Jungkook was jolted awake by his phone signaling he had received a new message. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked, waiting for his heartbeat to slow down. The room was still dark, which helped him determine that he probably didn’t get more than two hours of sleep. He was actually surprised he’d managed to fall asleep at all, considering he was stuck in a room with a demon who clearly didn’t care about personal space.

Cautiously, he turned his head towards the left, his eyes immediately landing on the demon’s sleeping (or at least so he assumed) figure. He noticed, with a great relief, that V had positioned himself at the far end of the bed; Jungkook probably couldn’t reach him even if he outstretched his hand.

He absent-mindedly ran his fingers over the bruised skin on his wrist, careful not to press too hard. The plain thought of what had happened yesterday managed to send his heart racing again, and he pushed his nails against his palms in hopes the pain will help relieve the feeling of dread. Those horrible nightmares returning was bad enough, but it couldn’t compare to waking up with a demon a few centimeters away from his face.

He should have probably expected something like this to happen. The Orders were designed to prevent the demon from doing something unpleasant while they searched for the laptop. They were in no way put together to keep him around, completely unoccupied, for a month, or possibly even longer. The unfortunate fact of the situation was that he couldn’t prevent the demon from touching him as long as he didn’t actually hurt him (or to be more specific – knowingly hurt him).

Taking a deep breath, he tried to convince himself the demon wasn’t going to touch him again - at least not unprovoked. They had been stuck together for almost 24 hours, and he only touched him once, and even then he was defending himself from Jungkook’s punch. Not to mention he let go almost immediately. Not before he managed to leave a huge bruise on his wrist, but that was beyond the point.

He was quite sure the part of the Orders preventing the demon from hurting him worked perfectly fine, which meant the demon only managed to bruise him because he didn’t know how rough he was being. So, in theory, the yesterday’s incident partly worked in his favor - the demon will now no longer be able to grab him as forcefully.

He told himself he believed all of that before doing his best to push these unpleasant thoughts from his mind.

Tiredly rubbing his eyes, he finally reached for the phone that was lying somewhere around his pillow. He usually put it on the floor next to the bed, but that wasn’t really an option while he was stuck with the demon - not if he wanted to have immediate access to it. After a few seconds of blind searching, his fingers finally brushed against it. He slowly raised the phone to his face, blinking when his eyes were assaulted by the bright light coming from the screen. He needed a few moments before they adjusted enough for him to be able to read the message.

I heard there was another search

You ok?

He let out a small sigh. Jimin. Of course. He should have known he was going to find out about it sooner rather than later - especially considering how well connected he was - and he could have expected that he was going to lose no time to pester him about it. Jimin practically buried him under worried messages every time there was even the smallest chance he had been recently in a contact with a lower or a medium demon. In normal circumstances Jungkook would be annoyed – he didn’t like when people treated him like he was made of glass and could shatter at the faintest amount of force – but this was Jimin. He was the exception.

where did you hear that?

The reason he was asking was not curiosity – he had a feeling he knew the answer already, after all – but a (most likely fruitless) attempt to avoid having to reply to the question. He knew, way too well, where the conversation would head the moment Jimin suspected something might be wrong. Claiming he wasn’t in the mood for that particular discussion was a gross understatement.

You didn’t answer my question

I’m going to assume the answer is no

Have time to meet?

He let out another sigh, not at all surprised that Jimin didn’t fell for it. He knew him better than anyone and was therefore already used to Jungkook trying to avoid sensitive topics.

His eyes paused at the last line of the message, and he slightly frowned as he glanced towards the demon. Any kind of meeting was clearly out of the question as long as he was stuck with him. Jimin was exactly the connection the demon needed to figure out his identity, and considering how cunning he was, meeting with Jimin was probably the equivalent of offering his real name on a silver platter. Jungkook really didn’t need another problem.

I’m fine

You always say that

and you never believe me

Obviously

Because you always say that

You literally said you were fine after a demon broke your arm

How am I supposed to believe you?

Jungkook couldn’t help rolling his eyes at that. There was only one instant when he got hurt while dealing with a demon – well, now two (if a bruise even counted) – by his own mistake. All other instances were entirely Jimin’s fault, including the one he had just brought up. He was many things, but a talented summoner was definitely not one of them.

maybe I thought you were asking about my mental well-being

And your mental well-being was fine after being attacked by a demon?

I’m definitely not buying that

it’s not the first time it happened

thanks to you being at summoning

and constantly breaking the rules

Really, if Jungkook hadn’t always been there putting out fires (sometimes literally) and saving his every time Jimin had one of his - definitely illegal - ideas, he’d probably be dead by now. Thankfully, the years (and a few very bad experiences) made Jimin realize how dangerous dealing with demons actually was, and he’d now no longer dare to dream about 90% of stuff he pulled when they were children. Or at least so Jungkook hoped.

Uh

You got me there

Anyway

Time to meet?

and now you’re changing the subject

no, I can’t this month

May?

I’ll try

but no promises

You know you can always talk with me when something bothers you, right?

Jungkook let out another sigh. Jimin always knew exactly how to make him feel guilty for keeping secrets from him. It was annoying, even more so because he always had a good reason for not sharing certain things. Jimin had responsibilities, and Jungkook knew just how unenviable of a position he would put him in if he told him about V.

I know

He let his eyes rest on the ceiling, absent-mindedly observing the dim light slowly moving across the room. Sunrise. He tiredly rubbed at his eyes, pulling the covers over his face in an attempt to shut out the light. He would close the curtains if he could get off the bed without having to climb over the demon.

Closing his eyes, he tried to relax enough to fall back asleep, only to be pulled from the weird state between wakefulness and sleep what seemed a few (very short) seconds later.

“Who was that?” asked the demon, sounding perfectly awake (and amused, but that was to be expected). Jungkook flinched at the sound of his voice. The small smile that was suddenly playing at the corner of the demon’s lips let him know he certainly noticed.

Jungkook rubbed his eyes before he carefully turned his body towards the demon, simultaneously trying to press his back as close to the wall as possible. His foggy mind needed a few moments to figure out what the demon was asking. “Who said I wasn’t just checking what time it is?” he murmured, knowing very well that he won’t fall for it.

“You know…” replied the demon slowly “…I don’t know much about technology, but I’m pretty sure phones don’t make those annoying sounds when you’re just checking the time.”

Jungkook sighed. He could have known that the demon was most likely only pretending to be asleep. Actually, he wasn’t sure if demons even needed sleep. Demonology experts weren’t interested in unimportant trivia, and this was only the third demon Jungkook had ever summoned, so he certainly couldn’t count on his experience for an answer.

He glanced towards the demon, wondering whether he could ask without any harmful consequences. It was something he felt he should know, considering he was about to share the room with him for the upcoming month. After a few moments of pondering, he decided that the worst that could happen was; a) the demon making fun of him or b) the demon lying and making fun of him.

“Do demons even need to sleep?” he asked cautiously.

The demon responded by raising an eyebrow. The corner of his lips was curled upwards, and it was quite obvious that the question was amusing to him. “Not as much as humans.” he said.

Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes, trying to evaluate whether he was telling the truth. Just as he had expected, it was pretty much impossible. He couldn’t tell what the demon was thinking at all.

The demon, on the other hand, clearly had no qualms with figuring out what was on Jungkook’s mind. “Why would I lie about that?” he asked. The expression on his face was a clear sign he found Jungkook’s reaction highly entertaining.

Jungkook stared at him for a moment or two, then closed his eyes and pressed himself even closer to the wall, burrowing his face into the pillow. He had a tough day full of studying – and dealing with the demon – ahead of him, and he needed every second of sleep he could get. He can figure out how truthful the demon had been in the morning.

His alarm seemed to go off only a minute later. Wincing in response to the shrill sound, he somehow managed to get himself into a sitting position. Every single morning, he regretted using his alarm clock instead of his phone for the simple reason of having his phone in his arms’ reach while the clock was on the other side of the room. Admittedly, having to crawl out of bed to turn it off was probably the only thing that saved him from sleeping through all of his morning classes (or study sessions, depending on the day), but he really couldn’t summon the energy to care about that immediately after waking up.

He was just about to attempt to blindly crawl out of the bed, when the noise suddenly stopped. Jungkook blearily opened his eyes, blinking as he glanced at his desk to figure out what happened. He was met with a pair of deep brown eyes sparkling with amusement. “Good morning princess.” said the demon as he nonchalantly removed his hand from the alarm clock.

Jungkook suppressed a groan as he clumsily crawled out of the bed, before he – still half asleep – slowly began preparing for the day. He could feel the demon’s eyes on his back as he was standing in front of the opened closet, deciding on his outfit. He didn’t intend to forgo his usual black – the demon thoroughly inspected his wardrobe, so there was really no need for pretense – but he did plan to wear something more casual than normally. He had a habit of spending Sundays off campus, and he really didn’t want people to as much as suspect that he went to Lerantham Academy.

After he got dressed – in the bathroom; he definitely had no intention to submit himself to more of the demon’s unpleasant comments – he fished a backpack out of the closet and grabbed a few textbooks and his notes. Then he finally looked at the demon - who somehow managed to stay quiet while he was getting ready, but had definitely followed him around with his eyes. The expression on his face was, as usually, amused.

“We’re going out.” said  Jungkook cautiously, searching for his reaction.

He knew staying in the room was safer. Leaving the campus meant that the demon would have to shapeshift to not get caught on camera, and considering how Jungkook could absolutely not control him that had the potential to end in a disaster. If he had been mentally stronger, he would spend the day in his room and attempt to ignore the demon, but the truth of the situation was that he simply couldn’t bring himself to spend another day cooped up inside. Leaving him alone on campus wasn’t really an option either – god knows what kind of trouble the demon would cause if he left him to his own devices. Of course he was aware that he would have to be alone in the room while Jungkook was in class, but that was still different – it won’t be that hard to check up on him every couple of hours or so, giving him only a short window of time to cause mayhem. Jungkook definitely didn’t look forward to it.

“Oh.” responded the demon, his lips curling upwards. Jungkook could tell that he already knew he planned to bring him along. “And where exactly are we going?”

Jungkook ignored the question, too busy wondering how to convince the demon to shapeshift so they can get off campus unseen. It turned out he didn’t have to – the demon clearly knew exactly what Jungkook wanted from him, and forwent being difficult about it for transforming into the one thing Jungkook really didn’t want to see – a snake.

He knew it was the demon, and therefore couldn’t actually hurt him, but his logic somehow managed to fly out of the window, and, before he even realized what he was doing, he was standing on top of his desk, searching for something he could use to hit the snake with if it came too close.

The snake, despite being a snake and therefore clearly unable to have a facial expression, still somehow managed to seem amused by his reaction. To his surprise, it didn’t change back into a demon to make fun of him – he was quite sure that was coming later – but slithered inside of the opened backpack Jungkook had left next to the door.

They were off campus 15 minutes later. Jungkook found an alley where the demon could shapeshift back without being seen. In normal circumstances he wouldn’t bother – the demon couldn’t let anyone know what he was, which meant it would be relatively easy to force him to stay in a shape of an animal – but Jungkook realized he’d rather deal with the demon than with the knowledge there was a snake in his backpack. He was surprised he managed to come this far without suffering a panic attack – he did feel as if he was about to feint at any second though. He should have really grabbed breakfast before attempting to get the demon off campus.

“That...” said the demon as he brushed an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder. “…was priceless.” The smirk on his lips let Jungkook know that he was about to see much more of the snake in the upcoming month, and he involuntarily shivered. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the aforementioned knowledge or the cold, but it was quite obvious that the demon determined it was the former. At least if the fact his smirk somehow became even more unpleasant was any indication.

“Are there any more animals you are afraid of?” asked the demon, an exaggeratedly innocent expression on his face. Jungkook suddenly had a feeling that a snake was the last thing he had to worry about.

He tried to ignore the demon as they set off towards their destination – a small coffee shop Jungkook often did his school work at. It never had many patrons, and the stuff didn’t mind if he stayed there for hours without ordering anything more than a cup of coffee.

Thankfully it wasn’t far. Jungkook truly wasn’t good at handling the cold temperatures, and he was even worse at handling the cold temperatures and the demon – who was now happily whistling, completely ignoring the looks people were giving him (and by extension, Jungkook) – all at once. He wondered whether telling the demon to shut up was most likely to have positive or negative consequences, and didn’t need particularly long to decide it was better to just let him do whatever he wanted.

That, or he could try to distract him with conversation. On the positive side it wouldn’t attract nearly as much attention as they were getting right now, on the negative side talking with the demon was always either highly unpleasant or dangerous - or both.

He buried his half-frozen hands in his pockets as he let out a small sigh. He guessed that asking something innocent probably couldn’t cause too much trouble. He will most likely get insulted or teased (or both) but he somehow preferred that to feeling people’s eyes burning holes into his back as they walked past.

“Can demons eat human food?” he wondered as nonchalantly as he could muster. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to ask considering they were on their way to the coffee shop where they sold food and the demon could easily get the wrong impression (such as that Jungkook actually cared about his comfort), but he was strangely curious. He saw demons holding food and carrying it around, but he never actually witnessed any of them eat.

The demon responded with a raised eyebrow and a small (but definitely amused) smile. Jungkook felt his face burning – there was no logical reason for him to be asking this question, and the demon was well aware of it. It wouldn’t be a problem if they didn’t both know how logical Jungkook tended to be most of the time.

“We don’t need to, but we can.” answered the demon, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. “You seem to be asking a lot of trivial questions about demons today.” he added, glancing towards him, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

He didn’t say anything else, and he didn’t really have to. His expression alone told Jungkook that the demon interpreted his questions as interest in him specifically, as opposed to his kind in general. He wasn’t sure whether he only wanted to embarrass him or if he really thought that – though, knowing the demon, it was probably the former – but he found it didn’t really matter.

Jungkook looked away and picked up his pace so he was walking in front of the demon. This had been a bad idea.

“This is our destination?” asked the demon as they finally arrived to the coffee shop. It was located in a small building whose entrance could be found in a narrow and not particularly welcoming alley.

Jungkook carefully pushed the front door open, and had to suppress a sigh of relief at the warmth inside. Rubbing his hands together, he blew at them to warm them up. He knew he should have grabbed the gloves before he left the campus.

“I never would have thought a Lerantham academy student would spend his time in a place this run down.” commented the demon, his eyes slowly traveling from the torn wallpaper to the aged furniture. To Jungkook’s surprise, he seemed more curious than mocking, although that certainly changed as soon as he caught him looking.

Jungkook averted his gaze as nonchalantly as possible before he set off towards the counter, all while doing his best to ignore the demon’s presence. The barista was the same as every Sunday, and she greeted him with a smile. “The usual?” she asked. Jungkook nodded in conformation.

“And your friend?” she wondered as she began to prepare his order (espresso and a blueberry muffin), her smile now directed at the demon. Jungkook found it uncomfortable to answer for him, so he decided to let him handle it. The Orders were in part designed to manage his interactions with other people, so he shouldn’t be able to cause any trouble. He informed him of what he wanted by turning around and giving him an expectant look.

The demon reacted with a small amused smile, which transformed into a downright charming one once he turned towards the barista. “I’ll have the same as him.” he said.

Jungkook had to admit that his reply surprised him. He expected he’d turn it down, and he couldn’t help finding the fact that he didn’t slightly worrisome. He knew it was unreasonable because no matter how hard he thought about it, he still came to the same conclusion that the worse thing the demon could achieve with this was insult Jungkook’s taste - which was something he probably planned to do regardless. Jungkook (unsuccessfully) tried to dispel his concern by looking on the bright side – if nothing else he’ll be able to make sure the demon was telling the truth when he told him he could eat human food.

A minute later, they were sitting at one of the tables in the far corner, the one that provided the most privacy according to Jungkook. Not that it particularly mattered – the coffee shop was usually almost empty.

‘You have interesting taste.” remarked the demon as he took a small sip of his coffee. No negative emotion showed on his face, but the way he formed the words made it very clear that he didn’t particularly like what he was drinking. Nevertheless, he took another sip before biting into the muffin. “Mhm.” he said. “That is much better.”

Jungkook congratulated himself on being right about the demon using the situation to insult his taste. Well, partly at least – he seemed to really like the muffin. Jungkook observed him wolf it down with a strange curiosity, averting his gaze as soon as the demon looked towards him.

He knew the demon was aware that he had been staring, and he could almost feel the amusement radiating off him as Jungkook gathered the history textbook and the notes he needed for revision and set them on the table. He had, however, no choice but to look up a few seconds later when the demon nonchalantly pushed his coffee towards him.

“This might be the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.” he said conversationally, his lips curled into a smile.

Jungkook felt his gut drop when he realized what the demon expected of him. “No thank you.” he murmured even though he knew it was most likely pointless. There was a challenge in the demon’s eyes, and it was quite clear that he had absolutely no intentions to back off.

“You look like you need it.” said the demon, pointedly looking at the bags under Jungkook’s eyes. He had a point – Jungkook was exhausted. He’d much rather be in his bed than at this coffee shop trying to study, but that didn’t mean he needed coffee badly enough to be prepared to drink the demon’s leftovers.

“Whose fault is that?” he murmured under his breath before he could stop himself (he blamed his impulsiveness on exhaustion). He certainly didn’t plan to do what the demon wanted him to, the decision further solidified by the fact that - no matter how hard he thought about it - he couldn’t think of a way refusing to drink the coffee could come hunt him later. The demon had no real way of punishing him for it – everything unpleasant he could do was most likely going to be done whether Jungkook humored him or not.

The demon, of course, heard him. His lips curled into an amused smirk as he confidentially leaned a bit closer to Jungkook. “What was that?” he wondered in mocked curiosity.

Jungkook tried to look him in the eyes, but soon realized he couldn’t really do it for more than a few seconds, so he directed his gaze back towards his notes. “You heard me.” he murmured quietly, hoping the demon would let it go. He didn’t want to fight with him, mainly because a) he would without a doubt lose every argument they might have, and b) the more demon knew about him and his reactions to things, the easier would be for him to destroy his life.

The demon’s smile somehow became even more unpleasant. “Interesting.” he said thoughtfully, and Jungkook realized that he absolutely didn’t like the way he was looking at him. “I was wondering what I needed to do to make you talk back to me.” He nonchalantly pulled the cup of coffee back towards him, slowly raised it towards his mouth and took another sip. “Still disgusting.” he observed.

Jungkook just looked at him, thinking how much he hated the demon’s ability to manipulate every situation to his liking. The demon responded to his stare with an innocent smile, his expression implying that he guessed at least a general extend of what was on his mind.