it halfway through before the man is laughing at him. “What?”

“You feel nothing when you play! Do you feel anything when you write?”

“No. Do you feel anything when you solve a math problem aside from vague satisfaction?”

“Oh, so music is just math? Was what I played just a solution?”

“Yes, a good one, but not the only one.”

“You got a name?” the man is smirking as he packs his instrument away into its case.

“M—.”

“Not that you care, but I’m B—.”

“Will you play what I write then?”

“Take me out for a drink and then,” B— pauses. M— tilts his head to the side, but then B— reaches a hand forward to brush M—’s hair out of the way so they can make eye contact. “Ask me to dedicate my life to your music,” he breathes. “Did I read you wrong?” he asks. M— can see his eyes flicker with fear for a brief moment. 

“No,” M— decides. Uninterested in sex, but if it gets the other to play, and, more importantly, keeps M— from having to play, then he can have sex with another man. “I’ve never—”

“You might not play instruments, but I do, and I’ll make you sing,” B— assures.

M— blinks before a small smile, barely there and hardly real, breaks across his lips. “Now say all that again but in Japanese?”

“I hate speaking Japanese,” B— scoffs. Hoisting his violin over his shoulder. “So when are you buying drinks for me?”

“When are you free for an evening performance?” M— asks.

“What instrument should I bring?”

“None, I’ll be there.”

*****

Rumi stares at the card in her hands as she leans against the wall lining one of the trails at Namsan Park. The sky was lighter, but the sun hadn’t even really risen yet; basically: it was too early for this shit. She sighs as she tilts her head back against the wall. She is too busy for these games. Too busy to be drilling choreo to be playing whatever games the five demons would have her play. 

She glances to her right before doubling back in that direction when she sees Jinu sitting on the wall.

“You’re late,” she says and holds up the card reading the meet time to be five, while it is currently three minutes past five.

“I had to return the favor,” Jinu shrugs. He pushes himself off the wall. Rumi looks past him, wondering if the other idiots will be showing up, and Jinu must notice. “They’re not coming.”

“Is everything okay down there?” Rumi asks.

“Yes, everything is fine,” Jinu assures.

“Okay,” Rumi nods. She presses her lips together in a fine line as she stares at the demon who seems to be trying to figure out what to say. “You know I could be sleeping right now,” she mentions flatly. She conceals her amusement when Jinu begins to apologize.

“I just felt I owed you an apology,” Jinu finishes.

“Oh?” Rumi hums, keeping her face neutral. “For what?”

“For,” Jinu’s face burns and Rumi takes in every moment of it. Eventually he must notice her smirk. “Y’know I still think saying ‘ew’ is far more rude,” Jinu insists. “But,” he continues before Rumi can get a word in. “I’m sorry for insisting that you aren’t my type. I hope my actions prove to you just how much of a lie that is,” he explains.

“Hm,” Rumi hums and nods along the path before she begins walking. Jinu walks beside her as the sun rises in the distance.

They don’t talk for a while, instead they just walk side by side along the path. Rumi keeps her hands in her pockets as Jinu’s hang to his side. She notices and her own face feels warm, but voices that sound quite similar to her two best friends are practically screaming in the back of her brain. She decides to listen and nudges Jinu’s hand with her own before he takes her hand to hold.

“So, I am your type?” Rumi teases.

“Yes,” Jinu says, far too honestly.

“Don’t you have a thing going on?” Rumi asks. 

“A thing?”

“With Ro,” Rumi elaborates. “Maybe more than just Ro,” she adds after thinking about it.

“I think that is just a sex thing,” Jinu says, casually. “Or… a fooling around thing? I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to really want to sleep with me. Or he does, but he thinks that we shouldn’t? I don’t know.” 

“Maybe he loves you,” Rumi suggests.

“We’re demons,” Jinu says, as if that explains everything. Love between two demons… between any of them really seems improbable. Possessive? Sure. Lust? Of course. Love? No? Jinu finds himself not really sure anymore.

“Really?” Rumi asks, side-eyeing him and squeezing his hand. “What is this then?”

“What do you think it is?” Jinu asks.

“Well since demons can’t love, apparently, I have no clue,” Rumi shrugs. She releases his hand, only for him to grab her wrist. Rumi turns to look at him and Jinu puts his free hand on her side. 

“I gave you my soul.”

“I know,” Rumi says.

“I’d do it again,” Jinu insists.

“You can’t even give me my sword back.”

“That’s because I don’t know how,” Jinu huffs. This makes Rumi laugh, which makes Jinu smile. He shifts to hold Rumi’s hand again as the hand on her side goes to his own throat and soon he is holding a small blue light between them in his open palm. “See? I know how to do this.”

“That’s your soul?” Rumi asks.

“Mhm.”

It looked slightly different. It had been a blue light before, bright and brilliant. Now it was a blue and purple flame, larger and more defined in its shape.

She holds her fingers above the flame, “It’s not hot?”

“It is, but it would never hurt you,” Jinu tries to explain.

“So, this is mine if I want it?” Rumi asks playfully.

“Yes,” Jinu nods, far too seriously. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

Chapter Text

*****

“This is an orchestra piece,” B— flips through the sheet music. “I don’t know how good you think I am, but I can’t play all these instruments and I certainly can’t play them all at once.”

“That’s fine, I just wanted to hear this part.”

The two were sitting in one of the practice rooms. The door was shut. Once a week B— played whatever M— wanted. They would go out for drinks after. They would have sex. Never more than once a week. M— had never met someone at university like B—. Someone who didn’t seem to care what others thought. Although that wasn’t true, was it? He was first chair in that quartet and bragged about being top of his classes constantly. He just also spoke Korean and has sex with men. Men? Hm.

“Do you sleep with other men?” M— asks after B— is done playing the melody.

B— snorts. “Do I want to get the shit kicked out of me?”

“No?”

“No.”

M— nods and begins reworking the melody.

“Why don’t you sleep with women? It seems easier,” M— mentions.

“I’m currently not interested,” B— shrugs. “Why do you sleep with me if it is such a pain in the ass?” B— asks.

“For you or for me?”

B— smirks, “Both? But seriously, you could have said no.”

“Would you have played for me had I said no?” M— asks.

“Ah, so this is an exchange of sorts?” B— suggested. “Let me see the music you wrote.”

M— sets up the sheet music before sitting back down and listening to B— play. M— can imagine the music in his head, it is how he does all his composing, but his imagination is always stilted and bland. It never sounds right. B— makes it sound real. Over the weeks of them doing this together, M— spends less time taking notes and more time watching the other play. He can see the way B— leans into the music, his body shifting with each movement of his bow. His eyes are focused and he plays like he doesn’t care if he screws up even if he never does. 

“How do you play so well?” M— asks.

“You wrote it.”

“You play it.”

“I… I practice a lot. I want to be the best, it’s as simple as that.”

“Why do you want to be the best?”

B— frowns and sits down at the bench for the piano that was in the practice room but went largely untouched. “Is it not enough that I just want to?”

“I’ve been told musicians aren’t hypercompetitive, but you seem to be.”

“You’ve been told? You’re a musician too,” B— insists.

“Yeah, but I don’t care about being the best or any of that. I don’t even care if people listen to my music, I just want it to exist.”

“You don’t care if people listen to your music? That’s bullshit.”

M— shakes his head. As opposed to arguing, he has the other man play more of his music.

They drink after that.

They end up at B—’s dorm room after that.

“Why don’t I get to look at you?” M— asks. He is bent over B—’s bed, as he is everytime they fuck. Either that or B— doesn’t take off his clothes (which he thinks M— hasn’t noticed). B— has two fingers working M— open. M— takes them easier than he did the first time and is beginning to, at the very least, actually enjoy the way the other man stretches him out. It isn’t like M— has to do much. They either fuck like this, or B— rides M—, but then he doesn’t take off his top. For someone so forward, it’s odd.

“Because, I’m shy.”

“You can’t say that with two fingers in my ass.”

“Can I say it after I get my dick in?”

M— doesn’t get a chance to reply when fingers are replaced with cock and M— is taking the other in. He groans and grips the sheets beneath him while taking in the smell. The sheets smell like lavender detergent, but also like sandalwood. M— imagines that if he got the chance to actually face the other and press his nose into B—’s hair, then he would know that the other probably uses sandalwood scented soap. 

As opposed to getting the chance to bury his face in the sheets and keep it there, B— grips M— by the hair and pulls his head back. “I want to hear you sing, that’s what I get out of this, remember?”

“Yes!” 

*****

Mystery watched as Ro made quick work of getting dressed after the four of them were done. His patterns were glowing, and Mystery wasn’t sure if that was a sign that he wanted more or if he was ashamed of what they had done. 

“You don’t want to lay down for a bit?” Mystery asks. Baby and Abby were sleeping, and Mystery had gone from staring at the patterns that ran down Baby’s back to watching the lust demon get dressed.

“No, not particularly. Thank you though, I… I should have gone and found someone else though.”

“Why?” Mystery asks. “Are you unsatisfied?”

“I’m a lust demon; I’m supposed to be insatiable,” Ro decides.

“And I’m a sloth demon; I’m supposed to not give a shit.”

“Is that… sorry, I know you don’t talk about it.”

“Only because I see it as a pathetic sin,” Mystery says. He presses himself out of Ro’s bed and gets himself dressed. The two leave to walk around the temple. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“The other sins are a result of want and always lead to action. Sloth is wanting inaction. Every sloth demon made a deal in order to do nothing. I’m no different.”

“If you ever want to talk about it, then I’ll listen,” Ro promises.

“Would you tell me about yours?” Mystery asks.

“Ah,” Ro breathes as they head into the inner court yard. Jinu’s pet bird comes over to them and the tiger follows soon after. “I…” Ro trails off.

“You don’t have to,” Mystery assures. “I can make assumptions on my own.”

“Assumptions?” Ro asks.

“You cheated on your partner when you were alive,” Mystery wagers a guess. “That is how it goes with most lust demons I assume. Abby probably killed quite a number of people in his wrath, Baby knocked people down to lift himself up, and we already know about Jinu. These just fit the basic definitions of your sins.”

“So did you not do a good enough job worshiping a god?” Ro asks dryly. Sloth isn’t as easily defined.

“I… the details are fuzzy. I was hurting and I wanted to stop hurting.”

Ro nods and combs fingers through the tiger’s fur. “Can I tell you something?” Ro asks. “And it stay between us?”

“Mm.”

“I really don’t want to wait for the blink. I don’t want to think about that. We don’t know how long she’ll live for and I don’t want to be kinda happy when she dies just for a chance that he’ll look at me again,” Ro admits. Eyes wet before tears easily slide down his face and drip down into the fur of the tiger. His patterns burn against his skin.

“Is that—”

“It isn’t him,” Ro assures. “It isn’t Gwi-Ma. It’s just… ‘we are meant to suffer eternally’. “Tortured for centuries and this is what I cry about? How stupid.”

“Tortured for centuries and you finally let someone in,” Mystery corrects.

“You make it sound like I…”

“Why don’t we go find him?” Mystery suggests before Ro can finish what he is saying. Ro nods and the two take a walk around the temple only to find that he is already gone.

“You two could have stayed in bed with us,” Abby mentions when he and Baby come to the library. He has this easy grin as he sits next to Ro and attempts to pull the other close, but Ro kinda shrugs it off. “What’s wrong?” Abby asks, watching the way Ro’s patterns pulse in what he had mistaken as more lust.

“Jinu took off,” Mystery explains.

“Why didn’t he say anything?” Baby asks, not that any of them have an answer for that. “I’m gonna go kick his ass.”

“You said you were okay with it,” Mystery mentions.

“Sure, but he could say something instead of leaving us for her again.” 

“That is a false equivalency,” Mystery says easily. “Being in a relationship with her isn’t the same thing as ending himself for her.”

“Sure, but he didn’t talk to us then and he didn’t talk to us now,” Baby scoffs. “It’s the same shit, and if you can’t see that—”

“Maybe,” Mystery cuts him off. “Maybe you’re expecting too much from him. We haven’t known him for all that long—”

“Bullshit, Ro and I have known him for—”

“Abby,” Ro cuts the wrath demon off. “We didn’t know him.”

Mystery and Baby look at one another before Baby scoffs. “You three act like Mystery and I don’t know what the fucking deal was with Gwi-Ma. We are perfectly aware. But fine keep your secrets about whatever bullshit you guys were doing when you first met him and we can all keep pretending that we only met when we formed the group instead of telling the hunters what the truth is.”

“You guys act like what we are now is separate from what we were before,” Mystery comments.

“A lot of shit coming from you two when we don’t even know what your deal was Mystery, and let’s not pretend that you weren’t vague as fuck Baby,” Ro grumbles.

“We don’t know what your deals were either!” Baby snaps. “I bet you three know each others’ bullshit.”

“Jinu knows mine, but that’s it,” Ro scoffs.

“I would be open to sharing,” Abby shrugs.

“Maybe it is about time we do?” Mystery suggests. The three look over to him and Mystery sets down his book. “We all agreed to do this, right? Why did we all agree to it?”

They were sick of being alone.

“Fine,” Ro breathes. 

“Should we wait for Jinu to come back then?” Baby asks.

“You three will have changed your mind by then,” Abby says. “I’ll go see if he is finished up?” He suggests. They agree and Ro turns the tiger into a cat once more.

“I…” Ro pauses and his patterns ache against his skin. “Don’t bother him if he isn’t done yet?” He asks.

“Sure,” Abby nods.

***

“What the hell are you doing?”

The two pull away from one another as Jinu presses his soul back into himself. He must do it far too quickly given how disoriented he seems to be. Rumi looks over to see Abby standing with a cat. His patterns crack across his human flesh like scabs breaking open as his eyes break to their demon form.

“Abby, he was joking,” Rumi says, laying a hand on Jinu to keep him steady.

“Like hell he was,” Abby breathes as he yanks Jinu away from Rumi. “A demon doesn’t joke about shit like that.”

“Abby—” Jinu is cut off when Abby hoists Jinu in the air.

“You put it back too quickly didn’t you? A soul is a heavy burden,” Abby snarls. His human form melting away until all that is left is demon flesh.

“Abby, stop it—”

“It’s fine,” Jinu cuts Rumi off. “He can get a few good punches in if that will make him feel better. I was just showing it to her, Abby.” 

Abby glares at him, the fist at his side shaking with rage. He throws Jinu to the ground before stepping away from him. Rumi realizes that Abby isn’t actually shaking due to anger, but instead because he is trying to keep himself from crying. Abby’s gaze shifts over to Rumi who avoids looking at him. 

Rumi sometimes doubts she is half demon because she doesn’t get these five. “I would never take it,” she tells Abby, trying to reassure him.

“I’m not mad at you,” Abby says.

“You’re okay?” Rumi asks, having expected the same uncontrollable rage. When Jinu pushes himself up, Rumi makes her way over to keep him steady. 

“I hope you love him as much as he loves you,” Abby says instead of answering. He disappears completely and Rumi looks over to Jinu.

“I’m sorry,” Jinu breathes.

Rumi isn’t quite sure it is supposed to be for her. “Are you okay?” She asks.

“I put it back too quickly,” Jinu confirms as he tries to take a step, but he nearly falls. “I should go make sure he’s okay,” Jinu decides as Rumi keeps him up.

“When you’re feeling better, sure, but you need to sit down,” Rumi insists. She leads Jinu over to a park bench and manages to get him to sit down without him falling. “I don’t get why you put it back so fast, it was just Abby,” Rumi says, her hand hovering over Jinu — a little worried that he might fall with how pale he looks.

“I was just surprised,” Jinu says and sinks into the bench. “Does seeing me like this ruin the gesture?” he asks.

“A little,” Rumi decides. She smiles as her eyes flick over the demon. “You are gonna have to talk to them.”

“Them?” Jinu asks.

“You think Abby will keep that to himself?” Rumi asks, genuinely curious.

“No,” Jinu groans and reaches a hand up to rub his head. “Fuck.”

“Mhm,” Rumi hums. 

“They’re gonna kick my ass,” Jinu decides.

“Jinu, you’ve been friends with some of them for hundreds of years and then—”

“We’re demons. We haven’t been friends for hundreds of years,” Jinu insists.

Rumi rolls her eyes, “You complain a lot for someone who looks like he can’t even get up.” She smiles at the sound of Jinu’s complaints. She reaches over, fingers hovering over his cheek, before she gently touches his face. Carefully cupping Jinu’s cheek, Rumi tilts his head to look at her. “You know what I want more than your soul?” Rumi asks. Jinu goes quiet, and Rumi kinda thinks it is just because the stupid demon isn’t feeling good. She runs her thumb back and forth against his human skin. “I’d like your honesty and your vulnerability.”

“And my soul isn’t either of those?” Jinu asks, seeming a little confused.

“Words, Jinu. I believe that there is no act more vulnerable than showing me your soul, but I don’t want your soul,” not in the physical sense anyway, “I want you to be honest and truthful with me. No lies?”

“What do you want to know?” Jinu says as his way of agreeing. Rumi would prefer a yes, but she doesn’t push.

Rumi has an endless list of questions about the demon realm and about Jinu’s history. She wants to know everything. “Do you love me?” Is what breaks past her lips.

“I gave you my soul—”

“Jinu, yes or no?” Rumi asks.

Jinu’s eyes stay locked onto her eyes as Rumi’s look across Jinu’s face, searching for deceit. “Yes,” Jinu admits. 

“I thought demons couldn’t love,” Rumi comments.

“I thought so too,” Jinu breathes. “I might have to get used to being wrong.”

“Maybe,” Rumi nods and leans forward to press a kiss to the cheek opposite of the one she is holding. “Are you feeling better?”

“A bit,” Jinu breathes.

“You should go check on him. You know they care about you, right? That’s why he is pissed off. They don’t want you to leave them,” Rumi explains. “They want you to prove that you’re gonna be around,” She pulls away to look at him.

“Does…” Jinu pauses. Rumi has a feeling he is struggling with this whole honesty thing. “I know I said it was just fooling around or whatever, but doesn’t that bother you? We have lived too long to hold onto something like that, but humans generally prefer monogamy, right?”

“Generally,” Rumi agrees. She shrugs as she pulls away and looks up at the brightening sky. “I’ve never… I couldn’t think about any of that. What would be the point when I couldn’t give someone all of me?” She looks down at her patterns.

“Does it bother you?” Jinu asks.

“I don’t think so? I like when all of us spend time together. Mira, Zoey, and I… we’ve only ever had each other. It’s nice to see more faces around. It makes me feel like they truly don’t mind the demon part of me,” Rumi explains. She smiles as she looks back over to Jinu who nods in understanding. “Also,” Rumi tilts her head back and forth, wondering if the emotionally constipated idiot could handle what it is she wants to say. “If it ever feels like it isn’t just fooling around then that’s okay, okay?” She found angling her perspective to that of a demon that has lived hundreds of years to be surprisingly easy. Why would they give a shit about monogamy? Although, maybe it was just a sex thing… but what kind of lust demon fools around without the sex part? Jinu would definitely implode if Rumi seriously suggested that Ro felt anything other than lust though. Besides, it is kinda cute watching them try to figure it out. 

“Yeah, I don’t think it will,” Jinu waves it off.

Did Rumi think it was cute? She meant infuriating.

“Sure,” Rumi says. “You gonna go check on them?”

“Yeah, I should, thanks for meeting me so early, I know you’re all busy,” Jinu says as he stands up. 

Rumi stands with him, “I don’t mind making time for you,” she says. “You should all come visit later? Zoey has this idea and she wants to ask you all about it,” Rumi explains.

“Coming from Zoey that could mean anything,” Jinu sighs. “I’ll send the tiger and you can write when you want us to come?” He suggests.

“Sounds good,” Rumi grins. “Oh and Jinu?”

Jinu looks at her, clearly waiting for her to continue, but Rumi leans up to kiss his cheek again. “Try not to get your ass beat?” She suggests, smirking.

Instead of some smartass reply, Jinu just nods dumbly before disappearing after a rushed goodbye.

Rumi snorts, she could get used to that.

*****

“I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” M— asks. His brother had been taken in by some officers the other night, which left his home strangely quiet. M— had been told by his mother not to worry about it, while his father seemed worried enough for everyone in the household. 

So M— didn’t worry.

“Yes, we have to go see it now though,” B— says.

“But you’re supposed to play for me now,” M— mentions with a slight frown tugging at his lips.

“I will after, come on.”

B— takes him by the wrist and pulls him up and away from the tree in the court yard M— had been sitting against. M— grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder before following after the other. Well, it was more like M— was being dragged along, but he didn’t mind too much.

“And you’ll play for me after this?” M— asks.

“Sure,” B— agrees easily. They head across campus and B— pulls M— through halls until they get to one of the larger practice rooms. Just outside the room, B— releases the other man’s arm and straightens out his own clothing. “Give me your bag,” B— says.

“Pardon?” M— scoffs.

“No note taking when we get in there,” B— says. “You’ll have a different job instead.”

M— was confused. Still, he hands over his bag before following B— inside.

As soon as the door shuts behind them eyes are flicking over towards them. Lots of eyes. At least thirty people with instruments are sitting in chairs. M— looks to B— for an explanation.

“I thought you should hear your piece, and they are willing to play. Are you gonna be our conductor?” B— asks. Grinning like an idiot.

“I’ve never…”

“You just have us play the music the way you want it to sound. You’ve been doing it for months now.”

“Okay,” M— breathes even if this isn’t the same thing. B— heads to the chair designated for the first violin and M— goes to the small raised platform with a larger music stand set up on it. He recognizes the piece without really looking at it, although the handwriting isn’t his. B— must have rewritten it for each person here. Beside the sheet music is a baton. M— lifts it and pushes his hair back, his eyes flicking over the sheet music. “Have you all had a chance to look at this?” He eventually asks.

“They have,” B— assures as others nod.

“Alright, we’ll start from the beginning and… how long do I have you for?”

Two hours. He gets a small orchestra for two whole hours.

When M— takes them through a tuning note just to get a feel for what it is he is doing the noise is overwhelming. Seven violins, three violas, two cellos, a double bass, three flutes, two clarinets, two oboes, a bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, a euphonium, three percussionists, and a pianist. As his eyes flick through the sheet music he realizes that B— rewrote some of his music to be playable by the people they have here. M— wonders if he should tease the other after this for the lack of effort that must have gone into finding a suitable brass section. When they start his piece, a nocturne that begins with the cellos and bassoon carrying the melody, M— thinks he finally gets what B— meant.

The notes become real. They are no longer a figment of M—’s imagination. He blinks a few times and his world takes on colour. The instruments in front of him shine and sparkle and the people behind them play with feeling. They play like they know the piece and it doesn’t feel real. Why would anyone spend any amount of time learning M—’s music?

M— cuts out the other instruments with a gesture before subtly lifting the double bass to begin playing softly, and they play with their bows right over the bridge just as M— had written. Above those low notes come the pierce of B—’s violin, quick and striking and M— makes eye contact with the other who is smirking.

M—’s face remains as neutral as always. He doesn’t react to the bait B— has set, he never does. At least, on the outside he hasn’t.

On the inside there is a feeling, foreign and warm, settling in his gut. M— realizes, without any exterior reaction at all as he moves past the solo and brings the other violinists in — who are subpar compared to B—, that he wants the other. As opposed to delayed arousal that only occurs after quite a bit of foreplay, this arousal, this desire, is immediate. 

He wants the other. 

M— can’t remember ever wanting anything in his life until this moment. Right here and right now. 

The moment his life filled with colour.

The moment he first wanted something.

*****

“Is it still a false equivelancy?” Baby snaps.

Mystery thinks the answer to that is obvious, so he doesn’t reply. He stays quiet and watches. If he had to compare this to something he would say that watching Abby right now is similar to watching demons come through the gate. He had only seen a couple actually come through, he couldn’t stand the sight of it. He wonders if this is at all what Abby’s fall had looked like.

The wrath demon was trying to breathe, but his patterns were clearly burning him. He couldn’t seem to stay standing and the tears he shed killed the pieces of grass they landed on in the inner court yard. 

Jinu had taken his soul out of himself again. 

“I’m gonna kill him,” Baby decides.

Ro kneels next to Abby and places a hand on his back, trying to calm the other. “Abby, you’re hurting yourself. Why didn’t you just fight with him there if you’re so mad?”

Abby shakes his head. Curled in on himself as he restrains his wrath so tightly. “I don’t… I don’t want to hurt him.”

Ro nods slightly, his own patterns brightening.

“Does it… hurt?” Baby asks.

“Yes,” Ro breathes.

Baby frowns and looks over to Mystery. “Should we tell Jinu?”

“No!” The wrath and lust demon both insist immediately.

“What if it’s Gwi-Ma?” Baby snaps.

“It isn’t,” Mystery breathes. “And there isn’t anything Jinu can do about it, is there?”

“There isn’t,” Abby breathes.

“I don’t get it, what’s wrong with them?” Baby asks.

“I’ve heard that demons who behave too strongly in opposition to their sins are burned by Gwi-Ma’s curse as a reminder that it isn’t their nature. Many people consider abstinence and patience the opposite of lust and wrath, but that is an over simplification and a human view of it,” Mystery says evenly as he brushes some of his hair back so he can clearly see the two older demons on the ground.

“What are you saying?” Baby scoffs.

“Don’t say it,” Ro pleads.

“Love and tolerance,” Mystery whispers. “You both love him.”

“No,” Ro denies immediately.

“So they’re just fucked now?” Baby asks. “They’re gonna be in pain forever? Why doesn’t Jinu burn when he acts against his sin—”

“I don’t know, but I can correct this,” Mystery offers.

They all know what Mystery is talking about. Despite their confusion around how sloth can become one’s primary sin, it is Mystery’s. A demon can infect others with their primary sin. They typically do this to humans in order to prime them for collection. In fact it is somewhat taboo among the demons to do it to each other, but why would a sloth demon care about that?

“Do you even have the energy for that?” Baby asks.

“Yes, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t,” Mystery assures. “So? Would you two like to stop feeling so strongly?”

There is a moment of silence before Ro nods. “Please,” Abby breathes, “Please make it stop.”

“Okay,” Mystery nods and makes his way over to the two. “It won’t last forever, and you two wouldn’t want it to. Let me see your hand,” he says and crouches down. He takes Abby’s hand, the back his hand resting in Mystery’s palm as Mystery holds the palm of his other hand above Abby’s. His own patterns glow before he concentrates that light into his hand and presses his palm against Abby’s. 

The effect is instant. Abby’s patterns dim. He wipes the last of his tears away. His entire world seems to dim.

He does the same thing for Ro.

“The pain is gone?” Mystery asks.

“Yeah,” Ro breathes. “I feel…”

“Everything feels like it is numb?” Mystery suggests.

“Something like that,” Ro breathes.

“Or under water,” Abby agrees. “Doesn’t hurt anymore though. Thank you.”

“It won’t last, and I can’t do it all the time… but it gives you both some time.”

“For them to do what?” Baby asks.

“Figure out how to stop caring for real?” Mystery suggests as he stands. “It isn’t like Jinu is gonna know why he doesn’t burn when he acts against his sin anyway, so we can’t go to him for help.”

“Probably some bullshit about touching the honmoon,” Baby agrees. “How long is that gonna last for?” he asks and nods to the two who push themselves up.

“It’ll fade out and be totally gone in a couple weeks unless I remove it earlier.”

“Two weeks? That is a long time,” Baby breathes.

“Sloth takes awhile to take hold. It isn’t like other sins,” Mystery says. 

“Are those two gonna be able to… be normal?” Baby asks.

“No of course not, if I was infected with lust I would be humping someone’s boot not ‘being normal’,” Mystery huffs.

Baby nods and looks at the three. Too quiet. They’re being far too quiet. “And we can’t tell Jinu that we did this?” He asks. There is just no way they get away with—

“Tell him if you want,” Abby says. 

Right. They’re not gonna care. Baby sighs softly and rubs his face. Jinu had his soul out of his body and Mystery made it so the other two aren’t gonna give a shit. Maybe Baby should have Mystery do that same shit to him.

“And you don’t give a shit about any of this either?” Baby asks Mystery.

“I do,” Mystery assures. “As much as I can,” he shrugs.

“Great,” Baby breathes. He leans against the tree and lets his eyes shut as he holds onto himself. “I’ll talk with him when he comes back down then, okay? You three don’t need to stick around.”

Abby and Ro leave after thanking Mystery again, but Mystery stays behind. “I’m sorry that I don’t care more. I do feel things, but…”

“You don’t have to—”

“When I was alive the world was dull and I didn’t care about anything. My father worked endless hours and my brother was always joining protests and he called me a traitor for wanting to go to school. My mother thought I had a gift when it came to music, but I honestly didn’t care about what she thought. I just wanted to stop thinking about what was going on,” Mystery begins as he stands next to Baby and holds onto himself. “I met a man at the school I attended. I made him play the songs trapped in my head. He arranged for me to be a conductor of a small orchestra, and it changed my life. I felt like I had been pulled out of the ocean for the first time in my life. The world was vibrant with colours and I loved him. I loved him and I wanted him and my heart raced when I was around him. I found something that I cared about and I felt human. I had never known what it means to feel human until that moment.”

“What happened?” Baby asks as he stares at the pond.

“I don’t have much time left.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m gonna be gone soon. I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“What? You can’t do that! You can’t just leave! You know I—”

“Don’t say it! This has been punishment enough without you saying it.” 

“He ended things. Then he disappeared completely. Then Gwi-Ma was in my head and he told me that if I accepted his help I could have anyone I wanted or I could have the power to take a swing at some of the officers or I could become the most famous composer in the world. I didn’t want any of that. I wanted nobody to expect anything from me. I wanted to forget what that colour was like.”

“Mystery—”

“I wanted to be dragged to the bottom of the ocean,” Mystery breathes. “He did it.”

The fish in the pond swim in slow circles, doing laps around one another without ever actually touching.

“The world happened around me. I flunked out of school, I stopped composing, my brother was executed for killing an officer, my mother was taken away by some soldiers and my father became ill. I did nothing. I didn’t care. I was only ever human when I had that colour in my life, when I had him in my life, but I threw it all away. When Gwi-Ma finally claimed me he let me see those memories with him once more before scrubbing them. He took my name and the name of everyone I knew, but Gwi-Ma also took his face. He scrubbed at the face I loved until it became unrecognizable.”

“I’m sorry,” Baby breathes. 

Mystery shrugs. “I made my decision, but I just wanted you to know that I don’t mean to be like this—”

“Mystery, I come to the library with you damn near every day because I like being around you, okay?” Baby says. “You think I would have stuck around for nearly a hundred years if I didn’t enjoy your company?”

“I don’t know.”

Baby nods slightly, “I’m sorry you can’t feel more. I’ll try and be mad enough for the both of us, okay?”

“I appreciate that,” Mystery decides. “I enjoy your company too,” he mentions. “You don’t expect much from me.”

“That isn’t it,” Baby says. “You meet my expectations,” Baby looks over to the other. “Now, tell me what is going to piss Jinu off the most. Those two are hurting and so he should hurt too. An eye for an eye or some shit.”

“Oh that’s easy. Ignore him,” Mystery says. “He is expecting a fight, but if you want to hurt him then don’t give him one.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Baby huffs. “I was also really looking forward to punching him.”

“And if you punch him then he means something to you. If you do nothing then it means he isn’t worth the effort. Currently, I don’t feel that he is worth the effort.”

“Hm,” Baby hums and leans into the other. “That would piss him off,” he agrees. “Why don’t you compose now?” He asks.

Mystery blinks, as if he hadn’t expected any follow up questions. “I… I don’t think I could do it if I didn’t have him playing for me.”

“I used to play.”

“What did you play?”

“The violin mostly, but I could play other things. I haven’t tried since I fell. I didn’t want to touch music after I fell for the longest time.”

“What changed?” Mystery asks.

He doesn’t get a reply when Jinu appears in the courtyard.

Chapter Text

“Where is Abby?” Jinu asks.

“He and Ro took off with your cat,” Mystery says. He was pretty sure the two had ended up going back to the surface to do who knows what. He isn’t quite sure if he should be concerned about what rendering those two apathetic would do, but Baby didn’t seem concerned.

“He told us what you did, you could have said something before taking off. Well, how did it go?” Baby asks.

“What?”

“Did you tell her you love her or did you just offer to kill yourself again? If you’re still here I’m beginning to think that she isn’t totally into that,” Baby says dryly.

They can tell that this isn’t what Jinu expected. Jinu expected yelling and fighting and maybe a punch to his jaw as soon as he appeared. Mystery was impressed with Baby’s self restraint to not punch the greed demon.

“I told her I love her,” Jinu admits. “That went well, but, seriously, I need to see Abby. He looked like he was—”

“He isn’t going to care about anything you have to say right now,” Mystery says, his voice clipped. 

Jinu blinks before he frowns and that human skin fades into his demon form. “Mystery, what did you do?”

“Inclined them towards my sin.”

“I’m sorry you did what?” Jinu breathes.

“Made them feel slothful,” Mystery says steadily.

“Undo it.”

“No, they asked for this,” Mystery decides immediately.

“And I wasn’t asking, Mystery, undo it.” 

“Why?” Baby asks. “You want to get the shit kicked out of you by the both of them?”

“I would rather that then this,” Jinu replies.

“It isn’t up to you, it’ll wear off in a couple weeks and then they’ll be…” Mystery trails off. Was ‘normal’ the right word? They would most likely be in pain again, but instead of it all hitting them at once the hope was that the slow return would allow the two to keep it somewhat controlled. “Not so… angry,” he settles on.

It isn’t fair. Nothing about this is fair and Mystery feels vaguely angry about it. Jinu gets to fall in love with a pretty hunter and offer her his soul with no demonic consequences while Ro and Abby are burned for daring to fall in love.

“They actually asked for this?” Jinu asks.

“Yes,” Mystery nods. 

“Why?”

“Wrath and lust are passion based sins. Their emotions strike them too strongly so they want a break. Lust demons infect demons with their sin all the time, this isn’t that different—”

“It doesn’t last for two weeks,” Jinu hisses. 

“If they want me to take it off of them then they are free to ask, it isn’t like they are unaware of what I’ve done to them. They know that they aren’t going to be behaving quite like themselves,” Mystery explains. “Being slothful doesn’t mean that they’re stupid, they’ll just care less.”

“Fine, but you need to figure out where they are at and check on them.”

*****

“I will assign you two to work together harvesting souls for me.”

The two pink haired demons had never been spoken to directly by the King since their fall. Not only had they been spoken to, but they had been dragged to his stage where no other demon aside from Jinu had stood. In fact, the one named Jinu stood on the stage as well. He was much closer to the blaze, but the short haired demon — who would eventually be known as Abby — thought that Jinu didn’t look all there. Or perhaps Jinu just didn’t remember Abby.

“Yes my King,” the long haired demon said, kneeling with practiced obedience. This demon would eventually be known as Ro.

Abby knelt as well even if he was curious as to why the change in arrangement. Why have them work together?

“I wish to feast at the end of the month, I will need hundreds of souls for that,” Gwi-Ma mentions.

“My King?” Abby asks. Hundreds of souls? Abby maybe broke a hundred in a year if he was lucky.

“Get creative and figure it out, if you please me then I will be sure to return the favor. Do we have a deal?”

It wasn’t a real question because there was no real opportunity to say no. They agree and, after being dismissed, head to the surface.

“How fucked do you think we are?” Abby asks, smirking in a we’re so fucked kind of way that he hopes will break the ice with the other demon.

“We’ve been damned since we accepted his deal, this is just a continuation of that,” Ro says easily. He had already transformed into a human, and his hanbok had turned from black to white and red. “Change your clothing to match mine,” he says.

“You look like a wealthy snob,” Abby says flatly.

Unfairly pretty hazel eyes give Abby an unimpressed look. “Are we going to do this or not?” The demon asks.

Abby scoffs. “How long have you been doing this for? Gwi-Ma is fucking with us! Hundreds of souls in a month isn’t possible!” He snaps, still in his demon form as his patterns burn against him.

“It is possible,” Ro assures easily, “Now quit with that, it is a waste of time.”

Abby’s patterns burn brighter before dimming as he turns into his human form. “You don't feel wrath or something?”

“After what I did? I don’t have the right to feel angry. Now we need to—”

“What are you then?”

“That’s none of your business—"

“I bet you’re a pride demon,” Abby decides, smirking. “Actually, no. If you were a pride demon you would have no problem admitting to it. Hm… maybe envy? Or how about lust—”

“Can we get to work?” Ro asks, voice firm and gaze sharp.

“Ah, lust it is. I’ve never understood lust demons. Exchanging your soul for sex? How horny does one person need to be?”

“Keep your damn mouth shut!” Ro snaps, eyes morphing to their demon form.

“And there is the wrath,” Abby says. “Alright, tell me about this plan of yours,” Abby grins.

As opposed to speaking, the demon grabs Abby’s arm and teleports them. They end up in a field that is covered in stems and flowers that have yet to bloom, leaving only green bulbs. Ro kneels down and has his hand resume its demon form. He slices into one of the bulbs and allows a white liquid to coat his finger. He stands up and holds his hand out to Abby. “Do you know what this is?” Ro asks.

Abby shakes his head as he tries to figure out where the other demon has taken him. He looks around the field as opposed to at the other demon, but all he sees are fields and fields of unbloomed flowers. Something about it makes him feel uneasy. “Shouldn’t we be collecting souls?” He asks. Killing people. Why is he thinking of it like that right now? He hasn’t done that in years. He has managed, for most of his life as a demon, to pretend he isn’t killing anything meaningful.

“And unlike you I’m taking it seriously. Humans dry this and then mix it with tobacco and then they smoke it. It makes them half dead. Makes their souls so easy to collect,” Ro explains as he holds his hand up between them while walking closer, some bulbs moving out of the way and others getting crushed beneath his feet. 

“Did you have a hand in this?” Abby asks.

“No, but I’ve been watching. No deals with Gwi-Ma, no other demons interfering. Nothing but humans wanting to make money, the ones who smoke it? They can’t get enough of it. Better than wine or whiskey or whatever your substance of choice is.”

“So, the humans get intoxicated on these flowers and we reap their souls? Why not just go after people who drink?” Abby asks as he stares at the white liquid on the other demon’s hand. 

“It isn’t the intoxication that makes them good for reaping. It’s the addiction,” Ro says. “They want something so damn badly that they lose themselves.”

“Nobody wants anything that badly,” Abby insists.

“You really are a wrath demon, aren’t you? The humans want to forget they’re alive, or they want the money that comes from selling it, or they want to get others to smoke it so they become stupid and easy to control. It isn’t that complicated,” Ro explains and wipes the white liquid onto the other’s hanbok.

“You talk about humans like you didn’t used to be one,” Abby says and catches the other demon’s wrist.

“I have lived longer like this. How am I still human?” Ro asks. “Now, come on. We have work to do, and last time I failed an assignment he rearranged my face. If he keeps his word and rewards us for this one I’ll have him fix it.”

“Are all lust demons this vain?”

*

“They’re idiots,” Jinu decides to himself. They’re idiots and they are gonna be the reason Jinu loses his current wager with Gwi-Ma. He traverses across a room filled with couches, silk fabrics, and humans. He heads towards the two pink haired demons, the short haired demon was taking his turn smoking from a pipe and the long haired demon had two women fawning over him. He tears the pipe from the wrath demon and ignores his protests.

“Come on,” Jinu says. “We’re leaving,” he says.

“Don’t be like that, you could join us,” the lust demon mentions. Hardly moving as the two women touch him wherever they please. One is groping along his chest as the other mouths at the lust demon’s neck while her hand rubs against his inner thigh.

Jinu scowls and takes the souls of the women, their bodies disappearing once their souls are sent off. “How long have you two been high for?” He asks.

“Not long enough,” the wrath demon decides. 

“You know,” the lust demon begins, unconcerned of the fact that Jinu had disposed of the two women. “This shit really does make you feel half dead. Makes me think it won’t be so bad if he decides to finally kill us.”

“Come on,” Jinu tosses the pipe to the ground and grabs them both by their wrists and teleports them out of the damn drug den. He uses magic to sober them up even if they both protest. He then shoves both of them into the stream he had teleported them to.

“The fuck!” The wrath demon hisses and pushes himself up and out of the cold water.

“You two are supposed to be harvesting souls! Not getting high until you want to be dead,” Jinu snaps. “And, just so you know,” Jinu hoists the lust demon out of the water, his own ankles getting submerged in the cold stream. “Gwi-Ma doesn’t kill us, you’re no use to him dead.”

“These humans that we’re harvesting from are addicted because of a government's greed. It isn’t fair that they should die for that,” the lust demon insists, pushing himself away from Jinu and stumbling. He nearly falls in the water again, but manages to stay standing.

“Then collect from the government officials, I don’t care how it gets done. It just needs to get done,” Jinu snaps.

“Why the fuck do you care?” The wrath demon asks, rubbing his head.

“Why don’t you two care?”

“It’s just more torture, what else is new?” The lust demon asks.

“Unbelievable,” Jinu breathes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So you two want to go back to that?”

“Want is a strong word,” the lust demon scoffs. “I want to get so high my brain stops working and I don’t have to think about anything anymore.”

“That’s what you want?” Jinu asks. “Collect the souls and then tell him that. I’m sure he would be delighted that you two dumbasses want to torture yourselves.”

“What deal did you make with him?” The wrath demon asks. “You would only be invested in this if you made a deal.”

“If you two know what I’m getting out of this will you do your damn jobs?” Jinu asks.

“If it is a good reason to be toying with us then maybe,” the lust demon shrugs as he steps out of the stream, running a hand through his wet hair.

“If you two can get over five hundred souls then he’ll leave me alone for an hour a day,” Jinu admits. “He had me choose a couple of demons to collect souls and in exchange I get an hour of peace every day.”

“Just an hour?” The lust demon asks like Jinu is an idiot.

“It was all he would budge on, but that is a little over one day a month, and I’ll take it. An hour a day where I can just exist without him bothering me. So you two need to-”

“You chose us? Why wouldn’t you talk to us about it first?” the wrath demon asks.

“You’re an idiot,” the lust demon agrees as he sits down next to the stream and presses his head into his hands. Sweat running down his back and his skull throbbing.

“Coming from demons who are going through withdrawal because they have been smoking for days on end? Yeah, I don’t think I give a shit if you two think I’m an idiot,” Jinu decides. “Now, I chose you two because you two are efficient when you aren’t being dramatic about the lives of pathetic humans rotting away at the end of a pipe.”

“Efficient? The fuck does that mean?” the lust demon scoffs.

“That you two are good at this shit!” Jinu snaps. You two are good at killing people. “Just…” Jinu exhales and steps out of the stream. “Do this and you can get high whenever you want or some shit, You two are only at a hundred and six, but—”

“A hundred and six? In three weeks?”

Jinu sees how sick the wrath demon looks and decides that telling them how many souls they had collected was probably the wrong move. 

“We’re gonna have hunters coming after us at this rate—”

“No you’re not,” Jinu tells the lust demon. “These humans were as good as dead anyway. You two just put an end to their suffering earlier, okay? Now do this and tell him what you want, or don’t. Then these humans can rot in drug dens until they kill themselves. Does it really matter if they die now or later?”

He disappears and red smoke simmers among the grass before eventually dispersing.

“What a jackass,” the wrath demon breathes, washing his face with the stream water.

“I wonder what Gwi-Ma does to him that makes him want an hour a day so badly,” the lust demon whispers.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, let’s finish our job?” the lust demon suggests.

*****

“Have you ever been in love?” Abby asks.

“No, you?”

The two pink haired demons were at a bar.

“Yes,” Abby replies.

They were splitting a bottle of soju. Abby pours for them as Ro glances out the window of the bar and watches cars pass. “How did that go?”

“Well I’m a demon now, so…”

“Hm,” Ro hums. Drinking from his glass. They had debated ordering a bottle or two of wine, but this would get them drunk faster, so here they were. “Tell me about it? Or else I’ll assume that this love thing is complete bullshit.”

“I can’t remember most of it. Gwi-Ma made sure of that. I just know I loved her and then she died and then Gwi-Ma gave me the strength to end the entire bloodline of the man who killed her.”

“The entire bloodline?” Ro asks.

“Yes,” Abby nods. 

“Hm… we really should have seen if Mira wanted to join us. She would love this shit,” Ro huffs.

“She probably would. How did Gwi-Ma even maintain control over those damn sloth demons?” Abby asks.

Their lips are loose and their emotions — normally sharp like a blade and overwhelming — are suppressed. Instantaneously, Mystery has taken a sword where one edge is wrath and the other is lust, and banged it against the stone of sloth, leaving everything dull. It isn’t the first time they have felt like this: like movement was too much effort to bother with and the world was desaturated. Although nothing feels quite like this.

“The same way he does the rest of us I guess, makes us relive our sins,” Ro shrugs. He takes another drink of his soju. “So you don’t remember any of it? Of being in love? Because so far this sucks.”

Abby breathed out a laugh. “I remember meeting her. I was working in the rice field with my father. I heard the horses first and then I saw her. I can’t remember her face now, but I know that I fell into the water the moment we made eye contact. I remember her laugh. I had never heard something so sweet. My face always hurt when I was around her because I smiled too much apparently. That is what she told me, anyway. She was smart, too smart for someone like me, but she liked me anyway.”

“Abby—”

“I didn’t know how to read, Ro. She taught me hangeul, but said that I was hopeless when it came to hanja. It is honestly a miracle that her father let me marry her,” Abby decides. He pours them both another drink. “She told her father that she wouldn’t accept any other man.”

“Hm,” Ro hums as he looks at the liquid sitting in his glass. “That sounds really sweet Abby,” Ro breathes. “And you feel that way about Jinu?” he asks.

“I feel like he is an idiot,” Abby grumbles.

“Be serious,” Ro decides before taking a swig of his drink.

“I am, but I’ve known him for,” Abby trails off to do some mental math. “A hundred and ninety eight years.”

“You’re not even two hundred?”

“If we add my human years I’m two hundred and twenty-five,” Abby admits.

“You were twenty-seven when he took you?”

“Mhm. Why?”

“I was too,” Ro shrugs. 

“And you said you’ve been a demon for…”

“I’m three hundred and fifty-six years old,” Ro admits. “You know when the hunters defeated Gwi-Ma and we all got sent back down?” Abby nods. “There was a moment when we couldn’t find you or Mystery and I… for just a second I thought about trying to find a way to kill myself. I think Baby realized I was thinking it. I’ve never seen him like that. He was crying so hard and I was hurting him by holding on too tightly.” Ro looks from his drink to Abby, expecting the same muted reaction they have been giving each other all night, but Abby’s patterns crawl up his neck.

“You thought about what?” 

“I just— I’m tired Abby. If existence is going to be a constant pain because I fell in love then I might as well be dead, right?”

“No,” Abby says and presses his hand to his neck. “No, you can’t.” Tension runs through him and Ro sees the pain flickering across his face again. 

“Why not?” Ro asks as he finishes the last of his drink and pours himself another.

“I can’t…” Abby drags hands through his hair. His eyes track the movement of Ro lifting that glass to his lips and he reaches across the table to grab the other and they vanish from the bar.

They’re in a clearing surrounded by trees. Ro has no clue where they are, but he doesn’t get a chance to try and figure it out when Abby pins Ro to the grass, the glass rolling out of his hands and the liquor being spilt as Abby straddles Ro’s hips. His human flesh gone and his human clothing replaced with that red hanbok that Jinu had put the wrath demon in.

“Abby, there were people in that bar,” Ro reminds, but isn’t otherwise concerned about it.

“I don’t care,” Abby decides. “You piss me off when you say that shit.”

“Sorry,” Ro breathes. “Are you in pain? You broke past Mystery’s sloth.” Abby doesn’t confirm it, but Ro can see it. He can see the tension and pain. “If we need to fight then we can,” he offers.

“You don’t get it.”

Ro allows his human form to melt away to his demon body. “What don’t I get?”

“That I’m not gonna leave you alone Ro. Maybe not ours, but you’re still mine. You’re mine and I won’t lose you, okay?” Abby decides.

“Abby,” Ro’s patterns begin to glow again.

Of course they couldn’t even last a day before that blade was sharpened to a fine point again.

“It hurts,” Ro whispers. While Abby was hurt by tolerance and restraint, that would fade if his anger faded. Ro was burned by love. 

“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know how to make it stop,” Abby whispers, releasing Ro’s hands and instead reaching to cup his cheek. “If I could take it all away I would.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” Ro whispers and leans into his touch. His eyes wet. When tears begin to fall, Abby gently clears them.

“Do you want me to go grab Mystery?” Abby asks.

“No, he can’t do anything for me. I’ll just break out of it again,” Ro says. “Could you do something else for me?”

“Anything.”

Abby says it so honestly that it scares Ro a little. He says it like he really would do anything for Ro. Ro smiles a little despite the pain.

“Hold me?”

Abby does as Ro asks. He shifts so they are on their sides and holds the lust demon against his chest. They stay like that for a while. Ro shaking due to the pain of his love and Abby attempting to sooth the other. 

“We can have Mystery do it again,” Abby offers again. “Or some of the older sloth demons? We could see if they’ll help?”

“Then I won’t love you anymore,” Ro mentions.

“That’s okay. You still will, you just won’t be able to feel it quite so much,” Abby whispers, his heart beating faster when the lust demon says that word.

“But I want to,” Ro admits. His voice breaks as he clutches onto the wrath demon tighter. “I know we’re demons and we shouldn’t and we’re not supposed to—” We are meant to suffer eternally, none of us deserve love, “—but I never loved anyone before! It isn’t fair. Baby isn’t always envious and Jinu isn’t always greedy and Mystery does care, so why can’t I—” You deserve to be loved “—love you?”

Abby keeps the lust demon close. He has no answers for the other. He wonders if Jinu would or if Rumi may have found something that wasn’t in those scrolls that Ro and Jinu had poured over. 

“Will you take me? Then we can go find a sloth demon or something, but I’d like you to make me yours first,” Ro breathes.

“What about the pain?” Abby asks.

“I’ll worry about that,” Ro decides.

“Okay,” Abby agrees and presses a kiss to his lips. Slow and patient and careful against his already hurting lust demon. Ro kisses back as the two hold one another. A breeze brushes past, but the heat sparked between the two keeps them warm.

~<>~

“Be careful with those, please,” Ro asks at one point, eyes flicking to the sharp edges of Abby’s nails as the wrath demon undresses Ro’s lower half.

“I will,” Abby promises. “I was careful earlier, wasn’t I?”

“Mm,” Ro hums with a nod. He, truthfully, isn’t sure he remembers. It had been fast and rough and there had been two other bodies, delightful in their own ways. He takes Abby’s fingers in his mouth and keeps his eyes on the other. When pain courses through him again he bites down on the other’s fingers with a shaky exhale.

“You can bite down harder if you need,” Abby whispers. Assures. “I can take the pain of you loving me if it means you do love me.”

Oh. 

Ro does bite down harder as Abby presses his two fingers down onto Ro’s tongue. Ro’s eyes flutter shut when his teeth break through skin and the other demon’s blood hits his tongue. He pulls away to lick the blood off as it slowly heals over. 

“You heal too quickly,” Ro decides.