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“Maybe we should do our own summoning!”
It had been a joke. It had been a joke for goodness sake, after they’d all watched “The Summoning” one cold rainy night a few weeks ago. They’d huddled together in Soobin’s bedroom in their shared uni apartment, getting progressively more terrified as they all watched the movie, fixated on the TV screen despite the fact that Kai looked ready to run out of the room at any second.
Soobin had said this after the movie had ended, when Beomgyu had wondered, hypothetically, how an encounter with a real demon would go, and Soobin hadn’t really been paying much attention when he’d offered up that comment.
Unfortunately, in the following weeks to come, he’d soon realise that Beomgyu had taken him very seriously indeed. And that's why they were here now, again back in Soobin’s bedroom, the four of them sitting cross legged on the floor in a circle, holding hands around Taehyun’s chalked pentagram drawing on the wooden floorboards, (which Beomgyu had begged the silver haired boy to draw much to Taehyun’s annoyance). no lights on but with multiple candles lit around the otherwise dark room to “bring out the atmosphere”, while Beomgyu held an ancient heavy tomb of a book in his lap, reading through the pages, checking to make sure that he’d done all of this correctly.
On Soobin's right side, he could feel Kai's hand, gripped tightly in his, slightly sweaty from fear, and he exchanged a sympathetic glance with the blond haired boy.
“This isn’t actually going to work. Once Beomgyu realises that, we can all go back to bed.” Soobin said, to which Boemgyu, sitting directly opposite him, looked up from the book he’d been reading and gave a pout, huffing.
“It is going to work, I bought this specially, it was a whole 2000 won.”
“Then it was a waste of money.” Taehyun chipped in, on Soobin’s other side, casting a scornful glance Beomgyu’s way. Unlike Kai, Taehyun looked relatively calm. He'd been the first to wholeheartedly agree with Soobin that this whole thing was both a waste of money (on Beomgyu’s part) and a massive waste of time, but unfortunately, the silver haired boy had been dragged along into this mess after Kai had begged him to come, saying that he’d be too scared without him.
As for Soobin, he just wanted to see the expression on Beomgyu’s face when this whole thing went flat, and so, when Beomgyu ordered them all to close their eyes and hold hands tightly, he did, although not before glancing at his watch, and realising that it was midnight. Typical. This really was like a horror movie.
“Ok. just stay calm, and let me do the talking.” Beomgyu said, in a voice that was brimming with excitement, and Soobin couldn’t help but snort in dehrision at the fact that his friend actually believed in this stuff.
“Be quiet! This is real!” Beomgyu huffed, clearly upset that no one else was taking things as seriously as he was.
“Ok ok, just start summoning!” Taehyun snapped as Soobin peaked out of one eye to see Beomgyu hastily flipping through the pages of his book before closing his eyes to darkness once more.
And then Soobin heard Beomgyu start to read out of the book, and despite his skepticism, he squeezed his eyes tight shut, holding onto Taehyun’s and Kai’s hands.
“My frozen lips
At the tip of my tongue, I call out that name
See only my icy breath
In an unfamiliar name
There's fate or something else
Meanings that I don't understand
Frosting over icy white.”
There was silence for a few seconds, and Soobin resisted the urge to laugh. Nothing was happening, as expected, and now he opened his eyes to see the others do the same.
“Is it done yet?” Kai asked, peering round the room as though a demon would suddenly materialize there and then.
“Well...yes. That’s what it said in the book. Did I not read it correctly?” Beomgyu said, mostly to himself as he let go of Taehyun’s and Kai’s hands from the other side of their circle and started to riffle through the book, frowning as though he’d missed something.
“Just admit that your plan didn’t work. This is stupid, can we go back to bed now?” Soobin asked, stifling a yawn as he let go of Taehyun’s and Hueningkai’s hands, making to get up. Honestly, what had they all been expecting?
“But I’m sure I read this right, let’s try again!” Beomgyu begged, looking up at Soobin pleadingly, but before Soobin could answer Taehyun cut in:
“No, I’m not wasting my time on this bullshit. I’m done.” Taehyun said, getting up and looking mildly annoyed, but just then, Soobin felt a strong draft sweep through the room, and he gasped at the cold, looking toward the window, but it was shut. The others must have felt something too, because now everyone was on their feet, and Soobin instinctively wrapped an arm around Kai, who was looking the most panicked.
“Oh my god it’s working!”
At Beomgyu excited voice, Soobin whipped his head round to stare at the floor, where Taehyun had reluctantly drawn the pentagram at Beomgyu’s request, but now, it wasn’t a simple drawing anymore: it was flickering with what appeared to be a golden light, and again, Soobin felt a chill run down his spin and sweep through the room as the multiple candles set up on the floor and window ledge started to flicker from the draft, and then-
“Ahhhh!”
He heard Beomgyu’s yelp before he saw him as the candles all went out, suddenly plunging the room into absolute darkness apart from the flickering pentagram on the floor, and he now felt both Beomgyu and Taehyun huddling closer to him and Kai, as they all instinctively backed away into one corner of the room furthest from the pentagram as they could and clinging to each other from fear.
“Just stay calm. There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for this, it’s just a draft, it doesn't mean anything.” Taehyun said, and though he was trying to remain calm, Soobin couldn’t help but notice the slight quiver in the silver haired boy’s voice, and Taehyun’s grip on his arm was like a vice.
“I told you it’s working!” Beomgyu hissed once more, the only one who sounded at all excited about this.
“Oh stop with that! You’re just scaring us now! Look, where’s the door? We just need to find our way out-” Soobin said, but just then, there was an almighty CRASH! As though someone had been thrown forcibly down onto the hard wooden floor, and he heard Kai’s yelp as suddenly, all the lights were turned back on, even the main bedroom light, so that they were all squinting in the yellow brightness for a few seconds.
When Soobin’s eyes had finally adjusted, he saw, as he’d expected, Taehyun and Kai huddled right by his side, and Beomgyu, who although he’d sounded confident just moments before, now gripping onto Taehyun for dear life, eyes wide and horrified, fixed on something in the middle of the-
“Oh god! Am I dead?”
At this, all four boys looked round in horror as the unfamiliar voice was finally identified, and what Soobin saw almost made him want to scream. This was not happening. This was not happening. It couldn't’ be-?
In the middle of Soobin’s bedroom, spread eagle on the floor, right on top of the pentagram, which had now returned to its original non- flickering self, lay a boy. A boy who appeared around Soobin’s age, dressed in an outfit that could only be described as rock star material, made up of black ripped jeans, black ankle boots with little heels, a black tank top and a clean cut red blazer, adorned with silver jewels and small delicate silver chains. His hair was jet black, slicked back off of his forehead, a few loose strands falling effortlessly into his face. From his outfit, it looked as though he’d walked out of some kind of special live event,as though he were a famous person, but that wasn’t wasn’t what made Soobin want to scream. Infact, Soobin maybe would have wanted to go over and help the boy up, had it not been for the horns growing out of his head, protruding from his skull like dark antlers, jagged and dangerous looking, giving him an extra foot and a half of height.
The boy lay there on his back, gasping as though he’d been running a marathon, hand clutched to his chest and face screwed up in pain.
What had they just done? This couldn’t be-?
Soobin exchanged a panicked look with the others, and he saw his own confusion in their eyes as they all stared back at him, unsure of what to do next. But then he heard, from right by him now, Beomgyu saying in a whisper:
“He’s got good fashion sense.”
Soobin turned around slightly in disbelief, while Beomgyu grinned excitedly, looking although he’d just picked up buried treasure.
“That’s what you care about right now? Where are your priorities?” Soobin asked, aghast.
“He doesn’t have any, that’s his problem!” Taehyun muttered back, which caused Beomgyu to shove the silver haired boy with his elbow, resulting in a silent scuffle between the two of them. Soobin rolled his eyes.
“Umm... hi!” Kai said, and Soobin looked round, aghast as Kai, who’d seemed so afraid before, stepped forwards towards the boy, who turned his head, still laying on the floor, to peer up at Kai with narrowed eyes.
“Are- are you ok?” Kai asked nervously, taking another tiny step forwards, but in an instant, Soobin had reached out and grabbed Kai’s sleeve, tugging him backwards into their group huddle against the wall. No way was he letting Kai get any closer to that thing.
The boy only grimaced, shaking his head wearily, and they all watched as he staggered to his feet, a little unsteady, but it was taking all of Soobin’s willpower to peel his gaze away from those horns that cast long shadows across the floor of the bedroom.
“Yes, I'm fine.” he said, in a voice laced with bitter sarcasm as he took another breath, seemingly still exhausted.
“I have just travelled through multiple dimensions, have been sucked through wormholes to get through said dimensions, no bigger than the diameter of a straw, I feel as though my whole body has been crushed up into millions of tiny pieces and then reassembled, fallen from the sky into this, this-” here he looked round Soobin’s room, gesturing as though trying to find the right word “- this this dump of a temple, but yes, I am in fact, perfectly fine. Never been better.” he said voice dripping with sarcasm, eyes trailing over each and every one of them in turn, and it was then that Soobin really took in the boy’s face: fierce dark eyes, a sharp jawline and a single silver lip ring piercing into the lower part of those plump red lips. This boy was certainly breathtaking, and when his eyes trailed over Soobin, he could barely maintain eye contact, and found himself blushing slightly under that gaze.
“So, let’s get down to business shall we?” the boy said, although at this rate, Soobin wasn’t sure that he should be referring to him as a mere human “boy”. He was clearly a supernatural being of some sort, and his brain was still trying to process what on earth was happening right now. He felt as though he should be doing something, like screaming, fashioning a wooden stake out of a pencil as a weapon, calling the federal Government, or maybe the FBI, but no, he was just going to huddle in the corner as this monster (albeit a very beautiful monster) continued to talk.
“I am Choi Yeonjun, a demon from the seventh circle of Hell working under Hades. I take it you’ve summoned me for a purpose, so state your names, and give me my task.” Yeonjun said, as though he were reciting from a piece of paper, and Soobin turned his head to the side to see Kai give a nervous shrug.
At least it had now been confirmed: Choi Yeonjun was a demon, Beomgyu’s summoning ritual had worked, and Soobin was officially freaking the fuck out. However, he took a calming breath before speaking.
“Oh, ok.” Soobin began uncertainty, and he saw how the demon, Yeonjun, now turned to him, those sharp eyes fixed on him as he spoke, looking at him expectantly. Soobin gulped before continuing.
“Err, well, I am Choi Soobin, and these are my friends, Hueningkai, Taehyun and Beomgyu.” he said, gesturing to each of his friends in turn, while they all shuffled nervously, but he noticed now Beomgyu gave a little wave at Yeonjun, smiling brightly even as he was still clinging onto Taehyun.
“Sure." Yeonjun said, looking a little skeptical as he gave a small wave back at Beomgyu, as though he wasn’t used to the gesture, before he started to examine the room, looking rather distracted as he turned around slowly and peered at the decor. To be fair, there really wasn’t much. Their shared apartment was rather small, and Soobin’s bedroom was even smaller, although he’d tried his best to make it his own with polaroid pictures of himself and his friends taped to the walls, spider plants and cactuses growing along the shelves, and a moodlamp that was currently turned off sitting in the corner of his bedside table.
“This temple...it’s not very well decorated is it? It looks as though you were operating on a very tight budget.” Yeonjun mused, now going over to the pictures that Soobin had stuck to the wall and observing them curiously. They were all pictures from Soobin’s time at Doom’s Night University, where he’d met his three wonderful friends.
Yeonjun’s gaze filtered over every single picture, as though trying to take it all in, and though Soobin could only see his side profile, it was clear that he was fascinated, and there was a strange longing, almost sad look in his eyes as he gazed at all the photos, of them all smiling brightening into the camera. But he seemed to hesitate when his eyes caught a particular photo: it was a picture of all of them dressed up for the University Halloween party last year. Soobin dressed as a secret agent in a smart black suit and a black painted water pistol, Kai as an angel, in all white wearing huge snowy wings on his back, Taehyun as a puma, in all black, hair dyed dark red and red contact lenses to match, and Beomgyu, in a white and gold prince’s outfit, complete with a crown made of little pink rosebuds.
Yeonjun turned around now, a hand in his pocket, the other pointing at the photo.
“This picture. It’s you. All of you. Are you gods?” he asked, and at this, Soobin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What did he mean by that? Clearly, Yeonjun didn’t have much of a grasp on human society, otherwise he wouldn’t have suggested such a thing.
“No! It’s just us in fancy dress. Also, this is my room, not a temple or anything like that.” Soobin said, wanting to clear up that confusion, to which Yeonjun frowned, seemingly confused, but then shook his head as though he couldn’t be bothered to care for long enough about the specifics.
“Fine. this is your room, and you are not gods. So, why exactly have you summoned me?” he asked expectantly, to which Beomgyu chirpily replied:
“Actually that was me. It was my idea. Honestly, I just wanted to see if I could!” he said, clapping his hands together as though this was the most wonderful piece of information imaginable, breaking out of their huddle in the corner to step closer to the demon, who stopped dead, turning his head sharply, eyes now fixed on him.
“So you’re telling me that you have no task prepared? Because that’s how this arrangement works.” Yeonjun asked, with a slight edge to his voice. Besides him, Soobin heard Kai give a sharp intake of breath as Yeonjun toko a step closer to Beomgyu, as the main light flickered, just slightly.
“N-no, but-” Beomgyu began, faltering now at the change of mood, to which Taehyun suddenly stepped forwards, taking hold of Beomgyu’s hand and tugging him back away from Yeonjun.
“Don’t be angry. I can see that we’ve all wasted your time here, but Beomgyu can kindly send you back to wherever you came from…right Gyu?” Taehyun said, almost desperately now as they both retreated back into the corner. Soobin could barely feel his right arm, Kai was gripping onto his so tightly, and Soobin grabbed the back of Beomgyu’s shirt to tug him even further away as the demon rolled his eyes, now pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
“Actually, I don’t know how to send him back.” Beomgyu muttered, loud enough for Soobin to hear, and loud enough for Yeonjun to hear apparently, because he suddenly whipped round once more, a mixture of anger and disbelief on his face.
“Really? So you, little boy, summoned me all the way here, under false pretenses, just to tell me that you have no mission, no task, nothing? Not even a simple blood letting? And what’s more, you’re also saying that you don't know how to send me back?” he asked, almost shouting now as he stepped forwards, a wild fire in his eyes, like a little glimpse of Hell itself. And then the lights flickered once more, more obvious this time, and the four boys huddled in the corner flinched, as the lights came back on after a few seconds. Apparently, Choi Yeonjun’s anger was strong enough to potentially cause a power outage.
Soobin took a step forward as well, despite the fact that his heart was racing wildly, putting his arms out to protect his younger friends.
“Please don’t blame him. He didn’t know! He didn’t think it would actually work, none of us did!” Soobin said, trying to convince the demon, trying to make him see that they were sorry, but Yeonjun gave a low snarl, a laugh escaping his lips, although it was clear that he didn’t find any of this funny.
“So what you’re telling me, is that I’m essentially trapped here? On Earth? With no way back home? Do you realised how stupid you’ve all been?” he said, spinning round and walking away, back to them as he paced the room, clearly fuming.
But just then, Soobin felt the faint tap of Kai’s hand on his shoulder, and he turned round slightly to see the the blond haired boy whisper:
“Let’s offer him a meal.”
Soobin blinked, sure that he hadn't heard right.
“What?”
“Let’s offer him some food. Make him feel welcome, just until we figure out what to do.” Kai said once more, and they both glanced over at Yeonjun, who was still pacing the room like an angry tiger.
“So basically just distract him with food?” Soobin asked skeptically, eyes fixated on Yeonjun. It was only then that he noticed that the demon’s nails were black and sharpened to a fine point.
“Have you got any better ideas?” Kai hissed back, and when Soobin turned round, he saw Kai’s expression, and it wasn’t one of fear, but compassion for the demon. Kai’s ability to trust had no bounds.
“Fine.” Soobin said, and then turned back to Yeonjun, clearing his throat awkwardly to which Yeonjun turned round, arms folded as he opened his mouth to speak, but Soobin quickly jumped in:
“We’d like to offer you refreshments while we figure out how to send you back. We want your stay here to be as comfortable as possible.” Soobin said, hoping he sounded confident as he let the words tumble out of his mouth, feeling like a hotel waiter as he waited for the response. Yeonjun raised an eyebrow. If this didn’t turn out as planned-
“Sure. I could eat.” Yeonjun said, and was he mistaken, or was that the quiver of a smile on his face now that Soobin saw?
Taehyun then turned to Soobin, a confused expression on his face, but Beomgyu chimed in:
“Wait. What do demons eat?”
Good question. Soobin hadn't thought of that.
“The tortured souls of their victims of course!” Yeonjun replied, as his face broke into a smile, arms spread wide and savouring his words, as he beamed at all of them, tongue poking out just enough to nudge at his lip ring, eyes wide and hungry.
Soobin felt himself freeze, felt the others stop in their tracks too. There was dead silence.
Yeonjun then dropped his arms and rolled his eyes at all of them.
“Just kidding. I’ll take ramen and a bottle of soju if you’ve got it.”
***
Soobin actually couldn’t believe that this was happening. He had a demon in his house, and his name was Choi Yeonjun. He had to be dreaming, but his senses were telling him otherwise as they walked the short way down the hall and into the kitchen, leading the way but turning round as they passed the low hanging dangling light, which managed to hit the top of Yeonjun’s horns unexpectedly as they entered the kitchen.
“Ow! Stupid horns!” the demon muttered, more to himself than anyone else as he winced and rubbed the top of his head, while Soobin gestured for him to sit down a the kitchen table, and the others did so too, Kai sitting on one side of Yeonjun, and Beomgyu on the other. Taehyun meanwhile, remained standing, closer to Soobin than he would normally have done, apparently not convinced that Yeonjun was harmless yet.
Soobin noticed Kai’s eyes flickering to Yeonjun’s horns and then back to his face, clearly fascinated by them.
“I tried pulling them out once, but they grew back.” Yeonjun said to Kai, in reference to his horns, and Soobin couldn’t quite understand the notion behind those words, only that Yeonjun clearly found his horns an inconvenience.
“I- I think your horns are beautiful.” Kai said gently, making Yeonjun scoff in disbelief.
“‘I think your horns are beautiful.’” Yeonjun said, mimicking Kai’s voice. “You don’t need to lie to me.” the demon said bitterly, making the blond haired boy’s face fall for a second, which instantly set a flare of anger up in Soobin.
“He means it.” Soobin said firmly, making Yeonjun turn his head round and lock gazed with Soobin for a second, while Soobin held his breath, feeling his cheeks reddening as the others looked round too, but after a long moment, Yeonjun looked away, and Soobin sighed in relief.
“Sorry. I meant ‘thank you’.” the demon said to Kai, and to Soobin’s amazement, Kai suddenly launched himself at Yeonjun, enveloping him in a hug. Yeonjun looked startled for a few seconds, but then he hugged Kai back, patting his back awkwardly as they finally let go.
Soobin exchanged a startled look with Taehyun, who shook his head in disbelief.
“And what about you? Do you think my horns are beautiful?”
Soobin’s head snapped back round to see Yeonjun, being hugged around the waist by Kai, looking up at him from his seat, a smile twitching from the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t think it’s just your horns that are beautiful.” Soobin blurted out, immediately clapping his hand over his mouth, feeling his face flush at the sudden confession, while Beomgyu clapped his hands together and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Soobin quickly turned round and faced the stove, from which he was supposed to be cooking noodles- as promised, practically burying his face in the pan now to avoid the humiliation.
Why did he say that?
“We need to get rid of him.”
Soobin jumped even though the voice had been quiet, and he turned to see Taehyun standing next to him with a worried expression on his face.
“We need to study that book and find a way to send him back. This is dangerous. I don’t think Beomgyu realises what he’s done, and Kai’s been sucked in already. I could just go and start looking up the spell now if you want.” Taehyun offered, and Soobin was grateful that he had someone with a level head around here, because was struggling to think straight considering the current circumstances.
“It’s already late, so maybe we’ll just let him stay tonight, and then start working on it first thing tomorrow? Besides, I need someone to keep an eye on those two while I cook.” Soobin replied, nodding his head in the direction of Beomgyu and Kai, who were seemingly engrossed in asking Yeonjun all sorts of questions about Hell and the afterlife.
“Ok, sure.” Taehyun replied, before sitting down across from the trio, but not before Beomgyu called:
“Make us some too!”
Soobin turned round, raising an eyebrow as Beomgyu pouted prettily, hands clasped in front of his chest and batting his eyelashes.
“Fine, but next time, cook your own ramen!” Soobin retorted, before turning back to the boiling noodles on the stove, while also setting up another two pans filled with water next to the first. Who on Earth had put him in charge of cooking?
For a while, all Soobin could concentrate on was the food, and the constant chatter of the others sitting at the table behind him, and pretty soon, he’d finished cooking, presenting everyone with a bowl of piping hot ramen and, as promised, a bottle of cold soju for Yeonjun.
But it wasn’t until Yeonjun suddenly decided to use magic that Soobin truly felt as though everyone was losing their sanity.
All of a sudden, he’d simply turned round and raised his right hand, leveling it at Soobin’s precious spider plant currently sitting on the table as decoration, and the next thing they knew, the pot was floating off the table, levitating about three feet in the air as Yeonjun grinned, clearly enjoying the looks and gasps of awe form the others, Soobin included.
“Wow! Real magic!” Taehyun said in awe, eyes wide and mouth falling open at the sight of a floating plant, and it was at that point that Soobin knew the boy was gone. Well and truly gone. Kang Taehyun, his mature, logical, no-nonsense best friend was captivated by a demon. His last leg of sanity had fallen down the rabbit hole so to speak, and there was no going back.
“Pretty cool right?” Yeonjun asked, as he let the pot plant float slowly back down and fall lightly into Taehyun’s outstretched hands, where the silver haired boy only gaped for a few moments before putting the plant down and now peering at Yeonjun as though he were some sort of deity.
“Can you teach me?” Taehyun whispered, eyes wide and shining.
“Sure, anytime.” Yeonjun replied.
“What else can you do?” Beomgyu asked, now tugging at Yeonjun’s sleeve and causing his noodles to slip out of his chopsticks, but he didn’t seem to mind as Beomgyu was practically bouncing in his seat, full of excitement.
“Can you teach me how to dress as well as you?” Beomgyu asked eagerly, making Soobin scoff into his bowl, but Yeonjun only gave a smug smile.
“If you like. Watch this.” and with that, he snapped his fingers once, and suddenly Beomgyu’s relatively simply outfit of a t-shirt and jeans was transformed into black shorts, a white button down shirt complete with a fuzzy cream coloured cardigan over the top, and his long-ish black hair had been partially swept back from his face in a little ponytail. The style was perfect for Beomgyu, giving him a soft sweet appearance that anyone and everyone would fall for.
Soobin thought that Beomgyu looked like he’d come straight out of a K- drama, and Beomgyu himself gasped in shock as he stood up, looked down at his outfit before running out of the room and down the hallway.
There was science for a few seconds and then-
“OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!”
The excited shrieks coming from Soobin’s bedroom were ear splitting even from where they were in the kitchen, and a second later Beomgyu had come rushing back into the room and had practically thrown himself at Yeonjun, nearly knocking his soju out of his hands as the other laughed.
“Teach me your ways!” Beomgyu pleaded, while Soobin exchanged a panicked glance with Kai, who only smiled in amusement. Even Taehyun seemed pleased, basically making heart eyes at Beomgyu.
“Can we keep him?” Beomgyu now asked, turning to Soobin, still clinging onto Yeonjun’s arm as he gave Soobin his best puppy dog expression, all sad and pleading, and Soobin wanted to roll his eyes. But honestly, he shouldn’t have expected anything less.
“Please can Yeonjun hyung stay? Just for a bit longer? I like him, and he gives good hugs.” Kai said, and Soobin’s heart sank even more. Why did Kai have to look at him like that?
“He doesn’t really have anywhere to go, if you think about it. It’d be cruel to kick him out, so it’s only logical that he stays with us.” Taehyun chimed in, and that was the last straw. As Soobin peered round at all three of his friends, who seemed to now desperately want Yeonjun to stay with them, even though less than an hour ago they’d all been so scared at the very thought of summoning a demon into the apartment.
“Yes, pretty please can I stay?” Yeonjun said, clearly enjoying all the attention he was being given, grinning infuriatingly at Soobin, those dark eyes shining like sparkling stars.
“Ok, ok, he can stay, but only until we find the spell that sends him back.” Soobin said, reluctantly giving in to his friends’ wishes as the others cheered.
And that was it. Soobin thought. He could no longer maintain that he was a sane and well adjusted individual.
***
That night, Soobin had found it hard to sleep, and that's why only a few hours later after saying goodnight, he’d found himself walking into the dark kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and trying not to let the panic overwhelm him. He had a demon in the house. An actual demon, and none of his friends seemed to care. Or rather, they cared a bit too much, and all Soobin had wanted was a normal life.
“Why are you awake?”
“Yah!” Soobin dropped his glass of water at the sudden voice, and he jumped out the way as it smashed noisily onto the tiled floor, sending shards of glass everywhere, although in this lack of light, it was hard to pinpoint exactly what the damage had been.
He then whipped round to see Yeonjun, standing there in the dark, a little way off, the reflection from the stars through the window the only source of light. But still, he looked beautiful, if a little haunting, standing there in the middle of the kitchen, eyes shining like little galaxies, horns casting eerie jagged shadows across the walls.
“What are you doing? And don’t sneak up on people like that!” Soobin muttered furiously, wondering whether the noise had woken up the others, sincerely hoping not as he bent down and attempted to pick up the broken glass. He hadn’t turned on the light as it was such a small apartment that any brightness would have leaked into other rooms, and normally, this wasn’t a problem, until now it seemed.
“Sorry.” Came the quiet response, but Soobin ignored the apology, managing to strain his eyes enough to pick up the biggest shard of glass, as he stood back up. He’d need a dustpan and brush at this rate. Or a hoover. Brilliant.
“Let me help-” Yeonjun began, taking a step closer, reacting out his hand, and in that instant, Soobin’s hand automatically tightened around the glass, causing the now broken jagged edge to cut into his palm.
He gasped, in shock, and quickly threw the glass down into the sink, peering at his injured hand and feeling the blood now beginning to pool in his palm.
“Could you just leave?” Soobin hissed angrily, suddenly feeling the slightest bit guilty as his tone came out harsher than he’d wanted, and he saw Yeonjun take a step back, face falling.
“You still don't trust me, do you?” the demon said, voice coming out in a whisper now, and Soobin shook his head, still wincing in pain as his hand gave a sharp throb. He’d need plaster for this, or maybe even a bandage.
He looked up at Yeonjun, and sighed. What was the point of lying?
“No. Not really.” Soobin said, almost apologetically, but why, he wasn’t even sure. The conflicting emotions that ran through Soobin’s head every time the thought of Yeonjun were making it hard to even think clearly at this rate.
“Then let me show you that you can trust me. Give me your hand.” Yeonjun said, now extending his hand towards Soobin, while Soobin only clutched his injured hand to his chest.
“Please? I can help you.” Yeonjun said softly, and his expression was so genuine that after a moment’s hesitation, Soobin now let Yeonjun take his hand in his. Soobin stepped forwards so that they were closer now, almost touching, as Yeonjun gently turned over Soobin’s hand so that his palm was facing upwards, the cut clearly visible against the skin.
“This won’t hurt. I promise.” Yeonjun said, giving Soobin a reassuring smile, before using his own thumb to gently wipe across the cut, all the way along from one corner of Soobin’s palm to the other, and as he did so, Soobin felt a warm tingling sensation, not exactly unpleasant, but strange all the same. When Yeonjun was done, Soobin gaped at his palm in amazement. There was no cut in sight.
“How? How is that even possible?” he asked in awe, now taking his hand out of Yeonjun’s and holding it up close to his face, wondering if it had been some sort of trick of the light, but no, the cut really was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s just standard demon magic. Nothing that impressive.” Yeonjun said, shrugging, but Soobin could see the pleased smile on his face all the same.
“Well thanks.” he replied, a little awkwardly now. And then continued “I’ll try and work on getting you back home as soon as I can. We all will. We’re really sorry, you know...about all of this, so we’ll be working on a solution first thing tomorrow, ” Soobin said, thinking that this was the least he could do. After all, it was their fault that Yeonjun had ended up here in the first place.
At this, Yeonjun shook his head, staring back up at Soobin sadly.
“No, you won’t be sending me home. You’ll be sending me back to Hell. Hell is not home. Hell is just a place to suffer for a few thousand years while I wait to be summoned again. I don’t have a home. Not really. Not anymore.” he said, and something about those words seemed to make Soobin’s chest ache, as though his heart were breaking into two.
And that was when he realised: it had all been an act. When Yeonjun had first gotten here, he’d acted as though he were angry about it, but really, maybe he’d been hoping, secretly hoping that he wouldn’t have to return to where he’d come from.
“Then you can stay.” Soobin said, though one part of his brain was screaming at him, telling him that this was the worst thing he could possibly have said, but the other part, the stronger part, was saying that this was the kindest thing he could have done.
“What?” Yeonjun asked, looking up in disbelief, barely able to hope.
“You can stay. Here, with us. We could just forget about sending you back. You could stay for as long as you want, if that’s what you want. This could be your home too.” Soobin said, looking directly into Yeonjun’s eyes, trying to make him understand that this wasn’t a joke, it was a real offer, and that he meant it, meant every single word.
But Yeonjun was now looking at him with an unreadable expression, and for a split second, Soobin wondered whether he’d said the wrong thing after all, but then he found himself being pulled into a tight hug, the breath knocked out of him as he felt Yeonjun’s arms holding on tightly to him, the other boy’s face buried into his shoulder. Soobin hugged him back, hesitantly at first, but then he held on tightly, not being able to contain his grin as Yeonjun muttered a soft “thank you” into his shoulder before they both broke apart.
Soobin suddenly felt awkward, cheek burning as he shuffled his feet a bit, painfully aware of the less than a metre gap between them.
“OK, great. So now that I’m practically moving in, we really need to discuss sleeping arrangements!” Yeonjun said, upbeat once more as Soobin blinked in surprise. Really? That was what he wanted to talk about?
“I mean, the couch just won’t do if I’m going to be a regular, so I’m thinking of moving into your room?” he asked mischievously, sending Soobin a flirtatious look, to which Soobin felt his blush growing deeper.
“Umm….maybe. What about we talk about this tomorrow?” he asked, as they both walked slowly together out of the kitchen. Yeonjun thought about this for a few seconds before nodding in agreement as they entered the living room, stopping at the couch where they’d all set up a makeshift bed for Yeonjun, complete with a few plushies, courtesy of Kai.
“Ok, promise?” Yeonjun asked, and Soobin rolled his eyes.
“Promise.”
“Now, tell me my horns are beautiful.” Yeonjun said smugly, and Soobin had the faint suspicion that the demon simply enjoyed watching him become so flustered. However, Soobin couldn’t deny him the compliment even as he flushed.
“Your horns are beautiful- never stop believing that. Good night Yeonjun.” Soobin said, making to turn around and walk away, but not before the demon reached out and grabbed his hand, making him stop and turn back round, peering back into those eyes so bring in the dark.
“You’re beautiful too.” Yeonjun said softly.
And before he knew it, Yeonjun had leaned forwards, gently holding Soobin’s shoulder as he placed a light kiss onto Soobin’s cheek, before stepping away again. Soobin was glad it was so dark, because if it hadn’t been he was sure that his face would have been resembling a tomato.
“Good night Soobin.”
Yeonjun said, giving him a little wink before walking away, and as Soobin turned round and walked through the living room and into the hallway to his bed, he placed a hand to his cheek, feeling the last remnants of Yeonjun’s kiss tingling lightly on his skin.
Maybe living with a demon wasn’t such a bad thing after all.