Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Okay, we need to have a quick talk about fan interactions before we have any,” Jinu sat down in front of the other demons.

“Why does it matter? Aren’t we going to take their souls for Gwi-ma?” Abby looked confused.

Baby facepalmed. “We can’t kill them all, dumbass. There aren’t enough tears in the honmoon to let enough demons through for that to work. Besides, we can't steal fans from those stupid hunters if they’re all dead.”

“Exactly,” Jinu agreed. “So we have to be nice to everyone. And Romance and Abby can’t be too obvious with their relationship.”

“What? Why?” Romance cried out, sitting up a bit more.

“We can’t afford to lose any fans, even those that are… less than accepting.” Romance huffed and laid back against Abby, pouting.

“Do you all understand?” he waited until all of them had nodded before standing up. “Alright, let’s go then.”

They were a huge success. So many people had stayed to watch their performance, and they’d even run into the hunters. Jinu could tell he’d gotten under Rumi’s skin. He was so in his head about how well his plan was working that he stopped focusing on the others and didn’t notice when a teenage girl ran up to them.

“Oh my gosh! You’re the Saja Boys, right? I just saw you perform! Was that the first time? It was so good!”
Unfortunately, the first one to speak up was Baby. “Fucking hell. Can’t you people just fuck off and leave us alone?” The words snapped Jinu back to the present. The girl’s mouth gaped open and he could see tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

He stepped in front of Baby and took her hand, turning up the charm. “I’m so sorry about him, he’s had a long day and isn’t used to all the attention just yet. I’ll be sure to have a chat with him over what happened. No one should speak like that to such a pretty girl.” He kissed the back of her hand and stepped back.

“Oh! It, um, it’s okay!” she ran off. He sighed and glared at the youngest member.

“We’re talking about this when we get back to our apartment.”

“What part of ‘we have to be nice to everyone’ did you not understand?!” Jinu was practically yelling at Baby.

“What? It’s not like we were performing at the time,” he sounded annoyed.

The leader pinched the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter. Actually, I’m banning you from talking to the fans at all. Do I make myself clear?”

“I can’t talk to them at all?”

“Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear."

“Yes, Mom,” Baby rolled his eyes.

“Good. Now get ready for the show tonight.”

Chapter Text

The Saja Boys were making a lot of progress with their plan since Baby had been banned from talking to the fans. This should’ve been a warning to Jinu that something was going to go wrong.

They’d all gone out to eat because they could eat now that they weren’t stuck in the demon realm. For the most part, they were all eating silently, save for Romance and Abby quietly laughing to each other. They weren’t being particularly obvious about their relationship, but anyone with eyes could see the way they looked at each other was anything but platonic.

Their waitress took notice and had been giving them weird looks all night. She finally brought it up to Jinu when she’d brought the check.

“So what’s the deal with those two? Are they dating or something?” the disgust was evident in her tone.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” he answered coolly. He wasn’t about to cause a scene if it could be avoided.

“Well, it’s obvious that they like each other,” she scoffed. “Not to mention, one of them’s trying to be a girl.” She jerked her head towards Romance and Jinu realized the couple had stopped talking and were just staring at her silently.

“Listen, no matter what you may think about my friends, you’re not entitled to information about their personal lives. Especially, if you’re going to be rude about it,” he kept his tone level for their sake – Romance had curled in on himself and Abby was glaring daggers into the woman.

He handed her the cash for the meal and stood up, gesturing to the others to stand as well. The waitress scrunched up her face and walked past Romance to take it to the register, stopping to whisper something into his ear.

He instantly flinched back and wrapped his arms around himself. Jinu could see Abby’s eyes darken and he stepped forward to say something but Baby beat him to it.
“You’re just mad because he looks better with a guy than you ever will,” he spoke nonchalantly, glancing at his nails as he emotionally wrecked her. “In fact, you’re probably a fag too.”

The leader took that as his cue to step in, “We’re leaving now!” He pushed Abby and Baby towards the door, not missing the way Romance trailed behind them.

The moment the door closed, Abby’s hands clenched into fists wound tighter than the vocalist of HUNTR/X. “I’m going to KILL her!”

Jinu placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “We’ll deal with her later, okay? But we need to focus on more important things first.” He subtly gestured towards Romance. All the fight left his body when he saw the state of his boyfriend.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Can we just go home? Please?” his voice was barely more than a whisper.

Jinu sighed. This was going to require a conversation, but it would be much easier at their apartment. “Yeah. Let’s head back.”

An hour later, Romance was curled up against Abby on the couch, Baby was in his bedroom and Jinu didn’t know where Mystery was. He took a seat across from the two pink-haired demons.

“We need to talk about tonight.”

“What, are we gonna get banned from looking at each other?” Abby wrapped a protective arm around his boyfriend.

“Why would I do that?” Jinu furrowed his brow in confusion.

“You banned Baby from talking to fans.”

He sighed. “That was because he cursed a fan out unprompted. What happened in the restaurant was her fault. I just want to understand what exactly bothered you two so much so I can try to prevent it from happening again.”

“Oh,” Abby looked down at Romance. “It’s not my place to tell.”

“It’s okay, I’ll explain,” a raspy voice spoke up from his arms. “Jinu, do you remember when we were researching the human realm and we came across the word trans?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s someone who doesn’t feel right as their birth gender, right?”

“I’m trans. It’s why I got so upset when she said I was trying to be a girl,” Romance burrowed further into Abby’s side.

“So… you’re actually a girl? Or is it the other way?” Wow, he was bad at this. He hoped the question didn’t make him feel worse. Maybe he should kidnap HUNTR/X’s manager. He seemed really supportive.

“Other way. I was born a girl, but I’m a guy,” his voice was muffled but Jinu could still make out the amusement in his tone. Good, that meant he hadn’t messed up too much.

“Me too, actually,” Abby added. “It’s how I became a demon. I made a deal to be what I thought of as the most masculine you could be. Gwi-ma wouldn’t let me get rid of my name though.”

“That’s what your name’s from? I thought it was because of your abs!”

“Everyone does,” he winked.

“Gwi-ma didn’t bother keeping my female body even though my deal is unrelated, but he likes to remind me that he can change that if I stray too far from him,” Romance moved the conversation along.

“I think I’ve got it. I’ll try and protect you from people like that. Do you… want a hug?” The question was awkward, but it got a laugh from them.

“Dude. We’re demons. Of course we want a hug,” Abby opened his arms and Jinu made his way over to the other demons.

For a brief moment, the voices in their heads were quieted. Even after Jinu pulled away, they stayed on the couch for hours. And when Mystery came back looking full in a way only achieved by taking a soul, none of them mentioned it.

Chapter Text

Jinu regretted his life decisions. He should’ve told Gwi-ma to just destroy his soul. That would’ve been better than sitting on the floor in between Abby and Mystery all night. If he’d fought Baby harder for the chair, this wouldn’t be a problem. But the younger demon had taken it when Jinu wasn’t looking and he hadn’t cared enough to protest.

When the doors finally opened and they shuffled in, he stretched as much as he could without exiting the sleeping bag, hearing his joints pop uncomfortably. Then Rumi threw a curveball and called for a joint signing. He found himself sitting between Baby and the leader of HUNTR/X, which was the best case scenario: he could get under her skin and prevent Baby from saying anything offensive to the fans.

Soon, though, it became clear that he wasn’t going to be the issue today. He’d been signing a photo for a fan when he heard Mystery start barking at the crowd.

He’d begun to get to his feet when Zoey said, “No! Bad Saja Boy!”

He turned his attention back to Rumi and the fans. This would be a conversation for later.

Jinu was still reeling from how the signing had ended when they got home. He spent a large portion of the day with his face smushed against his pillow, thinking about that drawing and pretending he didn’t hear Gwi-ma’s voice in his head. It was only when Mystery didn’t show up for dinner that he remembered about the barking. He sighed, wanting nothing more than to curl up in his bed once more but knowing they needed to talk.

He dragged himself to Mystery’s room and knocked. After about 30 seconds of no reply, he opened the door and entered the room.

It was completely dark inside and Jinu could just barely make out a small bundle on the bed. Concern flared in his chest and he flicked the lights on to see better. Mystery let out a small whine and pulled the blankets tighter around him. Jinu took the hint and hit the switch again, before walking to the bed and sitting on the edge.

“Was the signing too much?” He kept his voice low, remembering how the other flinched at loud noises after intense social interactions.

Mystery nodded, poking his head out of the blanket nest, his eyes just barely visible. Jinu noted how he looked a little like a kicked puppy when he was upset.

“Would you be okay with a hug right now?” he asked, opening his arms in an invitation. Mystery didn’t say anything, simply exiting the blankets and crawling into Jinu’s arms. He snuggled up to him and rested his head on the leader’s chest.

“I’m here if you need anything,” he murmured into Mystery’s hair. “You just have to ask.”

“Thanks, mom,” the other’s voice was quiet and sincere, the word seemingly having slipped out unintentionally. Jinu felt an odd warmth fill his chest.

He smiled softly and held Mystery a little tighter. “Of course.”

The next morning, Jinu slipped out of Mystery’s room and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. One by one, the others stumbled into the dining room and sat down at the table with varying levels of awakeness.

He brought the food to them and set down their plates in front of each of them. Each plate was portioned based upon the needs of the demon eating it.

“Thanks, mom,” Mystery spoke without thinking. Jinu’s face reddened out of embarrassment when the other three tried to hold back their laughter, breaking when Romance let a giggle escape.

Jinu turned back to his food and covered his face with his hands. “That nickname isn’t sticking around.”