Archive of Our Own ^beta

All things considered, Kim Taehyung was a bit of a pushover. Always the people-pleaser, He always went out of his way to avoid confrontation. To him, this meant never standing up for himself and forgiving others way too easily. While this approach did help him make friends, it also led to him being hurt many times. 

And that’s where people like Jeongguk come in. 

Well, he wasn’t technically a person . He was a demon. A guardian demon, to be specific. Unless demons counted as people? Jeongguk wasn’t sure. 

You may have thought, “a guardian demon? What the fuck? I thought there were only guardian angels?” Yes, guardian angels were a thing, but thanks to pro-angel/anti-demon propaganda, guardian demons were not nearly as well known. Most of the work guardian demons did was attributed to karma, since guardian demons specialized in revenge. And Jeongguk? Jeongguk loved revenge. 

After all, what was better than revenge?

“Hey Mr. Min!” Jeongguk strode into his boss’ office, confident smile on his face. His boss, Min Yoongi, looked up from the file in his hands. 

“Jeongguk! Just the man I wanted to see.”

“Well, I’d hope so, sir, since you called me to your office.” 

“I’m in a good mood today, don’t test your luck, kiddo,” said Yoongi, smile on his face, but now with a bit of an edge to it. I’m not that much younger than you... Jeongguk thought, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

“So, what did you need me for, sir?” He asked instead. Yoongi swiveled his chair so his body was completely facing Jeongguk and put down the file on his rather large desk. He nodded at the chairs in front of his desk, prompting Jeongguk to sit down, which he did. 

“I have a new human for you,” Yoongi said, opening the folder and pushing it towards Jeongguk. “For some reason, we forgot to assign him a new guardian demon after his last one retired 15 years ago. So he kind of just took whatever shit the world threw at him since he was 10 years old. He’s also like, a super pushover, or the most forgiving soul of all time, or something like that. I’ve been watching this guy for a few days and wow , he really lets everyone walk all over him.” Jeongguk picked up the folder and looked at the profile page and damn, okay. Jeongguk wasn’t one to exaggerate, but this guy may have been the most beautiful human Jeongguk had ever seen in his 1,997 years of living. He quickly read over the man’s basic information, eager to put a name to this beautiful face. 

Name: Kim Taehyung

Date of birth: December 30, 1995 

Height: 178 cm

Gender: Male

Blood type: AB

Hair color: dark brown

Eye color: dark brown

Place of birth: Daegu, South Korea

Jeongguk briefly flicked through the next few pages in the file, and decided he would read them later upon seeing that it was more background information and anecdotes. 

“So you need me to watch over this guy?” Jeongguk asked, looking back up at his boss. Yoongi nodded. 

“If you’re up for it. I could always ask Hoseok to take him on if this job is too much work for you-”

“No!” Jeongguk almost jumped out of his chair at the suggestion. “I am more than capable and willing to do it, sir.” Yoongi smiled, having succeeded at his goal of getting Jeongguk riled up. He was always so fun to tease. 

“That’s what I expected. Nothing less from one of the best in the business.” Yoongi smiled and stood up from his desk. “You start tomorrow morning. Email me if you have any questions. But for now, it’s my lunch break. Get out of my office.” Jeongguk gave Yoongi a quick bow before leaving the room, file in hand. 

Once he was down the hall and away from most of his coworkers, Jeongguk made a little jump of glee. Pushover cases were his favorite . He absolutely loved dishing out karma for people who wouldn’t (or couldn’t) dish it out themselves. Ironically, it made him feel good. 

“Kim Taehyung, huh?” Jeongguk said, looking at the picture again, smirking devilishly. “This is gonna be fun.”

---

“Um, excuse me…” Taehyung tried to get the attention of the barista behind the counter. The barista looked up at him, seemingly annoyed. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for Taehyung to speak. “I ordered this with almond milk, not regular milk.” 

“And what do you want me to do about it?” Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up at the barista’s tone and his heart dropped to his stomach. 

“Oh- um- nevermind it’s okay, it’s not a big deal…” Taehyung smiled apologetically at the barista, who just nodded and looked back down at the cup in his hands. Well, I don’t want to make his job harder...  

Although Taehyung couldn’t see him, Jeongguk was floating above him, watching the scene go down, absolutely fuming . He had been with Taehyung for a few days now, and this was the first time someone had been rude to Taehyung, and Jeongguk definitely wouldn’t let the bastard get away with it. 

Noticing that the barista was holding a steaming hot drink in his hands, Jeongguk smirked and floated over to him. With a swipe of his foot, Jeongguk sent the barista tumbling to the ground backwards, hot coffee spilling all over himself. 

Taehyung turned back around at the sound of the barista swearing. He looked concerned for a split second, but then he saw who fell, and Jeongguk could tell Taehyung was holding back a laugh. 

So he does have a little evil in him. Sweet. 

The barista stood up from the ground, still hissing at the heat of the liquid. He looked over in Taehyung’s direction and briefly, they made eye contact. Taehyung couldn’t help but break into a smile; the look on his face was priceless. 

Taehyung put his hand that wasn’t holding the coffee over his mouth and giggled. This seemed to make the barista even more irritated, as his already reddening face turned a deep scarlet. Feeling satisfied, but also feeling a little guilty, Taehyung turned on his heel and walked out of the coffee shop. 

Jeongguk smiled and followed Taehyung out the door. 

(But only after making sure the barista slipped again in the puddle he made on the floor, just for good measure.)

---

It was only two days later when another incident occurred. 

Taehyung sped down the stairs of the train station. He had slept in by accident and was going to be late to his 10:00 class if he didn’t catch this next train. As he stepped onto the platform, he was more than relieved to see the train pulling into the station. 

Made it right on time. 

Too focused on his mission of getting to the edge of the platform on time, Taehyung didn’t notice the woman walking dangerously close to him in the opposite direction. He felt something smack against his chest, knocking him back flat on his ass. A few papers and a binder fell out of his bag as he hit the ground. Taehyung looked up and saw a very displeased woman with a flat bob and a (frankly) very ugly pantsuit. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sor-”

“Jesus, watch where you’re going, moron! Are you blind? Or just stupid?” the woman cut him off. Taehyung looked back down at the ground, embarrassed. She scoffed before stomping off towards the stairs.

 Taehyung was stunned for a moment, but scrambled to pick up his papers once he remembered he had to get on the train, which was now sitting at the platform with its doors open. 

Jeongguk was about to go after the woman to give her a taste of karma, but he saw that the train doors were closing, and Taehyung still didn’t have all of his stuff together. The look of panic on his face was enough to make Jeongguk go over and stop the door from closing himself. He held the door open until Taehyung, looking relieved beyond belief, got everything back in his bag and stepped on the train. Jeongguk smiled as Taehyung took a seat and sighed. 

Revenge time.

Jeongguk found the woman fairly quickly, since her ugly pantsuit wasn’t very hard to pick out of a crowd. He worked a bit of his demon magic, snapped his fingers, then transported himself back to Taehyung’s side (still invisible, of course.) 

Needless to say, the woman was very frustrated when she realized she had gotten on the wrong train and was going to be late for work.

---

Jeongguk had spent about three weeks watching over Taehyung. Even three weeks in, Jeongguk was still astounded with how much Taehyung let people get away with. If the phrase “wouldn’t hurt a fly” was invented for a person, it would’ve been invented for Taehyung, even in the literal sense. One time, Taehyung just let a fly sit on the remains of his sandwich and eat away, not even attempting to swat it away. 

Jeongguk was also still astounded by how goddamn gorgeous Taehyung was. Jeongguk was sure Taehyung’s existence was a flex from God. His face was perfectly symmetrical, with an ideally curved nose and gorgeous lips and the prettiest brown eyes. And his voice was so rich and deep and Lucifer almighty, his eyelashes . Taehyung had the longest, prettiest eyelashes Jeongguk had ever seen. 

Jeongguk didn’t even realize that he was resting his head on his palm with a dreamy look on his face until Hoseok entered the breakroom and laughed. 

“You awake there, loverboy?” Hoseok teased. Jeongguk sat straight up.

“Huh?”

“You look like Cupid stuck an arrow in your ass. You meet a hot incubus, or something?” Hoseok grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter. Jeongguk scowled at him, but he felt his face heating up. 

“No.”

“Hot coworker?”

“No.”

“Oh Lucifer, you haven’t fallen for a human, have you?” Hoseok took a seat across from Jeongguk at the table. Jeongguk froze, mouth opening and closing as he tried to decide what to say. 

“No…” he said weakly, blushing all the way to his horns and the tips of his pointed ears. Hoseok gasped dramatically and let out a cackle of shock. 

“Holy shit, I was joking but I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?” 

“No! I haven’t fallen for him, or anything like that.”

“Aha! So there is a him! I fucking knew it, dude.” Hoseok took another crunch of his apple and laughed. Jeongguk groaned and put his face in his hands. “Spill! Who’s the mortal? Is he famous?” Jeongguk groaned again and leaned back in his seat, debating whether or not he should tell Hoseok about Taehyung. Eventually he decided, fuck it, Hoseok is my friend. Plus it’s not even a big deal. 

“Fine. Um- remember the new human I got assigned to a few weeks ago? Kim Taehyung?” Jeongguk said, scratching the back of his neck and averting his eyes. Hoseok’s eyes widened. 

“Dude, you have a crush on your assignment?” Hoseok asked incredulously. It wasn’t unheard of, guardian demons falling for their humans, but it was uncommon enough for Hoseok to be shocked. Generally, demons kept their jobs as guardian demons strictly professional. Hoseok would have expected Jeongguk to be one of those demons, considering he’s one of the best in the business and takes his job very seriously. 

“It’s not a crush! He’s just… he’s very attractive. Not even just for a human. Like, it’s weird how attractive he is. So I just admire his features! That is in no way some stupid crush,” Jeongguk defended. Hoseok rolled his eyes. “I’m serious! Is it a crime to find humans attractive?” 

“No, it’s not, I just don’t buy it for a second.” Hoseok shook his head. Jeongguk crossed his arms and huffed. He did not have a crush on a human . He was a powerful, immortal being of trickery and sin! He was above crushes.

“Think what you want Hoseok,” Jeongguk stood up from the table, “but I haven’t fallen for, and will never fall for a human,” and made his way to the door. 

“Lying is a sin, Jeongguk!” Hoseok called after him.

“So is being an annoying little bitch!”

He heard Hoseok’s cackling as he walked back to his office. 

---

“Ah fuck, is it nine already?” Jeongguk said, looking at the clock on the wall of the breakroom. A few of his coworkers, Namjoon, Seokjin, and Hoseok, sat with him at a table in the middle of the room. Namjoon turned around to look at the clock.

“I mean, that’s what the clock says.” Jeongguk rolled his eyes.

“It was a rhetorical question, asshole.” Namjoon snickered at Jeongguk’s response. “Whatever, I’m late for my shift. Later, cocksuckers.” 

“Bold words coming from a cum guzzler,” Seokjin said. Hoseok snorted. Jeongguk flipped him the bird with one hand and snapped his fingers with the other, and then he was gone. 

With that, Jeongguk found himself in the living room of the apartment he had become quite familiar with over the past few weeks. Expecting to see Taehyung bustling about in the kitchen, Jeongguk was surprised to find the room to be empty. 

Huh. Well that’s weird. Shouldn’t Taehyung be awake by now?

Jeongguk checked his calendar. Yup, it was definitely Tuesday. He had class in an hour. Was he still asleep?

Jeongguk floated through the wall into Taehyung’s bedroom, expecting to find the young man asleep, or otherwise in some stage of getting ready.

What he did not expect was Taehyung laying spread out in the middle of his bed, t-shirt pushed up to his chest and boxers pushed down around his thighs, a hand wrapped around himself. His face was flushed and his eyes were shut, hair a mess and bottom lip between his teeth. 

For a moment, Jeongguk was frozen. Then Taehyung made a noise, and Jeongguk snapped back to reality. It wasn’t too early to take his fifteen minute break, right?

“Oh, fuck ,” Taehyung moaned.

Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope no-

Jeongguk snapped his fingers immediately, and he was back in the breakroom, choking on his own spit. Namjoon, Seokjin, and Hoseok were still sitting at the table, so the three of them looked at Jeongguk with slightly startled expressions. 

“Are you okay?” Namjoon asked, but Jeongguk wasn’t listening. He was silent as he stared at the table, a mortified expression still plastered on his face.

“Who the fuck masturbates at nine in the morning?” he whispered. The three other demons burst into laughter. 

Jeongguk gave them a few good punches in the shoulder. 

---

Two months into watching over Taehyung, Jeongguk witnessed the first BIG wrongdoing against the human. 

Jeongguk watched Taehyung work tirelessly on his art history essay for several days. These days were kind of boring for Jeongguk, mostly consisting of Taehyung frantically typing away on his laptop at the campus library and/or downing energy drinks to keep himself awake.

 Jeongguk took a peek at his screen once and saw that he had a billion tabs open and that his essay was sixteen pages. Jeongguk had to move his bang to make sure he read it properly. Sixteen pages and he wasn’t even finished. 

This was one of the many times Jeongguk was thankful to have been born a demon and not had to go through the hell that is the human education system. He considers himself a hard worker, but he definitely would have dropped out within the first few weeks of college. 

Once Jeongguk realized his hours on the clock were going to consist of pretty much nothing, he decided to fuck around in the library. That way, he could keep an eye on Taehyung while still keeping himself entertained.

 One day towards the end of Taehyung’s writing process, Jeongguk was hovering a couple of tables away, listening to a couple have the quietest argument about one of them possibly cheating he had ever heard. They were whisper-yelling. Jeongguk wanted to grab some popcorn and laugh. Mortals.

Because of his entertainment for the night, Jeongguk missed a very important moment. Taehyung was skimming intently through a large textbook, trying to find a specific piece of information. There was a girl sitting diagonal from him at the square table where he was at, and she looked apologetic as she leaned toward Taehyung. 

“Excuse me?” she said. Taehyung looked up from his reading, keeping his finger on the line where he stopped. “I was wondering if I could borrow your laptop for a moment to send an email? I left mine charging at home.” The girl laughed off her awkwardness. 

“Oh! Um, sure, go right ahead,” Taehyung said. Couldn’t she just send it from her phone?  he thought, but decided against making any comments. Maybe she just didn’t think of that? Whatever, it’s not a big deal anyway. He slid the open laptop toward the girl and she thanked him profusely. After a few minutes of typing and clicking, the girl slid the laptop back. 

“Here you go! Thank you so much for letting me use it.”

“No problem at all!” Taehyung smiled warmly at the stranger. She nodded and offered a wave goodbye before leaving the library.

 Taehyung sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, desperately wanting to be able to leave too. But he knew he wouldn’t get nearly as much work done at home, and he needed this essay done by tomorrow. Taehyung mentally groaned before pulling his laptop back in front of him and typing away once again. 

Finally, finally , after what seemed like an eternity, Taehyung finished his essay. He let out the biggest sigh of relief of all time after stepping out of the library doors. 

He felt all the stress leave his body as he looked at his printed essay in his hands. He smiled, happy to be able to go home at last. Jeongguk was glad too, knowing that he wouldn’t have to sit in the boring library and watch Taehyung do nothing for at least a few more weeks. 

The next day, everything went to shit. Taehyung handed the professor his essay with a smile, knowing he did a good job. His professor briefly glanced over the first page and furrowed his eyebrows, but Taehyung didn’t see as he was already making his way back to his seat. 

Class went as normal after that. Boring lecture from a boring professor. Taehyung was glad to finally leave when class ended, but his happiness quickly turned into anxiety when his professor called to him on his way out the door.

“Kim Taehyung, a word?” he said. Taehyung turned around and cocked his head to the side. Had he done something wrong? He couldn’t think of anything he had done that would be deserving of “a word.” Nevertheless, he took the few steps needed over to his professor. 

“Yes, sir?” 

“Did you really think you could get away with handing in a plagiarized essay?” he said with a scowl. Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up and his stomach dropped. Plagiarized?

“Um- not to argue, sir, but I’m pretty sure I cited all my sources properly-”

“I’m not talking about citing sources. A student handed in an essay this morning with nearly the exact same content as yours, wording and all.” Taehyung’s mouth dropped open. 

“Well, how do you know it wasn’t that student who plagiarized?” Taehyung asked, suddenly very defensive. “Sir?” he added, not wanting to be impolite even in his confusion.

“Well, I have known this student for a very long time, and I know she would never copy anyone’s essay. You… you I’m not so sure about.” he said, looking down on Taehyung. 

Taehyung was astounded. Sure, he wasn’t always the greatest student, and his grades in art history weren’t the best, but Taehyung still did all of his own work, and he was very proud of this essay in particular. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what to say without sounding argumentative. He didn’t want to upset or disrespect his professor, after all. 

“I’ll be emailing the administration at once. I hope this teaches you a lesson. Now, please leave my classroom.” Eyes wide and left speechless, Taehyung obeyed and left the classroom. Tears welled up in his eyes as he pushed open the door and walked out into the open air. 

Jeongguk wasn’t far behind, floating a little above the ground as always. He was angry. He watched for days as Taehyung slaved over his essay, watched the hours and hours of research and rapid typing. No one got to accuse Taehyung of cheating. And certainly no one got to make Taehyung cry. His eyes glowed bright red and his horns started to heat up. 

He’s an old guy, and old guys tend to shit their pants, right? Jeongguk thought. Without thinking for a moment more, Jeongguk snapped his fingers and the deed was done. He hoped the professor didn’t carry around an extra pair of pants. 

Jeongguk snapped his fingers again and transported back over to Taehyung. He was still walking down the sidewalk, tears rolling down his face. He tried to wipe them away with his sleeve, but they were only replaced a second later by more tears.

 Jeongguk could feel his heart breaking in his chest. Taehyung stopped for a moment and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He clicked the screen a few times and held the phone up to his ear before continuing his walk. 

“Hey,  Jimin?” he said into the receiver. Over the past several weeks, Jeongguk had come to know Jimin as Taehyung’s best friend. He seemed relatively harmless, although Jeongguk did make him burn himself on his soup once when he made a jab at Taehyung at dinner.

 “Hey, s-sorry for calling sudden-suddenly, but,” Taehyung sniffled, “can I come over?” 

Next thing he knew, they were at Jimin’s apartment. As soon as he opened the door, Jimin engulfed Taehyung in the biggest hug. A bit of the stress immediately melted off Taehyung. Jimin pulled away after a minute and motioned for Taehyung to come inside. 

“What happened?” Jimin asked, leading Taehyung to the living room and sitting him on the couch. “Do you want some tea?” Taehyung nodded and Jimin scurried off to the kitchen. 

“My- my professor said that- h-he said that,” Taehyung took a deep breath. “He accused me of plagiarizing my essay. Didn’t even tell me who’s essay it was or ask for an explanation. And he said he would be contacting the administration…” Taehyung trailed off as his eyes welled up with tears again. 

“And you didn’t plagiarize, did you?”

“No! Of course not! I don’t even talk to anyone in that class.”

“Well then, if we could prove it wasn’t your fault, then everything will be okay, right?” 

“I guess but-” Taehyung sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I don’t know how… I could lose my scholarship over this…” he put his face in his hands. 

Jimin was done with the tea now and brought the steaming mug back over to where Taehyung was on the couch. Taehyung took the mug and whispered “thank you” before taking a sip. Jimin ran a hand through his hair. 

“Do you have your laptop?” Jimin asked. Taehyung nodded and pulled the laptop out of his bag. Jimin opened it and Taehyung entered his password. “Did you let anyone borrow your laptop while you were writing?”

“No, I don’t think so. Well there was this one girl who…” Taehyung trailed off and his eyes widened. Suddenly, he stood up. “That bitch! I knew it was sketchy that she wanted my laptop to send an email! She’s probably the one who stole my essay!” Jeongguk was a little surprised at how fast Taehyung’s mood changed from worried to livid. 

“What bitch?”

“I don’t know her name, but this chick who sat across from me at the library yesterday asked to borrow my laptop to send an email and took a suspiciously long amount of time, now that I think about it. God, I’m so stupid.” Taehyung sat back down and put a hand on his forehead.

“Well, maybe she left some tracks in your history?” Jimin said, phrasing his statement like a question. Jimin pulled up the browser and clicked on “History.” A couple minutes of scrolling and scanning with their eyes, neither boy found anything. Taehyung ran a hand over his face, stressed beyond belief. Jeongguk drew his eyebrows together, trying to think of a way to help. 

I wonder if I can like… turn back time on the browser history? Well, it’s worth a shot. Jeongguk snapped his fingers and the screen went blank. Fuck.

“Fuck!” Jimin swore. Then, the screen came back on. The history was still pulled up, but it was different now. 

This time, it showed that someone named Choi Jihyun had logged into her google account and opened google docs, then opened Taehyung’s google doc of his essay, and then went back to her account and created a new doc. Both men’s eyes widened.

“What the fuck just happened,” said Taehyung. Jimin was too dumbfounded to respond. 

Wordlessly, he clicked on Jihyun’s profile, noticing she was suddenly still logged in. Lo and behold, there was her art history essay, copied almost word for word from Taehyung’s essay. The main difference was the last few paragraphs, since she “borrowed” his laptop before he was finished. Taehyung looked up at the ceiling. 

“God, or whoever that was just now, fucking thank you.” Jeongguk smiled. 

Not God, but you’re welcome. 

Taehyung emailed his professor, telling him about how he let Choi Jihyun borrow his laptop, and attached screenshots of the browser history. The professor set up a meeting with himself, Taehyung, and Jihyun for the next day. 

Taehyung enveloped Jimin in a big celebratory hug, while Jeongguk floated just a few feet away, smiling contentedly. 

The meeting went as expected. Jihyun, who was indeed the girl from the library, ended up accidentally exposing herself. 

“That’s impossible! I deleted the browser history!” she had said before smacking a hand over her mouth. 

The professor apologized to Taehyung profusely, to which Taehyug reassured him that it was okay (it wasn’t) and that mistakes like this happen (they don’t.) 

When he left his professor’s office, Jihyun was crying, and Taehyung wasn’t proud to admit he felt a sick sort of satisfaction at seeing it. He knew Jihyun probably wouldn’t get expelled or face any major repercussions, since she was close with the professor, but just seeing her so distraught at the fact that she got caught was enough. That, and the knowledge that he wasn’t going to lose his scholarship over something he didn’t do. 

“Whatever force exists in the universe, I could kiss you right now!” Taehyung said to the open air once he was outside. 

Jeongguk definitely did not blush. 

---

Jeongguk was very displeased to have to accompany Taehyung on a date. Not because he was jealous , or anything stupid like that, but because dates were boring. And sappy. And Jeongguk didn’t really trust this Byungjoon guy anyway. Not because he was jealous! He just got a weird vibe, that’s all. 

Taehyung was very nervous. He hadn’t been on a date in a very long time, especially not with someone as cool as Byungjoon. Like many other people, they met at a bar. Unlike many other people, Byungjoon and his band were playing a gig at a bar Taehyung decided to go to, and Byungjoon hit on Taehyung after the show. Usually Taehyung was weary of people at bars, having encountered way too many creeps in his lifetime, but he was instantly enamoured by Byungjoon.

He paced back and forth in front of his bathroom mirror, trying to hype himself up. He stopped in front of the sink and looked at himself.

“You can do this. You can do this. You won’t make a fool of yourself. You’re handsome and he’ll love you,” Taehyung told himself. Jeongguk silently agreed with the last statement. Taehyung took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. With newfound confidence (that was mostly pretend), Taehyung grabbed his keys, threw on a jacket, and left his apartment. 

Unfortunately Taehyung and Byungjoon hit it off. The first date went well, and so did the second date, and the third date, and fourth date, and so on until Byungjoon asked Taehyung to be his boyfriend. 

Three months into their relationship, Byungjoon was at Taehyung’s house. They were cuddling and watching a movie. Jeongguk was secretly pouting in the corner. Taehyung looked so happy. He nuzzled his face into Byungjoon’s shoulder and smiled. Byungjoon also looked pleased, but in a way that made Jeongguk’s skin crawl. 

“I gotta go to the bathroom, babe, I’ll be right back,” said Byungjoon, standing up off the couch. 

“Okay,” said Taehyung. He smiled at Byungjoon as he left the living room. He settled back into his spot, this time actually watching what was going on in the film since he didn’t have his boyfriend to distract him. About a minute later, Byungjoon’s phone went off. Taehyung’s eyes were immediately attracted to the sound and he looked at his boyfriend's phone where it was lying on the couch next to him. Taehyung usually would have brushed it off, but something in the text message caught his eye. He picked up the phone to get a closer look. 

From Minjun:

heyyyyy r u still at work???? if not you should come over <3 im hornyyyy ;)))

Taehyung’s heart dropped to his stomach. Before Jeongguk could also check what was on the phone, Byungjoon was coming out of the bathroom. He froze when he saw his phone in Taehyung’s hands. The hurt on Taehyung’s face when he looked at Byungjoon broke Jeongguk’s heart. 

“You’re cheating on me?” Taehyung’s voice came out as a whisper. Byungjoon looked panicked for a moment, before laughing awkwardly.

“Babe, what are you talking about? I’d never-” he was cut off when Taehyung held up his phone to show him the text notification on the screen. His face dropped immediately. “Well why the fuck were you going through my phone?” 

“I wasn’t! The notification just popped up on screen so I could easily see it!” Byungjoon scowled and snatched the phone out of Taehyung’s hands. He looked at the text before opening his phone and typing something, probably an answer to Minjun’s message. 

“Well maybe if you weren’t such a nosy little bitch I wouldn’t be cheating on you!” Byungjoon spat. Taehyung’s mouth immediately snapped shut. Jeongguk’s mouth dropped open. Are you fucking kidding me?  

Taehyung’s eyes started to well up with tears. Byungjoon laughed tauntingly. “Are you really surprised? You know I was only keeping you around because you’re a good fuck, right? But you’re so goddamn annoying I had to get my needs met elsewhere.” Byungjoon scoffed, walking over to the front door and slipping his shoes on. Taehyung was frozen in place. 

“Good luck finding someone else desperate enough to fuck you. Bye!” Byungjoon left the apartment and slammed the door shut. For a minute, Taehyung just stood there, trying to process what just happened. Then, he collapsed down on the couch, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed. 

Jeongguk was fuming . No, fuming didn’t even begin to describe the anger he felt. He was so furious his horns were on fire. He was so angry that, for a moment, he lost control of his invisibility powers. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Jeongguk popped out of thin air and started pacing angrily. “Who the fuck does he think he is?! Blaming you for his cheating! How dare he! And no one should be allowed to speak to you like that! I swear, when I get my hands on that bas-” 

Jeongguk stopped himself mid-sentence. He made eye contact with Taehyung. Taehyung was looking at him . Taehyung was no longer crying, probably from the shock, and his mouth was hanging wide open. 

“What the fuck.” Jeongguk looked down at himself. And then back up at Taehyung. And then back down at himself. 

“Well shit, um- shit should I be in my human form? Is this too much?” Jeongguk thought out loud. Without getting an answer, he snapped his fingers and suddenly his horns were gone, his spiked leather clothing replaced by a plain black t-shirt and jeans. 

“Better?” he asked. He looked up at Taehyung and scratched the back of his neck. Taehyung just looked at him with wide eyes. “Um… sorry, this wasn’t supposed to happen, if you couldn’t tell…” 

“Am I dreaming?” Taehyung asked. He rubbed his eyes a few times, trying to figure out of this was some kind of illusion. “Am I on drugs right now?” 

Jeongguk opened and closed his mouth a few times, making vague gestures with his hands, trying to figure out how to explain the situation. Guardian demons could do a lot of things, but memory wiping wasn’t one of them. 

“I’m Jeongguk,” he finally said, sticking his hand out towards Taehyung for him to shake. Silence. Jeongguk raised said hand in the air and gave himself a high five after he realized Taehyung wasn’t gonna shake it. “I’m uh- I’m your guardian demon.” 

“My what?” 

“Guardian demon. You know, like a guardian angel. But a demon.” Taehyung didn’t answer, and Jeongguk just stood there awkwardly, playing with his fingers. Suddenly, Taehyung stood up. 

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he deadpanned. He was gone from the living room in an instant. Jeongguk wasn’t quite sure what to do. Should he wait for him? Leave? Go after him? 

Jeongguk settled on taking a seat on the couch. Jeongguk didn’t know how long he sat there before Taehyung returned. He looked a bit calmer, but still looked like he was trying to process everything. 

“So you’re a guardian demon?” Taehyung asked from where he was standing by the edge of the couch. Jeongguk nodded. “Prove it.” Jeongguk raised an eyebrow. 

“Uh, I kind of just appeared out of thin air with horns, I think that’s pretty solid proof?”

“Turn into a demon again.”

“I am a demon.”

“You know what I mean!” Taehyung snapped. Jeongguk sighed, but complied. He snapped his fingers and he was back to his standard form. Taehyung gulped, looking over Jeongguk. Jeongguk definitely wasn’t flustered under Taehyung’s gaze. 

Taehyung took the time to get a good hard look at Jeongguk. A hallucination couldn’t be this detailed, right? His right arm was covered in tattoos. He was shirtless, but with some kind of leather harness with spikes around his torso. His pants looked to also be leather, decorative chains hanging from the (also spiked) belt. On his feet were probably the largest, most throat-stomping platform boots he had ever seen. 

His eyes traveled back up to his face and he gulped, again. Jet black hair complimented his red eyes, and his fangs were visible with the way Jeongguk was nervously smiling. He looked like one of Taehyung’s sexual fantasies come to life. How the fuck could this be real?

“Um…” Jeongguk said after a while. Taehyung snapped back to reality. You know what, fuck it, this might as well happen. Adult life is already so goddamn weird, Taehyung thought. He sighed and sat down on the couch. 

“So… do y’all like… make people do evil stuff?” Taehyung asked. Jeongguk almost laughed. 

“Oh my god, no, we don’t. We like, help with revenge and stuff. Get back at people who wrong humans we watch over. We’re like… we’re like karma keepers.” Jeongguk explained. Karma keepers? What the fuck, Jeongguk? the demon thought. 

Taehyung nodded slowly, looking off into the distance and scratching his jaw. Then, his eyes widened and he gasped. 

“That was you!” Taehyung turned to look at Jeongguk. “With the essay plagiarism thing! You made the browser history come back!” Jeongguk nodded. Taehyung smiled widely. “Holy shit. I knew there was some kind of magical force helping me out with that!” Taehyung looked so excited, Jeongguk’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. 

Cute. Wait, no, what the fuck? Not cute. Shut up brain.

“Yup, that was me.” Jeongguk smiled sheepishly because Taehyung was staring right at him. “I also knocked over that one barista who was a dick to you. And made that lady from the train station miss her train. And made the soda machine blast all over that mom and her bratty kid at Panda Express that one time. And probably every other incident like that you can think of.” Taehyung was still smiling. 

“Wow.” It was silent between them for a few moments. Then, Taehyung piped up again. “Wait… so you get revenge on people who wrong me, right?” 

“I do.”

“So… Byungjoon would be one of those people?” he asked. Jeongguk’s face broke into a devilish smirk. 

“Ah, I thought you’d never ask.” Jeongguk stood up off the couch and began pacing again, trying to think of how to get revenge best. “How badly do you want to hurt him?” Jeongguk asked. Taehyung’s expression fell, starting to look a little unsure. 

“Well… I don’t want to hurt him…” Taehyung trailed off. Jeongguk’s expression turned confused. 

“Taehyung, he literally has been cheating on you, and then he blamed you for it. And insulted you! That’s completely unacceptable and he needs to pay.” Jeongguk looked dead serious. 

Taehyung clicked his tongue and looked at the ground, still looking doubtful. For a minute, Taehyung just sat there and thought. He did hurt him really bad, right? Taehyung felt a stab of pain in his heart thinking back on the words Byungjoon threw at him. 

And then, he was angry. He looked back up at Jeongguk, this time with determination. 

“Okay, so how are we gonna do this?” 

Jeongguk doesn’t think he’s ever smiled harder. 

---

Taehyung and Jeongguk spent the next few days brainstorming. They sat at Taehyung’s kitchen table for hours, but no punishment they could think of seemed to fit the crime. Jeongguk insisted he could take care of the revenge himself, but Taehyung was eager to be a part of it. 

“What if we, like, gave him a bunch of nasty STDs?”

“Hm… no, because that also affects the other people he’s sleeping with.”

“Ah shit, you’re right.” Jeongguk scratched his nose, thinking. 

“What if we, like…” Taehyung trailed off. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

“Me neither.” There were a few beats of silence. 

“Wanna go get boba?” Taehyung asked. Jeongguk cocked his head. 

“Huh?” Taehyung looked at Jeongguk in disbelief. 

“Oh my god, don’t tell me they don’t have boba in hell.”

“Oh, wait, is boba that tea stuff with the round thingies?” Jeongguk asked. Taehyung stood up from the table and rushed to his room to put some shoes on. 

“Change into your human clothes, horny boy! I’m about to change your life.”

“Please don’t call me horny boy.”

“It’s just because you have horns! Get your mind out of the gutter, Jeongguk.”

“That does not change the connotation of the word horny.” When Taehyung didn’t answer, Jeongguk sighed and snapped his fingers. On his way over to the front door, Jeongguk stopped in front of the hallway mirror to check his appearance. He was still messing with his hair when Taehyung strode out of his room and unlocked the front door. When Jeongguk didn’t move, Taehyung sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“Oh my god, you look fine, let’s just go!” Taehyung said impatiently, grabbing the demon’s wrist and dragging him out the door. Jeongguk blushed and mumbled something akin to “shut up.” 

A few minutes and a couple of blocks later, Jeongguk found himself in an overly-cutesy pastel themed shop. Jeongguk shifted his weight back and forth uncomfortably for multiple reasons: 1) He had never been surrounded by so much pink in his long, long life and 2) he was not used to being in crowds of humans that could actually see him. Jeongguk scratched the back of his neck, noticing a group of girls staring at him. 

“Hey, you good?” Taehyung asked, sensing his discomfort. 

“Yeah it’s just- people are- uh- people are staring at me. They can’t tell I’m different, can they?” The nervous tone in Jeongguk’s voice was entirely new to Taehyung. Taehyung looked at the group of girls the demon seemed to be talking about, then looked back at Jeongguk. Then, to Jeongguk’s confusion, he giggled. 

“Oh my god , you’re fine, Jeongguk. No one can tell.”

“Then… then why are they staring?” Taehyung laughed again. Was he really that dense? 

“They’re staring because you’re hot, buddy. Probably the hottest person in this boba shop.” Jeongguk’s eyes widened comically and he turned his attention towards the girls again. Sure enough, as soon as he looked at them, the girls blushed and giggled, quietly chattering amongst themselves. Jeongguk’s face burnt up. He whipped back around to face Taehyung.

“... Oh.” 

Before either of them could say anything else, the cashier was calling them up to take their order. As Taehyung ordered for the both of them, Jeongguk had time to stew in his embarrassment. 

Wait. Did… did Taehyung say I was hot???

Jeongguk looked up from the ground at the profile of the human beside him. He cast his eyes back down and gulped. 

Once they got their drinks, Taehyung picked out a table in the corner of the shop for them to sit at. He watched eagerly as he waited for Jeongguk to take his first sip. 

And damn , that first sip was good. 

As soon as the milk tea hit his tongue, Jeongguk lit up, giving a waiting Taehyung a nod and a thumbs up. Taehyung flashed a bright smile and took a long sip of his own drink. 

“Good, right?”

“Really good, holy shit. Why don’t we have this at home?” Jeongguk went in for another drink as soon as he swallowed the first. Taehyung was about to laugh and shoot back some witty answer, but the words died on his lips as his eyes caught something on the wall opposite him. Before Jeongguk could ask what was up, Taehyung was out of his seat and across the room.

 Jeongguk’s eyes followed him to some kind of messageboard with a bunch of flyers on it. Taehyung took out his phone and snapped a picture of one of the flyers before speeding back over to the table. Jeongguk raised an eyebrow in question, and Taehyung wordlessly slid the phone in front of Jeongguk, an excited grin on his face. 

---------------------

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---------------------

Jeongguk looked back up at Taehyung, who was still smiling.

“What is this?”

“Blood Red Tiger Cult,” Taehyung said. 

“Huh?”

“Blood Red Tiger Cult! That’s the band my ex is lead guitar in!” Jeongguk looked back down at the phone and, sure enough, “Blood Red Tiger Cult” was written under the performers list in bold. Jeongguk couldn’t help but laugh.

“You dated a guy whose band is called Blood Red Tiger Cult?” Jeongguk asked, teasing lilt in his voice. Taehyung scowled and snatched his phone back from Jeongguk, though he wasn’t able to suppress the smile creeping to his face.

“It seemed cool and edgy at the time!” Taehyung defended. “But god, it really is a ridiculous name. That’s not the point though! His band is performing at this big showcase!” Jeongguk drew his eyebrows together. 

“I’m… I’m not sure I follow,” Jeongguk said. Taehyung huffed and rolled his eyes, standing up from his seat and grabbing his drink. 

“God, are all demons this dense? Come on, let’s get back to my apartment. I don’t want anyone eavesdropping.” For the second time that night, Jeongguk let himself be dragged by the arm by a mortal who wasn't even close to half as strong as him. 

As soon as they crossed the threshold of his apartment, Taehyung laid out his brilliant idea to Jeongguk. As he spoke, Jeongguk’s smile grew wider and wider. This plan was evil. So, so evil and Jeongguk was loving every second of it. 

Jeongguk produced a piece of paper and a pen so they could write all of this down and later decide on some kind of final plan. 

“Are you sure it's not too mean?” Taehyung asked at one point. Jeongguk rolled his eyes.

“Please, the only punishment that would be too mean would be death.”

Both of them smiled when they looked at the final plan on the piece of paper before them. Taehyung stuck out his pinky and looked at Jeongguk. Jeongguk grinned and linked their pinkies together. This was gonna be fun. 

---

Two days after that, there was a slight… disruption in their plan. Taehyung had been pretty busy with school work, and life continued for both of them as normal (besides Taehyung now being aware that it was a demon tripping people who ran into him. Today, however, Taehyung didn’t have any classes, and he was determined to teach Jeongguk how to play Battleship. 

“Hm… 3A?” Taehyung said.

“GODDAMMIT!” Jeongguk slammed his hand on the table, horns aflame. “You sunk my fucking goddamn stupid fucking battleship!” Jeongguk looked absolutely furious, and Taehyung fell backwards laughing. 

He probably shouldn’t laugh at the potentially very dangerous demon sitting only a few feet away from him, but Taehyung couldn’t help himself. There was something undeniably cute about seeing Jeongguk, an immortal being from hell, getting frustrated over a board game .

Jeongguk hardly had time to snap at Taehyung before there was a knock at the door. Panicked, Taehyung looked over at Jeongguk. 

“Disappear. Now,” Taehyung whispered. Fuck , he completely forgot Jimin was coming over. Jeongguk complied, snapping his fingers as Taehyung rushed over to the door. 

“Hey, Jimin! Totally forgot you were coming today. Come in, come in!” Jimin squinted at him from where he stood outside the door. Cautiously, he stepped in the apartment. 

“Who else is here?” he asked. Taehyung almost choked. 

“No one! No one is here. It’s just me,” he said unconvincingly. Jimin raised an eyebrow. 

“Taehyung, I literally just heard you talking to someone.”

“Oh! That was just- um- the TV show I was watching. Yup. Really funny show.” Taehyung was practically sweating at this point. He knew Jimin could see right through him. Jimin’s suspicious eyes shifted over to the coffee table in the living room. 

“So you were watching TV… and playing Battleship? By yourself?” Jimin asked. 

“Yes.”

“Taehyung.”

“Jimin.”

“You know you don’t have to lie to me.” Jimin sighed exasperatedly. “If you have some guy over I’m not gonna judge you. It only took me a few days to get over-”

“Oh my god, it’s not like that! I just-” Taehyung groaned and put his face in his hands. “Okay, fine, I know I can’t hide anything from you.” Taehyung took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, mentally preparing himself for what was sure to be a chaotic interaction. “Jeongguk, you can come out now.” 

Silence. 

“Jeongguk! Come on, please don’t tell me you flaked on me.” Jimin looked around, trying to look for anyone Taehyung could be talking to. Jimin looked back at Taehyung, now a little concerned for his friend’s mental health instead of annoyed at his supposed lies. 

“Hey, man, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, holy shit, Jeongguk!” Jeongguk sighed, not wanting to reveal himself to yet another human, but also not wanting to let Taehyung stand there and look like a crazy person. The demon pinched the bridge of his nose and snapped. 

Immediately, Jimin fell backwards flat on his ass with an alarmed yelp.

“What the fuck! Actually what the fuck. Taehyung did you drug me or something?” Taehyung walked closer to Jimin.

“No, why and how would I do that? Please don’t freak out too much. I swear I can explain everything,” Taehyung said, trying his best to calm Jimin down. Jimin’s eyes flicked from Taehyung, to Jeongguk, to Taehyung, and back to Jeongguk again. A pause.

“Well, I’m waiting for an explanation!”

“I’m waiting for you to calm down!” 

“I am calm! Can’t you see I’m perfectly fucking calm! Jesus christ, what the fuck is even happening right n-”

“Jimin!” Jeongguk’s booming voice commanded silence. Two pairs of startled eyes fell upon the demon. He noticed their fearful reactions and was suddenly a little sheepish. “Please be quiet so Taehyung can explain.” Jimin gulped, still on the floor, and nodded. 

Taehyung sat down next to Jimin and motioned for Jeongguk to do the same. Jeongguk huffed, but obliged. 

“So, this is Jeongguk. He’s my… hesmyguardiandemon.” Jimin squinted again. 

“He’s your what?”

“Myguard-” 

“Taehyung, please stop mumbli-”

“My guardian demon! Jeongguk is my guardian demon!” Jimin’s mouth hung open. It was silent for a few moments.

“Taehyung, I swear to god if this is another one of your pranks I’m gonna kill you,” Jimin said, his tone serious. 

“It’s not a prank, I swear on my life,” Taehyung answered. Jimin studied him for a moment, looking for any sign that he was lying. Finding none, he turned towards the unfamiliar man and pointed a finger at him.

“You,” he started. Jeongguk gulped, worried he was about to get an earful from Jimin. “You’re a demon? For real?” Jeongguk nodded. “This isn’t some kind of magic trick? You’re not fucking with me?” Jeongguk shook his head.

“Well, it is magic, but it’s not really a trick. This is just how I look.” Jimin gaped, eyes scanning over Jeongguk’s body and back up to his face. His eyes fixated on Jeongguk’s horns. Then he looked back at Taehyung, expression still guarded, but a little more believing. 

“Explain. Now.” 

And so Jeongguk and Taehyung worked together to explain the situation. About the existence of guardian demons, about how Jeongguk got assigned to Taehyung, about the terrible breakup (Jimin held his hand throughout the story and gave him the biggest hug when he was done), and finally, about the plan. The foolproof revenge plan that was hopefully going to haunt Byungjoon for the rest of his life. As they explained the plan, Jimin’s face grew into a smile. Jimin definitely had a little evil in him. 

“So, when’s the gig?” Jimin asked.

“March thirteenth. So like, five weeks from now.” Taehyung answered, almost vibrating with excitement. 

“And I get to come, right?”

“Well-” Jeongguk started, but Taehyung cut him off. 

“Of course! I need my best friend present for any kind of revenge plan!” Jeongguk looked at Taehyung incredulously. Taehyung raised a challenging eyebrow. “What? Is that a problem?”

“Well, it’s probably not a great idea to involve another human in this. I mean, it’s already bad enough that you’re working with me, shit , even knowing about me is kind of a risk and-” 

“Jeongguk. Cut the bullshit. We’re letting Jimin in on this. It’s my revenge plan, and I should be able to say who can and can’t participate.” Jeongguk opened and closed his mouth several times, but he couldn’t say no to Taehyung, especially with that commanding look in his eyes. 

“ Fine . The brat can join.”

“Yay!” Taehyung exclaimed, his serious expression quickly turning jovial. 

“Okay, sick. Do you need me to do anything?” Jimin looked at Taehyung and Jeongguk. 

“Um, if you could help us go unnoticed, or create distractions for Byungjoon while we set up, then that would be fantastic,” Jeongguk said. Jimin smiled and nodded. 

“Let’s fucking do this then.” Jimin and Taehyung linked pinkies. Then they looked at Jeongguk. 

“What?” the demon asked. Taehyung gestured to their interlocked pinkies. Jeongguk sighed, but hooked his pinkie around both of theirs anyway. 

---

“See, I told you, Taehyung, human drugs have no effect on me!”

Several days had passed since Jimin found out about Jeongguk. It was a Friday night, so Taehyung had no classes the next day. Deciding to take advantage of this, Taehyung dragged Jeongguk out to a bar (after Jeongguk had made himself more human, of course) and insisted they drink together. Jeongguk doubted that it would actually get him drunk, but indulged Taehyung anyway. 

Jeongguk turned out to be correct in his doubts, because there they were, sitting in the corner of some shitty bar with neon lights illuminating their faces and bass booming in the background, the human drunk off his ass and the demon stone cold sober. 

“Yah, shut up. It was worth a shot. Literally,” Taehyung slurred, giggling with glass of soju in hand. Jeongguk scoffed and rolled his eyes. The pair had chosen a table in the far corner of the bar, far from the dance floor, so they could still hear each other talk. “What’s the deal with that anyway?”

“The deal with what?”

“Like why can’t you get drunk?” Jeongguk stared at Taehyung blankly for a moment.

“Because I’m a demon?” 

“Nooooo, I mean like-” Taehyung hiccuped and, jesus, he was really drunk, “-why can’t demons get drunk in general?” Jeongguk took a moment to think. He had never really thought about it before. 

“I mean, our DNA is different? Like, technically we’re two different species, so I guess it makes sense that we’d have different reactions to certain things,” Jeongguk did his best to answer. Taehyung pouted. 

“Don’t get all technical on me, Gukkie, I’m not a science major.” Jeongguk almost choked at the nickname. 

“Taehyung, I don’t think DNA is super technical.”

“It is to me!” Jeongguk was quickly learning that Taehyung was a whiny drunk. 

“Okay, well-” Jeongguk felt himself getting frustrated and took a deep breath. “Demons can’t get drunk because they’re too powerful to be affected by alcohol. They need more powerful substances to get them intoxicated. I guess,” Jeongguk attempted at an answer again, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Ah. That makes sense,” Taehyung said, seemingly satisfied by the answer. Jeongguk huffed out a laugh at how quickly Taehyung’s mood changed. He took another sip of his soju. Even though he couldn’t get drunk, he still liked the taste. 

Suddenly, Taehyung stood up from the table.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” he announced. Jeongguk nodded in acknowledgement and tried very hard not to stare at Taehyung’s ass as he walked away. He also tried very hard not to give in to his protective instincts (because of his job, obviously) and accompany Taehyung to the bathroom.

Come on, Jeongguk, I’m sure he’ll be fine for five minutes in the bathroom. He’s an adult human. He can mostly take care of himself. 

So five minutes passed, and Jeongguk waited. And waited. And waited. 

And then he decided, fuck it, nothing wrong with checking up on him. He’d been gone for too long for Jeongguk to be comfortable waiting anymore. 

Lo and behold, Taehyung was standing outside the bathroom, very much not alone. Another man stood in front of him and Taehyung looked very, very uncomfortable. Immediately, Jeongguk saw red. 

Not hesitating for even a moment, Jeongguk stormed over to the pair. As he got closer, he could hear a snippet of their conversation. 

“Um, I really shouldn’t, I have someone waiting for me and- I’m- I’m not really in the mood…”

“Come on, baby, just one dance? Don’t be so frigid.” 

“Hey, asshole, he said no,” Jeongguk said, anger evident in his tone. Taehyung looked so relieved he could’ve cried. The other man, on the other hand, was far from relieved. He turned around, nostrils flared, and wow, this guy was definitely too old to be hitting on Taehyung. Gross. 

“What did you just say?” the man said. “What are you, his boyfriend?” The man attempted to look tough, putting a cocky smirk on his face and puffing out his chest. The display was so juvenile Jeongguk could have laughed. But he was too angry for that at the moment. Instead, Jeongguk leaned in close to the creep, easily looming over him despite not being much taller. Like a fool, the creep did his best to maintain eye contact, but was very obviously frightened. 

“I said,” Jeongguk spoke in a low tone and grabbed the creep’s shirt collar for emphasis, “that he said no. I’m not sure if you learned to speak from a monkey, but that means fuck off. So, I suggest you get the fuck away from him, or I swear to hell I will drag you out of here right now and beat the fuck out of you.” 

The creep’s eyes jumped back and forth Jeongguk’s large biceps and his furious stare. The guy was practically shivering, and Jeongguk didn’t blame him. To have a powerful being, demon or not, holding you by the shirt collar with a wild stare and threatening a sufficient ass beating is quite a frightening experience. 

Jeongguk let go of the creep’s collar and smirked as the older man scurried away, amusement starting to replace the anger he felt. Then, he remembered Taehyung, and amusement turned to worry. 

“Are you alright?” Jeongguk asked, hoping Taehyung didn’t notice his overly-frantic tone. Taehyung smiled at the floor and nodded before making his way back over to their table. Jeongguk, of course, followed suit. 

“Thank you,” Taehyung said quietly after a minute or so of silence. Jeongguk looked up from his drink and was surprised to see Taehyung looking shy , the last of all reactions Jeongguk would have expected. And god, the look was so cute on Taehyung. 

Oh my god, shut up Jeongguk.

“Oh- I’m just doing my job.” Jeongguk scratched the back of his neck and averted his gaze. 

“Your job includes physically threatening people who harass me?” God, Taehyung had the audacity to tease him in this situation. Jeongguk was thankful for the colorful lighting, since it probably masked the blush rising to his face. 

“Well- that’s um- It’s kind of-” Jeongguk tried and failed to defend himself. Taehyung just laughed and shuffled closer to Jeongguk in the booth. Before Jeongguk could ask what he was doing or push him away, Taehyung had a hand on one of his cheeks and his lips on the other, planting a big, sloppy, very obviously drunk kiss to the side of the Jeongguk’s face. Jeongguk was frozen as Taehyung went back to his regular seat. 

“The hero always gets a kiss from the princess when he rescues her, right?” Taehyung answered the question Jeongguk was too dumbstruck to ask. 

Hero. Princess. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. 

When Jeongguk still didn’t answer, instead pressing his lips into a thin line, Taehyung laughed again. “So, wait, do demons have to wear suits to work?”

Taehyung was going to kill him. 

Jeongguk, Powerful and Revered Demon and self-titled Karma Keeper, was going to die of a heart attack at the hands of a mortal. 

---

“Taehyung!” Jeongguk transported into Taehyung’s kitchen. It was about five in the afternoon, and Taehyung was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. 

Startled from the demon’s sudden appearance, Taehyung jumped and nearly fell out of his seat. He had been in the process of bringing his spoon to his mouth, so when he jolted he got milk and cheerios all over the front of his t-shirt. 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry I should’ve given you a warning, oh my god,” Jeongguk frantically apologized, grabbing a few paper towels from the counter and giving them to Taehyung. Taehyung gratefully took the paper towels, one hand to his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Jeongguk, you scared the fuck out of me,” Taehyung said breathlessly. Now that the initial fight-or-flight feeling had worn off, Taehyung laughed a little. “What’s got you so excited, anyway?” 

The question instantly changed Jeongguk’s expression from apologetic to enthusiastic again. 

Cute. Well, as cute as a demon can be. 

“Oh!” Jeongguk produced a few sheets of paper seemingly out of thin air and handed them to Taehyung. While Taehyung looked them over, Jeongguk continued speaking. “I was able to get info on all the people the asshole is currently hooking up with. I should be able to put up some promotional posters at the places they’re at most often? That’s the best way I can think of to get them to come.” 

Taehyung looked up at Jeongguk with an expression that was half horrified and half impressed. 

“How the fuck did you get this?” 

“I have uh… work connections, you could say.”

“Work connections?”

“Yeah, you know, talked to some people who work with these people, some higher ups, you know.”

“Shouldn’t this be, like, classified information or something?” Taehyung looked through the papers again. Jeongguk shrugged. 

“I’m pretty well respected in the company. And I may not look it, but I can be pretty persuasive,” he answered. For a moment, Taehyung just stared at him, but then he shook his head and shrugged, not wanting to ask anymore questions. 

Yes, Jeongguk could be very persuasive. 

If vague threats and intimidation counted as persuasion.

… 

 But Taehyung didn’t need to know that. 

---

With the posters hung up all over town and the plan fully fleshed out, all there was left to do was wait for the thirteenth of March. That meant business as usual. 

Taehyung was sitting in his world literature class, his last class of the say and, coincidentally, his favorite class. 

They were discussing the symbolism of birds in some American novel when Taehyung decided to raise his hand and put his thoughts into the mix. 

“Yes, Mr. Kim?” the professor said.

“Uh- yeah, kind of going off of what Soonmin was saying, I think that maybe the birds represent relationships? Not necessarily romantic relationships, per se, but all kinds of relationships throughout the novel. Like the hummingbird that always followed around the two girls, it symbolized how their relationship was fragile. Or something like that. That’s what came to my mind, at least,” Taehyung said. 

The professor looked impressed, but one of Taehyung’s classmates did not seem to share his feelings. Said classmate snickered from across the classroom. 

“ That’s what came to my mind, at least, ” he mocked. A couple people scattered around the room chuckled, and Taehyung’s face immediately fell. Had he said something wrong? Taeyung curled into himself and bowed his head. 

“Mr. Choi, I suggest you keep your mouth shut about what goes on in other people’s minds when absolutely nothing goes on in yours,” snapped the professor. This got more laughs than Mr. Choi’s comment did. The professor turned back to Taehyung. “Wonderful answer, Mr. Kim, very insightful,” she complimented. Anyone else have any thoughts?” 

“At least I don’t sit here and pretend to be smart,” Choi mumbled. It wasn’t loud enough to get the professor’s attention again, but it was loud enough for Taehyung to hear. Taehyung saw his vision blurring and willed himself not to let any tears fall. 

Jeongguk didn’t like that. Jeongguk didn’t like that at all. 

Wanting some instant karma, Jeongguk took notice of the hot tea sitting on Choi’s desk. Jeongguk smirked and floated over to the kid. With a flick of his finger, scalding hot tea spilled all over Choi’s lap. He yelped in pain, jumping out of his seat.

Oh wow, his arm looks pretty burnt. Haha. 

Choi rushed out of the classroom, leaving his stuff behind, presumably to go to the bathroom or to the campus nurse. 

Half an hour later, Taehyung was walking down the sidewalk to his apartment, Jeongguk floating behind. The sun was setting, and Taehyung was walking very fast. Soon enough, they entered Taehyung’s apartment, and Jeongguk snapped himself into visibility as soon as Taehyung shut the door. 

“Oh my god, that kid is insufferable- ” Jeongguk started to say. He cut himself off when Taehyung turned around and he saw the expression on the human’s face. 

Oh. He’s mad. 

“What was that all about?” Taehyung said, obviously trying hard to keep his voice level. 

“What do you mean? I was literally just doing my job. It’s my job to get revenge for you”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to physically harm them! He already got his karma when the professor called him out, so I really don’t understand why you stepped in and made everything worse.”

“Made everything worse? Excuse me?” Jeongguk’s voice was rising and his horns were heating up. “I gave the little bitch exactly what he deserved! Besides, you didn’t seem to have a problem with me physically harming people before!”

“I just didn’t think about it! But now that I noticed, it bothers me! Maybe if someone beat me up, then yeah, go ahead and hurt them, but comments from my douchebag classmates? That’s too far.” Taehyung’s voice had also risen and his fists were balled up at his sides. 

“Who are you to say what’s too far? Before I came along you wouldn’t do shit to stand up for yourself. And you still won’t! So I have to do it for you! Jesus fuck, I didn’t know you were so fucking sensitive -”

“SHUT UP!” 

Jeongguk’s mouth immediately snapped shut, thoroughly taken aback by Taehyung’s outburst. Taehyung’s jaw was clenched and his breath was heavy. Jeongguk had never seen Taehyung so mad. 

Silence fell thick over the room. Neither moved from their spot or made a sound. Then, Taehyung began to cry. 

It was a terrible sight, really. To see the usually cheerful and upbeat man crumble like that. Taehyung collapsed down on the couch, face in his hands, and sobbed . Jeongguk could feel his heart crack. 

“Hey, Taehyung, I’m so sorry-” Jeongguk took a step towards the human. “-I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean it-” He was cut off by another loud sob. Jeongguk frantically searched his brain for something to do, something to comfort Taehyung with. 

Shit shit shit, what did Jimin do when he was crying? He hugged Taehyung, right? 

Tentatively, Jeongguk sat down on the couch next to Taehyung and put a hand on his back. Taehyung initially jolted, but then leaned back into the touch. Not entirely sure what he was doing, Jeongguk rubbed small circles on his back, whispering soft reassurances like he remembered Jimin doing. 

To Jeongguk’s honest surprise, this seemed to work. After a few minutes, Taehyung had calmed down significantly, no longer sobbing and breathing semi-regularly. 

“Are- are you okay?” Jeongguk asked, voice softer than Taehyung had ever heard before. Taehyung took his hands off his face and nodded. His face was red and puffy, and Jeongguk felt an immense amount of guilt knowing that he caused that. “Look, I’m really fucking sorry, I really shouldn’t have said that. Or anything I said, really. And I’m sorry for spilling hot tea all over that kid.” 

Taehyung looked over at Jeongguk and smiled weakly.

“It’s okay, Jeongguk.”

“No, it’s really not-”

“It’s okay. I swear. I’m sorry for reacting how I did. Telling you to shut up and crying and everything. Kind of embarrassing.” Taehyung chuckled, but there was little humor behind it. “I’m sorry I just- I can’t really handle people calling me sensitive. Which is stupid , I know, but…” Taehyung leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. “There were these kids in high school. Liked to pick on me and stuff because I was an easy target. You know, being loud and very obviously gay and all. Kind of a recipe for disaster. 

“So yeah, these boys who were all friends would bully me, and I would never fight back because I’m a coward, and I used to cry pretty easily, so they would always call me ‘sensitive’ and ‘a weakling’ as they were beating me up. They also called me ‘faggot’ but that’s unrelated.” Taehyung laughed again, a little more genuine this time, but still laced with pain. “So yeah, those are kind of like, trigger words for me, I guess. I don’t know, I’m not a psych major. I should probably go to a therapist though.” Unexpectedly, Taehyung broke into tears again. This time, however, he curled into Jeongguk’s chest.

Jeongguk wrapped his arms around Taehyung as he cried for the second time that night. He hoped the human couldn’t feel how fast his heart was beating. That would be embarrassing. 

“Do you remember those boys’ names, by any chance?” Jeongguk asked once Taehyung stopped crying. Taehyung pulled away from Jeongguk and raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, they physically hurt you! You said that gives me the punch pass.” 

Taehyung stared at him for a moment, then snorted. Taehyung’s laughter made Jeongguk smile, relieved that he was finally feeling better. 

“Oh my god, the punch pass . You are such a dork.” Taehyung playfully pushed Jeongguk. Jeongguk laughed with him. 

“I don’t think anyone has called me a dork since 1982.”

“Maybe not to your face,” Taehyung teased. That particular comment made Jeongguk throw his head back and cackle. 

“You’re so cruel to me, Kim Taehyung.” 

“Yup! Only to you.”

Note to self: be more gentle with Taehyung. Hug him when he cries. Make him laugh if he’s sad. He’s so beautiful when he smiles. 

---

The next time Jeongguk popped in, he made sure to do it in a less startling way than he did for the cereal incident. This time, he popped outside of Taehyung’s door and knocked. 

“Jeongguk?” Taehyung said when he opened the door. “Why the fuck did you knock?” Taehyung stepped to the side and let Jeongguk step inside his apartment.

“Well, last time I kind of scared you, so I thought I might as well give you some kind of alert,” he explained. Taehyung shut and locked the front door and looked at Jeongguk, thoroughly endeared. Jeongguk noticed him staring and drew his eyebrows together. “What?” 

“Oh, nothing, it’s just… it’s cute of you to be considerate of me like that,” Taehyung said. Jeongguk coughed. 

“Well, I can’t give you a heart attack now, can I? I would definitely get fired if I accidentally killed you,” Jeongguk explained, face turning red, arms crossed over his bare chest. Taehyung chuckled. 

“Sure, whatever you say.” Taehyung walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch. “What brings you here anyway? I thought you were off today,” Taehyung said. Taehyung often asked about Jeongguk’s work schedule, intrigued by the work guidelines of the demon world. 

“Oh yeah, it is, but I got something for you and it’s kind of important.” Jeongguk walked over to stand in front of Taehyung and pulled something out of his back pocket. He handed it to Taehyung and the human saw that it was a thick leather bracelet with some kind of red symbol in the middle of one side. He looked up at the demon and cocked his head. 

“It’s a telebracelet,” Jeongguk started to explain. “Basically if you tap it, I’ll be able to feel it,” Jeongguk held up his wrist to show Taehyung his matching bracelet, “so if you ever need me while I’m off work, you can just tap the bracelet and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

Taehyung was looking at the bracelet during Jeongguk’s explanation, so when Taehyung looked back up at Jeongguk with tears in his eyes, Jeongguk was surprised. He was about to ask if Taehyung was okay, but Taehyung was already up off the couch, throwing his arms around the demon’s shoulders. 

Jeongguk froze, not prepared for this reaction in the slightest. 

“Uh-”

“This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you, Jeongguk.” Taehyung’s voice was thick with the tears he was holding back, but the Jeongguk could still hear the smile in his voice. Jeongguk blushed, both at the praise and the contact. 

“Um, just- just doing my job, you know,” Jeongguk stuttered out. Taehyung had heard the statement enough to see right through it. Taehyung pulled back and put both of his hands on either side of Jeongguk’s face. 

“Thank you,” he repeated. Jeongguk’s breath hitched at the proximity. Taehyung looked at Jeongguk with the brightest smile on his face, and Jeongguk (not for the first time) felt like he was going to die. Without thinking, the demon’s eyes flicked down to the human’s lips. 

The movement brought Taehyung back to reality and he finally noticed how close the two were; an inch more and their noses would be brushing. He quickly released the other’s face and took a step back, wiping his hands on the sides of his shorts.

 Jeongguk was still stunned into place. He blinked a few times, his brain trying to catch up with what had happened. Taehyung ran a hand through his hair and coughed awkwardly. 

“Well,” Jeongguk said loudly, “I should get going. Got you your bracelet okay. I uh- I got Hoseok waiting for me, we’re playing- we’re playing cards, so, um, yeah” Jeongguk said. Taehyung nodded, but didn’t say anything. Then Jeongguk snapped his fingers, and he was back home. 

Immediately, Jeongguk pulled out his phone (or the hell equivalent of a phone) and called Hoseok. 

“Hey, dude? Um- I kind of have a problem. But you’re not allowed to laugh at me!”

Only a world over, Taehyung was pulling out his own phone and calling Jimin. 

“Jimin! Hey, what’s up? Oh yeah I’m fine, I’m fine, I just-” 

“I kind of almost kissed Taehyung? I think?” Jeongguk said. 

“I know! I know he’s like a demon and everything and Jesus Christ I’m so embarrassed, Jimin.” Taehyung facepalmed with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone. 

“Holy fuck, Hoseok please shut up this is a serious matter… yes I know… I know! I gave him the bracelet and he hugged me and then he just kind of- kind of grabbed my face? And said thank you? Is that a normal human thing? Oh god, but then I stared at his lips and I’m so embarrassed.” Jeongguk was pacing his bedroom nervously. 

“He did! I swear he looked at my lips. Shit, do you think I made him uncomfortable? … Oh my god, Jimin, he is not into me… because he’s a demon that’s why! And he probably has some hot succubus girlfriend that he’s probably with right now and oh god -”

“No, I don’t think it’s mutual… yes this is me admitting I have feelings for Taehyung! Now leave me alone or I’m not telling you anything else! … I don’t know, he probably thinks I’m scary! … well, no… well, no, I guess not… but still!”

“I just don’t know how my dick will survive any longer like this. He walks around shirtless in my apartment… No, that’s just what he wears! Like he has this spiked leather BDSM outfit and he wears some kind of harness instead of a shirt, and sometimes he doesn’t even wear the harness, jesus fuck … I don’t know why he wasn’t wearing it when you were over… I’m not taking pictures of him for you!”

“I don’t know how my dick will survive this, dude, like- like I’m seriously going to die if he keeps being all affectionate and shit… Make a move?! Hoseok, are you insane?!”

“Make a move?! Jimin, are you out of your mind?!”

“ If you’re going to be ridiculous I’m hanging up… Okay, I’m hanging up.”

“Okay I’m hanging up now. I’m not making any moves and that’s final! … Love you too, buddy… Later.” 

Jeongguk sighed and flopped face first onto his bed. 

Taehyung groaned and buried his face in the couch cushions. 

From somewhere in the universe, God laughed. 

---

It goes without saying that the two of them pretended the incident never happened. Jeongguk returned to doing his job as normal, protecting Taehyung behind the scenes and hanging out with him when there was free time. 

Both Hoseok and Jimin had been badgering their respective best friends to make a move, but Jeongguk stood his ground firmly. Taehyung, however, was more easily swayed. He was always susceptible to peer pressure, after all. 

“Can I try your clothes on?” 

Jeongguk choked on a tapioca ball. The image that question put in Jeongguk’s head was... unsavory, to say the least. 

“Can you what?” Jeongguk asked after he recovered. 

“Try your clothes on,” Taehyung repeated. He did his best not to show how nervous he was. 

Jimin had convinced Taehyung to ask Jeongguk to try on his clothes, because, “you’ll look hot in them, and dudes love it when people they like wear their clothes.” Jimin also said that even if Jeongguk wasn’t into it, at least he would get to try on some sick demon clothes (Jimin insisted Taehyung take selfies.) Besides, Taehyung did want to see what he looked like in leather.

“I- Why?” Jeongguk asked. Taehyung shrugged.

“Just wanna see how I look in them. We’re about the same size, right?” 

Jeongguk was at a loss for words. He wanted to deny the request, but he knew he could never say no to Taehyung. 

“I mean- fuck it, sure.” Jeongguk stood up from the couch and walked into Taehyung’s room, shutting the door behind him. 

When he had fully undressed, he snapped his fingers and transformed into his human form. His human form actually had clothes on, and he wasn’t about to walk out in front of Taehyung in his underwear. 

Begrudgingly, Jeongguk walked out of the room and back to where Taehyung was. 

“They’re on the floor. You can just… put them on, I guess,” Jeongguk said. His arms were crossed over his chest and his gaze was averted. Taehyung clapped his hands and sped off to his bedroom. 

A few minutes and many suppressed dirty thoughts later, the bedroom door creaked open. Jeongguk’s head whipped up. 

And wow . 

Jeongguk had a view of the fiery pits of hell from his apartment and Taehyung was still the hottest thing he’d ever seen. 

Taehyung had the leather harness strapped around his chest, straps accentuating his shoulders wonderfully. Leather bands decorated his arms, fingerless leather gloves on his hands. The tight leather pants rode low on his hips, and the belt holding up his pants connected to a garter-thing around his thigh that sent Jeongguk’s blood straight to his dick. Jeongguk’s giant spiked platform boots completed the look, and if Jeongguk was a weaker demon he would be drooling. 

“Wow, I feel so tall!” Taehyung said. He did a twirl, giving the demon a glimpse of his ass in the leather pants and sweet baby Jesus. Jeongguk gulped. 

“So, how do I look? Demon-y?” Taehyung had the audacity to strike a dramatic model pose and giggle. All moisture had left Jeongguk’s mouth. 

“Yeah, um- I mean- wow, yeah. You look really… really demon-y,” Jeongguk said dumbly. Taehyung looked down at himself. He adjusted the belt around his hips. 

What the fuck. 

“I’m gonna go take selfies!” And in a flash, Taehyung was back in his bedroom. Jeongguk looked down at the floor.

What kind of a sick trick from Satan was this? 

Just when Jeongguk thought it couldn’t get any worse, Taehyung called out for him from the bedroom. 

“Hey, can you help me for a second? The back of the harness came loose.” 

Fucking hell. 

Like the softie for Taehyung he was, he attempted to collect himself before standing up from the couch and joining Taehyung in the bedroom. Some part of Jeongguk’s brain registered that this was the first time they were both in Taehyung’s bedroom. Together. Alone . Jeongguk shook his head furiously.

The demon’s fingers fumbled with the buckle on Taehyung’s back. Jeongguk honestly wasn’t sure how he was still standing, since all of his blood was either in his face or his dick. 

When he finished fastening the buckle, he took a few steps back and sat awkwardly on Taehyung’s bed. 

Taehyung took out his phone and began taking pictures, turning his body around so he could get every part of the outfit photographed. At one point, Taehyung’s back was facing the mirror, his head turned so he was looking back, and then he, to Jeongguk’s absolute horror, smacked his own ass. 

“Oh wow, yeah, I see why you like these so much, Jeongguk.” Taehyung giggled seemingly innocently and started taking normal pictures again. 

Jeongguk mumbled something about needing to pee and went to the bathroom as fast as his walking feet could take him.

To: dumbass

Hoseok

Hoseok

Hoseol 

Hosej

From: dumbass

what 

im kinda in the middle of something

some of us are busy NOT sucking dick

To: dumbass

Oh my god shut the fuck up

He

He is

He is wearing my clothes

From: dumbass

WAIT WHAT 

WHAT 

HUH??!??!?!?!

DID YALL SMASH WHAT

To: dumbass

NO WE DIDNT SMASH

HE JUST

He asked to try on my clothes bc he wanted to see how he looked in them

And like a fool

I let him

From: dumbass

jeongguk... 

buddy

pal 

To: dumbass

I know 

I am ashamed 

And very horny 

From: dumbass

1) gross i dont need to hear that

2) mans is DEFINITELY flirting with you 

To: dumbass

Huh????? 

From: dumbass

yeah dude 

its something all the girls do in the human romcoms i watch 

like when they like a dude theyll steal his hat or ask for his sweatshirt and stuff

idk its some weird human thing

Jeongguk took a seat on the toilet lid. Processing this information was too much for Jeongguk’s poor brain. And heart. And dick. Which was embarrassingly hard at the moment. 

To: dumbass

If you’re right I’m gonna terminate myself

If you’re wrong I’m also gonna terminate myself

I think I’m just gonna terminate myself 

If I do not return tonight you know why

From: dumbass

aweeeee jeongukkies first love 

so sweet

To: dumbass

Choke. 

He shoved his phone back in his pants’ pocket and stood in front of the sink. He splashed some cold water on his face. When he thought he was composed enough to go back out, he was relieved to see Taehyung back in his normal clothes and on the living room couch again. 

“Got all the selfies you needed?” Jeongguk asked, picking up his abandoned boba and trying to seem as casual as possible. 

“Yup! Jimin thinks I look hot. Said he wants to see you wearing it.” 

For the second time that night, the poor, poor demon choked on a tapioca ball. 

---

The few days leading up to March thirteenth were overflowing with anticipation, both from excitement to execute the plan and from fear that the plan would fall through.

Before any of them knew it, it was March thirteenth. A Friday, coincidentally. Taehyung, Jeongguk, and Jimin stood outside the venue where Byungjoon’s band would be playing. 

“Everyone remembers the plan, right?” Taehyung and Jimin nodded. “Okay good. Jimin, distraction duty. Taehyung, piss kink duty. Me, fucking shit up with my sick demon powers duty.” Taehyung giggled and Jimin rolled his eyes. 

“Initiate mission,” said Taehyung. He took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the venue. It was honestly bigger than Taehyung thought it would be, and more packed. Fortunately, it was standing room only, so they would all have plenty of space to move around.

Taehyung quickly spotted Byungjoon and company setting up their instruments on the stage. “Target acquired.” It was Jimin’s turn to giggle now. They decided before to wait until the show started to start the plan, so they had a little bit of time to kill. Taehyung decided to go to the bathroom, leaving Jimin and Jeongguk alone. 

“You like him, don’t you?” Jimin was looking at Jeongguk and smirking. Jeongguk almost choked. Jimin was definitely able to see how red Jeongguk’s cheeks became. 

“Huh? What are you talking about? I don’t- I don’t have feelings for anyone.” Jeongguk looked at the ground and scratched the back of his neck. “Especially not Taehyung. He’s a human . I’m an immortal being of evil!” Jeongguk attempted to defend himself. Jimin rolled his eyes and chuckled. 

“Yeah, you look real evil when you look at him with heart eyes.” Jeongguk opened his mouth to defend himself again, but then pressed his lips together in a straight line. Jeongguk looked away from Jimin and huffed. 

“I don’t have heart eyes,” he muttered. 

“Whatever you say, loverboy.” Jeongguk would have come back with another retort, but Taehyung was back from the bathroom. Jeongguk coughed and looked back at the ground instead of Taehyung’s face. However, Taehyung didn’t question him, because the band was starting up their introductions. 

“Hello! I’m Byungjoon and I play the guitar. I hope you all enjoy the show!” he said into the microphone. Taehyung put a finger in his mouth and faked a gag. 

The three looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded. The mission was a go. Jimin walked over to some security guy, probably to flirt with him, Jeongguk took a spot near the back of the venue where he could still see the stage, and Taehyung looked around the room to see if he could spot any of Byungjoon’s hookups. It only took a moment before he found one. Coincidentally, it was Minjun. Perfect. 

“The guitar player is pretty hot, right?” Taehyung slid over to Minjun’s side. Minjun looked at him questioningly before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, he is. Do you know him, or something?”

“Oh, yeah, we used to hook up,” Taehyung half-lied. “It’s a shame I had to break it off after I found out about his kinks.” This piqued Minjun’s interest. He turned to face Taehyung a little more. 

“Kinks?”

“Oh, you know, he has a huge piss kink, and I’m not one to kinkshame, but I’m just not into it. He kept trying to get me to piss myself in public, and no matter how hot he is, I couldn’t see him again. A shame, really.” Taehyung used all of his willpower not to burst out laughing at Minjun’s expression. It was somewhere in between shock and disgust, and it was fucking hilarious .

 “Oh! I think that’s an old friend from high school! Oh my god I haven’t seen him in forever! Sorry, I gotta go say hi. It was nice talking to you!” Taehyung tried his best to hold in his laughter as he walked away from Minjun and over to Jimin. He looked back at Minjun and, noticing he wasn’t looking at him, burst into laughter. Jimin turned around at the sound. He knew what Taehyung was laughing about, so he started laughing too. 

“Did he buy it?” Jimin asked. Taehyung gasped for air and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

“Oh my god, he looked mortified ,” Taehyung said before going into another fit of laughter. “Jesus, well I gotta go traumatize his other hookups!” Taehyung turned around and went back into the crowd. He managed to find three other people Byungjoon was hooking up with and fed them the same story. Each reaction seemed funnier than the last. 

A couple of songs in, Taehyung decided it was time for the grand finale. He made eye contact with Jeongguk from across the room and nodded. Jeongguk nodded back and gave a thumbs up before turning his attention back to the stage. Taehyung noticed his fingers snap down at his thigh.

The feedback from the speakers made everyone in the venue cover their ears. Even though Taehyung was expecting it, the loud screeching was still unpleasant. The band immediately stopped playing and covered their ears as well, looking frustrated. The screeching stopped when one of the tech guys unplugged the speaker connected to Byungjoon’s guitar. Everyone in the venue let out a collective sigh of relief. The lead singer laughed awkwardly into the mic. 

“That was not a part of the song,” he attempted to joke. A couple of people laughed, which made Taehyung feel a little less bad for the guy. “Hold on while we figure this out, alright? Thanks guys.” He turned away towards Byungjoon and started to ask what the fuck just happened. 

Taehyung smiled at seeing Byungjoon frustrated. God, Jeongguk really was corrupting him. A couple minutes later, Byungjoon had a new cord plugged into his guitar. The concert resumed, the band starting the song over again. Taehyung’s smile widened. Here it comes.

Everyone’s attention was already on Byungjoon, since his instrument had caused the disruption. There was also a big guitar solo in this song, if Taehyung was remembering correctly. Taehyung hoped to god he was, and hoped Jeongguk would wait for the perfect moment to do it.

 And then the guitar solo started.

 And oh boy , Jeongguk had definitely waited for the perfect moment. 

Byungjoon didn’t even notice the front of his light colored jeans darkening at first. The crowd started muttering. Then talking louder. Then laughing. The laughing was what broke Byungjoon out of his guitar-solo-trance. 

Seeing that everyone was pointing at him and either laughing or wearing an expression of disgust, he looked down at himself. His face turned red as he finally realized he had just pissed his pants on stage in front of dozens of people.

Byungjoon looked back into the crowd and noticed Taehyung, who was laughing so hard he might piss his pants too. His eyes shifted around the crowd, soon also noticing other people he had hooked up with/dated were there. Taehyung had never seen anyone look more mortified in their life. 

Byungjoon ran off the stage, and Taehyung made a beeline for the door, grabbing Jimin and Jeongguk along the way. When they got outside, they were all howling with laughter. 

“Holy fuck ,” Jeongguk said in between gasps for air. “That was the best revenge I have gotten on anyone in my entire career!” Jeongguk was gripping his sides from laughing so hard. Jimin was lying on the concrete, probably just crying at that point from how fucking funny the last few minutes had been. They got some weird looks from people passing by on the sidewalk, but they didn’t even notice.

After about ten minutes, the three of them finally managed to calm down. Jeongguk looked around to make sure no one was watching, then motioned for Jimin and Taehyung to grab onto his shoulders. When they did so, Jeongguk snapped his fingers and they were all back in Taehyung’s living room.

It was silent for a moment, the three of them looking at each other. Then, they burst out laughing again. 

If Taehyung had things his way, this event would go down in the history books. 

--- 

“What’s got you all giddy?” Jeongguk looked up from his desk to see who was talking. Namjoon. A coworker and long-time friend. Jeongguk looked back down at his paperwork.

“What do you mean?” 

“You’re smiling like an idiot. I heard you giggling a second ago. Giggling.” Namjoon raised his eyebrows accusingly. Jeongguk flushed with embarrassment. So people could hear that. Great. 

“I was not! I was just… I remembered something funny that happened a few days ago. That's all.” Namjoon didn’t look convinced. Before he could press further, Seokjin came up behind Namjoon and wrapped his arms around his torso, placing a kiss on his neck. 

“What are we talking about?” Seokjin asked. 

“Jeongguk is lying.” 

“I am not!” Jeongguk exclaimed. 

“Lying about what?”

“He’s smiling like a love-drunk fool. No way that’s the smile of someone who just remembered something funny.” Seokjin studied Jeongguk for a moment before nodding. 

“Yeah, and he’s super red too. Definitely lying. Is it Taehyung?” Jeongguk sputtered at the bold accusation. 

“W-what? Who- who told you about that?” Seokjin chuckled.

“Hoseok mentioned it to me the other day,” Seokjin said. Damn Hoseok. I’m going to beat his ass later. “So I assume you’re all smiley because of him?” Seokjin smirked, already knowing the answer to the question. Jeongguk deflated in his seat and scratched his neck. Knowing he could never lie to Seokjin, he nodded. Seokjin didn’t look surprised. 

“But I’m only smiling and thinking about him because we got revenge on his asshole ex in the funniest way possible,” Jeongguk clarified. 

“Hold on- we?” Namjoon said incredulously. Seokjin also looked surprised. 

“Oh- um… funny story actually,” Jeongguk chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, I kind of got really angry when his ex was a bitch to him and I accidentally stopped being invisible?” Namjoon gaped.

“Jeongguk, you know how dangerous that is!”

“I know, I know! It was an accident! But he actually ended up being really cool about it and isn’t telling anyone and we’re kind of friends now?” Both of the demons in his office doorway looked at him in disbelief. Seokjin pulled away from Namjoon, eyebrows raised to their highest capacity. 

“Well,” he started, taking a step away from the door. “I expect a wedding invitation soon.” Seokjin turned on his heel and walked down the hallway. Namjoon gave Jeongguk one last look of awe before following his boyfriend. When they were gone, Jeongguk buried his face in his hands and let out a long, strung-out groan. 

---

It was a perfect storm, really. 

Jeongguk had a meeting with his boss scheduled, so he had to leave Taehyung earlier than usual. Taehyung just so happened to have a night class, leaving him alone on his walk home. 

Maybe if Taehyung decided not to take that shortcut through the shady part of town, then he wouldn’t have gotten in this situation. At least, that’s what he thought when he heard Byungjoon’s voice from behind him. 

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” 

Taehyung walked faster, but to no avail. Byungjoon already caught up with him and stood in front of Taehyung. 

“Don’t ignore me, bitch,” Byungjoon spat. Taehyung frantically looked around, trying to find anyone he could call out to for help, but there was no one. Fuck. 

Byungjoon took a step closer. Taehyung took a step back. Then, Taehyung ran. He turned on his heel and ran faster than he had in his entire life. 

“I know you did it, you little fucker!” His footsteps were getting closer. Taehyung took a sharp turn and darted into an alley.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. If only Jeongguk were here right now.

Wait. 

Jeongguk. 

The bracelet. 

Still running, Taehyung desperately hit the band of leather on his wrist. 

And then he tripped. 

Because of-fucking-course he did. 

Hurting in several different places and lying helplessly on the ground, he heard Byungjoon approach him. He picked Taehyung up by the collar of his shirt and brought his face close. 

“I don’t know what you did, but I know you’re responsible.” Byungjoon’s eyes were wild, and for the first time in a long time, Taehyung feared for his life. “And you’re gonna pay for it.”

Taehyung screwed his eyes shut and braced himself for what was sure to be a painful punch, but it never came. 

Instead, he found himself on the ground again. Confused, Taehyung opened his eyes and was simultaneously relieved and scared to see Jeongguk with his hand around Byungjoon’s throat, lifting him in the air. 

“Don’t you ever -” Jeongguk growled and threw Byungjoon backwards. “-touch him. You got that?” Jeongguk leaned down, grabbed the man by the collar, and landed a solid punch to his nose. Taehyung winced.

The scene looked like something out of a nightmare. Kind of a sexy nightmare, with Jeongguk’s abs out and everything, but a nightmare nonetheless. His fangs were bared and his horns were on fire, eyes glowing completely red. And he was not holding back on Byungjoon. Taehyung had never seen Jeongguk look so… feral .

“Jeongguk!” Taehyung called out. Immediately, Jeongguk stopped what he was doing and looked at Taehyung. “That’s enough,” he said. Jeongguk took another look at Byungjoon and hesitated for a moment, before dropping him on the ground. 

Byungjoon scrambled away and ran out of the alley as fast as he could in his damaged state. 

To Taehyung’s surprise, Jeongguk scooped him up in his arms without saying a word and snapped his fingers. They were in his apartment. 

Jeongguk carried Taehyung to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet, wetting a hand towel with worry in his eyes. 

“Fuck, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. Are you okay? Oh fuck, your nose is bleeding.” Jeongguk kneeled in front of Taehyung and gently ran the cloth over the blood on his face. “Did he hurt you?”

Taehyung shook his head. 

“This is just from tripping. You got there before he could do any real damage,” Taehyung said. Jeongguk nodded, worry not leaving his expression. 

“First aid kit?”

“Under the sink.”

It was silent as Jeongguk patched up Taehyung’s (thankfully minor) wounds. When he was done, Taehyung had a couple of bandages on his knees, one on his elbow, and a gauze shoved up his nose. 

“Okay, that should do it.” Jeongguk shut the first aid kit and put it back under the sink. When he looked back at Taehyung, he was looking at him with an expression Jeongguk couldn’t read. “Taehyung?”

Taehyung didn’t answer. Instead, he brought a hand up to Jeongguk’s cheek. Jeongguk’s breath hitched. For a minute, Taehyung just stared at him, studying his face, memorizing how he looked in that moment. And it felt like time was frozen. 

And then, Taehyung kissed him. 

He gently pulled Jeongguk’s face forward and kissed him. And it was everything and nothing like Jeongguk had expected. 

Taehyung’s lips were soft and warm. Though his heart was beating so fast it might have exploded, Jeongguk felt comfort wash over him as the mortal’s lips moved against his own. Kissing Taehyung just felt right.  

Jeongguk took Taehyung’s face in between his own hands and tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss just a little bit. Months worth of pent up emotions were seeping out from where their mouths connected. Fondness and frustration and anxiety and excitement and love. So much love they could hardly stand it. 

If a picture paints a thousand words then damn, a kiss paints a million. 

When they pulled apart, both of them were breathing heavily. 

“I love you,” Jeongguk confessed, utterly breathless. 

“I love you,” Taehyung replied. His mouth was stretched into a smile, possibly the most beautiful smile Jeongguk had ever seen. Jeongguk huffed out a laugh, half of him in disbelief that this was real, and kissed Taehyung again. 

And again. 

And again. 

“This is kind of gross with the gauze in my bloody nose,” Taehyung commented when they pulled apart. Jeongguk laughed and stroked Taehyung’s face with his thumb. 

“I don’t mind.”

“Nasty ass.”

“Hey, you’re the one who kissed me in a bathroom.”

Taehyung looked around and was reminded that yes, they were in a bathroom. One he had not cleaned in a while. “Touche.” He stood up from the toilet and left the bathroom. Jeongguk followed suit, shaking his legs to make up for the time he spent on his knees. 

And then they kissed again.

And again.

And again. 

The human and the demon spend the rest of the night in each other’s arms, kissing and confessing and saying everything they had wanted to say for the past few months. 

Oh yeah, and they kissed again.

And again. 

And again. 

What could be better than revenge?

This. This was so, so much better than revenge. 

---

The End.