The rest of the week passed without any news of the pentagram. Jungkook tried hard not to think about it, but he could only get it out of his mind for as long as he was distracted with classes and school work. As soon as he had a free moment all the worries returned. They were pretty bad during the day, but they were even worse at night, in big part because the pentagram had become a regular feature in his nightmares. It certainly didn’t help that the demon gave him a knowing smile every time he woke up struggling to breathe.

Occasionally, Jungkook caught himself staring at Yoongi’s name his contacts list, his fingers hovering above the call button. He never called; he knew the only thing it would achieve was annoying Yoongi, and that wasn’t going to help anyone. Yoongi would contact him, either when he learned something or when he decided that nothing could be learned. Jungkook needed to be patient until then.

His plans for Saturday were to finally start working on his economics assignment. The deadline was fast approaching, and despite the panic that seized him every time he remembered how little time he had left, he still hadn't gotten to it. He had been planning to do it right after the economics class on Tuesday, but the discovery of the pentagram successfully ruined his plans, and the demon insisting on helping him had only further destroyed his motivation.

He didn't need long to decide it would be best to go to the coffee shop. It would be easier to focus if he distanced himself from things that reminded him of the pentagram – which, to be honest, was almost everything. He had no choice but to take the demon, since he certainly didn’t trust him enough to leave him on his own for long periods of time. It shouldn't be too big a problem; Jungkook associated so many other unpleasant things with the demon, that the pentagram was unlikely to be the first thing coming to mind when he looked at him.

“We’re going out.” he announced as soon as he walked out of the bathroom first thing in the morning, throwing his pyjamas into the closet. He really hoped the demon wasn't going to cause any unnecessary problems, though he had an inkling he was hoping for a miracle.

To his surprise, the demon didn't respond in the slightest - unless quietly staring at Jungkook could be considered a response. Jungkook made sure not to look in his direction, but he could still feel the demon’s eyes on him as he began to collect the things he was planning to take to the coffee shop – which, unfortunately for him, included three massive textbooks. Only one of them fitted into his backpack, so he had to put the other two into a shopping bag. He was going to be surprised if his hands didn’t fall off before he reached his destination - his wrists were sore after only a minute of holding up the books. It was a sure sign that he should probably hit the gym.

“Let me guess…” said the demon after Jungkook managed to put the last book into the shopping bag “… you want me to shape-shift, but not into a snake.” His voice was, as usual, filled with amusement.

At that Jungkook finally looked at him, his eyes slightly narrowed. The demon met his suspicious look with an innocent one, which Jungkook took as further confirmation that the demon’s statement of the obvious was only a prelude to something unpleasant. “What do I get in exchange?” asked the demon, one of his eyebrows slightly raised. 

Jungkook’s automatic reaction was to narrow his eyes even more. “What do you want?” he asked carefully, wondering if the demon actually wanted something or if his goal was to make him stay in the room by asking for something unreasonable. It was true that it would be easier to work on the assignment outside the academy, but he could still get it done here, and it was the option he preferred to walking around with a snake in his backpack. He was anxious enough - he sure as hell didn’t need another trigger. 

Apparently, it was the latter. “Let me help with your assignment.” said the demon, the corner of his lips turned slightly upwards.

Jungkook let out a small sigh. “That’s code for ‘let me make you fail.’” he said slowly, trying to decide whether this would turn out better for him if he immediately gave up or if he tried to convince the demon to let the idea go. He certainly didn’t want to be the source of the demon’s entertainment, but he suspected he already was, regardless of whether he convinced the demon to stop insisting on ‘helping’ or not.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting a tiny bit?” wondered the demon, emphasizing the word ‘tiny’ by holding his thumb and index fingers very close together. “It’s not like you wouldn’t double check every little detail of the finished work if you did it on your own.”

The demon did have a point; he would, without a doubt, go through the finished project at least three times before handing it in, so if the demon tried to include any misinformation, there was an excellent chance he would catch it. This wasn’t the main problem though; he would also have to fix whatever bull the demon decided to write, and he was already chasing the deadline as it was. “I barely have the time to finish the whole thing before the deadline.” he said. “I can’t afford to redo half of the assignment.”

The demon responded by giving him a - clearly exaggerated - disbelieving look. “You’re really making me wonder how you passed your math classes.” he said after a few seconds of silence, the expression on his face amused. “If I help you, you’ll be done much much sooner than if you worked on it by yourself, so actually, you will have time to redo half of it.” he said, this time in a voice most suitable for explaining a simple concept to a toddler. “Not that that is going to be necessary.”

Jungkook opened his mouth, realized he had nothing to say, and closed it, settling for a defeated sigh. The demon made an excellent point, one he couldn’t argue against no matter how hard he thought about it (and he did think hard). He was still convinced that letting the demon help was an awful idea, but he had to admit the main reason for that were probably his previous experiences coupled with the demon’s horrible personality, and not actual logic.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The way he saw it, this could only end in one of two ways. Either the demon would try to sabotage him, leaving Jungkook to redo his part of the work, or he would actually help, exponentially shortening the time needed to complete the assignment. The worst case scenario wasn’t really that bad, and the best case scenario was a lot better than if he had to do everything by himself.

“Fine.” he said finally. “But I’m checking your work and if I find any mistakes, you’re not helping me tomorrow.”

The demon responded with a smirk.

Around 15 minutes later, Jungkook entered the alley they stopped at the first time they had visited the coffee shop. It was thankfully just as empty as the last time. Jungkook quickly stepped behind the trash can and let the backpack slip off his left shoulder before ping it. He didn’t need to wait long for the blue butterfly to fly out of the outside pocket and turn back into the demon mid-flight.

The first thing the demon did once he was back in his original form, was sweep an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulders. The second was give Jungkook an expectant look and slowly extend his hand towards him. Needless to say, Jungkook barely managed to suppress the urge to take a few steps back. The demon rolled his eyes. “The shopping bag.” he said, motioning towards it.

Jungkook automatically pressed the shopping bag closer to his body. He wouldn’t be surprised if the demon tried to make him miss the deadline by getting rid of his textbooks. As much as that wouldn’t really be a problem since he could always borrow them from the library for those few days until the deadline, he was still going to need them after the assignment and truly didn’t want to have to spend an ungodly amount of money to buy new ones. “Why?” he asked, unsuccessfully trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

The demon rolled his eyes once again. “Because it looks like you’re having a problem carrying them.” he said, quirking his brows. It was clear he was challenging him to deny it.

Jungkook almost did, but managed to catch himself in time. Nothing good would come out of being caught in a lie, and denying it would be a lie. It wasn’t as much that the books were too heavy to carry, but more that the shopping bag wasn’t the best way to do it. Its handles were burying in his skin, leaving angry red lines behind.

“Fine.” he said after a few seconds of silence, offering the shopping bag to the demon. The demon purposely let his fingers brush against Jungkook’s as he took it from him, Jungkook fighting the desire to shy away from the contact. He could tell the demon did it on purpose, because a) this was the demon, and b) the action was accompanied by a smirk.

They arrived at their destination a few minutes later, the demon nonchalantly pushing the front door open, holding it for Jungkook with a particularly unpleasant smile on his face. Jungkook couldn’t help but grind his teeth together as he walked past him, making sure to keep as large a distance between them as possible. That seemed to only further amuse the demon, his smile somehow becoming even more unpleasant than the moment before.

The coffee shop was mostly empty and warm, which was a pleasant change from the freezing outdoors. The only people Jungkook could see from the entrance were the barista and two old ladies sipping their morning coffee in the corner. Jungkook ed his coat as he walked over to the counter, the demon following close behind.

“Good morning.” said the barista, giving him a small smile. It was the same barista who had served them the last (and the first) time they had come, and the look she directed in the demon’s direction made it very obvious that she remembered him despite only having seen him once. Jungkook wasn’t particularly surprised; there was something about the demon that was memorable, though he couldn’t decide if it was his season inappropriate clothes or just the way he carried himself. 

“The usual?” asked the barista, and Jungkook nodded in confirmation. Once his order was ready, she directed her attention to the demon, who had been studying the menu with an unusual level of focus. As seemed to have been the norm for the past few weeks, the demon had once again positioned himself as close to Jungkook as he could without actually touching him. Jungkook carefully moved a little to the side, in small part to make space for the demon in front of the counter, but mostly just to get away from him.

The demon gave him a small - and clearly amused - smile, before he directed his attention to the barista. “Mint tea and a blueberry muffin.” he said, his lips curling into one of his most charming smiles.

After the order was ready and Jungkook paid, they moved over to the same table they sat at the last time. Jungkook positioned himself on the opposite side from the demon, and slowly put down his coffee and muffin before he let the backpack slip off his shoulders. The demon observed how he set it on the ground, his lips curling slightly upwards. “Interesting.” he commented. For once Jungkook was pretty sure he knew what he was referring to; the fact that his dealings with the backpack were a lot gentler when the demon wasn’t in it.

“If you were a little easier to tolerate…” Jungkook couldn’t help saying, making sure to keep his gaze fixed on to the floor. His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but he knew the demon heard him regardless. He didn’t want to know just how entertained the demon was by his reaction, although it seemed that the answer was very, at least if the highly amused chuckle was any indication. Jungkook took a deep breath, doing his best to ignore the demon as he began to methodically set everything he needed for his assignment on the table, careful not to spill the coffee.

His best turned out to not be good enough as he couldn’t help looking up as soon as the demon spoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” said the demon, his words coupled with a clearly exaggerated expression of innocence on his face. “I’m clearly a blessing to be around.” 

Jungkook huffed. “Right.”

The demon responded by curling a corner of his lips slightly upwards.

The next few hours passed in relative silence. Jungkook had made a quick plan of the assignment, dividing the work that had to be done into two more or less equal parts. He had told the demon what to do in as much detail as possible, to make sure there wouldn’t be any ‘misunderstandings’, in other words, the demon purposely sabotaging him. After all that was done, they got to work, the quiet interrupted only by the occasional comment, question or request to pass over a textbook or a laptop.  

It was around 1pm and Jungkook had just started to play with the idea of leaving for lunch, when someone entered the coffee shop. It had been empty almost the entire time they were here, the old ladies having left soon after Jungkook and the demon had arrived, so the sound of the door opening was just unusual enough for Jungkook to automatically look up. As soon as he did, he met the gaze of a girl around his age, and he quickly lowered his head. Eye contact with strangers was always awkward, although he wasn’t entirely sure the girl was actually a stranger; he had the unsettling feeling that he had seen her before. It wasn’t the first time that had happened to him though, so he had no problems dismissing it.

He looked back at the screen, rereading the last sentence he had written for the third time. There was something wrong with it, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what, which probably meant it was time for a break. Yawning, he closed the laptop before reaching for the backpack and carefully setting it on the table. The demon glanced at him from behind one of the textbooks, absently tapping the end of the pen against the table. “Finished?” he asked.

“No.” replied Jungkook as he collected the last of paper and pens scattered over the table. The demon gave him a questioning look.

“Lunch.” explained Jungkook and the demon hummed before offering him the pen he had been holding.

They had just put the rest of stuff away and were about to leave, when the demon suddenly froze on the spot. Jungkook barely managed not to bump directly into him, but before he could figure out the reason for the demon’s unusual behavior, he was pushed back hard enough to lose his balance. He desperately tried to break the fall, but the only thing he managed to achieve was landing on his elbows instead of on his back (or rather; his backpack), and he somehow doubted that was an improvement. He let out a quiet whimper before he could stop it, half because of the pain and half because of the surprise.

Looking up, he could see the demon standing in front of the girl from earlier, both regarding each other with a cold intensity that sent shivers down Jungkook’s spine. Something was very very wrong, and it wasn’t hard to figure out exactly what when the girl suddenly shifted out of focus only to appear a few meters to his left, her hair flying around her head. A demon. No, not just a demon; a higher demon. If she was a lower or a medium demon, Jungkook would have known it the moment she stepped into the coffee shop.

A higher demon. Why? And how? No matter how hard he tried to force his terror-filled brain to come up with something, he could only think of one answer, one answer that was nearly impossible, but fitted the situation and filled him with so much terror he thought he was going to faint. He automatically reached for his phone, but promptly stopped himself. No, he had to focus on surviving first. He could confirm his suspicions and come up with some sort of way to protect himself later.

Jungkook’s heart was beating so rapidly he was afraid it was going to give in, and the room was spinning so much he had to try to get up twice before he finally managed to stay on his feet. The girl’s eyes burrowed into him the moment he moved, and she charged forward so fast she became nothing but a blur to Jungkook’s human eyes. He instinctively backed up, almost falling again. The demon stepped in front of him at the last second, pushing her back hard enough that she collapsed into the nearest table, the wood exploding into pieces.

She didn’t seem particularly bothered by it, however, and was back on her feet in a fragment of a second. Her lips were forming one of the most sinister smiles Jungkook had ever seen, and it took an incredible amount of courage not to just curl into a ball on the floor and wait until this was over. The demon glanced towards him. “Get out of here.” he said, looking back towards the girl who was now making small steps towards them, like she had all time in the world. “I’ll find you.” He pressed a small piece of paper in Jungkook’s hand before he pushed him towards the exit, this time a lot gentler than before.

Jungkook didn’t need to be told twice; he pushed the piece of paper in his pocket and sprinted through the front door, ignoring the looks people were giving him as he ran past them. It might have seemed a bad idea to be separated from the demon; there was a possibility the girl didn’t work alone. It didn’t matter though, because if that was the case, he was already doomed. The demon couldn’t protect him from another demon, no matter their level.

He wasn’t sure how long he ran, but he eventually found himself in the same alley they had stopped at in the morning. He leaned against the trash can for support and pressed his left hand against his aching chest. He knew he should keep moving, but by this point, he could barely stay upright. His whole body hurt, and the world was spinning around him - he wasn’t sure if because of the lack of oxygen or the panic that still refused to let him out of its claws. Probably a little bit of both.

At the sudden sound of footsteps coming towards him, he flinched so bad that he almost lost his balance and he had to grab onto the trash bin with both of his hands to not fall over. “It’s just me.” said the demon after he walked around the corner, coming to a stop a few meters away. Jungkook made an awkward step back, taking a deep breath and trying not to choke on it. It was true that it looked like it was the demon, but he couldn’t actually be sure. Not with another higher demon on the loose.

“Democracy.” said the demon, looking at him with an unusually serious expression on his face. Jungkook made another step back, surprised that he managed as much in his current state. The only answer to what the demon had just said he could come up with, was that the demon wasn’t actually the demon, but the girl who wanted to kill him for the sake of democracy. It took a few long, terror filled seconds, before he remembered the piece of paper the demon had pressed into his hands after he had told him to run. He reached in to the pocket and pulled it out, taking way too long to straighten it since his hands shook so much. It was clearly torn out from one of his textbooks, and a single word was written on it; democracy.

“Oh.” murmured Jungkook, almost collapsing in relief. The demon responded by rolling his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. His trademark amusement was back, and Jungkook couldn’t help being grateful for it.

“We should get out of here.” said the demon, taking a look over his shoulder. “She won’t be incapacitated for long, and I have a strong feeling the city will be crawling with National Security agents much sooner than we’d like.” He turned his head back towards Jungkook and raised one of his eyebrows.

Jungkook needed embarrassingly long to figure out that the demon was waiting for him to agree. His brain was taking ages to process even the simplest of things, and no matter how hard he tried to direct them away, his thoughts wandered back to the fact that there was a demon after him. It didn’t help that the panic hit him anew every time he felt like he might be able to finally calm down.

The only reply he could manage was a nod.