Come to the attic.

Jungkook couldn't help frowning at the screen as he skimmed over the message for the third time. There was a sense of urgency to it, which was unusual because a) it came from Yoongi, and b) they had last seen each other not even 24 hours ago.

He let his fingers hover above the screen for a few seconds, before he let out a soft sigh and typed out a quick Ok. Apparently he was going to miss the first class. It wasn't something he would usually do, but considering Yoongi only contacted him when it was about something important, he felt he had absolutely zero choice on the matter.

He awkwardly got himself into a sitting position and laid his phone on the nightstand, using his free hand to slowly message his temples in hopes it would help with the headache. It was unfortunately still present, but at least he no longer had a fever, which was certainly a relief, even more so because he had to climb to the attic again.

He glanced towards the demon who was standing in front of the bookcase, his eyes slowly traveling across the titles. Occasionally, he paused for just long enough to brush his fingers against a spine or pull a book half off the shelf, before he changed his mind and moved on. Jungkook had no idea what he was searching for, but he hoped he wasn’t going to find it anytime soon. He was much easier to deal with when only a small part of his attention was on Jungkook.

Deciding to make the best of the time the demon’s attention was somewhere else, he pushed away the blankets and moved towards the end of the bed as hastily as the pain in his head would allow him. Unfortunately, the demon’s focus on the books didn’t last particularly long. As soon as Jungkook was standing, the demon turned towards him, an amused smile already playing on his lips. “Good morning princess.” he said. Jungkook would have ignored him, as on every other morning, if he hadn’t accompanied his words with an extension of his hand, offering a box of aspirin. 

Jungkook knew he probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights, despite doing his absolute best to mask his surprise. Not that he had any right whatsoever to be surprised; the demon was unpredictable, and even though Jungkook wished he could say that doing something seemingly nice was out of his character, it wasn’t, not really. Jungkook suspected the demon figured out nice gestures freaked him out a lot more than almost anything else thrown in his way, and - since torturing him seemed to be his favorite hobby - Jungkook was most likely going to be on the receiving end of a lot more of them.

He was on the verge of saying ‘I’m fine’ or - since the demon could always tell when he was lying - ‘No thank you’, but changed his mind before he actually opened his mouth. His head was killing him, and, without medicine, it would continue to make him miserable for the rest of the day, which was probably exactly what the demon was trying to achieve. He most likely expected Jungkook would refuse to take the aspirin plainly because he was the one offering them.

Forcing his lips into a polite smile (which probably looked more bitter than anything else), he grabbed the pills out of the demon’s hand. He tried to do it carefully, without touching him, but didn’t quite manage it and his fingers gently brushed against the demon’s. Ignoring the wave of anxiety triggered by the touch, he said as sincerely as he could muster; “Thank you.”

The demon responded by raising an eyebrow. Jungkook thought he saw a shadow of surprise in his eyes, but it was gone so fast he couldn’t be sure. “You’re getting more and more interesting.” remarked the demon after a few seconds of tense silence, slightly tilting his head as he let his eyes travel from Jungkook’s head to his toes and back again. The expression on his face was amused, and there was a familiar intensity in his eyes that made Jungkook want to cross his hands on his chest in hopes it would make him feel less exposed.

Thankfully, the demon didn’t stare at him for too long. After a few charged seconds he turned back towards the bookcase, though (of course) not before giving him one last amused smile. Once the demon’s attention was diverted, Jungkook carefully walked past him towards the closet, making sure to keep an eye on him at all times. The last thing he needed was a repeat of yesterday when the demon blocked the bathroom door until Jungkook caved in to his request to take him along. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if that happened, but he sure as hell couldn’t let him in the same room as Yoongi.

Luckily, it seemed the demon didn’t plan to repeat his actions from the day before. Jungkook slipped into the bathroom and changed with no unwelcome disturbances, and even as he emerged and grabbed his backpack, the demon barely spared him a glance.

He did stop him before he could walk out of the door however, and in a very uncomfortable manner at that. Somehow, he managed to catch the edge of Jungkook’s sleeve between his fingers without actually touching him (which successfully made Jungkook regret wearing an over-sized sweater, no matter how comfortable it was). His instinctive reaction to that was to freeze, and he spent the next few moments struggling to keep from pulling his hand away and taking a few steps back, just in case. He told himself that the main reason for his lack of action was that he wasn't sure how firm the demon's grip was, and was consequently worried that moving away would fray his sweater. He couldn't deny that not wanting to touch him again might have had something to do with it as well, though.

“It’s a bit early for class, isn’t it?” wondered the demon innocently, though the expression on his face suggested he knew Jungkook was hiding something.

“I'm meeting a classmate.” said Jungkook, putting as much confidence in his words as possible. It was not the whole story, but it was the truth. Hopefully the demon wouldn’t be able to tell. “Not that it’s any of your business.” he added as an afterthought. 

The demon responded by raising an eyebrow, and no matter how hard he tried to read the expression, Jungkook still wasn’t sure whether he was convinced. “Well then.” said the demon after a few moments of silence, his lips curling slightly upwards. “I’ll let you enjoy your morning as long as you find me something to do. I’m dying of boredom.”

There was something odd in the way he said ‘enjoy’, though Jungkook couldn’t tell exactly what. The only thing he knew for sure was that it made him feel mildly uncomfortable, like pressing his back against the cold tiles in the shower. Storing the incident at the back of his mind for later, he did his best to focus at the problem at hand.

His response to the demon’s ‘request’ was a pointed look towards the bookcase. The demon dismissively waved his free hand. “I’ve read everything at least slightly interesting. I need something else.”

Jungkook let out a small sigh. Apparently his fear the demon would run out of reading material had been more than justified. He took a quick look around the room, attempting to find something that had the potential to distract him for a few hours. His eyes immediately stopped on his laptop, and he frowned as he tried to figure out whether there was anything incriminating on it. He was sure there was nothing that could either implicate him as the summoner or lead to his real identity. If it was, the demon would have probably already found it, since Jungkook knew for a fact he had used the laptop at least twice. What he was actually worried about was any other highly personal information he might have stored on it that the demon could use against him, if only just to mock him.

After a few seconds of pondering, he determined there was absolutely no point in stressing out about it - if there was any sensitive information, the demon probably already knew all about it. Besides, Jungkook truly couldn’t think of any other way to distract him than to give him something to watch.

The only problem now was that the demon was still holding on to his sleeve. Jungkook gently pulled his hand towards him, hoping the demon would get the message and let go. No such luck - if he noticed Jungkook’s awkward attempt to save the sweater from his iron grip, he didn’t show it. Jungkook couldn’t help letting out a sigh. “Can you let go of my sleeve?” he asked, trying - and failing - to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

The demon slightly tilted his head, his lips curling upwards. A few more seconds passed before he finally did what Jungkook asked of him, purposefully letting his fingers brush against Jungkook’s bare wrist. Jungkook pulled his hand towards his body as if he had been burned, taking a step back for good measure. It was a reaction that - naturally - amused the demon to no end.

Jungkook did his best to ignore him and his highly amused smirk, as he hastily walked past to grab the laptop before positioning himself at the edge of the bed. Waiting a few seconds for the computer to turn on and opening Crunchyroll as soon as it did, he pushed the laptop towards the demon, intending to make a run for it the moment he was distracted. Unfortunately, it didn’t go exactly according to plan. The demon somehow sensed what he was planning, and responded by grabbing the lose fabric of his sweater, this time at his sides.

He raised an eyebrow when he caught Jungkook’s unimpressed look, his lips forming a small smile. “I’m going to need a recommendation.” he said.

He knew why Yoongi wanted to see him right away. It was hard not to, considering a good part of the attic floor was taken up by a pentagram and the air smelled of herbs and burning. The scent was so strong that Jungkook had to cover his nose with a sleeve (the over-sized sweater turned out to be good for something after all), and as he let his eyes travel along the chalk-drawn lines and left-over candles, something ugly churned in the pit of his stomach.

“Is it real?” Jungkook flinched as Yoongi’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He was so focused on trying to keep the anxiety at bay he barely noticed he was even there, standing right next to the pentagram with his hands crossed on his chest. Jungkook glanced towards him before he locked his gaze back on the pentagram, checking the lines again, just in case he imagined it. He didn’t. It seemed so out of place in the dusty attic that he was tempted to dismiss the whole thing as a prank, and probably would have if he wasn’t short of an expert.

Clasping his clammy hands together and pressing them against his chest, he leaned slightly forward while he tried to focus on his breathing. His lungs hurt, and he had a feeling that he wasn’t getting in nearly enough air. Logically, he knew the opposite was the truth, but unfortunately, as it usually was with these things, logic did absolutely nothing to help. Telling himself he was overreacting and had to calm down didn’t either.

“Can’t you tell?” he asked, trying to sound calm even though he knew he was fooling exactly no one.

“I can tell someone has attempted a summoning and the attempt had been good enough to leave traces of magic. I can’t tell if it was successful.” replied Yoongi, his voice completely calm and nonchalant. Jungkook truly wished he could reach that level of detachment.  

“It was successful.” he confirmed as soon as he was sure talking won’t make him choke, which was quite a few seconds later. This time he didn’t even try to hide the shakiness in his voice - it wasn’t like Yoongi actually cared anyway. 

Yoongi responded by giving him an uninterested look. “Your panic attack cleared that up.” he said, keeping an eye contact for all of two seconds before turning his head back towards the pentagram. 

For the next few minutes, both of them were silent. Jungkook averted his gaze from the pentagram, and tried to empty his mind while he focused on his breathing. He even attempted to count seconds between his exhales and inhales, but all it did was make him feel even more like he was going to choke, so he promptly gave up.

Yoongi completely ignored his distress, his eyes fixed on the pentagram. Jungkook assumed he was trying to figure out what was going on, which he really didn’t need to bother with because Jungkook knew exactly what this was. Either there was another Summoner in the academy, or the NS sent in an inside agent. The first option was possible, but not particularly likely, and the second was both possible and likely. The first option was worrying but not a disaster, and the second was one of the most horrifying turns of events Jungkook could imagine.

The first one to break the silence was Yoongi. “There are two options.” he said, glancing towards Jungkook. It was clear that something on his face told him he didn’t have to explain what those two options were, and he substituted whatever he had to say for a quick nod. Even through Jungkook’s anxiety and despite his mangled thoughts, he could tell Yoongi was all but impressed with how things had turned out. He didn’t seem as disgruntled as the day before, but Jungkook was still sure he was cursing the day Jungkook was born.

“I’ll try to figure out who it is.” said Yoongi. “But if I can’t you’ll have to use your connections.” His voice was completely nonchalant, though something about his expression told Jungkook that protesting wouldn’t go over well. It was just as well, because he wasn’t planning to protest.

Needles to say, he was distracted for the rest of the day. He hoped Yoongi was going to find the person who had drawn the pentagram - half because he desperately needed to know and half because he didn’t want to have to ask Jimin about it. The latter wouldn’t be such a problem if the discussion could be had over the phone, but he knew they would have to meet in person. The information was too sensitive for anything else.

Just thinking about it filled him with dread. The last thing he needed was for the demon to somehow learn about Jimin and then attempt to find information about Jungkook’s true identity through him. It was true that he would have to do a lot - a lot - of digging to get anywhere, but Jungkook was convinced the demon was more than capable of it.

Even so, his future actions were entirely dependent on which of the two options was correct, so he had no choice but to risk it if Yoongi didn't find anything.

There were exactly two choices in the event that the pentagram was drawn by a NS agent; either wait until the coast is clear or find some other place to get rid of the demon. Clearly, the latter solution was preferable; the only reason he hadn’t done it thus far was because he was well aware that, as long as he didn’t have to wait for too long, the safest option was not to dismiss the demon until he was in the clear. Replacing the supplies was a lot easier than replacing the supplies and finding a building where he wouldn’t be disturbed.

If the pentagram was drawn by another Summoner, one that was not a government official, then Jungkook needed to know what their motives were and whether they were somehow connected to him. He didn’t want to sound conceited, but it was a distinct possibility. One that he really didn’t want to think about since it meant his life was most likely in danger.

It was late afternoon by the time he was done with classes and could finally return to his room. He was exhausted and somehow even more anxious and irritated than right after discovering the pentagram. His headache and the dizziness that accompanied it, which had returned with a vengeance around noon, didn't exactly help.

As he carefully closed the door behind him and fumbled with the keys, he was unsurprised to see his hands shaking. He let his backpack slip off his shoulders before he pushed them in his pockets, not as much to hide them from the demon than to hide them from himself.

The only thing on his mind was sleep, but he knew even thinking about it was pointless. He would never be able to fall asleep in his current state, and he knew from experience that a night full of tossing and turning was worse than staying awake and trying to distract yourself. He might as well start working on his economics assignment.

That is if the demon was going to return his laptop, which didn’t seem particularly likely. He had been so focused on what was on the screen that he didn’t even glance towards Jungkook when he entered, and even more unusually, he didn’t greet him with; ‘Did you miss me’.

“I’m going to need the laptop.” Jungkook let him know as he kicked off his shoes, barely holding back a sigh. There was a slight tremor in his voice he couldn’t ignore, and he knew the demon wouldn’t either. He was probably already coming up with ideas to worsen his already miserable day, and Jungkook wasn’t sure whether he had enough energy left to deal with it. 

The demon paused whatever was on the screen before he finally looked at him, one of his eyebrows slightly raised. “What happened to you?” he asked with a tinge of amusement in his voice.

“The laptop.” murmured Jungkook, doing his best to pretend he didn’t hear the question.

The demon responded by curling his lips slightly upwards and patting the space on the bed next to him. “After I finish this.” he said, motioning towards the screen. “I only have a few episodes left.” Instead of immediately continuing to watch as Jungkook expected him to, the demon kept staring at him, his eyebrows slightly raised and the expression on his face amused. It looked like he was waiting for something, and Jungkook really didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what for. 

The thought of protesting only briefly crossed his mind, mostly because he was too tired to argue, not to mention watching anime sounded a lot better than doing school work. It might even calm him down enough to be able to fall asleep, or, if not, at least make him a bit more productive, so that working on the assignment might feel less like trying to catch water with a fork.

Letting out a small sigh, he walked over to the bed and plopped down, careful to position himself as far from the demon as he could while still having a somehow decent view of the screen. He didn’t need more than a second to recognize the anime the demon had been watching. Death note was the first title he could come up with when the demon had asked him for a recommendation this morning, and it seemed to have been the right decision; it certainly managed to keep him distracted.

He hugged his knees and leaned his chin on top of them, ignoring the smirk the demon sent in his direction before he finally hit play. He had last watched Death Note years ago, so the plot slightly confused him, but he got into it pretty soon nevertheless. It was somewhere between the second and the third episode that his thoughts finally stopped swirling around the pentagram and all it meant, and he felt himself slowly relaxing.

He relaxed a little too much, it turned out. One moment he was comfortably sitting on the bed trying to focus on the screen as his eyes became heavy and mind foggy, and the next, he was leaning his head against something warm and alive. Needless to say, he scrambled away as soon as the last thought registered, and would have unceremoniously fell straight out of bed if the demon hadn’t grabbed his elbow in the last moment. 

“Really, now?” asked the demon, one of his eyebrows slightly raised. His voice made it very obvious that he found Jungkook’s reaction incredibly amusing. 

Jungkook did his best to avoid the demon's gaze as he briefly contemplated whether trying to liberate his arm was a good idea. Probably not, considering the demon didn't seem to even feel his attempt to pull the sleeve out of his grip this morning. Trying to get away with force would most likely result in an injury.

He was actually surprised he was able to think about it logically, instead of reflexively trying to get away. Or to be a bit more specific, he was surprised he wasn't more freaked out about the whole situation. He was still slightly shaken (not to mention mortified) of course, but it was no where near as overwhelming as the time he had woken up with the demon only a few centimeters away from his face. After a very short consideration, he concluded the reason was probably that the demon hadn’t touched him without provocation.

“Can you let me go?” he asked, gently pulling his arm towards himself even though he didn't believe the demon could actually feel it. His eyes were stubbornly glued to the bed, even though he knew it would be better for him to look at the demon while he spoke. He just couldn't bring himself to. The whole situation was mortifying enough even without seeing the demon's – without a doubt – mocking expression.

The demon curled his lips slightly upwards before carefully letting go of his elbow. “Why didn't you wake me?” Jungkook wondered, trying to sound confident despite knowing he wasn't fooling anyone. He wasn't really sure why he decided to ask. The demon probably just wanted his reaction and knew it would be more entertaining if he let him practically sleep on him for a longer period of time rather than waking him up.

“Why would I?” wondered the demon, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. Jungkook could tell he wasn't as neutral as he pretended to be by the trace of amusement in his voice.

“Why would you not?” asked Jungkook, finally mustering enough of courage to look at him. He felt his face burn as his eyes met the demon's, but he still refused to look back down. For a few seconds at least. After that it became too much, and he had to avert his gaze again, his cheeks probably even redder than before.

“Because it didn't actually bother me?” proposed the demon, a corner of his mouth turned slightly upwards. Everything about him gave the impression he was having an exceedingly good time, which Jungkook didn't find particularly hard to believe; making him extremely uncomfortable seemed to be his hobby, after all. One that didn't take much effort, because Jungkook made it incredibly easy.

“I find that hard to believe.” he murmured, quietly enough that the demon probably wouldn't be able to hear it if he was a human. He doubted it didn't bother him, though he certainly didn't doubt he found it worth it just so he could see his reaction.

The demon's only response to that was a smirk, which pretty much confirmed Jungkook's thoughts. He let out a small sigh before he carefully climbed off the bed, turning towards the bathroom. The whole situation had exhausted him enough that he just might be able to fall asleep. If not, he would have to settle for tossing and turning, because, at the moment, anything seemed better than having to deal with the demon.