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"You're not fooling anyone," the dirty blonde's sharp voice pierces the still air from across the counter, startling Beomgyu who looks up to find a pair of large eyes trained directly on him, searching.
What the fuck was this guy on?
He looks around the store to see if the stranger could've been talking to someone else, only to find it empty apart from them. Mondays were slow days after all.
"I'm sorry?" Beomgyu replies calmly, placing his phone down and schooling his features to convey what he believes to be genuine confusion. He even adds a tiny tilt of his head for good measure—something he picked up from frequently observing Soobin pretend not to comprehend Yeonjun's incessant and blatant efforts at flirting.
"Okay, maybe you've fooled everyone else," the weirdo sighs, "but I know who you are. And I also have to tell you that you! You can't be sitting around selling weapons and stuff to demon hunters every day and not expect one of them to find out and slay you."
It takes every fiber of Beomgyu's being to control his annoyance. If there's anything he learnt from living among the human race, especially snotty demon hunters, was that know-it-alls and annoying twats were aplenty. To blend in with them meant that Beomgyu needed to develop a high level of tolerance and patience to avoid simply bursting into flames and mauling one of those puny humans.
He settles for leaning backwards and folding his arms.
"So who am I? Or rather, who are you?" Beomgyu finishes with an innocent smile simply because he's sure-as-hell not going to be the only one pissed off in this conversation.
The other male huffs and Beomgyu cheers internally, smile widening into a smirk.
"I am Kang Taehyun. Level three demon hunter. And you are Choi Beomgyu. Upper-echelon demon masquerading as a muggle," he spits bravely. There's spite in his words but the 'demon masquerading as a muggle' is sharp enough to sense the tiny waver and admittedly well-hidden tinge of fear in this Kang Taehyun's words. To be fair, natural form considered, Beomgyu does kinda feed on fear after all.
Ah. Snotty demon hunter it is.
"Please, Kang. If you know I'm an upper-echelon demon, then you should also know that demon hunter levels don't mean shit to me. Not when I can destroy all of you little dumbasses with a snap of my fingers." Beomgyu's grin widens and he punctuates his sentence with a snap of his fingers, taking delight as Taehyun flinches with the sudden sound. You can't blame such a strong demon for taking pride in his ability to scare the living shit out of mere humans.
In all honesty, Beomgyu wasn't the sort of demon who had a dark agenda. A typical demon in his position of being in such close proximity with annoying demon hunters would've strove to gather all of those goons and burst them into flames just for the fun of it. But contrary to those typical demons, he'd long grown bored of soul-consuming and all that jazz, having grown up watching his fellow demons do the same shit over and over. Admittedly, he'd inherited his impressive abilities by a stroke of genetic luck from his immensely strong demon father and while it was a waste of such God-given, or rather, Hell-given, abilities, he had his own compelling reasons to stay among the muggles.
As they say, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer. What better place to hide from demon hunters than a demon-hunting supplies store? For one, he'd gain reliable intel from demon hunters since humans always revelled in gossip, whether they were demon hunters or office workers. Secondly, he'd also be in tune with their weaponry and tactical game plans. Who knows? Maybe these humans will someday not manage to miss the mark and actually develop a gun that could actually hurt a higher level demon? He has to be there to know that! Moreover, Beomgyu's inherent greedy and confident demonic nature only fuelled his desire to take high risks for high returns.
It hadn't been easy to gain Soobin's trust to work in his store, but to be fair, eight smooth sailing years had passed since Beomgyu took that huge gamble at twenty, and while dull, his 'compelling reason' to stay within humans still kinda remained and the male didn't see any reason to return to Hell. Time worked differently there but he still wasn't keen on returning to try and fit in all over again. Too much trouble, he'd justify to himself but he'd begrudgingly have to admit that he'd also grown rather fond of Soobin and Yeonjun too.
Which brings the demon boy to the present, where an interesting plot development has finally surfaced after a long time of boring peace. Kang Taehyun could definitely break his lucky eight-year streak if he went as far as to broadcast his identity to the demon hunters or even worse, Soobin and Yeonjun—the supplies store owner and manager respectively. While the trio was basically as close as family, they were running a demon-hunting supply store after all. Not to mention that Soobin himself was also a level five hunter, though he personally claimed to be out of practice.
Logically, Beomgyu shouldn't have hesitated to destroy Kang Taehyun the moment he stepped in pompously, trying to challenge him. The stupid boy was only a level three hunter. Beomgyu could take on a room full of level five hunters without breaking a sweat. Upper-echelon demons were that strong. They just never cared for small scale destructions. There was plenty of negativity in the human race and people approaching demons to tie dumb contracts even without them being on the clock 24/7. And yet Kang Taehyun lives to continue spewing a whole bunch of nonsense right in front of Beomgyu's salad. He dryly thinks those years of having lived among humans must have made him soft.
Maybe it's the hilarity of the fake bravado Taehyun is mustering, or maybe it's his obviously attractive features, purposefully arranged to form a scowl which does nothing to prevent Beomgyu from seeing his veiled contemplation. Or maybe, it's also how Beomgyu's been bored to tears and may or may not have been looking for something to spice up his time among the muggles before he decides there's no compelling reason to stop himself from fucking right back to hell.
So Taehyun lives, and Beomgyu listens.
Or rather, listens to his shallow breathing because Taehyun has been quiet for the past full minute. Probably working out some sort of motivational pep talk in his head or praying to whatever God he believed in that Beomgyu wouldn't snap his fingers a second time and actually make his powers work.
The demon could literally hear the mental gears spinning at maximum speed in Taehyun's head.
Clink clink. Hilarious.
"Hey princess. If you're here to threaten me or try to kill me, do it quicker. Demons don't possess any virtues. Especially not patience," Beomgyu drawls, leaning over the counter and winking at the hunter.
Taehyun startles at that and stiffens visibly before taking a deep breath.
"This isn't how you're— No, aren't you… Curious how I found out?" Taehyun stutters and the demon can feel himself getting increasingly amused by the massive fall in the bravado of the demon hunter from the moment he barged into his store and confronted him.
"Nope. Move on," the demon snips back.
Actually, he is curious, but he'd rather come back to that later just to purposefully ruin whatever plans the man has conjured and enjoy watching his cute face contort in confusion.
This time, Taehyun looks more frustrated, eyebrows creasing into a furrow and he exhales again, strained. It takes a couple of seconds and he visibly hesitates before speaking, tone laced with some sort of uncertainty, "I have a proposition."
Beomgyu raises his eyebrows at the levity of a mere human being bold enough to try negotiating with a strong demon. He smirks and motions for the other male to continue.
"I'll keep your secret. But in return, I want you to teach me about demon weaknesses, and show me how I can defeat them," Taehyun proposes, firmer this time.
Does this dummy think he's one of those over-zealous and overpowered protagonists, from the cheesy animes Soobin binges, who thinks he has a secret power to be unleashed despite his streak of shitty skills?
Beomgyu fails to hold in a snort at how cringeworthy and ridiculous the request sounds.
"You want a demon to teach you how to catch other demons?" Beomgyu laughs, throwing his hands up in a chortle.
"Absolutely baby. I'll fucking show you hands-on how to banish demons right now if you so wish," the demon gets out after a fit of laughter, to which Taehyun scrunches his face up in an attempt to conceal his embarrassment, though the reddening tips of his ears give him away instantly.
Despite all the fun he's having sparing and fooling with the growingly red-faced hunter, Beomgyu's still a demon, which means his instincts are urging him to seal a proper contract with a human. It's been long since he's had someone propose a deal with him but for whatever reason though, he shoves those instincts down. He's having fun, and he isn't interested in torturing a human or stealing his soul with the fine print. Neither is he interested in unpacking whatever human emotions he thinks he may have developed.
In spite of his conscious effort to stop himself from fully seducing Taehyun into signing an official contract with his human soul as the fine print wager, the dark tugging urge in his chest still does do enough to sour his mood.
It shows in his involuntarily darkening expression.
"Listen here, I will fulfil my end of the deal and you'll keep your pretty little mouth shut whether or not you actually successfully learn anything," Beomgyu mutters, serious now, "whine about anything and I won't hesitate to swallow your soul." The last part comes out a bit strained, and he kinda regrets actually threatening the other man unintentionally.
This time, he genuinely doesn't mean to let his previously well-concealed dark aura accidentally surface, and he snaps out of his mental haze when Taehyun visibly blanches, in stark contrast to his earlier blushing and flustered state.
"Well! Let's start now shall we?" Beomgyu claps his hands with a bright expression, a complete 180 of whatever he pulled mere seconds ago.
Screw Soobin and his stupid store.
—
Kang Taehyun is… A lot less capable than Beomgyu ever expected. For someone rash enough to knowingly barrel into the arms of an upper-echelon demon and even threaten him, Taehyun is terrible at doing anything remotely related to demon-hunting. Essentially, the boy is a shitty hunter, and after his fifth failed attempt at piercing a bound and gagged low-level drude in the freaking correct spot, Beomgyu truly loses his patience and lets out the groan he's been holding in for the past two hours, prompting Taehyun's head to snap up.
The boy is clearly embarrassed, if his wide, watery eyes and trembling cherry lips are any indication. Beomgyu tries not to focus too much on the second part, though it is admittedly distracting. Despite his growing annoyance, he does feel a little bad for the hunter now. He would absolutely have personally destroyed his very own demonic essence if he ever failed to banish a low-level demon with a snap of his fingers. And he's the fucking demon here.
He sighs.
"Look, Kang. Are you sure you're even a level three demon hunter? I know I said demon hunter ranks don't mean shit. But I am a hundred percent sure that even a level one hunter would be able to easily banish a bound and gagged low-level drude served on a freaking platter. It's not even a goddamned demon!" he breathes, pinching his nose bridge to calm himself down.
He'd easily caught the drude lurking in a random shabby apartment corridor, teleported them back to the supplies store's private backroom where the hunter waited, and even held it down with his own powers, expecting Taehyun to scoff and express his offense in being taken for a complete amateur. But this? This incapable self-proclaimed level three hunter was terrible beyond his expectations. And this was ridiculous, considering Beomgyu's pre-existing complete lack of expectations for the human hunters he had consistently disregarded and mocked internally.
"I… I'm not good with knives! I've rarely used stuff like that!" Taehyun hurries, flustered.
Beomgyu narrows his eyes.
Taehyun's gig is basically up. Whatever shit he was intending to pull was up. Because Beomgyu's been around humans enough to know that this dumbass was lying. Probably not just about the knives part, but also about being a demon hunter at all. He wasn't oblivious enough to miss the nervousness Taehyun had exuded all day, which escalated into blatant panic the moment Beomgyu shoved him into the room with the drude. Not to mention his obvious lack of familiarity with the demon-hunting knife—a weapon those snotty hunters created themselves! Themselves! Beomgyu hadn't swum with the sharks for eight years just to miss the obvious fact that Taehyun was definitely not one of them. After all, you'd have had to successfully banish at least five low-level demons to be worthy of a level three. And here was a drude sitting unscathed. Again, it was not even a goddamned demon!
He's about to expose Taehyun and give him an entire show of an upper-echelon demon's fury just for shits and giggles when he suddenly realizes he doesn't know why a mere puny human would dare to pull this entire stupid fiasco and lie to a powerful demon. Scratch that, Beomgyu actually wants to know why Taehyun would want to do something that stupid. He should rightfully be angered that a weak human disrespected his powers enough to even dare attempt to fool him, but he's got enough anger management lessons from hanging around humans, thank you very much, and at this point, he's more intrigued than anything.
If that's how the blonde thought he could play the game, then he might as well have some fun too.
Beomgyu smirks instead and strides right into Taehyun's space, pressing close enough he can hear the other male's breath hitch. The demon's got a couple of inches over Taehyun and from his angle, he finds himself looking right into the glistening orbs of the frantic human. He can't deny that the other male's cherry lips and sharp nose look even prettier up close but he's got other plans. Drawing himself even nearer before Taehyun can snap out of his daze, he makes a sudden grasp at the blonde's hand which had the knife gripped knuckle-white.
"Wha-"
Beomgyu cuts Taehyun off by tugging the knife right before the vital point of the drude's being, using his other arm to firmly grip the male's waist and keep him from flailing.
"That's exactly where the vital point is. You wanted to banish demons, right? Do it," Beomgyu whispers in the shocked male's ear. A shiver clearly runs through Taehyun's spine and he shudders. The demon tugs his hand just a tiny centimetre further, teasing, but the blonde takes him completely by surprise when he jerks back with unexpected strength, elbowing Beomgyu in the stomach and knocking both of them backwards.
Beomgyu loses his balance slightly and the pair tumble down onto the floor, limbs tangled in a heap and the expensive demon-hunting knife the demon had smuggled out of Soobin's store clatters harshly onto the ground, strewn aside and temporarily forgotten.
"What the fuck, Taehyun!" Beomgyu groans and he feels the figure originally on top of him fidget and twist frantically within his grasp. All of a sudden, the very attractive face he had just been admiring minutes ago is right in front of his own.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I just didn't want to kill a random… Thing? Entity? Are you okay? I'm so sorry Beomgyu are you okay?" Taehyun is freaking out, hand shooting to gently cradle the back of the demon's head and honestly, with their proximity, all the demon can process is Taehyun's warm breath ghosting his own cold lips as he rattles off like a machine gun and the electrifying feeling he's leaving with each feathery brush against his nape.
Well, maybe he's had enough fun. He can't bear another second not knowing what is going on inside Taehyun's pretty little head. He needs answers.
Frankly, the pair are in a compromising position, Taehyun hovering over him and unintentionally caging him with a single knee and his arms, one hand gently cradling Beomgyu's crown. But for whatever damned reason, the demon can't find it in him to push the blonde away. Instead, he tightens his grip around Taehyun's waist and with his free hand, he snaps his fingers while mentally reciting a curse and channelling his power quickly, sending the drude somewhere back in hell deep and far enough so he wouldn't be able to return or identify either of them. Taehyun averts his gaze behind to where the drude once lay and blatantly gawks when he seems to process how powerful Beomgyu truly is.
It shouldn't exactly massage Beomgyu's ego that much but it does make him feel a little proud of his power. He crooks a finger and prods the male by his chin to face him again, earning an audible gulp when he looks back at the demon. Beomgyu, on the other hand, is conscious of how his own pupils are likely blown wide with his close proximity to a very handsome and adorably wide-eyed Taehyun.
In general, it feels shitty being lied to. But it feels even shittier being lied to by a man he is finding himself increasingly attracted to and interested in. Beomgyu isn't even hell-bent on denying it at this point.
Yeah, he needs answers now.
"Taehyun? Care to explain why you're masquerading as a demon hunter?" Beomgyu whispers. Somehow Taehyun feels extra delicate in his arms and for once, or really for the hundredth time today, he finds himself wanting to be gentler than he would behave towards any other puny human or even demon.
Well, at least the fake hunter is decent enough to admit that his gig is up, if his crumpled expression and sigh of defeat is any indication.
"Before you kill me, can I at least sit up properly first and explain myself?" he mumbles, the tips of his ears suddenly starting to glow scarlet.
"No. Explain yourself like this. I like you being this close," Beomgyu challenges smugly with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows and the blood visibly rushes to Taehyun's face before he lets out yet another resigned huff.
"Do you even remember me from before today?" the male starts, though it sounds more like a statement rather than a question, a hint of resignation betraying the fact that he probably already knows the answer to his own question.
Beomgyu furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head. Surely he would've remembered crossing paths with such a looker.
"Actually, I don't just know your demon identity," Taehyun inhales deeply and continues in a lower mumble, "I also know that you're actually half-human."
Beomgyu's heart plummets on hearing that, and he shoots right up from his comfortable lying position, nearly butting heads with Taehyun who swiftly backs up, as if he had already expected such a response.
"Explain." Beomgyu demands, voice cold and cautious now. His secret identity as a demon was one thing. But the extra bit of him being half-human was something personal and private. Technically, his whole identity was personal and private, but that bit of information was something that haunted him. It was a touchy subject really and it didn't help that his demonic powers were strong enough to overshadow his half-human nature in the eyes of his fellow demons back when he grew up in the darker realm, which meant he hadn't had anyone to help unpack the deeper issues he struggled with.
He eyes Taehyun carefully, suddenly wary. Having been an open book for the past few hours, the blonde strangely wore an unreadable expression, lips pursed in contemplation.
"Four years back, I worked part-time at a hospice care facility."
Beomgyu can feel the horrible, dreaded feeling of tears pricking his eyes as Taehyun's words forced certain memories from the deepest trenches of his mind. He fucking hates human emotions. It starts to dawn upon him how Taehyun might have known him at his darkest point. Or perhaps even be associated with the person who managed to hurt Beomgyu most. He can't help it, but his defenses are up with the memory of the hospice. Or rather, the incident.
"So what? Did she tell you I was demonic filth? And you decided to screw with me for fun?"
He doesn't mean to take it out on Taehyun, not when he wasn't yet sure of his intentions, but the boy basically ripped off the single bandaid Beomgyu had hastily slapped over his wound, convincing himself that it would heal on his own if he just kept it out of his sight. Four years down, it clearly hasn't healed. Obviously. Since Beomgyu hasn't yet fucked back off to Hell even though he had already lost proper reason to stay.
He spits the words out, venomous, and Taehyun winces before chewing on his lip, large searching eyes trained on Beomgyu, much to the half-demon's discomfort. He feels exposed and vulnerable under the blonde's unwavering gaze and that's not something he likes particularly. Despite being half-human, he's still an upper-echelon demon. He should really be flying into a rage and making the other man pay for messing with him but something about Taehyun's intent scrutiny and how he doesn't exude any negativity or ill intentions Beomgyu would be able to pick up as a half-demon, makes him freeze. He stays firm though, electing to return the human's gaze with equal intensity.
"No! I didn't even interact with her personally back then... You really don't remember me do you?"
Taehyun's question only meets silence. All Beomgyu can remember about his first and last ever visit to the hospice is the hurt from being shunned by his birth mother. How her kind smile, from being excited over having a visitor, morphed into a look of disgust upon finding out Beomgyu's identity. He remembers how his hurt escalated into blind fury he barely registered before he found the hospice garden they'd been in engulfed in flames, though he'd snapped back to reality fast enough to put it all out with a snap of his fingers before it could hurt anyone. Of course, he remembers the woman, basically a stranger despite their blood relations, and how she cackled and mocked him. He'd reacted exactly how she expected a dirty demon spawn to. A dirty demon spawn she would forever regret having.
The blonde sighs, breaking their heavy eye contact and hesitating for a beat before taking Beomgyu's icy hands into his and the latter tenses for a moment before relaxing, finding Taehyun's warmth somehow comforting.
"I was there when you blew the garden up. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I was clipping the grass or something there for my shift. Yeah, I freaked out and I thought I was gonna die when flames suddenly engulfed my surroundings," Taehyun shrugs, "but though you were clearly taken over by your demonic side, your fire somehow hit everywhere and everything, except for me and your mother."
"She's not my mother," Beomgyu hisses quietly, "she said it herself. I'm a demon spawn who will never know humanity. A mistake she regrets ever having."
"Point is, I saw it all, and I knew how powerful you were back then. Plus the violent way you lost control yet didn't hurt anyone of us despite your blind anger? It kinda moved me and I don't think I ever forgot the glimpse of your broken expression when you left."
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again though, so imagine my shock when I helped Soobin bring down goods to a freaking demon-hunting supplies store last week and saw you! And then I realized they didn't even know you're a super strong demon when Soobin told me you'd been working there for eight years and gave me a funny look like I was crazy for scooting out of the store and freaking out before you looked up!" Taehyun exclaims and rattles off. The half-demon doesn't miss the way his cheeks start glowing crimson before he holds his tongue as if he had almost let something else slip.
Beomgyu's mood brightens up slightly and he has to hold himself back from cooing at how bashfully adorable Taehyun suddenly became.
"Hmm… Did he think you had a crush on me? He made fun of you, did he? It reminds me that he did tell me he wanted to introduce someone to me a couple of days ago but I honestly thought he was messing around like always…" Beomgyu teases and Taehyun sputters.
"What?! No, that's not the point! I was just curious and freaking out about seeing you again but Yeonjun took it differently and told me he'd ask you out directly if I didn't make a move by this week, so I… I rushed to say something to you today. They said no one really comes by on Mondays… I honestly didn't plan what to say and I guess I just said the demon hunter part just in case you tried to kill me, at least I could pretend to be able to defend myself or something. The rest was just panic spewing. I didn't know what I even wanted to get from talking to you it just came out all wrong!" Taehyun blushes furiously before continuing, more seriously this time.
"I don't know why you are still sticking around humans after all the cruel words that have been said to you. But I always regretted not catching up with you in my shock that day. I wanted to tell you that being half-demon doesn't make you less worthy or inhumane. If anything, your birth mother abandoning you was way more cruel in comparison to the mercy your demonic self showed us humans. Especially when you could've easily killed all of us in anger. I honestly wouldn't even have blamed you."
Taehyun is looking at Beomgyu with earnest eyes and quite frankly, the latter quite simply wants to cry with the pure sincerity overflowing from the blonde's words. It's been long since he had anyone to confide in with his worries and feelings. Among the humans, he had to conceal his demonic identity and back in Hell, he hadn't had anyone close to him, which also explains why he never had any compelling reason to go back. At least in the human world, he could get entertained by clumsy, know-it-all hunters, and even amused by years of watching Yeonjun trying to court Soobin, only to get rejected despite them still hanging out like a sickly sweet old couple.
He had only bared his soul to one single person his entire life, and she made sure he knew how unworthy he was of love. Taehyun makes him want to break all those rules he set for himself to prevent himself from getting hurt. And that foreign stir of emotions comes crashing right at him, tugging at his heartstrings.
"I actually came to look for my birth mother. That was my motivation for living among humans. Full disclosure, it took me a couple of years to finally locate her and another two to muster my courage to approach her. I don't know what I wanted to get from doing that honestly. Acceptance? Understanding why she abandoned me? It didn't matter because I didn't think it through and let her break me, but I stayed because I couldn't decide what to do with her words." He sighs again, tears threatening to spill any moment, "Don't get me wrong, I don't care for her anymore. But I guess I held on to her presence in the human realm because that's the last shred of humanity for me. It's the only sign that I'm part human because she reminded me, regardless of how I tried to masquerade as a human and hide my demonic instincts, I'd always be a demonic freak she regrets having."
Taehyun reaches forward, cradling Beomgyu's face with gentle, warm hands, thumb tenderly wiping off the wetness from his cheeks.
"Beomgyu, I don't know you that well, but the fact that you never hurt anyone regardless of how angry you were and considering how powerful you are says a lot. You could've killed me the moment I threatened you or even when you found out I lied about being a demon hunter. And even the fact that you're crying now and you feel hurt just like all of us do, shows that you care. I don't know much about demons but even I know that these are human emotions. There are tons of shitty humans around who are unkind unlike you. Being fully human doesn't really mean anything." Taehyun whispers, eyes soft yet staring right into Beomgyu's, ablaze with sincerity so genuine, it moved the half-demon.
Taehyun's words spread an unfamiliar yet comforting warmth in his chest. Something he never knew he was capable of experiencing. Having to address something that broke him and his confidence in his very existence was an overwhelmingly paradoxical experience that hurt, yet he found inevitable if he wanted to truly start finding closure step by step. Beomgyu hangs his head low, letting his silent tears fall freely. He barely registers Taehyun's warm hands sweep his bangs aside before planting a feathery soft kiss on his forehead.
"I think your birth mother's words wounded you in a way that may never completely heal. But you will get better. As long as you want me around, I'll be here every step of the way," Taehyun whispers softly and Beomgyu is about to engulf the shorter boy in a much-needed comforting hug—instead of flames like he nearly did the first time the cute by supposedly met him, no thank you—when they hear a loud bang as someone slams the backroom door open, prompting the duo to nearly suffer whiplash from turning so fast. They're greeted by the sight of Soobin at the door, fuming with hands akimbo.
"Choi Beomgyu! Did you not think to at least close the store before coming in to smooch faces?" Soobin yells and Yeonjun pokes his head out from behind, cackling, probably thinking his matchmaking efforts paid off. They seem to register Beomgyu's tear-streaked face and their compromising position a beat late and their respective annoyed and gleeful expressions give way to observable alarm.
Yeonjun chooses the most awkward moment to bellow, "Holy shit! Taehyun, you made an upper-echelon demon cry?!"
"What?!" Beomgyu and Taehyun screech simultaneously and Soobin shoots Yeonjun a glare.
"What the heck, you guys knew and let him stay? In a demon-hunting supply store?!!" Taehyun shrieks, incredulous with his new discovery, horrified glance flitting between both Beomgyu and the duo at the door.
Beomgyu shakes his head, numb with all the shocking events of the day, "That's new to me too. Should I be freaking out?"
Soobin sighs and explains how they'd found out about Beomgyu's identity only two years back when the latter accidentally set off one of his demon detector devices. They didn't carry those devices in the store, they were an experimental tech form, making them extremely rare and expensive to get locally. Their store catered mostly to amateur hunters after all, but Soobin had coincidentally returned from a rare demon-hunting session as a favour, and while he had initially thought it to be a technical fault, he nearly passed out in horror after secretly testing Beomgyu with at least three other different equally expensive devices just to be sure. Especially when one of the more advanced models glowed an extreme red to indicate the presence of an extremely strong demon.
"We didn't want to chase you out right away without knowing your reasons. We were basically a family and we couldn't quite believe the betrayal. You probably had your reasons for staying among us, but it had been six years and we had some sort of faith in you. Well of course we could outright confront you but we weren't sure if that'd piss you off. I mean, we all know level five hunters can't handle upper-echelon demons either so we gave you a test."
Beomgyu shoots a confused 'huh?'. He wasn't a dumb demon. Surely someone so powerful and bright could tell if there had been a test?
"My bright idea by the way," Yeonjun continues sagely as Soobin rolls his eyes, "You know how demons who have consumed many souls naturally target lone and weak souls? We got one of our friends, who is called Kai, by the way. Wouldn't do if we didn't credit his great acting. Anyway, we got him to pretend to sell marshmallows door-to-door and you actually opened the door and listened to his sob story about being piss poor and desperate. Not only did you listen sympathetically instead of jumping at the chance to offer him a soul-stealing contract straight away, but you even bought the entire box of marshmallows and tipped him generously. Like humans wouldn't even have bought those marshmallows with a stupid story like that!"
Ah. Beomgyu actually does remember that incident. "I dunno man. He must've been a great actor then. Those marshmallows were so good by the way. No regrets," he sniffs.
"First of all, it was a stupid idea. We felt so bad we returned the tip to you secretly in your next paycheck. And also there are smart demons who wouldn't always blindly take souls that appear right at their doorstep. Anyway Beomgyu, the bottom line is, we trusted you. Still do, by the way. Nothing tragic has happened to humans or demon hunters in our area so we figured we'd just wait for you to say something if ever. It was a gamble we were willing to take," Soobin finishes and shrugs.
His new discovery and Soobin's casual words leave Beomgyu speechless and honestly, pretty touched. He'd have to continue with the conversation with both of them sometime later. They had given him, a dangerous demon, absolute trust and the least he could do was reciprocate with honesty.
"Anyway whatever happened, we'll leave you both to your date. Next time, please at least close the store if you're gonna disappear! Not that I condone slacking off at work! Shitty place to have a first date by the way, at least take him out to eat, Taehyun!" Soobin scolds the duo while Yeonjun waggles his eyebrows obnoxiously, suggesting some other date locations such as their apartments and the store owner scrunches his face in disgust, elbowing him out before shutting the backroom door.
Beomgyu turns back to Taehyun and feels the rush of impulse thrum through his veins again as he eyes those soft, pretty lips again. The blonde seems to catch where his eyes were trained on, heat visibly rising to his ears again.
"So, Taehyun. Since the whole learning to defeat demons thing was just a panic ruse, would you like to learn about demons in a different way instead?"