Chapter Text
"You think he is dead?"
"That would be fitting. We did see him die once already."
"Oh, shut it. You really think any of us wanna remember that?"
"He's waking up."
The chatter around him slowed to hushed whispers. He had been wrapped in a warm, dark embrace, but now, he felt chilled. Also, what was with all the noise? Didn't they know he was trying to sleep? Ready to reprimand them, he opened his eyes but then paused.
Four pairs of eyes widened, and he was met with vigorous greetings. A strong hand gripped his, and he was hoisted up to his feet. The man who pulled him up was Abby, but Jinu knew him by another name. "Dae-Hyun?"
The man chuckled and clapped him on the back, "Who else would it be?"
Jinu looked at Dae-Hyunin a daze. Then his eyes shifted toward the rest of the gang. They all looked... different.
"Great, looks like someone else lost some memories. It already took long enough with Min-Su." The shortest of the three shot a sharp glare toward the man whose face was covered in a mop of hair.
Min-Su, the man in question, didn't have anything to say. He seemed to be studying Jinu.
The last of the three set a hand on Min-Su's shoulder as if to soothe the man. "Su-Bin, there's no need to be cruel. We've all been through a lot."
Su-Bin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Sure, sure, whatever you say, Yu-Jun. Forgive me for not wanting to go through another hour long explanation about what happened. Hell, we could make it into a damn movie the way it all played out."
"Come on now guys, get it together." Dae-Hyun shouted, the bickering beginning to bother him.
Jinu raised a hand to his head. It was all coming back now. The guys, the singing, the dancing, Huntrix, and... Rumi. He shook his head. "What's going on?"
The short one, the one the fans had called Baby, flung his arms up and did a spin. "Look around tall, dark and handsome, we're alive."
"We think." Min-Su chimed in quietly.
Su-Bin's eye twitched, his hands still high in the air. He turned slowly toward the quiet mysterious man. "Ya know, commentary isn't always necessary."
The quip didn't seem to bother Min-Su. In fact, the ghost of a smile graced his lips for a brief moment.
Jinu couldn't help it any more, "What happened to you guys? You all look, well..." He raised a hand to his own hair.
Yu-Jun laughed. His once red hair was now a dark shimmery black. "Seems like we got our original hair colors back. I'm surprised that's the first thing you want to know about after finding out we're alive." Sure enough, all of them now had shades of black or dark brown hair instead of the bold colors they had before.
"We think."
Su-Bin turned toward Min-Su and snapped in a deadpanned scowl, "Dude."
Dae-Hyun placed a hand on Su-Bin's head, pushing the hat he wore over his eyes. "Hey, lighten up. Min-Su spent more time without his soul than any of us. You remember what he looked like, he was starting to turn into one."
They all remembered the tusks Min-Su used to have. They also knew the role of being a demon in the first place. They had all been demons for far longer than any of them wanted to think about. But, a human soul could only hold its shape for so long before it began to twist and meld into that of a demon.
Su-Bin huffed, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry Min-Su."
The apology was met with nothing but a nod of acknowledgement. This response made Su-Bin's eye twitch. He had never been used to people ignoring him.
Jinu was still in a daze, but he looked around them. They were surrounded by lush greenery. Once the guys had all calmed down and explained that they too had woken up nearby with no idea how they got there, Jinu began to focus on what to do next. He still had so many thoughts and emotions coursing through him remembering what had happened, but he couldn't focus on any of that. He could focus on finding Rumi once they figured out where they were and what to do.
A loud gurgling noise broke Jinu from his thoughts and all heads turned toward Min-Su. The man scratched the back of his neck as if embarrassed at the demands of his stomach. "Food first?"
Jinu grinned as he sighed. That was as good a place to start as any. "Food it is then."
"Hell yeah! Maybe I can find out what one of those lollipops actually tastes like now." Su-Bin rubbed his hands together in excited anticipation.