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The lights were hot, their feet were heavy, and Jinu could swear he'd pass out at any moment. Their stomachs were churning from having to do another unpleasant food challenge. It had been like this all day. In order to make up for their upcoming busy schedule, the Saja Boys were prerecording a ton of game shows. It had been three days of nonstop talking, laughing, improvised performances, and of course, varying degrees of horrible challenges. Luckily, this was the last game for that day. Tomorrow they had to return to film a parkour challenge and do some re-shoots, but after that they were free.
Well, free for one day, at least.
They finished chugging their jars of various flavored pickled juice— ranging from cotton candy pickle juice to ultra-spicy pickle juice. The boys did their absolute best not to throw up. They waved goodbye to the camera and empty seats in the audience, then left backstage; Promptly regurgitating the unpleasant concoction each had in their mouth. When they were safely within the back room, they let go. One by one, they each shifted out of their human forms and returned to their demon forms.
The reason for their busy schedule the following two weeks was none other than Huntr/x. The girls had announced they were going to be taking a two-week long vacation. To the public, this was their ‘yearly holiday’. It fell right around the time of Rumi's birthday (and, subsequently, Mi-yeong's death anniversary). They took this as their time to celebrate every holiday. Everyone's birthday, including Bobby, every anniversary, their Christmas and new years, and the girls favorite— Valentines day.
This was a yearly tradition, and they would be doing that for the first week. The second week, however, was different. The last time they took a holiday, they retrieved the boys from the demon realm. This time? They were on a mission to get their souls. Once the Saja Boys got their souls back, they would become human again. No longer would they have to hide under a perfect, idealized version of their past selves, or exist as a monstrous disfigurement of it.
In turn, the Saja Boys were taking over for them. It took a few years for Huntr/x to get to the demon realm. In that time, the boys grew closer as friends and as a musical group. They wrote a lot of songs and had a lot of ideas for things they wanted to do as an idol group. There were at least 50 different pieces from that time. They decided that they would release one of those songs for each day Huntr/x would be on vacation. When they returned they would do a collab before handing the limelight back over to Huntr/x to focus on 'developing the saja brand' (aka figuring out how things were going to work once they got their human forms back).
They took their day of rest. Which turned more into a day of preparation for the weeks to come. 14 days, 14 new songs, 14 new videos to shoot each day (Did they mention they promised the fans a full music video for each song as it released? videos they 100% didn't have planned? Yeah, they did that). What could possibly go wrong?
The first day went smoothly. Thankfully, they were smart enough to prepare the first weeks worth of songs. By 6 am each day, they were posted. The videos, though, were another story. For the first one, they decided to do something simple. An homage to their debut. They cobbled together a satisfying enough choreography over night, then set out for Myeongdong Square in the morning.
They decided to wear matching purple and white outfits. They settled themselves in the same place they preformed Soda Pop for the first time, and broke out into song. Two cameramen in front recorded their performance. Quickly they had a crowd of onlooking, ecstatic fans cheering for them. They sung, they danced, they gave a few winks to the audience, and then said their goodbyes. They really tried not to think too much of it. They did enjoy their performances, they loved making people smile with these impromptu events. But they were exhausting. If they were going to keep this up for another two weeks, they would need to prepare for several more of these.
Once they made their way through the crowd, after offering a few signatures and selfies, they darted into Healer Hans. He had caught on quick to their situation. He was close with Romance, Abby, Mystery, and Baby before they were turned into demons, and he recognized them instantly. He offered them a safe space to escape to whenever they did things like this, and they took this offer happily.
As soon as the boys ran in, Han locked the door, and they all dipped to the back as he guarded the front.
Once the coast was clear, and they were free from all prying eyes, they let go. It had become harder and harder to hold onto their human forms for long periods of time. Gwi-ma still had a hold on them. He was trying to pull them back in, force them into a position where they had to return to the demon realm. He would do anything to get them back— his best warriors, the ones who got the closest to beating the hunters. But they refused to abide by his will. They would just figure out ways to make it work. How to balance their demon and human selves. At least until the girls returned with their souls.
It would all be over soon. It had to be. They could get rid of these horrid shackles, their ever present reminder of why they hated themselves.
Romance and Abby stood by the water dispenser at the end of the hall. Each taking large sips from the tiny, cone shaped paper cups. Romance laughed, and brought his cup to the top of Abby's head.
"Party hat." He smiled as he set it down. In turn, Abby placed his own on Romance. It wouldn't balance though. Each of the boys was prone to slouching when in their demon form. Romance happened to have the worst slouch out of all of them. He rubbed his lower spine, groaning lowly at the dull pain that shot up from his hips into his neck.
“Mr. Romance is your back okay?” A small voice asked from behind them. Romance jumped, back straightening in an instant, and turned around. Abby put a protective hand on his shoulder and leaned over to see who had said that.
Behind them was a small child. It was a boy, couldn’t be older than 6 or 7. He had black hair and wide, dark eyes. In one hand was a green light stick, and in the other, two saja friends plushies. His shirt had the decal of a dinosaur on it, same with his too-big rubber boots.
Romance darted his eyes to Abby. His heart dropped. He looked down, and panic consumed him. Purple skin. Dark, scraggly marks that ran up and down their face, neck, and arms. Illuminated eyes with sharp, cat-like pupils. He and Abby were still in their demon forms. In front of a fan.
The child continued. “My aunties always say if I don’t sit up straight that I am going to end up like Samcheon Ye-Jin. And he’s always complaining about how much his back hurts. So, I don’t want you to hurt.” He looked up at them innocently. The eyes of the plushies—Boogey and Boss, Mystery and Jinu’s Saja Friends mascots— also looked up at them. Their reflection faint in the glossy, beaded eyes of the toys. The boy gripped onto the small plushies and started to bounce up and down on his tip-toes. “Your eyes are really cool. You look like cats.” As soon as he said that, he gasped, and started to jump even more. He shuffled closer and shoved the plushies in their face. “Like lions!”
Romance and Abby look towards each other. Abby shrugged, unknowing of what to do. He was calm, at least. Somehow unfazed by their appearance. With no other ideas, Romance leaned down. He was going to put his hands on the boys shoulders, but after seeing his own, gnarly claws, hid his hands behind his back. Abby did the same.
"Hey, little guy. You aren't supposed to be back here. Where are your parents?" He asked, his voice going up at least an octave.
"Oh they are in the Square somewhere. I think my mom said shes getting us hotteok. Do you like hotteok?" his smile was always wide, and he kept staring in awe at all of the boys new features.
Abby leaned down as well. "It's only my favorite street food. Do you know which stall they are at?" As he asked, he pulled out his phone and began to Google all the nearby places that sell hotteok. It was a pretty busy area, and a lot of places sold hotteok. They could be anywhere.
He shook his head, then peered behind Romance. "Whoa!" He shouted, then grabbed his hand. "Look at your nails. They are like claws!! That's so cool. And your outfits, and the patterns— You look like a million bucks! You should dress up like this all the time. I wish I could."
Abby and Romance couldn't help but feel flustered at the compliment. They all hated their demon form. That's what it was built for. Built to make them feel sick of being themselves. It's why they clung onto their human forms so much. As the saja boys, they were idealistic. Every feature sharped and polished like a statue. As demons, they were abominations. Anything they didn't like, all the parts of them that they were self conscious about, was amplified ten fold. A nasty stain was all they considered themselves.
For Romance, these claws were one of the worst. Before he was turned into a demon, he prided himself on his nails. He always kept them perfectly manicured. His father always had really gross nails that were caked in mud and grime from his construction job. His sisters, though, were both nail artist. He used to taunt Romance for enjoying doing his nails with his siblings. It wasn't masculine, and it wouldn't help save him in the future. He always claimed that Romance would end up just like him. Working dirty, dead-end jobs to make ends meet. He wanted to defy his father, and he did so in the only way that proved his point right. Now he had horrid, stained claws just like him. And this child thought they were cool.
Abby was in a similar position. He didn't like his eyes, or the way it turned his skin a musty purple. Like some sort of zombie. He was never a fan of zombie movies. He hated the idea of it. It always reminded him that he was dead— he lost his soul. Traded it for an ideal life that he never even got to live. His whole life was spent being used for what made him useful and being shamed for what made him different. His only want was to be able to change that narrative. To choose what to make of his talents, to be praised for what made him different. Now, that would never happen. That scenario was ten times worse. Now being useful and being shameful were all he could be, the only two forms he possessed. But here was this small kid, unabashedly praising him for something he'd spent his whole life in misery over.
Romance and Abby had only zoned out for a second, but the moment they lost focus on the kid, he had ran away. Both of them yelped and sprinted after the small boy. He ran down the hall, and into the very back room. The room where the rest of the Saja Boys, certainly in their demon form, were hiding.
"Wait!" Romance yelled. Abby flew past him.
"You can't go in there!" He lunged towards him, but was too late. The kid slid past the door and shut it behind him, causing Abby to land face first on the ground.
He scrambled off the floor and to the door, swinging it open.
"Kid!" He yelled, mostly concerned but a tad angry.
The kid was way louder when he finally found who he was looking for.
"Jinu! Mystery!" His shrill scream rang throughout the back room. It was lined wall to wall with shelves containing all of Hans different 'prescriptions.' There were a few chairs against one of the shelves, and 5 spread out across the room. Two of which were occupied by the aforementioned boys.
The young child launched himself at the two. In a matter of seconds, Mystery found himself with a strange child in his lap, with his hands wrapped around his large, tusk-like fangs, eyes glimmering like he just arrived at Disneyland.
"Look at your fangs! Your like a dinosaur!!" His voice was high pitched and raspy, and oh so excited. He started screeching and roaring, presumably imitating a dinosaur. He began to jump up and down on Mystery's legs, so Jinu swooped in, picking up the little guy and placing him on an empty chair. Mystery tucked his knees to his chest, hiding the lower half of his face behind them.
Baby glared at the two men by the door, and they looked back just as bewildered as they all felt. "What happened to 'Han guards the door' then?" Baby scolded them in a whisper, joining them by the door as Mystery and Jinu handled the child.
"He just showed up." Abby informed him, standing protectively behind Romance, staring back occasionally into the hall.
"Where are his parents?" Baby continued to pry.
"In the square getting hotteok, he said. Who knows if he was right. They are bound to come searching for him soon."
Baby ushered Romance and Abby into the room. Checking down the hall one more time before shutting the door and locking it.
"Can either of you shift back yet?" He asked frantically. Romance and Abby shook their head. "What are we going to do? I certainly can't, and Jinu always gets the most stage time so I know he won't be able to. And even if Mystery could… Look at the kid."
Behind them, Jinu was holding the kid in air jail as he kicked his little legs and flailed his arms in his attempt to get Mystery.
The three put their heads together as they thought of a solution for the predicament they were in. The idea of sending Han out with the kid to find his parents came up. But, to put it bluntly, he wasn't a Saja Boy. He already ran away once, they doubted he would go with Han when he knew the boys were there already. Plus, finding your child in the care of a random old doctor from a shady pharmacy probably wouldn't bode well to the average parent.
It should be one of them, and they need to be in human form. "How long do you need? If I got five minutes to rest, I can try and do it quickly." Romance offered.
"I am going to need at least fifteen, Jinu probably longer. And we need to make time for actually finding his parents." Said Baby, looking back at them. The kid was sat on Mystery's lap again, very intensely explaining something about the two plushies in his hands.
Just then, a chime came from Abby's pocket. He took his phone out and opened the message.
HanMoon: There was a kid outside with no parents so I let him in so he would be safe. I went to get him a juice and now he is gone?? SOS
Abby: He's in the backroom with us right now, dw
Abby: He saw us 😈 he says his parents are in the square. We need time to shift again, 20 mins at least. Can you stall for us until then?
HanMoon: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
The three boys joined the others, Romance and Abby taking a seat next to Mystery. The kid was rambling on and on about something they couldn't understand. Jinu filled them in.
"He is telling us about the dino-sona's he made for us."
Once Jinu explained, the kid shot up. "Do you have crayons? I can show you!" He asked excitedly. Jinu placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to calm him down, while Baby and Romance started to look for something the kid could use.
"They will look for something to draw with. In the meantime, why don't you tell us your name?"
He smiled. It was ingraining itself on everyone. How was he not scared? They weren't human. They were horrible creatures. With them in it, this closet was essentially a haunted house on a budget.
"My name is Eun-woo~" He closed his eyes and tilted his head like contented dog. Mystery brought a hand up and pat his head.
"Well, Eun-woo, as you know I'm Jinu. And of course, Mystery, Abby, Baby, and Romance."
The latter two had returned with a pencil and some scrap paper left over from bouquets of flowers given to them by fans. They handed it to Eun-woo, and he immediately dropped to the floor and started doodling.
Each of the boys pulled up a chair and sat around him. Watching him as he drew in a fervor. They kept sharing confused, but happy glances with one another.
The last time any normal person saw their demon form, they ran away in terror. It was just before their debut as the Saja boys, only hours after they arrived in the overworld for the first time. They were still getting the hang of controlling their demon forms. They had wandered into a small market to train. They needed to learn how to hold their form for long, intense periods of time. And, the most difficult of all, learn how to be human again. After a few hours of roaming the market they left, disappearing into a nearby forest. While there, a girl came upon them. For a moment, it seemed like it was going to be fine. She was just staring at them. No visible emotions. Jinu lifted out his hand. Reaching for a connection. They boys hung on every inch of movement. Would they be accepted? Did they really have to fear failure? Then, after he took half a step closer, she screamed. it was shrill, pure bloody murder. Like they had just stabbed her in the heart. She tripped on her own feet as she desperately scattered away, yelling for her family to come get 'the monsters in the woods.' It was misery, it was humiliating. They never got to escape it, their greatest fears and insecurities. That's all they were. It's all they would be. All they could be until the girl
Mystery was hideous and disfigured. Romance was disgusting and broken. Abby was weird and only useful for his looks and strength. Baby would always be seen as childish, weak, and stupid. And Jinu? He was the only one who's appearance didn't reflect their trauma in some way. His didn't need to. The emptiness where his mother and sister should be was all the reminder he needed. His very voice, a constant echo of the choice he would forever regret— leaving them.
"Done!" Eun-woo cheered. Turning and shoving his drawing in their faces.
"These are the Saja Fiends! They are the evil dinosaur version of the Saja friends. Jinu, yours is Tiptop. The T-Rex, of course. They are the biggest and coolest of all the dinosaurs"
Jinu looked towards the other four with a smug grin. "Of course,"
"Mystery, yours is Twinkle, and your a pterodactyl because that's my favorite dinosaur and you are my favorite." Mystery turned his head and covered his cheeks with his palm at the compliment.
"Abby you are Titan the titanosaur, and Baby you are an 'eye-tooth-bird', which are also called the oculus-dentists, and your is named Tiny."
After a quick internet search of 'oculus dentist dinosaur' and some scouring, they figured out he meant Oculudentavis, the scientific name for the creature in reference.
"And you, Romance, are Tulip the triceratops. I kind of thought that flowers fit you more, so I gave you a flower name instead. I hope it is ok."
Mystery leaned down and, very quietly, answered. "It's perfect. Thank you Eun-woo.
Eun-woo started giggling happily. He brought his hands up to grab at Mystery's teeth again. Jinu and Baby reached to pull him off, but Mystery waved them away. He was smiling as Eun-woo climbed up on him and started to play with Mystery.
"I'm going to change all the dinosaurs so they match how you look right now! How do you get such cool, big, teeth?"
"I-" he stuttered. Unsure how to answer. "I was born with them. I hide them during performances, but this is what I really look like."
The child was absolutely flabbergasted. "You're like a real dinosaur…" He said in awe.
"I want to be a dinosaur. If I was a dinosaur then I would want to be a pterodactyl. They aren't the coolest flying dinosaur, but they are my favorite. Did you know they are as tall as, if not bigger than, a giraffe. Have you ever seen the one at Jeoju Zoo, Jinu?"
He smiled nervously. "I don't think pterodactyls are alive anymore, buddy. They won't have them at the zoo."
The boy giggled. "No, silly, the giraffe."
Jinu nodded, smile a bit crooked. Eun-woon turned to Mystery, and started asking him about his favorite animals.
Shuffling next to Abby, Jinu leaned in and whispered. "What is a giraffe?" The three stifled their laughter as Abby searched up a picture to show Jinu. He turned his phone over, and Jinu's eyes went wide. "Who fucked up the horse?"
Baby covered his face and started shaking with laughter, and Romance was brought to tears, arms folded over his stomach as he wheezed.
"What are you guys laughing so hard about?" Eun-woo questioned innocently. Abby was biting his lip so hard it was turning white. Jinu was still standing there, confused and concerned for the state of the poor horses of this era. Abby instead directed his attention to Eun-woo, crouching down and asking him about the dinosaur on his shirt.
As soon as he was distracted again, Jinu was back on the subject. "Did they do that to all the horses?" He was extremely concerned.
Romance, through wheezes, tried to inform Jinu. "They— They aren't horses…"
"I think they are related to pigs, actually."
At this point, Jinu was offended. "How does that thing have any relation to pigs? How did we get here? This has gotta be a new creature or something."
"Nope," Baby commented. "Just checked. They've been around for 7 million years. Those freaks are older than you."
Unfortunatley, they had gotten so invested with their conversation they forgot to control their volume.
"Your seven million years old?" Eun-woo shouted, appearing at Jinu's feet in a blink.
Jinu was already flustered, and being asked if he was 'millions' of years old just put the icing on the cake. They had gotten comfortable, too comfortable. Forgot they were supposed to be hiding.
"Four hundred years is not that long! In the grand scheme of things, at least."
The second he said that, Abby elbowed him in the side. Romance and Baby glared daggers at him, and Eun-woo just kept beaming with amusement.
"Four hundreds years! How did you live that long?"
Jinu giggled nervously, waving his hands 'no' frantically. The boys rolled their eyes at his panic.
Jinu took a deep breath and squinted his eyes a bit. He made a face only the other four would recognize. It was subtle, but the look was there. He was locking in.
"Alright, the jig is up. You caught us fair and square. Can you promise to keep a secret?" Jinu asked the kid, kneeling down to match his level. He nodded, sticking out his pinkie. Jinu linked, and the promise was sealed.
The rest of the Saja boys held their breath. What was Jinu about to tell him?
He took a deep breath. Eun-woo stared at him, waiting for his explanation.
"We are dressed as characters we are making for our next big album. We're all demons from the underworld, who escaped from our evil master, and started to make music to regain our souls. That's the story, at least. We were practicing being the characters."
He kept looking, confused. "So you don't actually look like this?"
"No, no we don't. These are just costumes!" Jinu replied.
"That kind of sucks, though. I like you as you are."
It was so simple, but it made their hearts skip a beat. To be liked as they were… better than the ultra-refined human cover they had. Better than their original selves. With all of their flaws most evident and apparent. Romance and Mystery felt their eyes start to sting a bit, Baby turned his head away embarrassed, a smile crept on Abby's face.
Jinu just looked at him, taken aback. "Thank you." he said simply.
Another text rang from Abby's phone.
HanMoon: hide
HanMoon: parents are h
HanMoon: here
HanMoon: they are coming to get him
Once he read the messages, the parents made themselves known.
"Eun-woo! Sweetheart are you here? Eun-woo?"
Eun-woo's eyes lit up as soon as he heard his mothers voice and he ran to the door. Before he could reach it, Abby grabbed him by the back of the shirt and made a dash for the back of the room. Romance, Baby, Mystery, and Jinu followed in suit.
Abby sat Eun-woo down quickly, then covered his head with a towel on one of the shelves. When his vision was blocked, Abby shifted. Everyone else followed in suit. Once everyone was ready, he took the towel off. Eun-woo giggle-screamed like the child he was.
"Woah! How did you change that fast?"
Once he spoke, there came a furious knocking on the door. "Eun-woo? Are you ok? Mommy and daddy are coming to get you, just stay calm baby!"
The boys ran up to the door. Abby swung it open, and the boys father came barreling in like he tried to charge the door with his shoulder. He stumbled a bit, catching himself, then locked eyes with the closest Saja boys to Eun-woo. Mystery.
In a second, Mystery was held up against the wall. The father started screaming unintelligibly at him. The mother was yelling as well, running to scoop Eun-woo up. Baby and Abby were by Mystery's side, trying to calm the father down. Jinu and Romance stood by the door, trying to explain to the mother what happened.
Eun-woo's Mom and Dad were too engulfed in their parental fury. Their minds were clouded by the idea that these men had just hurt their boy. So much so, they hadn't bothered to ask the boy himself. Honestly, seeing his parents now, they could tell why Eun-woo was the way he was. They were definitely an act first, think later sort of family.
It didn't take long for Eun-woo to interrupt with a large wail. Everyone stopped as he started loudly sobbing. His father let go of Mystery and went to his child's side.
"St-sto-op" he choked out through heavy gasps of air. "stop hah-hurting them. They're my friends."
His mom started to pet his hair and console him in a soft, gentle voice. "Honey, these aren't your friends, these are strang— that is Jinu. Are you the saja boys?" Her anger turned to complete shock once she had calmed down enough to see who she was talking to. The father jerked his head around, and his eyes went wide upon realizing who he had just held against a wall.
The mom was skeptical, stepping closer to her husband. "Are you really them?" She asked.
"Yes!" Eun-woo screamed again. "They are really nice and your being mean." He complained, gently hitting his mothers arms with his fist. Upon seeing their child's dismay, they relaxed.
The father gave an apologetic nod to Mystery, then looked to his son. The mother set him on the ground. "Eun-woo, did you run away from Mom and Dad because you saw the Saja Boys?" He questioned, stern and knowing. The boy sheepishly nodded yes. The Father shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Eun-woo, that was very bad of you. You know how dangerous it is to run off alone in the city. What if they hadn't been the actual Saja Boys? What if it was someone who wanted to hurt you? Next time, you need to tell us what you see first, so that we can come with you."
Eun-woo hung his head, staring at his feet as he tapped them on the ground. "I'm sorry Dad, I'm sorry Mom."
His mom leaned next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We can talk about this more when we are home. But for now, you owe the boys a very big apology."
The boys had shuffled together, and Eun-woo turned to face them all. His parents standing behind him and watching carefully.
"I am really sorry for ruining your practice for your demon performance."
"Wait what?" his dad instinctively asked.
"It's an album concept!" Abby and Romance said quickly.
"We were practicing it when he came in." Jinu added on. His parents nodded, still a little confused but not wanting to question the idols further.
"And I am really sorry that I ran away from my parents, and made them think you were bad guys. I didn't want you to get in trouble with anyone."
They all leaned down, smiling at the boy. "We accept your apolopy— but— only if you promise us never to run away from your parents again. Even if it's to say hi to us."
Mystery walked up, handing him back his plushies. He jumped up and grabbed them quickly, hugging them tightly to his body. He nodded furiously, sticking out his pinkie towards them. One by one, each Saja boy made a pinkie promise to the boy.
His parents were quite happy once the situation finally de-escalated. The Mom, who had introduced herself as Gyeong and her husband as Min-ho, picked Eun-woo up. They gave small bows towards the boys, and themselves gave apologies for the whole situation.
The boys started to feel it. Sweating faster, nausea and exhaustion growing. They didn't have much time till their bodies would force-transform back to their demon state. Of course, Eun-woo would love it. But they knew his parents would not be so perceptive. They needed to end this interaction quickly.
Baby and Abby started ushering the family out of the backroom. The rest of the Saja boys following in suit.
"If you don't mind me asking," Min-ho started, "Why are you here? This is a really strange place for the Saja Boys to be."
Romance chimed in. "The owner is a long time family friend of mine, and has supported our career since the beginning. He allows us to hide out in here after our public performances." He explained.
Min-ho gave a murmur of understanding. "So that must be why you only preform publicly in the square. This is your safe house." He observed. Romance and the boys nodded.
"Which, is why I want to make an offer," Jinu started. "If we allowed you free entry to our performances, would you make good on keeping this location a secret? Not sharing it online, not telling anyone. Keeping it between you three exclusively— not even Eun-woo can say anything. We have worked hard to keep this place out of the public eye. If word got out, it wouldn't be safe for us to stay here, and would potentially harm Han's business.
The parents assured Jinu they would keep their word. That, it didn't need to be a trade (however they would still take the offer if they were ok with it), that their privacy was very important. This was a mishap, and it would be unfair for them to lose their private space just because they couldn't control their son.
Mystery got down next to Eun-woo again. "Eun-woo, can we make a deal?" The boy nodded as he listened. "You have to promise you will never, ever tell anyone that you met us. And, in trade, you can come to all our shows for free. And when the next album comes out, we will make sure to send you a signed copy. Does that sound good?"
Eun-woo screamed in excitement at that, bouncing up and down while holding Mystery's hand. He profusely thanked Mystery before pouncing on him for a giant hug.
"Thank you Mister Mystery, you are the best! I hope I can be just like you one day. I want to have cool glowing eyes and preform on stage and make people happy just like you do!"
Mystery smiled, fist-bumping Eun-woo before he walked out with his parents. The boys quickly ran to the backroom again. They dropped their human appearances and slumped on the ground, recovering from the exhaustion. a few small tears rolled down Mystery's cheek from Eun-woo's last words to him, and all the boys hearts were full of love.
It had been so long since they felt truly appreciated like that. It was all such a simple interaction. It wasn't like he was saying anything truly meaningful. It was just the excited compliments of a kid who had literally compared them to dinosaurs (to Jinu's continued dismay). But it felt so, so refreshing. They had forgotten what it was like to be loved as they are.
Before they left Healer Hans, they pinned Eun-woo's drawing to the wall.
The rest of their whirlwind music extravaganza went along with several hitches. But they worked through them all. Proud, happy, and more connected than ever. It came to a close, and by the end they teased their next album and the title of their upcoming tour: "Life of a Former Demon"
But when they arrived at Huntr/x Tower, they weren't to sure they wanted to be 'former' demons anymore. Since meeting Eun-woo, they got more comfortable with themselves. They didn't hate the demon anymore. Accepting themselves was still very hard, but for the first time it felt like they made real progress towards self-love.
The girls did not receive this news very well.
"So you mean to tell me, we just spent an entire week in the underworld, retrieving your souls from Gwi-ma to free you, and you don't want them!" Mira paced around the room, yelling at the boys.
Zoey, holding a small, illuminated bubble made from Honmoon energy, ran up to them. She held Baby's soul against his chest, shoving it at him. "Take it! You have to take it back. We did not do all of that for you to do nothing with them!"
Rumi held all of the souls in her hand, minus Baby's which Zoey was still persistently trying to shove in his body. Jinu glanced over, and noticed a soul was missing. They locked eyes, and he saw the look on her face.
Rumi immediately folded under zero pressure from Jinu. "I-I couldn't figure out how to get your soul out of my body. I'm going to talk to Celine about it. I am sure there is a way to take it out. I just need more time to figure it— out?" Rumi was scrambling to defend herself and why she still held onto Jinu souls. But she was interrupted by Jinu placing a hand on her shoulder. Mira and Zoey were too busy arguing with the boys in the background.
His gaze softened as he looked at Rumi, Tracing the patterns that crept up her shoulder still. "Does it feel better to have a soul? You never had one before I gave you mine, did you?" He asked.
Rumi looked away for a moment, then met his sight again. "I don't think I did, no. It feels different. My patterns aren't gone, but it feels…"
"Complete?" Jinu finished her sentence, and she nodded. He could sense that she was full of guilt and shame. He tilted her head up, and brought another hand to cup her cheek. "That is why I gave it to you in the first place. Please, let me complete you."
Rumi blushed, and nuzzled her face into Jinu's hand. "No, that's unfair…"
"I am lucky enough to see you shine everyday. And it is more than fair trade for the damage we did."
"But Gwi-ma was controlling you! It wasn't your choice."
"The Saja Boys were my idea. We still did it, we still hurt people and I still hurt you. It is fair, it is right, and it is ok. And even if your correct and it's unfair. I wouldn't want this to end up any other way. This is my choice."
Rumi and Jinu sat in silence like that. Rumi was bashful, trying and failing to ignore the sweet look he was giving her. If they had one thing in common, it was their stubbornness. If this was really his decision, then there was no point in fighting to change his mind.
They shared their moment, then turned their attention to the girls. They were now chasing around the boys in an all out brawl to get them to take their souls back. Zoey and Mira were obviously winning.
Rumi and Jinu laughed at their loved ones antics before stepping in. Rumi took the souls away from the girls and calmed them down, and Jinu talked to the boys. Abby, Baby, Romance and Mystery all came to a conclusion on what they wanted to do. They would take their souls back. It just wouldn't be possible to keep up the idol life if they had to constantly switch back from human form to demon form. Jinu and them would work on balancing his demon form and human form. It would be much easier if he was the only one who had to deal with it.
It would be scary returning to their original selves. They had built their image up on their flawless human disguises. As much as recent idols, like The Sunlight Sisters and Huntr/x, fought the industry and its toxic standards, there were still a lot of biases and prejudices. Rebuilding their images, flaws and all, would be difficult. But they had a plan.
The album wouldn't be called "Life of a Former Demon". It would just be titled "Life of a Demon." For all their performances, the music videos and album covers, they would be in their demon form. Not once would they switch back to their human forms. Only when the tour was over would they take their souls back.
The Saja Boys would rebuild their image. Coming out of this era they wanted to embrace their flaws. The boys wanted their image and brand to stand for one, very important thing. Loving yourself as you are.