The walk back to the academy was a blur; the demon had put his arm around his waist and held him up for around half of the way, and even though Jungkook was far from comfortable with it, he didn’t try to pull away. He knew they needed to get away as fast as possible, and they would have been considerably slower if the demon hadn’t half-dragged him behind – that is, if they had made it at all. Jungkook doubted he could have actually stayed on his feet for long enough without the demon supporting him - it was a miracle he was even able to make the few minute’s walk to his room by himself, once they’d arrived at the academy and the demon had to hide.

The first thing Jungkook did after the door to his room closed behind him, was place the backpack on the floor and kick off his shoes. The second was collapse onto the bed and curl into a fetal position, shutting his eyes. For a few short seconds, the only thing he could hear was the rapid beating of his heart - it was soon joined by a quiet click, signaling that the door was now locked, followed by a sound of slow footsteps. Jungkook was so exhausted that even prying his eyes open took an incredible amount of energy, but he did it anyway, meeting the demon’s gaze. He was leaning against the desk, directly in Jungkook’s line of sight, and Jungkook absentmindedly noticed his trademark amusement was replaced with a serious expression.

Neither of them moved for hours, Jungkook swimming somewhere between unconsciousness and consciousness. Every time he almost fell asleep, he was jolted awake by a wave of panic, the image of the girl with her sinister smile burned into his retinas. His heart was trying to beat out of his chest, and he felt as if he was on a boat, the room tipping unpredictably around him. Each time he needed a few minutes of focusing on his breathing to calm down enough to even stomach the thought of closing his eyes again, and another half an hour before he managed to return to the state of being half asleep. It was a vicious circle he couldn’t escape from.

The first thing on his mind every time he was violently jolted awake, was that he needed to make sure the demon hadn’t left him. If someone had told Jungkook a day ago that this was going to be his reality, he would have probably laughed in their face. The demon’s presence had always made him incredibly uncomfortable and on edge, and he had been looking forward to the day he could be finally rid of him - he’d never have thought that the sight of him could have such a calming effect as it did right now.

It was only logical, though; the demon was his only line of defense, and Jungkook could either trust he would protect him or let terror overcome him. In hindsight, it wasn’t such a tough decision, especially considering the Orders clearly worked. He, of course, couldn’t directly trust the demon, but he could trust that the demon was bound by the Orders to protect him from other demons, and that would have to be enough.

There was nothing rational about his need to constantly check if the demon was still there; of course he would be. The Orders made sure he couldn’t leave without Jungkook telling him to, but knowing that didn’t help in the slightest. The need was a product of anxiety, and anxiety was never logical. Jungkook was too tired to fight against it, so the first thing he did every time he was unceremoniously jolted awake, was open his eyes and glance at the demon. The demon usually responded by tilting his head a little to the left, but otherwise stayed completely still. There was no amusement in sight, which was all the more surprising since the demon definitely knew what Jungkook was doing. Jungkook probably couldn’t have hidden it even if he had the energy to try.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the first time he thought to look out of the window, it was already dark. He hadn’t noticed before because the lights were on; the demon must have taken care of that at some point during the evening. Jungkook glanced at them, absentmindedly wondering whether he should get something to eat. The answer to that should have probably been a yes, since he hadn’t had anything in more than half a day. The problem was that he couldn’t even think about food without getting nauseous and dizzy.

He shut his eyes, though he had to open them again when his mind conjured up another image of the girl. He took a deep breath, trying to will his heart to calm down. It wasn't hard to figure out that reigning in his anxiety, at least a little bit, was easier while looking at the demon. Jungkook wondered whether he would be able to fall asleep if he had some sort of a constant reminder of the demon’s presence, and didn’t have to constantly open his eyes to check if he was still there.

“Can you…” murmured Jungkook quietly, his voice strangely weak. “Can you come here?” He patted the space on the bed next to him, even that simple movement taking a lot more energy than it should.

Jungkook would have never done what he just had if he’d been able to think logically. He knew as much even now, when he was barely aware of his surroundings, but couldn’t bring himself to actually care. He was too tired to think about the consequences; the only thing he wanted was sleep, and, at the moment, he was prepared to do anything for it.

The demon slightly tilted his head before he gave a quick nod and walked over to the bed. He climbed on to it with his usual elegance, positioning himself close to Jungkook, but not close enough to actually touch. Jungkook closed his eyes after he was settled, focusing on his breathing while trying to clear his mind. The demon’s presence did keep the worst of the panic at bay for a while, but it soon turned out this wasn’t enough. He adjusted to the added weight on the bed pretty quickly, and went right back to having to open his eyes to make sure the demon was still there.

The demon let out an exasperated sigh after around the fifth time Jungkook jolted awake. He reached forward, gently tugging one of Jungkook’s hands towards him and intertwining their fingers. Jungkook flinched, barely managing to suppress the urge to pull away and press himself closer to the wall. This was something he certainly hadn’t expected the demon to do, especially not without making any inappropriate comments. He glanced at the demon, hoping it would help him understand what was happening. Needless to say, it didn’t; the demon returned his look with an unreadable expression on his face.

Jungkook experimentally tugged their locked hands closer to him, surprised to see the demon let him without any sort of reaction. Every part of Jungkook’s being screamed at him to pull away and widen the distance between them, but, with surprise, he found himself fighting against it. Holding hands with the demon was uncomfortable and mortifying, but it would remind him of the demon’s presence even when his eyes were closed, which meant there was a possibility, albeit small, that it would help him fall asleep.

As it turned out, it did.

One of the first things Jungkook became aware of immediately after waking up was that his fingers were still intertwined with the demon’s. He gave a slow, experimental tug to see if he could rescue them, not needing long to figure out that the answer was a firm no. The demon’s grip wasn’t strong enough to hurt, but it was definitely strong enough to keep Jungkook’s hand exactly where it was. 

Jungkook sighed as he slowly pried his eyes open, having to blink a few times before he got used to the brightness of the room. It confused him for a few seconds, before he realized that the demon had probably turned off the 6am alarm.

Jungkook turned his head, letting his eyes slowly travel over to the demon. He was (as usual) so close that a single careless movement would cause them to brush their knees together. It seemed he was asleep, although you never really knew with the demon.

Jungkook averted his eyes before he could be caught staring, and glanced at the clock instead. It told him he slept for at least 10 hours, though he felt as if he hadn’t slept at all.

Slowly, he raised his free hand, trying not to think about how heavy it seemed, his muscles unusually stiff and sore. That was nothing compared to the pounding in his head though; it felt as if someone was repeatedly hitting him with a hammer, and he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and go back to sleep.

He rubbed his eyes, and was just about to close them and try to find a more comfortable position, when the demon stirred, tugging their locked hands towards him. Jungkook flinched and automatically looked towards him, meeting the demon’s eyes. “Good morning princess.” The demon said in an unusually sleepy voice. Perhaps he really had been sleeping, although Jungkook couldn’t exactly dismiss the possibility this was just an act. “Or, I guess it’s afternoon by now.” added the demon as he glanced towards the clock.

Jungkook pulled his hand towards him, hoping the demon would get the hint and let go. Needles to say, he didn’t; either because he actually didn’t notice Jungkook’s attempt to free himself or because he pretended not to, Jungkook wasn’t sure. Holding back a sigh at the realization that he was going to have to communicate his wish with words, he took a deep breath and uttered a quiet; “Can you let go?” His voice sounded as weak as he felt.

The demon responded by quirking an eyebrow, his lips forming an amused smile. There was a strange sort of intensity in his eyes, and Jungkook felt his cheeks burn despite not being able to decipher what exactly it meant. He had to look away, suddenly even more aware of their closeness and the demon’s skin against his. As expected, his reaction entertained the demon, which Jungkook could easily tell by a chuckle he let out before he finally released his hand.

Jungkook hastily tucked it under his head, moving further away from the demon. The demon observed him in amusement, the smile still firmly in place. “So…” he said after a few seconds of silence “are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?” When he got to the end of the sentence, both his smile and the amusement were gone, and he was looking at him with an unusually serious expression. 

Jungkook swallowed, a wave of anxiety washing over him at the reminder. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath while trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart. What had happened yesterday? Even now, hours later, he still only had one explanation, which unfortunately didn’t really mean anything; he was way too exhausted to be able to make a careful analysis of the situation. What he needed to do was call Jimin to either confirm or dismiss his theory, and then have a long rest before attempting to make any sort of decisions on what to do next.

“What makes you think I know?” he asked quietly, his eyes glued onto the ceiling. Unfortunately, there was no way he could hide the fact he had a theory on yesterday’s event from the demon. Jungkook hadn’t been successful at keeping things from him on his best days, and he certainly couldn’t do it now, when his brains refused to work properly. It didn’t mean he was prepared to share his suspicion though; it was too tightly connected to his past, and his past was something he’d rather not reveal to anyone, least of all the demon.

The demon elegantly pushed himself into a sitting position, before he gave him a long, searching look. “Nothing.” he said. “Until you responded to my question with a question.”

Jungkook let out a quiet sigh. He had an inkling that the demon wouldn’t leave it at that, and he was certainly right; the demon reached forward before Jungkook realized what was happening, carefully taking a hold of Jungkook’s chin and turning his head. Jungkook recoiled so violently that the back of his head would have undoubtedly hit the wall if the demon hadn’t been holding it still, and, for a few seconds, Jungkook could do nothing but stare at the demon in shock.

“Do you know what happened yesterday?” the demon asked. His voice was firm but not threatening. “Yes or no.”

Jungkook blinked. It wasn’t the demon touching him that confused him - the demon had done it so many times before, Jungkook had expected it to happen again sooner or later. What he found unusual was that the demon outright demanded an answer - ordinarily, he could read him so easily that there was no need for that. The fact that he thought there was now could mean that he was actually taking the situation seriously. Could, because it was impossible to tell for sure when it came to the demon.

Jungkook found himself hoping that the only reason the demon behaved like this was to scare him. If yesterday’s event actually managed to make a normally mocking and amused demon this intense, then the situation was even worse than Jungkook had originally thought. He could think of only one reason the demon would be troubled by what had happened the day before; if he realized he couldn’t uphold the Orders.

The way the Orders were structured, made it impossible for demons to break them on their own accord. If they attempted to, the consequences for them were far from pleasant (summoning mentors usually described them as the worst pain you’ve ever felt multiplied by ten). Occasionally however, it happened that the outside forces made the Orders impossible to follow; the consequences in these cases were the same as if the demon had tried to outright break the Orders. It was supposed to serve as an additional encouragement to do their best to uphold the Orders.

The demon studied Jungkook’s expression for a few seconds, before he slowly let go of his chin. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” he said, something dark swirling in his eyes. Jungkook swallowed, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling the demon’s look gave him.

The demon sent a smile in his direction before he finally moved out of Jungkook’s personal space and got off the bed.

Jungkook took a deep breath, gently messaging his temples as he waited for his heartbeat to slow down. He was just about to get up as well - he urgently needed to call Jimin - when the demon threw a bottle of aspirin at him. It hit him in the hand, and he flinched before murmuring a quiet ‘ow’. It was an automatic response; he said it because he was surprised, not because it actually hurt. The demon looked at him with a raised eyebrow, filling the only glass Jungkook kept in his room with water from the sink and offering it to him. If Jungkook didn’t know better, he would say he looked almost worried.

A few minutes later, Jungkook was in the shower. Usually, he showered in the evening, but, clearly, he had been way too out of it the day before to care about personal hygiene. Even now, he almost didn’t take one - the only thing that convinced him to lock himself in the bathroom and undress, was that he desperately needed to focus, and he hoped the warm water might help with that. He was too exhausted to stand for long, so he sat down with his back against the cold tiles and let the water run over him.

His mind was foggy and incredibly slow, but even though it took ages, he came to the conclusion that there was around 95% possibility that his theory of why there was a higher demon after him was correct. Besides him, there were altogether three people he knew of who had, at one point in their lives, access to information that made it possible to summon higher demons. Out of them, only one would go as far as sending a higher demon after him. The only question left was whether it was more likely that Kangmin had somehow escaped or that someone else a) wanted to hurt Jungkook, b) knew where Jungkook was, and c) got all the necessary information to summon a higher demon. Even in his current state, Jungkook didn’t have to try particularly hard to find the answer.

Despite the nature of Kangmin’s crimes, he wasn’t really locked up; more like confined in a mansion in the middle of nowhere and heavily monitored. He had a lot of ‘friends’, and Jungkook was prepared to bet that National security didn’t find all of them. If they had somehow made sure that he got a hold of the summoning supplies… Escaping wouldn’t be easy, even with accomplices, but if anyone could have done it, it was Kangmin.

Which raised another question; could he be behind the pentagram as well? After a few seconds of pondering, Jungkook concluded that was unlikely, although not entirely impossible. The pentagram appeared a few days ago - if Kangmin had escaped that long ago, Jimin would have most likely called him by now.

Jungkook sighed as he slowly got on his feet, leaning on the wall for support. There was something else that needed clearing up; did Kangmin want to kill him or was there another reason for the attack?

“Did she try to kill me?” was the first thing he asked after he left the bathroom. His headache had eased a little, but he otherwise wasn’t feeling much better - at least he was clean though, which was something.

The demon glanced towards him over the romance novel he was holding, his face unreadable. Jungkook almost expected he would try to punish him for not sharing the theory on yesterday’s events by not answering. To his surprise however, the demon slowly shook his head. “No.” he said.

Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes, trying to decide whether it was safe to believe him. After a few seconds he concluded that the demon had no reason to lie. It was true that he might be attempting to make Jungkook less careful by claiming the girl hadn’t been trying to kill him, but that would in no way benefit the demon, since he was bound by the Orders to protect him. The demon was most likely telling the truth, which meant that Kangmin either wanted to kill him in person or was after something else. Jungkook wasn't sure which of the two options concerned him more.

Giving a short nod to the demon, he walked towards the backpack that was still lying next to the door where he had left it the day before. He searched its pockets for his phone, and, as soon as he found it, almost dropped it before clumsily turning it on. There were 5 missed calls waiting for him, all from Jimin, all from a few hours ago. He frowned at the notifications, his heart thumping in his chest. If Jimin had called him this many times, he had most likely been right; it was Kangmin.

Swallowing, he sat on the edge of the bed, his fingers hovering above the screen for a few seconds, before he took a deep breath and pressed call. His grip on the phone was strong enough for its edges to painfully cut into his skin, but his hands shook so much he was afraid he would drop it if he loosened his fingers even a tiny bit.

Jimin picked up on the third ring. “Eunjae.” he said, sounding breathless.

“Jinho.” Jungkook said quietly. He found himself wishing he could call him by his real name, which was an impossible thing to wish for when you were in a summoning business. It would have been safer for both of them if they'd forgotten each other's real names - but that was easier said than done.

“I…” started Jimin, pausing for a second, before continuing, a bit more firmly; “We have to talk. It’s important.” Jungkook could tell that from his voice alone; it was gravely serious, which was unusual coming from the normally energetic Jimin. Either this was about Kangmin escaping, or something equally worrisome had happened, coincidentally around the same time Jungkook had been attacked by a higher demon. It was clear which of the two options was more likely.

Jungkook let out a small sigh, unsure how to proceed. He could have kept yesterday's events a secret and pretended to be surprised to hear about Kangmin. Jimin probably wouldn't notice, but as much as Jungkook really didn't want to worry him even more, he knew he had to tell him. It could help with capturing Kangmin or figuring out his next steps at least. Besides, Jungkook had kept too many things from Jimin as it was, and really didn't want to add another one to the pile. Even contemplating it made him feel a bit guilty. 

He let out another sigh before he asked; “Is he out?”

The question was followed by a shocked silence. “How…?” started Jimin, and Jungkook could almost hear the cogs in his head turning. Jimin audibly inhaled when he figured it out, and Jungkook braced himself for the onslaught of worry that would undoubtedly follow. “. Are you OK? Are you hurt, do I have to get you? I can be there in half an hour. Maybe I should call dad…” He was speaking so fast Jungkook barely understood what he was saying. He did hear a word ‘dad’ though, and that alone was enough to cut him off.

“Ji…” Jungkook paused, barely stopping himself from quietly cursing; he’d almost called him Jimin, which certainly wasn't good considering there was a demon in the room. “Jinho. I’m fine.” he said in the most reassuring voice he could manage.

With a corner of his eye, he noticed the demon was giving him an amused look, undoubtedly in response to his obvious lie. Jungkook glared in his direction, before he turned his head so that he could no longer see the demon.

“Don’t call him. I'm perfectly fine, just a little shocked.” he said to Jimin, as calmly as he could. “I'll send you the address of the coffee shop where I was attacked.”

Jungkook was quite sure Jimin was preparing for another onslaught of worry, not to mention an interrogation about the details of what had happened, so he decided to quickly change the topic; “Just… how the hell did he get out?” What followed was almost a minute of heavy silence. Jungkook absentmindedly played with the silver ring on his little finger as he waited, doing his best to be patient. He knew Jimin was trying to determine whether to break protocol and answer the question, or stick to the rules.

“Not over the phone. We have to meet in person.” finally said Jimin. Jungkook could detect regret in his voice, and he almost asked since when did he care about the rules, but in the end he refrained; this was not the time to be petty just because Jimin was trying his best to be responsible. “I’ll send you the address - meet me there at 5pm. I don’t think I need to tell you to bring Yoongi. And for Christ’s sake, be careful.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, momentarily forgetting that Jimin couldn’t see him. “I am always careful.” he said, which immediately prompted a chuckle out of the demon. Jungkook glanced towards him, not entirely sure whether the demon had been responding to Jungkook or to something he had read in the book.

That uncertainty evaporated as soon as the demon remarked; “I’m not sure summoning a higher demon counts as being careful.”

The demon somehow managed to speak up at the same time Jimin said; “You know, I don’t think I completely agree...”

Jungkook decided to reply to the demon first, which he did by sending another glare in his direction. A part of him was attracted to the idea of walking out of the room and continuing the conversation with Jimin in some other, demonless part of the building. As pleasant as that would be, he didn’t think he could stay on his feet long enough, not to mention it was safer to have this particular discussion in private. 

“You’re the one to talk.” he said to Jimin, because Jimin truly was the last person who could accuse him of not being careful. After all, the things he used to pull were sometimes borderline suicidal.

Jimin seemed to have remembered that as well, and let out a laugh. “It was good talking to you.” he said, and, because he was Jimin, added; “Please be careful.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. There is no need to repeat yourself, I heard you the first time.” he said, before uttering a quick; “See you in a few hours. Bye.” He ended the call before Jimin could tell him to be careful again, and threw his phone on the bed next to him.