Work Text:
Based on this tweet.
He’s got to admit, it’s fun.
Minhyun blinks a few times, double-checking if the light switch in his room is really turned off. It’s impressive— he can clearly make out the details of his desktop setup, his bed, and his bookshelf even if he’s only guided by the light of the moon. Nocturnal vision. How basic, for a demon power. But he can’t help but feel a child-like excitement about it, a giddiness like opening presents on Christmas. He thinks that he should have more existential qualms about this but it’s all being kept at bay by this morbid curiosity of what he is now. Maybe the questions about his humanity and all the foreboding stuff comes in later.
There’s a couple of taps on the window before it opens, followed by a boy letting himself inside. Minhyun notes the broken lock from when the boy first went through the window a week ago. He had been so frightened then, but now he’s used to it, the visits almost becoming a nightly occurrence.
“Minhyun,” the visitor calls.
Minhyun wonders if such a boyish voice can really belong to a half-demon. He instinctively touches his right arm, at the spot right above the elbow where he traces the outline of a fading scar. Hard to believe that it had been completely torn off. He watches the boy sitting on his window sill. He appears to be excited, bouncing his knees and looking around the room with wide eyes. Minhyun assumes that his visitor could see perfectly in the dark room, too. He wonders belatedly if there is anything in his room he should be embarrassed about.
Suddenly, the boy looks at Minhyun, a crease between his brows.
“I’m Baekho,” he says, pointing to himself, thinking that Minhyun’s silence could be because Minhyun forgot about him.
“I know who you are,” Minhyun replies, sounding more irritated than he intended. Or maybe not enough because Baekho smiles at him widely, almost showing his gums.
“JR told me to check up on you again,” he says, pointing to the top of his own head where his truncated horns sit.
“Isn’t Ren your leader?” Minhyun asks, running his hand over through his hair to feel for the bumps on his scalp. “They feel the same as last night.”
Before he can blink, Baekho is already a few inches away, his hand on Minhyun’s hair, feeling the horn over Minhyun’s hand. Minhyun drops his hand immediately but fights the urge to move way. He lets Baekho examine the small horns growing out of his head— the ones that Baekho gave him. It’s an odd sensation, faint, and he can’t understand the biology of it. He wonders if new nerve cells were formed along with the horns.
“It’s small, you can still hide it with your hair. That’s good,” Baekho nods approvingly then smiles at him again. Minhyun takes this as a cue to step back. Baekho shrugs, “Ren is older than any of us, but he is like a kid. JR tells us what to do even though he keeps saying he is Ren’s servant.”
“Oh, okay,” Minhyun responds, not processing the information. He’s still preoccupied with the odd sensation on his head.
“Are you having fun?” Baekho asks, already at the window, holding it open. He’s getting ready to leave.
“Huh?”
“You looked like you were having fun, before I entered.”
“Oh,” Minhyun rubs the back of his neck, ignoring the feeling of disappointment as he watches Baekho already half outside. “Yeah, I guess I am. I guess it’s fun, in a way. Although I don’t know exactly what I traded for it. Or if it’s worth it.” Baekho looks at him like he doesn’t understand completely but the crease returns between his eyebrows. It makes Minhyun feel guilty although he knows that it’s ridiculous to feel guilty in this situation. “But night vision is pretty cool. I can read in the dark, it’s easier to study ‘til late,” Minhyun jokes.
“That doesn’t sound fun,” Baekho argues, still not understanding, but he smiles again because Minhyun is smiling, too. After a pause, Baekho climbs back in the room. He reaches out his hand. “I know what’s fun. Come with me.”
“What?” Minhyun asks, confused, but he starts to reach out with his hand. As soon as he does, Baekho grabs his forearm and drags him out of the window.
They fall fast from the 16th floor, but weirdly enough, Minhyun doesn’t panic. He wonders if it’s because he’s already been so close to death, and he knows that now he’s nowhere near that.
“Jump when we land,” Baekho calls out, obvious elation in his voice.
It’s happens easier than Minhyun imagined, leaping as soon as he feels concrete, effortless. He doesn’t know if it’s because of his newly-awakened demon powers or it’s because Baekho is holding him up.
When they reach the apex of their jump, Minhyun looks down at the city he grew up in. The irony isn’t lost on him, how he’s up in the night sky but the urban lights look like stars. He looks back up at Baekho, his profile against the light of the moon.The shadow doesn’t obscure his face anymore, not with Minhyun’s eyes. Minhyun can see Baekho clearly.
Minhyun can’t help but let a laugh escape— he’s got to admit, this is fun.