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Chapter Text

After the fall of Gwi-Ma and the sealing of the honmoon, so began their new life as demons in a human world. The Saja Boys disbanded—none of them were really in it to be idols, and the moment the honmoon was sealed, there was no need for them to continue keeping up this farce. It also helped that people no longer seemed to remember them. Their songs, their performances. It was like whatever spell they cast on the fans was broken the moment the honmoon sealed.

However, it was still necessary for the Saja Boys to stick together. Jinu was worried that the other three demons would simply go out into the world and start wreaking havoc.

The Huntrix girls, bless their kind hearts, helped them get set up, securing all five demons housing in the same building as theirs. There wasn’t an apartment big enough for all of them, so it was Jinu and Abby to one, Baby, Romance and Mystery to the other. Speaking of, Abby thought that the other three really needed to consider a name change, but they didn’t seem capable of much thought, aside from demanding Huntrix to unseal the honmoon and allowing them to return to Gwi-Ma.

Regardless, the five demons spent the first few days after the sealing of the honmoon trying to adjust to human life. The girls brought them around the city. They’d been around before, during their short-lived time as the Saja Boys, but it was only for brief moments before returning to the underworld. Jinu seemed to really enjoy these outings. He was always full of questions about modern human life. Abby stuck to his side, a little more wary. Surely, anytime now, a human would look him in the eyes, find out he’s a demon, then start screaming and run away, right?

But the humans never seemed to notice. All they could notice was his body, as usual.

“Are you sure you boys aren’t idols either?” A particularly brazen waitress asked one day while they were eating at one of Huntrix’s favourite restaurants, a Korean barbecue place close to the apartments. “You’re all so pretty! Especially you, with the pink hair! What’s your name?”

If he were still playing the role of Abby the sex appeal of the Saja Boys, he would’ve smirked at her, flirted, said something that would’ve made her swoon. But now, he could only try his best to ignore the sudden twist in his stomach, averting his gaze to his food.

Was this really his life now? Living in such plain sight, being ogled by humans?

“Oh, they aren’t idols,” Zoey, one of the Huntrix girls, quickly said. “Just some of our friends!”

Because Abby was sitting right at the side, where the waitress stood, it put him in the perfect position for the waitress to lay her hand on his shoulder and say, “You should really consider it!”

Abby gripped his chopsticks hard and said nothing.

“Thank you for your kind words,” Jinu cut in with a brilliant smile that certainly made the waitress swoon. “Yes, Abby’s so pretty, isn’t he?” Swiftly, Jinu leaned over and planted a firm kiss against Abby’s cheek.

“Oh!” The waitress looked unsure now, and she sounded as embarrassed as Abby felt. He wouldn’t be surprised if their faces were equally red. “Well, yes. Sorry to be bothering you all. Enjoy your meal!”

Abby shot a side-glare at Jinu, but had to stop when he realised it was not amusement in Jinu’s eyes, but concern. Beneath the table, Jinu grabbed his hand and squeezed it once.

You okay? Jinu was asking him.

Abby squeezed his hand back. Thank you.

The rest of the dinner passed without a hitch. On the way back to the apartments, Rumi, the lead singer of Huntrix, apologised for the waitress’ behaviour. Abby waved her off, because why was she apologising? She probably didn’t even know the waitress before tonight. And it was fine. He was used to it, after all.

Huntrix had secured the apartment beside theirs for Jinu and Abby. While they were at the doors, all of them going into their respective apartments, Rumi stopped Jinu with a hand on his arm. Abby told himself it meant nothing, but he still lingered near the doorway as Rumi said, “Think about what I said, okay?”

“Okay,” Jinu answered. Then, he came into the house, locked the door behind him, and turned to find Abby still standing there, staring at him. “Abby?”

“Think about what?”

“Oh. Rumi offered me a job.”

“A job?” Abby echoed. Over the past few days, the Huntrix girls had mentioned that the five of them demons probably needed to get jobs or go to college if they wanted to live normally in the human world.

“Yeah.” Jinu rubbed the back of his neck. He was…nervous. “She wants me to join the producing team behind Huntrix. She said my songs for the Saja Boys were really good and she thinks I could work with Zoey to produce more songs for Huntrix and…is it stupid?”

It took Abby a beat too long to realise that Jinu was rambling, something he rarely ever did, and a beat longer to realise that Jinu had asked him a question. “What’s stupid?”

“Me becoming a producer for Huntrix. My songs aren’t even that good…right?”

“Your songs are great, Jinu.”

Jinu perked up at this. “Really?”

“You literally launched us into stardom overnight with Soda Pop,” Abby said with a shrug. “If that isn’t great, then I don’t know what it is.”

But Jinu still looked unsure, standing there without his usual shining confidence, and Abby couldn’t help but go to him. He took Jinu’s hands in his own, waited until Jinu met his eyes. “I think you should go for it. Let your songs be heard by the world. It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”

Jinu winced at that, and Abby realised those words might’ve not been the best ones. Jinu’s desperation for his music to be heard was, perhaps, the very reason he became a demon. But that desperation had been borne from the need to survive, and Abby knew that before it, Jinu had picked up the pipa because there was music in his soul, and he needed some way to let it out, to let it be heard. What had started as a genuine passion for songs had been turned, through poverty, starvation and despair, into a wretched path for survival.

“I meant,” Abby said carefully. “Your music in here.” He laid a hand on Jinu’s chest, over where his heart should’ve been. “You should let it out. I want to hear it. All of it.”

Jinu laid his own hand over Abby’s. “Okay,” he breathed, and he was leaning closer, pulling Abby in. “I’ll do it. Since my Abby wants me too.”

My Abby. The words settled onto Abby like a warm blanket as Jinu pulled him in fully, pressing their lips together.

“Shall we take this to the bed?” Jinu asked, golden eyes alight, demon marks gleaming in the low light of the apartment.

Abby took his hand and led the way.

===

While Jinu started at his new job as Huntrix’s producer, Abby was tasked with looking after the other three Saja Boys during the day. The first day, Mira and Zoey brought them around the city again, this time to look for jobs. Ideally, they would all be in the same job, where Abby could keep an eye on them while working, but most places were only hiring 2 people at most.

“Can’t be helped, then,” Mira sighed as they were turned away from yet another café. “We’re gonna have to split you boys up.”

Baby, Romance and Mystery didn’t seem very bothered. They were hardly even paying attention the whole morning. Abby alone asked, “Is that really a good idea?”

While he asked that, Mystery was already cornering a scared old woman. Abby quickly dragged him back while Zoey apologised furiously to the old woman.

“I mean, I guess you could all just stay as unemployed bums?” Zoey suggested.

“No way,” Mira said. “I’m not going to be paying for the existence of these demons for the rest of my life.”

“Jinu could pay for them!” Zoey rebutted. “He’s a producer now, he’s gonna earn the big bucks.”

And Abby couldn’t listen to the rest of the discussion, because Baby and Romance were now heckling a group of women, and he had to hustle over to drag them away. While Mira and Zoey continued going back and forth about them, Abby dragged all three demons over to a quieter side of the street.

“Listen up, you three,” Abby said, trying his best to channel his inner Jinu as he spoke. “Your days as demons are over. Gwi-Ma’s gone. You don’t need to harvest souls for him anymore.”

But as soon as he started speaking, their attentions had shifted, and Baby tried to lunge at a passing man, who yelped in fright. Romance joined in. Mystery tried to slip the other way, to chase after yet another passing man. A moment later, they were all gone, nothing but dust clouds in their wake. Abby would hunt them down. But for now, he took the chance to stand there for a moment and just…sigh. Deeply.

By then, Mira and Zoey were done with their discussion.

“Okay,” Zoey said brightly as they walked over to where Abby stood. “We’ve decided that even if you boys don’t really need the jobs, you should still take them so that you can experience more of human life…where did the rest go?”

A few streets down, someone screamed. A few streets down in the other direction, someone else screamed.

It was the girls’ turn to sigh. “Guess it’s time to hunt some demons,” Mira grumbled.

“I got dibs on Mystery!” Zoey shouted, before running off in the direction of one of the screams.

Mira and Abby exchanged a glance. In the distance, another scream.

“I’m telling Jinu what happened,” Mira said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Abby rolled his eyes. As if Jinu could stop these three uncontrollable demons. They’d listened to him well enough while they were in the Saja Boys, but once Gwi-Ma disappeared, it was as if whatever control Jinu had over them was gone too. “We better get hunting.”

===

Later that night, they were all gathered in the Huntrix’s apartment, where Mira and Zoey were giving them the greatest dressing down of their life. And that was saying something, because they’d all been subjected to Gwi-Ma’s wrath before.

Rumi and Jinu, both at the production studio the whole day, stood to the side, looking confused and concerned, watching the drama unfold.

The day had gone horribly. Despite Abby’s best attempts to keep the other three demons in check, they still managed to wreak havoc in several different parts of the city. They had each tried to harvest souls, all of which were safely returned to their owners, thanks to the efforts of Mira, Zoey and Abby. But there was one that came close, really close, and Mira and Zoey were currently screaming their heads off at the demons because of that.

“And you, Abby!”

He startled. “What did I do?”

“You should’ve been keeping a closer watch on them!” Zoey yelled, arms flailing about in anger. “They almost harvested a soul!”

“Well, I’m sorry if I couldn’t keep a hold of three grown ass soul-hungry demons every single second while we were out!”

“Yeah, you should be sorry! Try harder!”

“And what did you do? If I hadn’t been there, there would actually have been souls harvested today, and you know it.”

“Okay, okay!” Rumi quickly pushed between them. She held Zoey back as Zoey growled and threatened to throw punches. Jinu came to Abby’s side, placing a hand on Abby’s shoulder. “Stop fighting, both of you. You all tried very hard today, and it was none of your faults. The problem lies with them.” Rumi jerked her chin to where Baby, Romance and Mystery sat on the couch in a daze, clearly not listening to anything that was said.

“We need to find a way to get them to stop being so…demon-like,” Mira muttered. She cast a side glance at Jinu and Abby. “How do you two manage it?”

How did they manage it? Abby didn’t know. He only knew that Jinu had always been there, right from the start, and maybe because they had each other, they didn’t quite feel the same sharp ache that all the other demons did. The hunger for souls. The desperate need to please Gwi-Ma. Jinu clearly didn’t know either, with how he didn’t immediately have an answer for Mira.

“We just need to keep thinking,” Rumi said in the end. “About how to help them. Why don’t we all go back to our own apartments for tonight and maybe sleep on it?”

Just like that, they were dismissed. Abby and Jinu escorted the three demons back to their apartment, before heading back to their own.

“Tomorrow will be better,” Jinu assured him as they washed up.

Would it really?

===

The next day, they got handphones. So that they could contact each other ‘the human way’, as Mira said. The Huntrix girls made them save all their numbers into their phones. Then, as Abby was examining his phone in fascination, it buzzed with a text.

[Jinu]

hi abby :)

He looked up to where Jinu was watching him over the screen of his phone. Jinu smiled.

Cheeks flushing, Abby quickly typed a response.

[Abby]

hi jinu ;)

Jinu went to the production studio once again, with Rumi. It annoyed Abby a little, that Rumi got to spend the whole day with Jinu, while Abby was stuck with these three demons. But whatever. Jinu seemed happy about being a producer, and Abby wanted to be happy for him.

The rest of them went job-hunting again. Before they left the apartments, Zoey and Mira made it clear to the other three demons that they would not hesitate to kill them if they tried sucking anyone’s soul out. After the past few days of not listening to anything except the phantom voice of Gwi-Ma in their heads, the death threat seemed to get through to them. Throughout the day, they ended up actually listening as Zoey and Mira marched them from café to café and signed each of them up as part-time workers. In the end, they all got jobs at different cafes, starting tomorrow.

“Is this really a good idea?” Abby asked at the end of the day, as they were headed back to the apartments.

Baby, Romance and Mystery had been surprisingly docile all day, following wherever Mira and Zoey directed.

“Don’t worry, Abby,” Zoey said cheerfully. “Huntrix is on break now, so Mira and I will have time to keep an eye on them. We’ll step in if they try anything.”

That night, cuddled in Jinu’s arms, Abby said, “I hope this works out.”

Jinu’s hand was in his hair, massaging his scalp. It felt heavenly. Abby could feel his eyes closing. “It will,” Jinu said.

===

So began their part-time café jobs. And an endless few days of the other three Saja boys calling Abby constantly, even while they were all at work. Their first day at work, Baby called barely a few hours into the work day to inform Abby that he’d been fired. Over the phone, Abby heard the manager screaming at Baby. He’d quickly called one of the Huntrix girls to please help handle the situation. Then, it was Romance, complaining about having to work. Then, Mystery, asking when they could return to Gwi-Ma. Then, again and again, over the next few days, until Mira taught Abby how to put his phone to silent mode and ignore all the calls until the end of his work day. The moment he ended work and picked up his phone, though, he would be bombarded by messages and calls from the other three demons.

It was exhausting.

After three tiring days of dealing with this shit, he was collapsed on the bed when Jinu came back from work and immediately threw himself onto Abby.

“I would think that serving coffee and food wouldn’t be so hard,” Jinu joked as he wrapped himself around Abby from behind.

“It’s not the job,” Abby grumbled. The job was actually pretty easy. As a demon, they didn’t tire as easily as humans, and he was working consistently at twice the speed of his coworkers.

“Those three giving you a hard time?” Jinu asked. His breath tickled the back of Abby’s neck.

“Why’d they have to be on this side of the honmoon when it sealed?”

Jinu laughed a little. “Are they that bad?”

“They’re just…demons, I guess.”

It was strange, because they were demons too. Yet, Abby didn’t spend every waking moment wishing the honmoon would rupture, hoping Gwi-Ma would take him back. In fact, he was happy to be where he was, far away from the underworld. He knew Jinu was too.

“So are we,” Jinu said softly, echoing Abby’s thoughts.

Abby turned to face Jinu. He lifted a hand to trace the demon marks on Jinu’s face. Down to his neck, where they disappeared into his collar. Unlike Rumi, they could hide their demon marks for most of the day with a glamour that prevented normal humans from seeing anything demon-like. But here, with only each other to see, they let those glamours fall.

“Maybe,” Jinu said. “They just need to learn how to feel human again.”

“How do we help them do that?” Abby muttered. Surely, they could figure that out for themselves, right? Abby and Jinu didn’t need anyone to teach them how to feel human. But then again, Abby and Jinu always had each other. The other three demons…were probably alone for the past few centuries, with nothing but Gwi-Ma’s voice in their heads.

“Hm. We can think about it while we take a shower.” Jinu began to haul Abby out of bed. “C’mon. I can’t wait any longer.”

In the end, they didn’t think much about the other three demons while in the shower, with Abby spending most of it pressed up against the shower wall, clinging on to Jinu’s shoulders. Before going to bed, though, Jinu suggested bringing the three demons out on an excursion.

“We could bring them to the beach. Or the aquarium. Show them how to have fun. Maybe that’ll help.”

Abby had his head pillowed on Jinu’s arm, still feeling tingly from what they did in the shower. So, he merely hummed in response and continued tracing demon marks on Jinu’s skin.

“Maybe we could ask the Huntrix girls to come along too. Apparently, Zoey has eyes for Mystery.”

“Mm…”

“Or was it Baby? I can’t remember. What do you think?”

“Mm…”

“Abby? Are you even listening?”

“Hm?”

Instead of repeating whatever he said, though, Jinu just chuckled and gave Abby a squeeze. “You’re adorable.”

“Stop saying that!”

Jinu pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You know I would never.”

Abby grumbled, but didn’t push it further. They stayed that way for a while, cuddled together in silence, until Abby asked about Jinu’s new job, and Jinu launched into an excited spiel about what he was currently composing for Huntrix. Abby lay there and listened, content with just hearing Jinu’s voice, his excitement, over what he was working on.

“Sing it to me one day,” Abby murmured, when Jinu was done.

“Once I’ve finished, you’ll be the first one to hear it,” Jinu promised.

And even after almost four hundred years, Jinu was still capable of making Abby’s unbeating heart skip a beat.

===

A week after they first started their jobs, Abby was looking at his phone on his break when he got a message from Zoey. Both Mira and Zoey had to go in to the studio today, and hence could not keep an eye on the other demons. But they’d decided it was fine, since a week of part-time jobs had passed without much of a hitch.

Except, Zoey’s message read: sorry, could you maybe go look for the boys? their managers called us and apparently, none of them showed up to work.

But he was at work. How could he just leave?

His phone pinged with another message.

just tell the boss you’re not feeling well or something.

So, he did that. Surprisingly, the owner let him go without second-guessing him.

Once he was out on the street, it didn’t take long for him to follow the trail of frightened, pale-faced people to a dark alleyway, where the other three demons stood over a boy who looked no older than thirteen, the glimmer of the boy’s soul in the air. Abby didn’t even think. He just swung.

He managed to get the boy out of there, roughly picking him off the floor and throwing him back out into the street. Once the boy was safe, though, the other three demons turned on Abby.

They fought. Fists against flesh. Claws against skin. Abby got a good right hook on Baby. But Romance’s claws tore through his arm in retaliation. He pushed Romance away, landed a spinning kick on Mystery’s head, and kept fighting. But it was three against one, and Baby, Romance and Mystery were comparable to Abby in terms of strength. In the end, they got him pinned against the alley wall, claws poised to gouge out his eyes. His throat.

“Why do you keep getting in our way?” Romance snarled. “You’re a demon, like us. You should be serving Gwi-Ma!”

“Gwi-Ma is gone,” Abby spat back.

That earned him a hard slam against the alley wall. He struggled to blink away the stars in his eyes, the encroaching fog in his head.

“You’re a traitor,” Mystery accused. “You and Jinu both.”

“After we’re done with you,” Baby continued darkly. “Jinu’s next.”

Abby snarled and tried to lunge, but Romance and Mystery slammed him back against the wall. He saw stars again. Felt blood dripping down the side of his head. His vision blurred.

“What, nothing else to say?” Their figures were hazy now, but Abby could still make out Baby’s face as he leaned close. He gripped Abby’s jaw, claws digging in so hard that they broke skin. Blood dribbled down Abby’s neck. “Such a pretty face. If we broke it, do you think Jinu would still want you?”

Abby spat in his face. The mixture of blood and saliva hit Baby square in the eyes, and he cried out in anger. The next moment, Abby’s head was whipped to the side with a slice of Romance’s claws. Blood sprayed. Abby’s face burned.

“Know your place,” Romance snapped. “You’re nothing but a dog. Jinu’s dog. You look down on us for serving Gwi-Ma, and yet you live your life with Jinu as your master.”

It was such a gross twisting of his relationship with Jinu that he ached to bury his claws into each of the demon’s throats. But they still had him pinned, and his head was throbbing, and he didn’t think he could stay standing much longer.

“It’s not too late to join us again,” Mystery said, offering what he thought must be an olive branch, a chance for truce. “Help us harvest souls, rupture the honmoon, and allow Gwi-Ma to return.”

Abby struggled to speak through the blood in his mouth, the pounding in his head. “Why…why can’t you just…live…?”

“You really think we belong here?” Baby demanded. “In this world of humans? As demons? If you actually think so, you’re delusional.”

“Baby’s right,” Romance said, and through the haze of Abby’s mind, he could make out the gleam of darkness in Romance’s eyes. In that moment, he knew without a doubt that the three demons holding him down were beyond saving. “You’re a demon, Abby. You can pretend all you want, get this cute little job, live in a fancy apartment with Jinu, try your hardest to fit in. But at the end of the day, you are a demon. A pathetic, selfish bastard who used his body to get by while he was human, then stole human souls for centuries. That’s all you are. That’s all you’ll ever be.”

“And if you don’t want to join us,” Mystery finished, raising his claws for the killing blow. “We’ll gladly get rid of you.”

Abby closed his eyes before the final blow struck. Was this it, then? Was his time up? Is this how he was meant to go, after three hundred and fifty years as a demon? After surviving the sealing of the honmoon, after finally being free?

But suddenly, there was a scream, and he blinked woozy eyes open to see that Mystery had lost his hand. He was screaming over the bloody stump. And in the wall to their left, a shining blue dagger was embedded. Romance finally let Abby go, turning to face the new threat, and so did Baby. Without the force of them pinning him to the wall, Abby sunk, like a rock, to the ground.

And there, at the other end of the alley, were the three Huntrix girls. And Jinu.

Jinu, whose eyes caught on Abby’s damaged form, and held. Jinu, who stepped forward first.

“I’m going to give the three of you one chance,” Jinu said lowly, demon marks flaring, golden eyes burning, claws extended. “To surrender.”

The three demons just laughed.

“Maybe you can tell that to Gwi-Ma when we deliver you back to him,” Romance scoffed.

“Tell that to him yourself,” Jinu said. The next moment, he struck.

===

After, the alleyway was quiet.

After, Jinu came to where Abby lay, crumpled like a sack against the alley wall.

“Jinu…” Abby tried to speak, but his head pounded, and his mouth still tasted of blood.

Jinu’s eyes were still burning, the gold luminous in the darkness of the alley. His demon marks flared, simmering with his anger, but his hands were so very gentle as he cupped Abby’s face and tilted Abby’s head towards him.

I’m sorry, Abby wanted to say. He should’ve been stronger. Should’ve been able to hold his own against the other three.

But his vision was blurring, and Jinu’s palm against his skin was so warm, and he just needed to rest his aching body. Just for a little moment.

“Let’s get you home.” Jinu’s arms were around him then, lifting him up, and Abby gave in to the darkness.

===

The aftermath was brutal. Abby blamed himself for not being able to keep the three demons in check. Jinu blamed himself for letting Abby get hurt and for getting the three demons roped into the Saja Boys in the first place, consequently causing them to be trapped here. The three demons were gone now, their apartment empty, anything that existed about them simply erased from this world, returned to Gwi-Ma.

The harshness of it felt like a slap to Abby’s face. Yes, they were demons. Yes, they were trying to harvest souls. Yes, they were about to kill a little boy. But still. Abby was a demon too. What if one day, Huntrix decided they didn’t want him and Jinu around anymore, tainting humanity with their presence? He really was nothing but a pathetic, selfish demon after all, just like what those three said about him.

“Abby…” Then Jinu was here, chasing the dark thoughts from his mind. He was careful as he lay down beside Abby, keeping a small distance between them.

And it ached, that distance. “You can come closer,” Abby said. “I’m not going to break.”

Jinu did. But he was still too far away, and without a second thought, Abby rolled such that he could press himself fully against Jinu.

“You idiot,” Jinu scolded lightly, but his arms still came around Abby. “You could’ve ripped your wounds open again.”

It’d only been a day since the attack, and Abby was still slathered in bandages. But his wounds were already half-healed, perks of being a demon and all that.

“What happened, Abby?” Jinu asked after they’d been lying tangled together for a while. “Why did they hurt you?”

After the attack, Jinu had brought him home, and he’d been disoriented and in pain, his body struggling to heal itself. Jinu asked him questions while he cleaned him up and bandaged his wounds. But Abby was too out of it to respond, and he’d spent the rest of the time until now in silent recovery, with Jinu a quiet and comforting presence by his side.

Slowly, Abby told Jinu everything. The boy. The fight. The words they spat at each other.

Jinu was quiet after Abby finished speaking, his thumb rubbing comforting circles against Abby’s hip.

“That boy,” Abby said. “I hope he’s okay.”

“He is. Huntrix spoke to him after the fight.”

“That’s…that’s good.”

“He’s okay thanks to you. You did good, Abby.”

Abby couldn’t help but preen at the praise, despite the ache of his wounds, and Jinu laughed and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Jinu’s hand came up to trace the bandage on Abby’s cheek.

“And about what those demons said…I don’t love you just for your face or your body, Abby. I hope you know that.”

Abby nuzzled against Jinu’s palm. “I know.”

Jinu’s smile was fond. And Abby already knew what he was about to say before he said it.

“I am not adorable.”

This made Jinu laugh again and the sound of it settled over Abby’s hurting, achy body like a salve. “You are, though.”

He wasn’t. Seriously, Jinu must be the only person in the whole world who thought that. He knew what people said about him. ‘Hot’, ‘sexy’. Definitely not cute.

Jinu pulled him close. “Anyways, my adorable little Abby should rest more.”

“I—”

Jinu covered his mouth, not letting him speak, mirth twinkling in his eyes. Abby gave in—how could he not, when Jinu looked the way he did? He let himself be tucked comfortably against Jinu, giving in to the tiredness and the feel of Jinu’s fingers in his hair.

===

That night, Huntrix brought dinner to their apartment. The girls had cooked a ‘get better soon’ meal, as they called it, which was basically just samgyetang and gimbap. Zoey and Mira were all over Abby with apologies, saying that they should never have let the other three demons out of their sights. Abby made a joke that it was fine, they just wouldn’t be able to ogle his damaged face anymore. For some reason, this particular line of joke devolved into the two girls showering him with compliment after compliment. As part of the compliments, Mira placed a particularly big piece of chicken onto Abby’s plate.

“Eat all you want, Abby!” Zoey exclaimed. “It’s all for you!”

Before Abby could eat it, much to his confusion, Jinu took it away.

“What the hell,” Mira said. “Abby, does this man starve you?”

But Jinu only took the meat off the bone, then raised it to Abby’s lips. “Say ahh.” Cheeks aflame, Abby ate it. It was good. “I don’t starve him. Abby just enjoys food more when I give it to him.” He turned to Abby with a brilliant smile. “Right, Abby?”

Abby quickly averted his gaze to his plate, sure that his entire face was red by now. “Uh—um…yeah…”

Jinu beamed. Rumi gagged. Zoey went aww! Mira rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Real mature, Jinu.”

The rest of the night was filled with laughter.

===

Much later that night, after the Huntrix girls had left, Jinu and Abby were once again in bed. They talked a little bit more about the fight. About the three demons who were now just…gone. Abby could tell that Jinu still felt guilty about it. Really, in all the centuries they’d known each other, Abby had never seen a single selfish bone in Jinu’s body. Gwi-Ma was very wrong about that.

“I think it could work, though,” Abby said softly after they’d been silent for some time. “Us. Here.”

“Yeah? You think so?” Jinu turned to face him.

It would take some getting used to. Learning to be human again, after centuries of being demons. And they would never truly be human, no matter how long or hard they tried. Still, it didn’t matter to Abby. As long as he had Jinu by his side, for the rest of eternity.

“I do.”

Jinu smiled. Abby loved that smile of his. “I think so too.”

Chapter Text

Slowly, they adapted. It wasn’t easy, learning to live amongst humans after three hundred and fifty years in the underworld. There were things Abby couldn’t do anymore, like teleporting anywhere he wanted and letting his glamours down in public. But he had Jinu and an eternity ahead of them, and he found that he wanted to keep going, even though it was hard.

He got better at his job. He started remembering the names of regulars, preparing their orders for them before they even came into the shop. He made friends with his coworkers. As the days passed, the café got busier and busier, and one day, his coworker leaned over to whisper, “The boss is so thankful for you, you know?”

“What?” Abby tried to remember if he did anything noteworthy ever since he started work. “Why?”

“Because you’ve single-handedly increased our sales this month by, like, twice the usual amount or something.” When Abby only looked at his coworker in confusion, his coworker laughed and said, “Just look at you! I’m surprised the whole of Seoul hasn’t already come knocking down our doors.”

Oh. Right. There was that sinking feeling in his stomach again. The realization that no matter what he did, how well he performed, in the end, all things pointed back to how he looked, how other people wanted him.

Memories of Gwi-Ma’s voice echoed in his head. More recently, the voice of Baby as he said, Such a pretty face. If we broke it, do you think Jinu would still want you?

“Could I ask, how’d you get a body like that? What do you eat? How often do you work out?” The coworker chattered away.

Abby had no answers for him. Not any that he would understand, anyways. As demons, they didn’t really need to eat. They also didn’t need to work out. They were stuck in whatever form they entered the underworld in and the only way to change their appearance was to use glamours.

‘I didn’t work for this body; I just hated it so much that a demon king made me stay in it for the rest of eternity’ didn’t seem like a very apt response to the coworker’s questions.

He tried his best to give reasonable answers. (“I eat whatever I want, but I work out…3 hours a day?” “3 hours a day? Oh my god, you’re insane. I guess beauty really comes with a price…”)

When he got back to the apartment that day, Jinu was still not back from the production studio. So, Abby took some time observing himself in front of a mirror, hating everything he saw. He could see what people liked about him. His face. His build. The way his clothes wrapped so tightly around his body.

When he first started out, the café owner had apologized and told him they didn’t have employee shirts that were big enough for him. He’d been stuck with a smaller size which stretched uncomfortably tight over his torso, the buttons straining to hold the shirt together.

He’d been so self-conscious the first day, aware of everyone’s gazes, but when he came back, Jinu made sure to show him how good he looked in his café attire, and he didn’t think so much about it anymore. Whenever people stared, he would imagine Jinu’s gaze instead. Jinu’s hands slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Jinu’s lips kissing a line down his chest. It worked, for a while. Until now.

He stared at himself and heard, faintly, the whispers of Gwi-Ma in his head. Even after the honmoon was sealed, even after they were freed, the memories of Gwi-Ma still haunted him.

What should he do? What can he do?

The café owner promised to order a size that was big enough for him, but it’d been weeks since then, and the shirt never came. Maybe he should ask the café owner about it tomorrow. Or maybe…he checked the time. He still had two hours before dinner time. Two hours before Jinu was done. He could make a quick trip to the clothing store. Quickly, he changed into some blessedly looser clothes and left the apartment.

That night, when Jinu came back bearing dinner, they sat down to eat. Jinu noticed his paper bag from the clothing store, sitting on one of the dining table chairs.

“What’d you buy?” Jinu asked.

Abby considered telling him everything then. But Jinu looked so happy, so unburdened, that he couldn’t bear to unload his pains. Jinu had spent centuries battling Abby’s demons, after all, and maybe it was about time he stopped relying so much on Jinu.

“Just some clothes,” Abby said. “I got something for you too.”

Jinu’s eyes sparkled. “A gift? Can I see it now?”

Abby nodded. Eagerly, Jinu took the items out of the bag. Two hoodies, with a cute cartoon tiger’s head printed as the hoodie logo.

“Matching hoodies!” Jinu exclaimed with a smile, and for a moment, all of Abby’s troubles were forgotten. Just for a moment, though. “We can wear them when the weather gets colder.”

And here was the hitch in Abby’s plan—it was the height of summer now, in Seoul, and he would definitely stick out even more if he went to work every day in a hoodie. But he would be sticking out for reasons other than his body, and that was enough for him. Hopefully.

Abby just hummed in agreement.

After they’d finished their dinner, washed up, and were all cuddled up in bed, Jinu suddenly asked, “Are you okay, Abby?”

Abby was surprised. He didn’t think he’d let it slip that he wasn’t. “Yeah?”

“Really?” Jinu regarded him carefully.

“Yes,” Abby said, holding Jinu’s gaze. “Why?”

“You just…seem a little off.” Jinu’s brows crinkled together in concern. “Is it the café? Are they working you too hard? Because if they are, I’m going to have some harsh words for them.”

“It’s fine, Jinu,” Abby chuckled. “Work is supposed to be hard.”

He could tell that Jinu wanted to press further—Jinu had never met a question that he couldn’t chase to the depths of certainty—so he turned such that he could press his face against Jinu’s neck and mumbled, “M’ tired. Can you just hold me for a while?”

It worked. Jinu immediately dropped his questioning and held him tighter.

“How was your day?” Abby asked after a few minutes of silence.

“It was great,” Jinu said, and he sounded so happy that it lifted Abby’s mood as well. “I’ve been spending more time with Rumi, actually. Working on her verses.”

As quickly as his mood lifted, it fell. Even though he knew that Rumi knew that he and Jinu were a thing, he just couldn’t help but feel…unsettled. Just a little bit. Just the tiniest bit. He wasn’t jealous. Of course not. He had Jinu for almost four hundred years now, and Rumi was only, what, twenty years old? But…it still unsettled him, because this was the girl who used to have a massive crush on Jinu, after all.

“You’re frowning again,” Jinu commented suddenly. “What’s wrong, Abby? What’re you not telling me?”

Abby hid his face against Jinu’s neck again. Damn it. Damn Jinu for being so observant. “Told you, I’m just tired.”

Jinu took his hand then, and he was silent for a while as he ran his thumb over Abby’s knuckles. Again and again, like he was trying to memorise every curve and dip of Abby’s bones. Then, quietly, he asked, “You would tell me if something was going on, right?”

“Yes,” Abby lied. He prayed that Jinu would not hear it in his voice. “Of course.”

He must be a better liar than he thought he was, because Jinu pulled back to smile at him and ruffle his hair. “That’s good.”

He smiled back. Yes. It was all good. He could handle himself. He could fight his own demons. He’d relied on Jinu for long enough.

===

For the next week, he showed up to work in his hoodie. He got many stares. Even the café owner asked him if he was sick or something. He just smiled and got to work.

And it was going well. It was going really well. People didn’t stare so much anymore when there was nothing they could see. When he came back to the apartment after work, he felt lighter. Happier. He’d solved a problem that was affecting him. He’d done it on his own, without needing Jinu to help him. Three hundred and fifty years of battling the demons plaguing his mind, and he’d finally triumphed over them on his own.

Each night, he ached to tell Jinu about how he overcame his struggles. But Jinu was coming back later and later each day, tired, talking about helping out with Rumi’s verses or something, and Abby always held back. He could always tell Jinu another day, was his reason. When Jinu was not quite so busy anymore. And he didn’t like all this talk about Rumi, but he told himself it didn’t matter.

It happened on the last day of the week. He was clearing the plates from the table of a group of old men when one of them suddenly grabbed his ass. He jumped so hard that he almost dropped the plates in his hands.

“Why’d you hide a nice body like yours beneath such a big jacket?” The old man demanded, and in his voice, Abby heard the voices of hundreds of other old men. The old man reached out, like he was going to touch Abby again, and Abby flinched away from his hand. “Why don’t you come meet us outside the café when you’re done with your work?”

He managed to keep his cool. Just barely. Politely declined their offer. Worked the rest of his shift in complete, utter silence, avoiding that table with the old men like the plague.

But the memories came crawling back. One by one, the movie of his life on repeat in his head. It was disgusting. Revolting. It made him feel sick to the stomach.

When he was finally, finally done with his shift, he barely lingered to say goodbye to his coworkers before fleeing. Somehow, he ended up back at the apartment. By now, his head was flooded with memories. Old men with their hands on him. Old men leering at him. He fumbled with the key to the main door, dropping it twice. He kept looking back over his shoulder, afraid that someone had followed him home, afraid that he was going to relive his past, over and over again.

Finally, the door gave way. But it was not because he’d opened it. He wasn’t expecting it at all, and he stumbled head first into the person who opened it. Jinu.

“Abby?” Jinu sounded alarmed. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Why was Jinu back so early? He hadn’t been coming back before dinner for the whole week. Why did he have to be early today, of all days?

“Abby?” Jinu’s hands gripped his shoulders. “Talk to me.”

And suddenly, Abby got the distinct feeling that they were being watched by someone else. Slowly, he turned his head to the dining table. There was a girl sitting there, staring at them. Rumi. Rumi. The only time Jinu came back early from the production studio was with Rumi. He was here, doing who knows what with Rumi, while Abby was getting fondled by an old man. Every day, Rumi, Rumi, Rumi.

Abby shrugged out of Jinu’s grip.

“Abby—” Jinu tried to reach for him. “Abby, what—” He stopped short, seemed to realise something as he looked between Abby and Rumi. “No, this isn’t—”

And Abby knew that Jinu would never do that to him. He knew how much Jinu loved him. But in that moment, tangled in memories of his past, distraught and cornered and feeling like he was back to square one, back in the clutches of perverted old men, he couldn’t stay here. He just—he just couldn’t. And the door was right there. Still open.

Jinu called after him as he ran. Chased him as he ran faster. Through the city streets and back alleys. Abby took so many turns that he managed to lose Jinu, but also got himself utterly lost. Night had fallen by the time Abby slumped against an alley wall and let the weight of it all push him to the ground.

Three hundred and fifty years.

That was how long it had been since a stranger had touched him like that. Since a stranger had violated him like that. There were demons who tried, while they were in the underworld, but Jinu was always there. And Jinu kept his promise, that he would never let anyone treat Abby that way anymore, making sure that any demon who tried anything was sent scampering away, tail between the legs.

Three hundred and fifty years of Jinu’s protection, and Abby had slowly but surely let his guard down. Slowly began to think that maybe he did not need to be so ashamed of his body. Maybe he did not need to hate it so much.

Now look what happened.

Gwi-Ma was right. He would never be able to escape his shame. He would be stuck like this for the rest of eternity. Gwi-Ma was right. Gwi-Ma was right. Gwi-Ma was—

“Abby.”

He startled. There, at the other end of the alley, was Jinu.

He should’ve known that Jinu would always be able to find him, no matter how far he ran.

It felt like déjà vu. Like that day he’d been beaten up by Romance, Mystery and Baby, and Jinu had come to save the day. He cursed himself for always needing Jinu. Why couldn’t he ever handle anything on his own?

“What,” he said roughly. “Rumi didn’t need your company anymore?”

Jinu ignored his question. Came to kneel before Abby. And he looked so very pained as he reached up a hand towards Abby’s face. As his thumb brushed over Abby’s cheek.

“Why’re you crying?” Jinu whispered.

That couldn’t be right—demons didn’t cry. But Jinu pulled his hand away, and his fingers were wet. Abby roughly rubbed his cheeks, cursing himself for being so weak.

“Abby, there’s really nothing between me and Rumi. I left some papers at home, and she offered to come back with me to get them. Then, we thought, since it was almost the end of the day, we might as well just go over them in the apartment, rather than travelling all the way back to the studio.” Jinu took Abby’s face in his hands. “That’s all that happened. I swear. Please, don’t cry anymore, Abby.”

Abby sniffled. Jinu had gotten it all wrong. But it wasn’t his fault. Abby didn’t really give him any other reason to think otherwise.

“Do you really think I would leave you for her?” Jinu continued, sounding more desperate now. “You’re my Abby. I’ve loved you for three hundred and fifty years. I’ve known her for a few months. I love you, Abby, not her. Always you. Only you.”

Abby struggled to rein in his emotions, to organize his thoughts.

“Say something,” Jinu pleaded.

“It’s not—I’m not…it’s not about Rumi,” Abby finally said.

“Oh.” Confusion took over Jinu’s face. “But I thought…in the apartment, you were looking at her, and…”

Well, maybe it was a little about Rumi. But she’d been the final straw, the tipping point, and everything that came before that was really a lot bigger than her.

“It’s not about Rumi,” Abby repeated quietly.

Jinu shifted such that he was sitting on the ground as well. He took hold of Abby’s hands and held them so tightly. “Tell me what happened, then. Please?”

And slowly, haltingly, he did.

After he was done, Jinu was quiet. He hadn’t quite dared to look at Jinu’s face the whole time he was talking, but now he did. And as he met Jinu’s eyes, he found them to be burning, bright gold with anger.

“Who was this man?” Jinu demanded lowly. “What was his name? Where does he stay?”

Abby shook his head. “I don’t know. But if you go to the café tomorrow, I’m sure he’ll be there.”

He’d been there the whole week, Abby knew, ogling Abby as he worked. He should’ve known something like this might happen. Should’ve at least suspected it.

“I’m sorry,” Abby said. “It’s so stupid. I mean, it was just one guy, and I’m acting like the world is ending. I’m sorry. I’m sorry you always have to see me like this. I—”

“Abby,” Jinu cut him off, sounding so serious that it drew Abby’s gaze back to him. The gold of his eyes was still burning. He was very, very angry. “It’s not ‘just one guy’. And it’s not your fault, so stop apologizing.”

That sentence made Abby want to apologize again, but he held his tongue at the look on Jinu’s face.

“If you’re going to do something to him, could you…could you not do it right now?” Abby dropped his gaze back to their hands. “Could you just…stay with me? For now?”

“Oh, Abby…” Jinu opened his arms wide. Abby fell in immediately, letting Jinu hold him. “Let’s go home, yeah? We’ll have a nice dinner. Maybe watch a nice movie. Cuddle.”

“Yes, please,” Abby mumbled.

After a while more of sitting in the alley tangled together, Jinu got up and pulled him to his feet. They went home.

===

Abby didn’t go to work the next day. Jinu didn’t either, choosing to stay cuddled in bed with Abby. They didn’t do anything except cuddle—Jinu didn’t initiate any intimacy with Abby after episodes like that, until Abby did it first. That night, Jinu went out briefly, leaving Abby in the care of the Huntrix girls. Something Abby insisted he didn’t need, but Jinu insisted otherwise, because he knew what it was like for Abby to be left alone with his thoughts after such episodes.

When he returned and chased the Huntrix girls back to their own apartment, he told Abby, “That man won’t ever bother you anymore.”

Abby didn’t ask what Jinu had done. Only pulled him close and thanked him with a soft kiss. “Do you think the memories will ever go away?”

“Hmm…I don’t think they’ll ever completely disappear,” Jinu said, sounding regretful. The thought made Abby sigh. “I mean, even now, I can still remember the exact moment my mom and sister were pulled away…” Jinu trailed off, brows furrowed.

Abby moved on instinct, hating the look on Jinu’s face—the guilt, the ache, the thought that he was nothing but a monster—and hugged Jinu tight. Jinu was right, the memories would always be there, haunting them, taunting them. It was the reason they were demons, after all. Abby could only hope that time would wear down the jagged edges, such that every time the memories surfaced, they wouldn’t cut so deep.

“Was it really a good idea, staying here?” Jinu asked, and he sounded so uncertain, so troubled, that Abby ached to pull him close, to shelter him from everything that could hurt him. “Should we just have let Gwi-Ma win? Erase our memories?”

Abby thought about it for a moment. But only a moment. “No, we shouldn’t have let Gwi-Ma win. If he took our memories, maybe he would’ve taken us away from each other too.” He tilted Jinu’s head to face him, fingers gentle against Jinu’s cheek. “And I can bear these memories, as long as it means I get to keep you.”

His words made Jinu smile.

It didn’t magically make everything okay. It didn’t erase the guilt from Jinu’s face or the echoes in Abby’s mind. But it made Jinu smile. And it was enough. For them, it was enough.

===

Abby never returned to work at the café. Instead, Jinu began dragging him along to the production studio every morning, where he would sit in while Jinu and the girls discussed lyrics. It was interesting, watching verses come together. Hearing the girls singing. Hearing Jinu singing.

Abby became such a fixture in the production studio that the other staff started greeting him too, whenever he walked in with Jinu. Eventually, he was offered a job as assistant manager of Huntrix. He accepted, because the job meant that he would be able to go to work with Jinu every day. And Bobby was a very friendly, capable boss.

The days passed. Huntrix released their new song. Jinu’s song. On the day of their first live performance, Abby stood backstage with Jinu and Bobby, cheering the girls on. Abby had already heard the song in its entirety, first from Jinu, then while the girls were recording it. But it was really something else, watching them perform. Those girls were made for the stage.

“So,” Jinu said, as the fans cheered. “You never really told me if you liked the song.”

It was called Rebirth. And it was about being given a second chance at life, forging a new path through the ashes, with the love of your life by your side. It was about them. The girls had teased Jinu relentlessly about it, calling him lovesick, a simp, amongst other things. Abby had joined in, for the fun of it, because it was cute to see Jinu embarrassed sometimes.

But now, he only smiled. Took Jinu’s hand and interlaced their fingers together. “I love it,” Abby said. “I love you.”

Jinu laughed. “You’re such a sap.” Then, his smile turned soft. “But I love you too.”

They shared a single, quiet moment, remembering everything that came before, anticipating everything that would come to be.

The first few bars of Rebirth began to play. The fans cheered. Rumi began to sing. Jinu squeezed his hand tight. And Abby was happy. This was it, then. The rest of their lives.