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Gwiboon is pretty awesome. She’s relatively tall, has a healthy set of C-cups and beautiful blond hair. She’s well-dressed and knows fashion well. Her eyeliner is on point and she knows how to make a mean highlight. She has nice grades and good friends. She knows how to manipulate guys to do her bidding and she’s popular among the girls. She’s good at what she does and she has dreams and ambitions to strive towards. Yes, Gwiboon is pretty awesome according to herself.
“Hahahahaha, Gwiboon is a cusk!”
Oh, right, and Gwiboon is also a C-rank demon and the other higher-ranking demons in her university like to remind her.
She scowls and Taemin steers her away from the laughing group of demons before she can attack them. Even if her demonic powers are relatively useless, her kicks are usually well-placed.
“Deep breaths, Gwi,” he says while he walks her down the hallway, hands firmly on her shoulders. Gwiboon huffs.
“They deserve to get their asses kicked and you know it, Tae,” she says and Taemin sighs a little.
Gwiboon and Taemin have been best friends since middle school. She had helped him with English class and soon they had learned secrets about one another that nobody else knew. Taemin is an A-rank demon, but Gwiboon likes to forget that.
Gwiboon has always resented the ranks, but the past year of annoying freshmen that think it’s a joy to point out to her that she is less than them is starting to get on her nerves. There are a lot of C-rank demons around the world. They’re needed the most and even though they’re not what humanity usually think of as demons, they’re essential. It just bothers her that she’s still made fun of.
That’s why she has taken up martial arts and that’s why she has such a mean high kick. Gwiboon isn’t afraid to fight the other demons but Taemin usually doesn’t allow her the satisfaction.
“Why don’t they understand that they need us, though?” she asks exasperatedly as she puts her hair into a pony tail. Jiwoo, a fellow C-rank demon, sighs beside her and pulls her skirt up so it rests on her hips.
“I don’t know. You shouldn’t bother with them Gwi,” she says and Gwiboon frowns at her reflection in the small mirror.
“Maybe not, but it’s rude and you know it. See you on court.”
With those words, Gwiboon leaves the locker room and walks onto the tennis court.
Gwiboon plays tennis because it’s fun and because it helps her with her temper. It’s a way to de-stress when everything else is stressful. Taemin watches from the bleachers outside the tennis court with another young man beside him. Gwiboon glances at them and waves when she gets eye contact before she turns to her opponent today. Minsoo looks at her with a glint in her eyes before she sends the ball over the net and in Gwiboon’s general direction. Gwiboon locks her eyes on the ball before she slams it back towards Minsoo with her ratchet.
She’s lying on the floor in her dorm room in an oversized sweater as she finishes her essay for tomorrow. It’s 1 AM and her neck hurts but she needs to finish this. She can’t hand in something only half-finished. Gwiboon is a perfectionist and she only hands in the best of the best. A few minutes later she looks up and notices the small card. I’m sorry, it says. Gwiboon scoffs and rips it in two before she hides it underneath a half-eaten bag of chips.
Taemin smiles wide and Gwiboon hates him already. She’s wearing sunglasses to hide the dark circles beneath her eyes from another night of only a few hours of sleep. She flips him off and he just starts laughing.
“Aw, what happened to you yesterday night?” Taemin asks and Gwiboon grumbles something incomprehensible. Another boy joins them at their lunch table and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. Gwiboon rests her head on her arms as she splays out on the table next to her lunch.
“Are you okay?” the newcomer asks and Gwiboon ignores him. Taemin laughs again.
“She’s fine,” he tells him and Gwiboon looks up and glares at him.
“Come here Jjong, I need you,” she says and wiggles her fingers in Jonghyun’s general direction. He changes his seat so he can sit next to her and Gwiboon leans on his shoulder. Jonghyun and Taemin are eating their lunch while Gwiboon almost falls asleep on Jonghyun’s shoulder. That is until Jonghyun starts hiccupping and Gwiboon bites her lower lip. Taemin snorts but doesn’t say anything.
The legends of demons in human history have always made demons out to be terrifying horned creatures that are evil incarnate. That’s not the reality, however. Gwiboon looks like the humans around her in college except for a birth mark on her hip that looks a little like two horns. The birth mark is the only fool proof sign of demonism.
Gwiboon knows that demons have a different natural smell than humans but most hide it with human perfume and that makes smell a horrible way to distinguish between humans and demons.
And then there are the ranks which no human legend speaks of.
C-rank demons are the lowest ranking demons. They’re mostly just a nuisance to humanity, an annoyance in their existence. It’s the hiccups in embarrassing situations, the songs that are stuck in your head on repeat. It’s the stumbling over air and the walking into lamp posts when everyone is near and looking. It’s all those little things that is nothing but annoying to humanity. Those are the things that C-rank demons can conjure in humans.
B-rank demons are a little more useful than C-rank demons but not the epitome of evil that human legends talk about either. They encourage violence and negative defense mechanisms, but often need the cooperation of a higher-ranking demon to do actual damage in a human.
A-rank demons are demons like Taemin – assholes. They’re also demons who are able to encourage criminal behaviour in humans. Gwiboon likes to think that they, too, are useless without higher-ranking demons but she knows that they just need a certain set of personality traits to cause damage. She still strongly believes, though, that it’s only with the help of higher-ranking demon that Taemin is truly powerful. She doesn’t like him being stronger than her.
A+-rank demons are demons that don’t need the help of other demons to make huge damage in human societies. They spread their mindless hate in silence and sometimes lets it power through cities and countries. They’re the cause of some of human history’s biggest catastrophes and they walk the Earth like they own it. A+-rank demons spread racism, homophobia and bigotry, let it seep into their human companions and watch the world slowly burn.
But the demons with the powers to really wreck a human life are the O-rank demons, the highest-ranking demons of them all. They don’t need any other demon to spread misery in a human life. They walk the Earth silently, spreading their diseases and leave the humans unable to fend them off. They infect young children and elderly people and they ruin the lives of well-functioning adults. They spread mental disorders.
Where A+-ranks ruin people’s lives through others, O-rank demons ruin the life of a human from within. Humans like to think that the disorders of the mind are curable but there is no such thing as a cure to those who have been touched by an O-rank demon.
Gwiboon hates O-rank demons. She finds them arrogant and better than the rest of them. She’s also maybe slightly annoyed that they can singlehandedly wreck a human’s life when the best she can do is make them hum a bubble gum commercial for hours.
“Hey Gwi, are you sleeping?” Jonghyun asks and Gwiboon hums with her eyes closed, her sunglasses skewed on her nose bridge and her hair falling into her eyes as she still rests her head on Jonghyun’s shoulder.
“Boon, wake up,” Taemin says and slaps her shoulder with a book. Gwiboon opens her eyes and removes her sunglasses so she can glare at Taemin before she fixes her hair and puts the sunglasses back on. Jonghyun stands.
“Where are you going?” she asks and Jonghyun blinks a little, surprised.
“I’m going to meet a friend. We’re going to sing a duet for the spring concert, so we have to practice.”
He sends them a small wave before he grabs his bag and leaves the two behind. Gwiboon turns to look at Taemin.
“New friend?” she asks and raises an eyebrow. Taemin shrugs.
Gwiboon is fond of Jonghyun. Taemin would probably argue that she’s a little too fond of Jonghyun, but there is no such thing. She met him during her first year and the slightly older human has proved to be a great companion.
Jiwoo rests against the net and Gwiboon throws a tennis ball her way. The ball bounces away next to the taller girl and surprises her a little. Jiwoo turns around to glare at her and Gwiboon just shrugs a little before she sits down next to Jiwoo.
“Have you heard the rumours about a new demon on campus?” Jiwoo asks after 30 seconds of silence. Gwiboon turns to look at her.
“No? What kind?” she asks and Jiwoo shrugs a little.
“Woohyun says it’s an A+ but what does he knows?”
Gwiboon laughs a little and agrees with Jiwoo. Still, the rumour has her curious.
Taemin is talking to Woohyun the next morning when Gwiboon finds them outside her lecture room. She tilts her head slightly before she walks to join them. They’re talking in hushed voices and Gwiboon has to clear her throat before they notice her.
“Oh hey Boonie,” Woohyun says before he continues his conversation with Taemin. Gwiboon crosses her arms and pouts. If they don’t want to talk to her, Gwiboon isn’t going to disturb them.
She finds Jonghyun in a practice room with a guitar in his lap. In front of him sits a girl with long, black hair. Her features are soft, her eyes a dark enchanting brown. Her smile is wide and her teeth straight. She has a beautiful voice as she sings into the room and Gwiboon bites her lower lip so she doesn’t start smiling as well. Then the girl notices her presence and cuts off in the middle of a sentence and that has Jonghyun turning around.
“Gwi!” he says. The girl turns around to put something in her bag. A small movement as she puts hair back over her shoulder reveals a birth mark on her shoulder and Gwiboon widens her eyes before she squints hard. “Meet Eunsook! Eunsook, this is my friend Gwiboon.”
The girl, Eunsook, smiles wide again and waves a little in greeting. Gwiboon continues her squinting.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jonghyun,” Eunsook says and stands up. Before she leaves, she grabs Jonghyun’s shoulder in what looks like a reassuring squeeze and then the door closes behind her. Jonghyun starts packing his guitar into its bag.
“I don’t want you to see her,” Gwiboon says when she stops looking at the door where the girl has just disappeared and turns back to Jonghyun. Jonghyun sighs.
“You don’t get to decide who I hang out with, Gwi. We’ve talked about this before.”
Gwiboon nods a little.
“I know and I’m not trying to. Really. I just don’t like her. Don’t hang out with her, Jonghyun. Find another partner. Can’t Jieun sing with you for the spring concert?”
Jonghyun chuckles a little.
“I know Eunsook is pretty but she’s not my type, you don’t have to be jealous. You’ll still be my favorite,” he says and Gwiboon shakes her head.
“That’s not it, Jjong. Just … “
She doesn’t know how to tell him that it has nothing to do with Eunsook’s appearance but rather that the birth mark on her shoulder is too defined to be anything but a high-ranking demon. Gwiboon wants to protect Jonghyun from that. She knows she shouldn’t but Jonghyun is her human and she doesn’t want to share him with anyone and especially not someone with stronger powers than hers. Taemin doesn’t count because he knows that any influence on Jonghyun will result in one of Gwiboon’s high kicks. Jonghyun leaves her with a chipper “maybe you should get to know her” but that is one thing Gwiboon knows for sure she isn’t going to.
Gwiboon hovers around Jonghyun like a hawk the next couple of weeks. Not only does Taemin comment on it, so does Jiwoo, Minsoo and Woohyun and it’s not good. She hears the rumors of them being in a relationship but doesn’t care enough to put them down.
She watches him when her practices with Eunsook and even though Gwiboon isn’t very fond of the other girl just based on the birth mark on her shoulder, she has to admit that Eunsook is good-looking. She’s also frustratingly kind and Gwiboon can’t get her on one hand and that makes it impossible to ask her about her rank without outing the entire demon community to Jonghyun. So she tries to convince herself that she doesn’t need to know exactly what rank the other girl, she just needs her away from Jonghyun.
“It’s getting kind of creepy, Gwiboon,” Taemin says when he stops her from following Jonghyun into the bathroom. She sighs a little.
“I swear, that girl is going to harm him,” she says and Taemin sighs. He drags her with him until they end up in an empty lecture room.
“We’re demons, Gwiboon. We harm humanity. That’s what we do.”
He looks at her with a concerned gaze and Gwiboon sighs a little.
“I know but she’s real danger. She’s not me who will make him hiccup in an important meeting or stumble over his feet or hum Coca Cola’s commercial jingle 50 times. She’s going to destroy him, Taemin…”
Taemin hums a little in acknowledgment.
“Gwi, the highest ranking demon in this school is the new A+ asshole, there’s no way that girl can destroy Jonghyun. You need to relax a little.”
He sends her a small smile and squeezes her shoulder and Gwiboon pulls away from him, convinced that she’s right about the strange girl that is suddenly hanging around Jonghyun. There’s a reason Gwiboon feels so vary of her and it’s not because she’s jealous. She leaves him in the empty classroom and goes to find Jonghyun again.
Jonghyun starts to get annoyed with Gwiboon pretty soon and instead isolates himself from her. Gwiboon watches her friend hang out with the strange longhaired girl instead and watches him slowly lose the glint of life in his eyes. There is nothing she can do other than watch because Taemin is keeping his claws in her, making sure she isn’t doing anything drastic to separate Jonghyun from his new friends.
Jiwoo slams the tennis ball over the court and Gwiboon misses it. The ball bounces off the net behind them. Jiwoo sends her a small smile and finds another ball from the basket and Gwiboon removes her hair from her eyes. It’s wet with sweat and her clothes are soaked. She knows a couple of guys are watching them playing and probably enjoying the sight of the two hard-working girls.
Gwiboon needs to figure out how to protect Jonghyun before he loses more of himself to the strange girl and the only way she can think of is confronting the girl. She doesn’t know how to do so without Taemin stopping her. Gwiboon locks her eyes on the tennis ball Jiwoo is sending her way and this time hits it with enough force to send it back over the net to Jiwoo. She will find a way.
Gwiboon spots Taemin the next morning in the hallway. He’s standing a few feet from the tall newcomer, a group of people standing around them in excited tension, waiting for someone to punch first. Gwiboon makes her way over and finds her best friend in a silent dominance battle with the other man. The other man is taller than Taemin and more muscular. He has dark brown hair and a slim face. He looks like he could own the world and still have money left. Gwiboon grabs Taemin’s hand and pulls it towards her to get his attention. She doesn’t get to say a word first, though.
“Minho, quit it,” a girl says and makes her way to the group in the middle. Gwiboon squints at the long-haired girl. “You promised me to be nice, that’s why I agreed to let you transfer here with me. Why are you picking fights again?”
The taller demon, Minho, turns around and looks at the smaller girl.
“I wasn’t picking fights, Sookie!” he says and frowns a little. The girl doesn’t soften her gaze.
“Go back to class,” she tells him but Minho crosses his arms over his chest.
“No,” he says. Taemin and Gwiboon look at each other in confusion. Gwiboon shrugs a little. Taemin can usually handle himself and if he couldn’t, she would have helped him fight the bastards. There’s no way Gwiboon would have ever stopped Taemin from a fight.
“What happened, though?” Gwiboon asks out loud and stops the other pair from bickering. Taemin snorts.
“The bastard picked a fight with me,” he says and Gwiboon tries hard to stop herself from giggling when she notices the look in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” the long-haired girl, Eunsook, butts in again and she bows kindly to Taemin and Gwiboon. That’s when Gwiboon gets a good idea. It’s brilliant. It’s her way to confront the other girl from doing anything to Jonghyun without having to deal with Taemin. It’s the best way to stop Eunsook from hanging around Jonghyun and maybe also the best way to prove to Jonghyun that she isn’t going batshit crazy. It’s perfect.
“Hey, don’t you guys want to have lunch with us? We can eat at the noodle restaurant on campus? Fix this whole mess and maybe get to know each other better. I guess I owe you an apology too, so…” Gwiboon says and all three of them turn to look at her incredulously. Taemin catches on the quickest and nods a little.
“Yeah, okay,” Eunsook says. “Let’s eat lunch together.”
She sends them a wide smile that almost blinds Gwiboon and then drags Minho away with her. Taemin turns to look at Gwiboon with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” Gwiboon says to Taemin’s unasked question and then leaves him alone in the hallway.
They meet up in the hallway when the clock strikes 12, Eunsook and Minho waiting for Gwiboon and Taemin. Gwiboon is starting to regret a little. She doesn’t really want to eat lunch with the two newcomers but she needs to confront Eunsook and make her stay away from Jonghyun and this is really the best way. Taemin has tried to figure out what Gwiboon’s plans are but has not been successful thus far.
Eunsook smiles warmly and Gwiboon frowns a little, tries not to be affected by the smile because only now that she stands face to face and really look at Eunsook, does Gwiboon realize that her smile is enough to make even the strongest man weak. And while Gwiboon is no man, she is absolutely not immune to the smile. Taemin just eyes her suspiciously.
“Let’s go!” Minho says and grabs Eunsook’s bicep to drag her away. The smaller girl pries herself free and sighs a little.
“Lead the way,” she says to Gwiboon and Taemin and Gwiboon nods and starts walking towards the ramen place. The silence is tense. Being in the same company as Taemin and Minho is almost unbearable. The longer she spends in silence in their company, however, the more she realizes that the atmosphere between the two men is not tense because of their fight earlier this morning; it’s tense because they’re attracted to one another. The realization has Gwiboon snorting and all three of them turns to look at her.
When Gwiboon wiggles her eyebrows to Taemin, Taemin blushes slightly and stalks a few feet in front of them. Eunsook seems to have caught on and she giggles a little. Her giggling is cute. Gwiboon blinks rapidly a few times and shakes her head slightly. No. Eunsook is not cute and her giggles are not cute. Nothing is cute. They’re having lunch so she can confront her.
They get a table and order, Gwiboon and Taemin on one side and Eunsook and Minho on the other. Gwiboon wishes she wasn’t sitting directly across from Eunsook because confronting the other girl is getting increasingly hard when Eunsook laughs at something Taemin says. Shit.
“I still don’t think what you did was okay,” Taemin suddenly says, addressing Minho. Minho frowns a little and swallows his noodles.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” he says in defence and Taemin raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah right,” Taemin says sarcastically. “So, you’re trying to tell me it wasn’t you that suddenly made Sooyoung homophobic in class?”
Eunsook sighs a little silently but Gwiboon notices the puff of air.
“I really didn’t,” Minho says. “We just transferred here a few months ago, why would I talk about gay people with the people in my class?”
Gwiboon notices Taemin tightening his grip on his chopsticks.
“Cut the crap, I know you’re an A+ so I know you could do it. I also know Sooyoung very well and she wasn’t homophobic before you arrived.”
Minho tightens his jaw.
“I promise you Taemin, I didn’t do it. I might have the powers to, but I’m not stupid enough to wreck chaos at my new university.”
Taemin doesn’t believe him. It’s obvious. But Gwiboon doesn’t want to hear them fight anymore so instead she stands up abruptly and turn the attention towards her.
“Eunsook, do you mind helping me with something?” she asks and Eunsook looks at her curiously.
“Sure,” she says and Gwiboon nods discreetly towards the bathroom. “Oh! Yes!”
Eunsook stands as well and Gwiboon feels her heart beat a little faster. This is it. This is now. This is where she asks Eunsook to stay away from Jonghyun.
When the door closes behind them, Gwiboon turns around so she faces Eunsook. Eunsook is standing a lot closer than Gwiboon had predicted and she takes a step back, only to be caught with her back against the sink. She takes a deep breath and then looks up, looks into Eunsook’s eyes.
“So…” she starts but she doesn’t get to finish before Eunsook talks.
“You’re beautiful, Gwiboon.”
The sentence baffles Gwiboon into silence and she almost forgets her purpose.
“What?” she asks and Eunsook takes a step forward.
“So cute.”
“What?”
“So…”
“Okay, stop!” Gwiboon interrupts and shakes her head slightly. “What the fuck are you doing? What kind of demon even are you? Satan?”
Eunsook snorts and shakes her head a little.
“Not that bad, no. And really, I mean it, you’re beautiful and cute.”
Gwiboon lets her eyes run up and down Eunsook’s body. Eunsook has curves like a goddess, big boobs and an ass with a small waist. Her hourglass figure is practically what girls can only dream of. Her hair is long but so well-kept, not damaged from hair dye, not drying out either. Her face is soft and kind and it bothers Gwiboon because the best way to describe Eunsook’s face is angelic and the girl before her is anything but an angel.
“Okay, alright, good, I know,” Gwiboon says and Eunsook laughs. “Point is, you have to stop hanging around Jonghyun. I don’t know what kind of demon you are but I know you’re high-ranking because I saw your beauty mark and I don’t want Jonghyun to get hurt.”
Eunsook stays silent for a few seconds and Gwiboon gains confidence.
“I want you to leave my university. I hate that Taemin is stopping me from meeting one of my best friends because nobody understands just how dangerous you are.”
Gwiboon glowers with confidence and takes a step back so she stands even closer to the other girl. Eunsook doesn’t back away, however.
“I can’t, Gwiboon. I wish I could but I can’t. If I leave Jonghyun now, everything will go wrong.”
Gwiboon narrows her eyes.
“What do you mean ‘everything will go wrong’?” she asks and Eunsook sighs a little before she turns around and points to the zipper in her dress.
“Unzip me,” she says and Gwiboon almost chokes on her own saliva.
“What?!” Gwiboon asks and Eunsook looks over her shoulder with a smirk.
“I’m not asking you to have sex with me, just unzip the dress,” she says. Gwiboon slowly removes Eunsook’s hair and puts it over her shoulder. With slightly hesitating hands, she unzips the dress and Eunsook lets it slip over her shoulders and down to rest on her hips. She’s standing in her bra but with the hair over her shoulder, the birth mark on her shoulder becomes visible to Gwiboon. Not only is it two distinct horns, it’s a very intricate design of smoky brown swirls that capture the horns. It stands out clear on Eunsook’s paler skin but not only is it beautiful, it also tells her Eunsook’s rank.
“You’re an O…” Gwiboon says in a whisper and Eunsook turns around to face her again with a small smile. “I thought Minho was the highest ranking demon at …”
Gwiboon can’t even finish her sentence and Eunsook shrugs a little. Gwiboon wishes she could say the movement wasn’t flattering but it is and Gwiboon notices.
“I’m sorry, Gwiboon. But I can’t just stop now. Jonghyun will get better again,” she says. Gwiboon blinks.
“What did you do to him, you witch?” she asks in a whisper. Eunsook doesn’t answer.
“What did you do?!” Gwiboon repeats, this time in a shout. She grabs Eunsook’s shoulders and slams her against the bathroom door, growling.
“Gwiboon,” Eunsook says with a strong voice, but Gwiboon doesn’t back down.
“Make him normal again! Leave him! Leave us! You fucking bitch!”
“Gwiboon, stop it,” Eunsook says again and gently but firmly pushes Gwiboon away, towards the sink. She lets the dress slide up over her shoulders again, hiding her rank and then zips the dress as good as she can.
“I’m sorry,” Eunsook says before she slips out of the bathroom. Gwiboon leans back against the sink and stares at the door. She hates O-rank demons more than anything.
It’s 3 AM and Gwiboon can’t sleep. She has to read 100 pages in a book for tomorrow. She knows she should’ve started studying earlier but what Eunsook told her about Jonghyun has been on her mind as well, making it almost impossible to concentrate and it has resulted in her being awake right now. Being awake at night, however, isn’t any better because that reminds her of him and she would much rather forget him. She doesn’t have more notes left, the apology the last, but the memories are still lingering.
“Why?” she asks into the small room in a whisper, but then she regrets, shakes her head and closes the book. She’ll have to read the last 49 pages tomorrow during lunch.
Gwiboon is buried in her book; she still needs to read another 33 pages and her next lecture starts in 10 minutes. She is pretty sure she won’t succeed reading all of it but she’s going to try her damn best. It’s a body next to hers that makes her stop reading for a split second to look up, however.
“Jonghyun?!” she says in surprise when she notices him beside her and Jonghyun sends her a sheepish smile.
“I’m sorry,” he says and Gwiboon blinks a little.
“Oh God, no, don’t be! I was a bitch!”
Gwiboon places the book on the dirty table and leans over to give the human beside her a hug. She clings to her friend, that seems to have finally forgiven her for her behaviour. Jonghyun chuckles a little.
“No, it’s… Eunsook explained to me that you were just really worried about anything happening to me, but I’m fine. Really. You shouldn’t stalk me, though.”
Gwiboon laughs, relieved.
“I promise.”
Things should go back to normal, but they don’t. Gwiboon notices Jonghyun withdrawing from her and Taemin and everybody else, trying hard to fend off any worry. She notices Taemin hanging around Minho more often, looking like he’s trying to find proof that Minho really is the asshole he has made him out to be.
But worst of all, she notices Eunsook’s kind smile in the hallways and the way her body is flawlessly sculpted. It makes no sense for Gwiboon to notice. She might be a lesbian, but she’s not stupid enough to fall for an O-rank and she’s definitely not stupid enough to get attracted to the other girl.
Gwiboon also notices how Jonghyun withdraws from Eunsook, but it doesn’t really make her feel better. Because when Jonghyun was hanging around Eunsook, he was at least hanging around people – now he’s barely hanging around anyone.
The observation has Gwiboon finding Eunsook in the library one afternoon.
“I need to talk to you,” Gwiboon whispers and wraps her fingers around Eunsook’s wrist to prevent her from writing the last of her sentence. Eunsook looks up with a raised eyebrow.
“Okay,” she says and Gwiboon bites her lower lip before she sighs.
“Not here, elsewhere.”
The two girls look around for a few seconds before Eunsook pulls her wrist from Gwiboon’s fingers and starts packing her things.
They end up in the far end of the library, hidden behind History books.
“What is it?” Eunsook asks, her voice rich like honey but also slightly detached.
“Please return Jonghyun to normal. I don’t know what you’ve done but I can’t stand watching him like that,” Gwiboon says. Eunsook blinks a little.
“Be a friend then. That is what you are, right?”
Gwiboon frowns offended.
“Fuck you.”
No matter what Gwiboon does, it doesn’t help. Jonghyun still isolates himself, tries to fake his happiness and joy with smiles that don’t reach his eyes but Gwiboon sees right through him. Taemin isn’t making it any easier, still watching out for her, both to prevent her from obsessively stalking Jonghyun again but also because February is around the corner and he knows what February does to her.
Gwiboon likes to think that this year nothing is going to happen, she can get through it without any thoughts of Kibum, get through it without any random breakdowns or without throwing tantrums.
Still, on the morning of February 1st Gwiboon feels like she’s been hit with a truck of memories that has been buried repeatedly for the past 7 years. She texts Taemin to tell him she’s going to stay home buried in her blankets today. She doesn’t even read his reply but they both know there’s nothing he can do to change it.
The days get better and Gwiboon slowly gets more energy. On February 7th, she’s even dressed and cleaning her room. Taemin comes by with lunch from the cafeteria and even Jonghyun stops by once or twice to get a cup of tea and make sure she’s okay – or at least getting better.
Taemin is the only one that knows why Gwiboon’s February is so miserable. She hasn’t been able to tell anyone else. Taemin is also the only one that knows that February 15th is the worst day of them all and when he locks himself into her dorm room in the morning and finds her asleep under her blanket, he vows to stay beside her for the rest of the day.
Gwiboon is looking through a small box Taemin has brought. It always stands in his room, hidden away from her so she doesn’t end up destroying the sparse content in anger throughout the year. There are a few pictures of her and a young boy standing next to her. They wear almost identical smiles. Nobody has ever told her that she didn’t look like her brother, even if he was two years older than her.
Kibum had been her everything. He had been the strength she needed throughout school whenever someone called her a cusk or pushed her into the walls. He had been protecting her from rumours and lies and she hadn’t even known. Kibum had been everything to her, everything she had ever wanted to be was to be like him. But Gwiboon hadn’t been able to protect him the way he had protected her. She hadn’t even realized that his girlfriend had been dangerous until it had been too late.
And then she had heard their mother scream into the phone and seen their father cry silent tears and when she had asked and been told, her mind had gone blank. Kibum had killed himself in the night, prey to voices and depression, seeking a way out from a terrible illness that his girlfriend had slowly let consume him, right in front of their eyes.
That’s why Gwiboon hates seeing Jonghyun so isolated. Taemin only knows that Gwiboon lost her older brother on February 15th but he knows nothing about the reason why. He wouldn’t understand because Taemin’s family is all demons and the complexity of Gwiboon’s mixed family has always been hard for him to wrap his head around. Gwiboon doesn’t blame Taemin, though. She just holds back certain details.
And the more she looks at the pictures of two happy siblings, unaware of what’s going to happen in the future, the more she realizes that she keeps the details to herself for her own sake as well. She keeps them to herself to ensure that some day they will die with everything else she remembers and wishes to forget.
It’s a ritual to go out on March 1st and get drunk out of her mind. It has been like that for the past many years ever since Kibum died and Gwiboon values it as a tradition of great importance. Taemin just indulges her and makes sure she arrives back home safely. He knows what it means to her.
She’s dancing on the dance floor, the alcohol warming her body and making her vision blurry, but she’s free. Gwiboon feels light and elevated, she’s waving her arms in awkward movements but to her, she’s flying. She closes her eyes and lets the alcohol completely indulge her. She doesn’t realize she has bumped into someone before she feels hands on her waist and lazily opens her eyes.
Gwiboon doesn’t expect to be staring into dark brown eyes that draws her in. She doesn’t expect to look at long black hair that frames a soft face so beautifully and she doesn’t expect to look at the most heart-warming smile she has ever seen. Gwiboon doesn’t expect to be staring at Eunsook but that’s exactly what she’s doing because she can’t tear her eyes away.
The other girl tilts her head and Gwiboon feels her cheeks warm up. Still she doesn’t look away.
“Are you okay, Gwiboon?” Eunsook asks and Gwiboon tries nodding, her head feeling a little heavy. She blinks when she lifts her head again and takes a step back to steady herself when she’s about to fall over. Eunsook laughs and Gwiboon frowns.
“I’m fine!” Gwiboon shouts over the loud music but Eunsook has already turned away from her to look for someone else. Eunsook’s hand is still supporting Gwiboon’s waist to make sure she doesn’t fall over in her heels and her touch burns through Gwiboon’s tiny dress. She tries to pull away, tries to remove Eunsook’s hand but Eunsook just tightens her hold.
“Come,” Eunsook says and gently but firmly stirs Gwiboon away from the dance floor. Gwiboon tries to resist but her feet betrays her muddled brain as she lets Eunsook steer her away. She is sat down in a chair and handed a glass of water. Gwiboon refuses to drink it, though. She’s here to get drunk, here to be drunk.
She looks at the water sloshing around whenever she tilts the glass a little and suddenly she’s reminded of Kibum. Gwiboon doesn’t even notice when she starts crying but she feels Eunsook’s soft fingers remove the tears and looks up again.
“I’m going to find Taemin and then you’re going home, okay?” Eunsook says and Gwiboon shakes her head. She doesn’t want to go home. She can’t go home, not now.
She stumbles onto her feet, the ground shaky as she tries to find her balance on her high heels. She tilts the glass and spills the content onto the floor.
Gwiboon stalks away from Eunsook, makes her away towards the entrance. Her mind is filled with thoughts of an older brother that doesn’t exist anymore and Gwiboon is unable to hide her tears as she leaves the club and walks into the fresh spring air. It’s cold but Gwiboon doesn’t feel the cold. She can hear the music dim as she walks away, she can hear people shout after her but she doesn’t care. Gwiboon just wants to run away. She hasn’t gone very far, however, before she feels a hand on her shoulder that stops her.
When she turns around she’s staring into Eunsook’s face again. Gwiboon shakes her head a little, tries to remove the image of the other girl but Eunsook stays in front of her.
“Why are you like this?” Gwiboon asks, her voice hoarse and the tears drying on her cheeks. Eunsook doesn’t say anything. The silence makes Gwiboon frustrated, though, and she pries herself away. “I hate you. You have ruined everything. You mess with my friends and you mess with me. Just leave me alone. You’re all no good. Stop trying to pretend to care. I’m just a cusk! I’m a cusk, don’t you get it? Stop ruining my life!”
Gwiboon is screaming at the end of her sentence, the words almost incomprehensible. Then she breaks down in tears and flops onto the pavement. She buries her head in her knees and cries. She hates everything. She doesn’t want to stay alive when other demons take away what she loves. She doesn’t want to be alive when she has to watch people she cares about suffer all the time. She doesn’t want to watch the world crash and burn when all she’s able to is watch.
Gwiboon cries and Eunsook sits beside her in the cold night air as cars drive by on the main street.
“Ssssh,” Gwiboon says before Taemin has even uttered a word. Taemin frowns and sits down in front of her at the lunch table.
“You scared the shit out of me yesterday,” he says. Gwiboon ignores the worry in his voice and continues to slowly eat her tteokguk.
“I told you not to say anything,” she says and Taemin snorts loudly.
“You ran away from me at the club. We have a deal. You get drunk, I look after you. If you need me, you find me.”
Taemin breaks a piece off of his bread and eats it. Gwiboon bites her lower lip and looks up.
“You were busy making out with a certain someone,” she says with a cold voice. Taemin shakes his head in annoyance. Gwiboon doesn’t say more. They eat in silence and then go to their classes.
There are many things Gwiboon and Taemin have said to each other over the years, but not talking for 24 hours is unusual. Gwiboon doesn’t want to apologize to him. She knows, deep inside, that Taemin worries about her during February but she can’t help her annoyance when she learns that he has been making out with Minho.
It’s a feeling of betrayal that surges through her and she can’t forgive him for being with the enemy. It’s not Minho’s rank or his abilities, it’s the fact that he’s Eunsook’s best friend. Gwiboon doesn’t truly understand the reasoning behind but she knows that her annoyance is justified. She’s locked up in her room, Jiwoo tilting her head when she finds Gwiboon on her phone in the evening.
“Still mad at Taem?” she asks and Gwiboon nods without taking her eyes away from her screen.
“Yes.”
Jiwoo sighs a little before she flops onto her bed.
“You should talk to him instead of avoiding him, Gwi,” she says and Gwiboon sneers.
“Let me deal with him,” she says and changes her position so she lies with her back towards Jiwoo, ending the conversation. Jiwoo sighs again.
The tennis ball flies over the net and hits the court before it’s send back with a hit of a ratchet. Gwiboon sweats as she faces the machine on the other side. It throws another ball her way and Gwiboon runs to get it. She’s still mad. She’s mostly mad at herself, though.
Gwiboon knows Taemin didn’t abandon her at the club. She also knows that he, logically, hasn’t stopped liking her because of Minho. If there is any reason Taemin would get tired of her, it’s the secrets surrounding her brother, not because another guy told him to stay away from her.
The thought of Minho actually telling Taemin to stay away from her makes anger flare up and she hits the ball with such force that it almost flies over the fence.
“Gwiboon!” she hears and turns her head around to look at the voice, a tennis ball hitting her thigh. It makes her wince and she takes a step back to avoid getting hit again before she looks towards the voice again. On the other side of the fence stands Jonghyun. He smiles a small smile and Gwiboon forgets her anger in a flash.
“Jonghyun!” she says as she hurries towards him, the machine throwing forgotten tennis balls over the net. “What are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to talk to my favourite girl,” he says and she scoffs. A smile lights up her features, however. It’s been long since she heard him talk like that.
“Hang on, I’ll get changed! See you in a few.”
Jonghyun nods and Gwiboon hurries to pack her ratchet back into its bag, turn off the machine and get dressed into her t-shirt and jeans. When she meets Jonghyun on the other side of the fence, she’s still a little sweaty, her hair is still put in a messy ponytail but she has a smile on her face. Jonghyun reciprocates her smile before he lets her drag him away.
They end up in a small café on campus, a cup of cappuccino in front of her while he sips on a cup of green tea.
“I’m sorry,” Jonghyun apologizes and Gwiboon widens her eyes.
“What, no? Why are you apologizing?” she asks and Jonghyun sighs and starts tracing his cup with his finger.
“I’ve just been really absent. I don’t know, I had too much on my mind,” he says. Gwiboon bites her lower lip and reaches out to touch his hand gently.
“Hey, it’s okay. I get it,” she says and Jonghyun shakes his head a little before he looks up.
“Nah, I’ve been a really bad friend.”
His words have Gwiboon remembering something Eunsook told her and she feels a knot in her stomach.
“No, I have. I’m sorry I’ve been dealing with my own shit and not being there for you when you needed me.”
Jonghyun just shakes his head and sends her a small smile.
How Jonghyun convinces Gwiboon to apologize to Taemin is unknown to Gwiboon, but he does and Gwiboon only understands how much she has missed her best friend when Taemin wraps her into an embrace, accepting her apology.
Things turn normal within a few weeks and in the middle of April, Gwiboon has almost forgotten about Minho and Eunsook. She doesn’t meet them at them campus anymore and it’s a good thing. In fact, she is convinced they might have transferred away.
Jonghyun is starting to meet people again, no longer isolating himself as much as he used to. He’s seeing a therapist and while Gwiboon knows, deep inside, that he will never lose whatever shit Eunsook planted in his head, seeing him actively seeking help and living a bearable life makes her happy.
Gwiboon sits on the grass, textbooks spread around her as she tries to study for her upcoming exam. Her notebook is filled with chicken scratches and, to everybody else, unreadable notes. She grabs a book and lifts it into her lap before she starts reading a passage again for the fifth time. The sun is shining from a clear sky on a warm day in early June and there are people spread around on the large campus area, all hoping to enjoy the weather instead of being locked up inside.
She puts the book down when a shadow interferes with her vision and looks up. In front of her stands a girl and Gwiboon blinks a few times to make sure she’s actually seeing Eunsook and not just hallucinating.
“I thought you had left,” she says and Eunsook shrugs a little.
“Nah,” she says. Gwiboon turns back to her text book and ignores the girl when she doesn’t move away.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your brother,” Eunsook says and Gwiboon snaps her head up and glares at her.
“What?” she asks. Eunsook smiles a little.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your brother,” Eunsook repeats. Gwiboon scoffs.
“No, you’re not. Leave me alone, I’m trying to study.”
Eunsook doesn’t leave, though. Instead she sits down beside Gwiboon. They sit in silence, Gwiboon trying hard to ignore the other girl. 5 minutes later, she’s so annoyed with Eunsook’s presence that she looks up from her book to look at her.
“Okay, spit it out. Why are you bothering me like this?” Gwiboon asks. Eunsook shrugs.
“You’re interesting,” Eunsook answers. Gwiboon rolls her eyes.
“Right.” There’s silence a few seconds before Gwiboon continues. “Look, we both know that I’m not exactly fond of you and that it would be better if you just left me alone. I don’t know how you know about my brother but I don’t want to know. All I want is for you to leave.”
They sit in silence again when Gwiboon finishes. Gwiboon slowly starts collecting her books from the grass, preparing to leave. If Eunsook doesn’t want to leave her, then Gwiboon will find another location.
The memories of what happened during winter when the other girl arrived on campus is making her uncomfortable. Gwiboon doesn’t want anything to do with the other girl. She doesn’t want to remember her or the misery that she brought along. She doesn’t want to remember her voice or her appearance.
“Gwiboon,” Eunsook says when Gwiboon stands. Gwiboon looks down on the higher-ranking demon.
“Eunsook,” Gwiboon answers. Eunsook smiles slightly.
“Remember the first time we met?” Eunsook asks and Gwiboon frowns.
“No and I’d like it to stay that way,” Gwiboon says and Eunsook chuckles.
“Remember I told you that you were beautiful?”
Gwiboon really doesn’t want to blush but she feels the warmth creep up her cheeks anyway. She raises an eyebrow and tries to ignore it.
“No. Are you done?”
Eunsook shakes her head a little.
“You’re still beautiful. I just thought you should know.”
Gwiboon sighs and turns around, books in her arms.
“You’re too much,” she says before she walks away.
Summer vacation comes soon and Gwiboon forgets Eunsook completely. She goes to parties with Taemin and has platonic dates with Jonghyun. She plays tennis with Jiwoo and Minsoo and mocks Woohyun when he says something awkward once again. She flirts with cute girls off campus and enjoys the two weeks with her grandmother in Daegu. She learns how to knit scarfs and she dyes her hair pastel purple. She visits Kibum’s grave with her parents and swears, once again, to forget the cruelty that took him away from her.
Gwiboon doesn’t expect to see Eunsook when she goes to meet Taemin an afternoon in September. In the café sits the girl whose hair was long and black but has now been cut and dyed blonde. She is drinking a cup of coffee, talking to another girl. Gwiboon shakes her head slightly and tries to tear her eyes away but Eunsook looks beautiful.
Where she earlier has stirred anger and frustration within Gwiboon, the only thing she sees now is her beauty. Eunsook is manipulative and articulate. Eunsook is beautiful and cunning. Eunsook is frustrating and evil, but she’s also the most attractive girl Gwiboon has ever seen and her new haircut and the new make-up really points it out.
Taemin clears his throat behind her and Gwiboon jumps in surprise before she punches his shoulder in annoyance. Taemin just laughs and Gwiboon turns around to focus on the menu before she orders her cappuccino. She doesn’t notice Eunsook turning around in her seat to look at them.
“So…” Taemin says and Gwiboon raises an eyebrow and cracks her neck before she focuses on the TV-screen. “I’m dating Minho.”
It’s an off-handed comment, said in nonchalance but it causes Gwiboon to crash her Mario Cart car and look at him with wide eyes.
“Say that again,” she demands. Taemin shrugs and overtakes another car, making him first place.
“I’m dating Minho.”
“You hate him,” Gwiboon says and puts the controller away. Taemin frowns as he’s overtaken and suddenly second place.
“No, I don’t. I used to hate his powers but he’s fucking hot and he’s a nice guy.”
Gwiboon doesn’t understand.
“But you never really spoke to him,” she says in obvious confusion and Taemin clears his throat a little and stays silent. When Gwiboon understands why he doesn’t answer, she frowns and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “You spoke to him behind my back.”
Taemin sighs when he falls further behind and puts his controller away as well before he turns to look at her.
“I didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, Gwi, but you hated Eunsook so much and then February came and I guess I just forgot…”
It’s not convincing but Gwiboon lets it slide.
“You’re a lousy best friend…” she says.
“You!” she says and pushes Eunsook so the other girl stumbles. Eunsook blinks wide and confused. Gwiboon pushes her shoulders again, anger flaring in her eyes. “I thought you were done messing up my life!”
“What are you talking about?” Eunsook asks. Gwiboon growls and tries to push her again. Eunsook takes a step back this time.
They’re standing on the street, people looking curiously at them when they pass. Gwiboon is so enraged, however, that she doesn’t care about people. She only cares about hurting Eunsook the same way Eunsook has hurt her.
“How dare you act like you don’t know!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Eunsook grabs Gwiboon’s hands before Gwiboon punches her instead of just pushing her. Gwiboon screams, attracting strangers attention and pulls away like she has been burned.
“Don’t touch me, you devil!”
Eunsook looks around the street before she grabs Gwiboon again. Gwiboon punches her shoulder but Eunsook endures as she drags Gwiboon with her and onto a smaller street. When she lets go, Gwiboon’s chest is heaving in anger.
“You’re the worst. First you make him depressed and then when everything is fine, you make him attempt suicide.”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about, Gwiboon,” Eunsook says earnestly. Gwiboon’s anger slowly dissipates into despair and frustration and she leans against a cold wall and glares at Eunsook.
“I hope you burn for all eternity.”
Gwiboon takes one last deep breath before she leaves Eunsook alone in the street.
Taemin sits beside the bed when Gwiboon enters the hospital room. There is no emotion to be seen on her face and Taemin tilts his head slightly to get a better look at her. Gwiboon ignores him as she stands beside the bed and looks at the pale-faced boy who’s hooked up to IV-lines and heart monitoring. Gwiboon turns around and leaves the room 2 minutes later without a word.
A man stumbles over air when Gwiboon passes him and a young high schooler starts humming a chicken commercial jingle. A woman sneezes on her date, a disgusted facial expression appearing on his face. Gwiboon’s mind is chaotic and it spreads to everyone she passes on the street; minor inconveniences trouble every human on her way. She’s upset, hurt, angry and most of all, she’s scared.
Gwiboon finds a bench in the nearest park and plops down on it. She pulls her knees against her chest, resting her feet on the bench as well. Children are playing around the fountain, couples walking down the designated paths. There are sons and daughters taking their elderly parents for walks in the nice midsummer afternoon and teenagers hanging around on picnic blankets. Gwiboon feels nothing but misery, however.
It’s been 7 years since she last stepped into the hospital, 7 years since she last saw someone dear to her pale and hooked up to life by machines. It’s been 7 years since she heard the words ‘he has passed away’ and she fears that she will hear them again.
It brings unpleasant memories to know that she, once again, has failed to protect those she loves. It hurts her that she, once again, didn’t see the danger when it was right in front of her. It bothers her that Taemin had convinced her she was paranoid when she had known, when she had seen the danger. It frustrates her that Jonghyun has managed to fool her as well, has managed to hide his own hurt.
She wants to hate Eunsook, she wants to hate O-ranks like she did 7 years ago when Kibum passed away but she’s left with her own inability to be there for those she holds dear.
Gwiboon enters the hospital the next day to find Jonghyun still hooked up to his IV lines and the heart monitoring. She also finds Taemin that has his hand in Minho’s. The sight of the taller demon makes Gwiboon’s anger flare again. She isn’t entirely sure what’s causing it, but she knows that she doesn’t want him here. Instead of kicking him like she wants to the most, though, she ignores his presence. She barely looks at Taemin as she focuses her energy on her human friend in the bed.
“Gwi,” Taemin says after 5 minutes. Gwiboon still hasn’t said a word to either of the two demons.
“He shouldn’t be here,” she says and looks up. She’s glaring at Minho and he frowns like he’s offended. It only makes Gwiboon angrier.
“The doctors said he’ll be fine,” Taemin says again, diverting the topic from Minho. Gwiboon turns her gaze to her friend again and sits down in the chair beside him. She buries her anger and focuses on Jonghyun again.
Gwiboon’s anger reaches new levels, however, when she finds Eunsook in the hospital lobby, waiting for someone. She’s looking around nervously, her blond hair braided and resting on her shoulder. Instead of being rational and leaving without sparing the other girl another glance, Gwiboon stalks towards her until she stands right in front of her. The urge to slap Eunsook itches in her fingers but Gwiboon does her best to contain it.
“How many people did you kill that you’re here? Was he your number 50? Are you here to make sure he actually dies?”
Gwiboon is talking loudly, attracting the stares of patients, relatives and healthcare personnel, but Eunsook doesn’t cower.
“You’re being unjust,” she says. Gwiboon snorts.
“I am?”
Eunsook nods a little.
“Yes, you are.”
Gwiboon scoffs and crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“I’ll find a way to get rid of you,” she says and Eunsook sighs.
“This is tiring.”
With those words, Eunsook grabs Gwiboon’s forearm and pulls her away from the lobby, towards the entrance and outside. They’re standing in the parking lot, cars honking at them and the two girls move to the side, still outside.
“I understand you dislike me, okay. I get it. I hurt your friend and you hate that.”
“You’re despicable,” Gwiboon says.
“I’m a demon. It’s my job to be despicable. But I don’t kill people and I don’t intentionally hurt other demons.”
Gwiboon rolls her eyes.
“You’re an orca. Of course, you intentionally hurt other demons,” she says and Eunsook sighs again.
“Being an orca isn’t what you believe it to be,” Eunsook says.
“After I’ve met you, I’ve realized that you’re all horrible, so no, it’s not what I believed it to be. I wish I was a human. That would hurt less than seeing my friends die without being able to help.”
Gwiboon turns around and wants to walk away again before she plants a fist in Eunsook’s pretty face, but Eunsook grabs her wrist and holds her back. They get eye contact and the silence stretches on between them.
“Gwiboon, you’re…” Eunsook says but Gwiboon interrupts.
“What? Beautiful? You’ve told me. Is that your approach? Praise the subject so you can avoid the topic and leave as the winner once again? Are you a player too? Maybe you learnt a thing or two from Minho about being an asshole? Maybe…”
Eunsook slams her hand over Gwiboon’s mouth to stop her from speaking and Gwiboon instinctively licks Eunsook’s hand. Eunsook doesn’t remove her hand, though, even when it becomes wet with saliva.
“I’m not doing this to Jonghyun. I made him depressed but I didn’t urge him to commit suicide or plant that thought in his head. He either came up with it himself or there’s another O-rank in his company. I’m tired of you hating me because of misconceptions.”
Gwiboon frowns and raises an eyebrow in a silent question.
“It’s true that I flirt a lot and it usually works with distracting the mood. It’s easier than explaining I literally make people sick.”
Eunsook removes her hand from Gwiboon’s mouth and dries it on her dress.
“But Gwiboon, you’re wrong.”
With those words, Eunsook leaves her. Gwiboon stands at the parking lot as the words sink in. She isn’t entirely sure she believes that Eunsook isn’t responsible for Jonghyun’s attempted suicide but the words hide a certain insecurity and it makes Gwiboon’s heart sink. Then she registers the last words for real.
“Hey! What do you mean I’m wrong?”
Eunsook is too far away to hear her, though, and Gwiboon turns around to look at the hospital again.
Gwiboon is not wrong. That’s the last thing she is. Still, Eunsook’s words are stuck in her mind. She stubbornly clings to her belief that Eunsook was lying to her as well. She can’t trust O-ranks. Jonghyun gets better and he’s soon able to walk around in the hospital hallways. He’s going to be discharged in a day or two, but Gwiboon doesn’t want him to attend university again when Eunsook is still there. The decision is not hers to make, however, and Jonghyun makes it clear to her that he really doesn’t want to hear how he’s going to be hurt. He swears not being there is making him worse.
She’s studying when she receives a text from Jonghyun two days later, saying that he has been discharged. He’s still going to see a therapist to treat his depression and Gwiboon hopes that he can slowly get better, even though she knows he’s been touched by a demon.
She has been trying to forget Eunsook but has found it harder in the past week after their talk in the parking lot. She’s still not convinced Eunsook doesn’t have anything to do with Jonghyun’s suicide attempt but she’s been caught by the sincerity and insecurity hidden in her words – and she still wants to know what Eunsook meant by ‘you’re wrong’.
Gwiboon is still fairly certain she isn’t wrong, but the words have planted doubt. She knows that demons can’t affect other demons, so this is not a work of Eunsook’s powers. It bothers her, that she doesn’t know what she might possibly be wrong about and it frustrates her that there is something Eunsook keeps secret. It annoys her that it frustrates her that Eunsook is keeping secrets because Gwiboon shouldn’t care, but the words have left an impact.
“Am I wrong?” Gwiboon asks Taemin. Taemin tilts his head in question.
“About what?” he asks in confusion and Gwiboon sighs a little.
“It’s just …” she says and then shakes her head.
“No, tell me,” Taemin urges.
“Eunsook told me I was wrong and I want to forget it but I can’t…” Gwiboon says and Taemin nods a little in understanding.
“Why don’t you ask her?” he asks and points towards the blond-haired girl who’s sitting at a table in the cafeteria alone. Gwiboon bites her cheek and looks towards Eunsook before she shrugs and turns back to her lunch.
Not knowing what she’s wrong about drives Gwiboon nuts. When she finishes her last lecture, she finds Eunsook near the front gate. Eunsook looks like she’s waiting for someone. When Gwiboon gets closer, she takes a deep breath and presses her book closer to her chest. She’s just here to clear up a misunderstanding. She’s just here to know what Eunsook meant when she said that Gwiboon was wrong.
“Eunsook,” Gwiboon says and Eunsook spins around on her heels. She stiffens when she notices Gwiboon.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says and Gwiboon bites her cheek so she doesn’t say something rude. She isn’t here to fight with the other girl. Starting a fight is probably not going to give her the answers she wants anyway.
“I’m sorry about what I said at near the hospital,” Gwiboon says. Eunsook turns away from her and stares down the road.
“No, you’re not. Why are you here?”
The cold attitude is so different from what she’s used to. It’s not flirty Eunsook trying to steer the conversation somewhere else and it’s not calm Eunsook trying to reason with Gwiboon either. This is a completely new side of her, something that makes Gwiboon slightly uncomfortable. Especially because she believes she might be the reason Eunsook has turned into this.
“I … Okay, straight to the case, I guess. I want to know what you meant when you said I was wrong,” Gwiboon says. Eunsook slowly exhales.
“You’re wrong about me.”
Gwiboon frowns.
“You’re not an orca?”
Gwiboon can’t be wrong about Eunsook. She has seen the beauty mark on her shoulder clearly. She’s definitely an O-rank. Eunsook has also flirted with her on more than one occasion and she has admitted to making Jonghyun depressed. Eunsook snorts a little.
“I am. That’s not what I meant.” Eunsook turns around to look at Gwiboon. “Your image of me is wrong. I took care of you when you were drunk on March 1st, I made sure not to plant dangerous seeds in Jonghyun’s mind because I know how much you care for him. I avoided your other human friends and I asked Minho not to cause trouble like he usually does. But I don’t deserve your hatred for the loss of your brother and I don’t deserve to be blamed for things I didn’t do. I might flirt with you but if maybe you were able to see a little further than the tip of your nose, you would’ve noticed that I have only flirted with you so far. I’m tired of being blamed and hated, Gwiboon. If you want to continue to shrug away your responsibility, do so. Just know that I won’t be the scapegoat anymore.”
Eunsook smiles slightly before she walks away from Gwiboon down the street. A black car pulls up next to Eunsook and she climbs into the car. Gwiboon stares at it as it drives away.
“You don’t understand,” Gwiboon tells the gravestone. “I’m not running away from my responsibilities. It’s not like I can revive you or anything and it was their fault. Is it wrong of me to judge all of them?”
The gravestone stays silent.
“No, no it isn’t. It’s wrong of me to even consider giving her a chance, right? You would hate me if you knew that I was even thinking that. Oh God, I need your advice. Taemin isn’t helping shit because he’s dating that horrible A+ and he obviously believes he’s good for him.”
Gwiboon changes her position and plucks the grass beside her.
“But I guess you deserve to know that Jonghyun is getting better. I guess I’m just not convinced Eunsook is as good as she makes herself sound. She’s an O, you know. O-ranks are arrogant and horrible. Ssssh, you don’t get to teach me about demons, everybody else constantly do. As if I could forget that we’re supposed to make life horrible for you guys. Mom says it’s on time I start accepting what has happened but I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you-know-who for what she did to you.”
There’s silence safe for the wind that shakes the trees.
“I still miss you. I miss you so much.”
She sniffles and dries her cheek when she realizes a tear has made its way down.
“Do you think I should talk to Eunsook again? Just one last time? Oh God, why am I even asking, of course, you do. You always believed the good in everybody. What has she done to me? Maybe I’m more human than I thought I was.”
Gwiboon smiles softly and shakes her head a little. She lets her fingers run over the dry stone, caresses it with gentleness and then stands.
“Play safe with the other angels,” she says before she leaves the graveyard.
Gwiboon doesn’t get to talk to Eunsook the next few weeks. Maybe she avoids the conversation slightly, still feeling guilty for even wanting it in the first place. Gwiboon shouldn’t care about the other girl. She shouldn’t care about O-rank demons in the first place because caring is going to prove everything she used to believe wrong – and Gwiboon is not sure she can truly handle being wrong about O-ranks.
Taemin puts down a few beers on their table. Jonghyun laughs at something Jieun says and Gwiboon smiles as she takes one of the beers. She’s going to forget Eunsook today, get drunk and just enjoy her friends. Taemin hasn’t even invited Minho to join them so there are no reminders of what has been on her mind for the past weeks.
That is until she actually sees the girl she has been trying to avoid on the dance floor. Eunsook isn’t very graceful in her high heels but she’s captivating in a way Gwiboon wishes she wasn’t. It may be because she’s slightly tipsy but Gwiboon might actually think that if it wasn’t because it’s Eunsook and Eunsook is an O-rank demon, she would’ve flirted with her. But Gwiboon is not going to do that. If she can stop herself when she’s drunk, she can definitely stop herself when she’s tipsy.
The night goes by in a flash and soon it’s 3 AM. Gwiboon is no longer just tipsy and Jisoo is dragging her onto the dance floor. She hasn’t seen Eunsook in a while, not that Gwiboon is actively looking after her. The bass is pumping and Gwiboon closes her eyes as she lets the rhythm guide her body. She feels two hands rest on her waist and lets the other person sway her from side to side. It’s a girl, Gwiboon knows when the person behind her presses against and she feels soft boobs against her back. She opens her eyes and looks over her shoulder to find Eunsook pressed against her back, eyes closed.
“Oh, it’s you,” she shouts over the loud music and Eunsook automatically pulls away.
“Ugh,” she groans and Gwiboon frowns a little. She’s not that bad. She turns around so she’s facing Eunsook and grabs Eunsook’s wrist when the girl turns around to leave. Eunsook doesn’t seem to care, though, when she weaves through people, Gwiboon stumbling after her. They enter the fresh night air, the music dimming. There are plenty of students outside as well, most of them holding conversations while smoking.
“Hey Eunsook,” Gwiboon tries and Eunsook stops, a confused look in her eyes. It’s first then she realizes that Gwiboon is holding onto her wrist.
“Oh my god,” she says and bursts out into laughter. Gwiboon shouldn’t find it pretty but she does. She shakes her head slightly.
“I guess I just wanted to apologize. I was wrong about you.”
The look in Eunsook’s eyes soften when she finishes laughing.
“Yes, you were.”
“I still don’t believe you’re only flirting with me, though.”
Eunsook chuckles and shakes her head slightly.
“I’ve only danced with you tonight,” she says and Gwiboon blushes.
“I haven’t forgiven you for making Jonghyun depressed,” Gwiboon says and Eunsook nods a little.
“I know.”
There’s silence between them until Eunsook stumbles a little in her heels and Gwiboon steadies her so she doesn’t fall over.
“Why are you wearing heels when you can’t stand in them?”
Eunsook shrugs.
“To look good,” she says. Gwiboon narrows her eyes.
“For whom?” she asks. Eunsook doesn’t answer.
Maybe forgiving Eunsook isn’t that easy and maybe it isn’t that good of an idea, because that means that Jonghyun believes it’s okay to invite her over when they’re hanging out and that Taemin doesn’t see any problem in Minho and Eunsook joining them for lunch. It shouldn’t really be a problem, but it is because Gwiboon is starting to maybe look a little too much at Eunsook’s body and maybe focus a little too little on the fact that she hurts the people around her. Gwiboon really doesn’t want any of her friends to catch the shift in her attitude, however, because that will lead to teasing and prodding – things she would like to avoid.
There are positive things about Eunsook, though. Hanging around her is making the teasing about her rank less annoying. It just matters less. Gwiboon is slowly realizing that maybe she’s blessed with her unimportant powers. She cannot hurt the humans like everybody with a higher rank but Gwiboon was never cut out to be a demon to wreck chaos in the world. She likes humans too much for that. It’s probably because of her mixed family and because of her brother, but Gwiboon hasn’t given it much thought.
Eunsook is kinder than her rank should allow her to be and she really only flirts with Gwiboon. The realization has Gwiboon sitting at the grave again, consulting her older brother, well-knowing that he won’t give her an answer. It’s becoming a problem because Gwiboon is slowly starting to fall in love with the other girl and that is not good. Gwiboon can deal with being wrong and she can deal with not hating all O-rank demons, but falling in love was not a part of the deal.
“Gwi!” Eunsook says and embraces her from behind. Gwiboon is sweaty and her hair is clinging to her forehead. He muscles ache but she smiles wide. She has just won her last qualification game and moved onto quarter finals.
“You did it!” Taemin says and ruffles Gwiboon’s purple hair while Eunsook still clings to her back. Gwiboon smirks and reaches out towards Taemin who steps away. Minho ruffles Taemin’s hair for her and Gwiboon starts laughing. Jonghyun is running towards her, Jiwoo hot on his heels.
“You’re amazing!” Jiwoo says and Jonghyun nods. Gwiboon gently removes herself from Eunsook’s embrace and goes to give Jonghyun a hug as well.
“Kibum would be proud,” Taemin says and Gwiboon pulls away to glare at him. Taemin just shrugs a little. Jiwoo agrees with him, though, and soon everybody is agreeing. Gwiboon frowns but lets it go.
When she leaves the tennis court, Eunsook follows her into the locker room. The rest of them stay outside, talking about the game. Gwiboon isn’t entirely sure why Eunsook has followed her into the locker room but she can feel her cheeks heat up at the thought that Eunsook is going to see her half-naked when she changes. Eunsook seems to understand the awkwardness and turns around. She places her hands on her eyes and Gwiboon snorts as she undresses. Her hair is still sweaty and clinging to her forehead but Gwiboon doesn’t want to shower, not with Eunsook here and her friends waiting outside.
“You’re beautiful,” Eunsook says suddenly and Gwiboon squeaks and turns around in her bra and her panties, the t-shirt in her hands only covering a small part of her chest. Eunsook smirks and peaks at Gwiboon. Gwiboon rolls her eyes.
“What’s up with that sentence?” she asks as she ignores her beating heart and pulls the shirt over her head.
“I’m just speaking the truth. I was from day 1. You are beautiful.”
Gwiboon scoffs.
“Okay, okay,” she says and looks down at the floor so she can pull her jeans up. When she looks up again, she’s staring into Eunsook’s brown eyes. “Uh,” she says dumbly and Eunsook smirks.
“Would you start hating me if I kissed you?” she asks. Gwiboon bites her lower lip.
“Maybe,” she says. “Why don’t you try it out?”
Eunsook snorts but places her lips on Gwiboon’s nonetheless. The kiss is nothing like Gwiboon has dreamt it to be. It’s soft, almost tentative. It’s asking for permission and submissive. When Eunsook pulls away, Gwiboon raises an eyebrow.
“If that’s how you kiss, then I might have to start hating you again. That’s so weak.”
Gwiboon smirks and Eunsook laughs.
“Game on,” she says before she pushes Gwiboon against the lockers and presses their lips together again. This time it’s a lot more dominant, a lot more aggressive. Eunsook knows how to kiss and Gwiboon lets herself drift away in pleasure. They first part when their lungs start protesting the lack of oxygen and Eunsook smirks a little.
“I’ll think about it,” Gwiboon says when she catches her breath. Then the door opens and Jiwoo looks inside.
“Come on, we’re waiting!” she says and Gwiboon bites her lower lip quickly before she shouts an ‘we’re coming’. As they leave the locker room, Eunsook leans down and whispers into Gwiboon’s ear.