Once Yoongi was gone, Jungkook carefully glanced towards the demon, who met his eyes with a small smile playing on his lips. He didn’t have to say anything for Jungkook to be aware that the interrogation was coming and that he definitely couldn’t avoid it. “So…” started the demon conversationally after a few tense minutes of silence, leaning against the desk with his hands crossed over his chest. Apart from the unsettling intensity in his eyes, he seemed completely nonchalant. “Mind telling me why a higher demon is pretending to be a student?”

Jungkook studied the demon’s face for any sign of the answer being known to him already, but it was carefully void of all emotion. Even the unpleasant smile was gone. Nevertheless, Jungkook suspected the demon had figured what was going on the moment Yoongi stepped into the room - it probably couldn’t be any more obvious, after all. Even so, Jungkook had absolutely no intention of admitting it. “Yes.” was the only thing he said before turning his back to the demon, and, taking a few steps forward, collapsed onto the bed with a sigh of relief. The conversation with Yoongi had taken a toll on him, and the only thing presently on his mind was sleep. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem the demon had any plans whatsoever to leave him alone.

The demon slightly narrowed his eyes, the expression on his face still uncharacteristically serious. “I think I already know.” he said after a few seconds of silence, confirming Jungkook’s suspicion. It certainly wasn’t good news, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

The demon didn’t say anything for the next couple of minutes, which Jungkook took as a confirmation that the conversation was over and he could go to sleep. Or try to go to sleep as it turned out, because the sleep seemed to be avoiding him. Despite the exhaustion, his brain absolutely refused to shut down, and his thoughts wandered from the demon attack to the possible plans Kangmin had for him. It was while trying to figure out how Kangmin intended to make him do whatever it was he wanted him to do (if he even wanted him to do anything; perhaps Jungkook was only supposed to be a hostage), when he suddenly recalled that Kangmin knew his real name. The realization made him sit up so quickly he almost managed to fall out of the bed.

The demon gave him a look that was a mix of curiosity and amusement, one of his eyebrows slightly raised. “Do you need me to hold your hand again?” he wondered, a corner of his lips turning slightly up. Jungkook felt his cheeks burn at the reminder, and he hastily lay back down, turning away from the demon. Not that it helped much, given how well the demon could read him.

The demon let out a low chuckle. “Are you sure?” he wondered, his voice obviously mocking.

“Go to hell.” murmured Jungkook barely above a whisper, well aware that the demon could hear him anyway. The ‘conversation’ (if it could even be called that) managed to somewhat reduce his anxiety. He had to think about this logically; Kangmin knew his real name, and Jungkook knew Kangmin’s real name – they were in the same boat.

He let out a sigh as he messaged his temples - the headache was getting worse, and he desperately needed to sleep it off. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until he thought this through however, so he didn’t even bother trying. Kangmin was unpredictable, and there was absolutely no guarantee that he wasn’t going to spread Jungkook’s name around despite knowing Jungkook could do the same to him. There was nothing he could do about it, but the prospect still worried him. Even more so, because it meant this might be his last chance to get some answers out of the demon.

Just as there was no guarantee that Kangmin wouldn’t share his true name, there was no guarantee that he would. It was for that reason that Jungkook spent almost 15 minutes looking at the ceiling and trying to decide whether he should exchange his name for information now or it was smarter to wait. He came to the conclusion that it was better to do it now. The demon wouldn’t really be able to use it until receiving new orders in the pentagram, and since Jungkook had absolutely no intention to summon him again, the only danger was that he would tell his name to other demons. It meant Jungkook would have to be extra careful of who the demon talked to and make sure to never summon any of those demons. He doubted the demon would share his name with other demons after he was dismissed - demons usually didn’t care what happened to their previous masters when they were no longer required to deal with them. He didn’t think he did anything bad enough for the demon to become fixated on him and try to destroy his life even after dismissal.

Slowly, he turned around and pushed himself into a sitting position. The demon was still leaning against the desk, though his hands were no longer crossed over his chest but holding the romance novel he had been previously reading. He closed it when he heard Jungkook move, his lips forming a small smile.

“I'll tell you my name if you answer one question.” said Jungkook before he could lose his nerve - which seemed likelier and likelier the longer he stared into the demon’s eyes.

The demon responded by slowly lying the book down and raising his eyebrow. The expression on his face was part surprise and part curiosity, but as usual, it was quickly replaced by pure amusement. The quick shifts in his emotions made Jungkook wonder just how much of what the demon showed him was actually real. “Sorry – say that again?” said the demon.

“You heard me.” murmured Jungkook, sure the only reason the demon asked him to repeat himself was to remind him of how dangerous the request was and how it was too late to take it back. The demon definitely wouldn’t have let it go if he’d told him to forget about it now.

The demon raised his eyebrow higher. “Seriously?” he wondered. “When did you get this suicidal?” The way he said it made it clear that his main motivation was to point out how Jungkook had done quite a few stupid things so far, but none more idiotic than offering his real name to a demon. No matter how strongly Jungkook agreed, the choice had already been made.

“I'm not suicidal.” he said. It was the truth when taking it literally, albeit not in the way the demon had meant it. The demon seemed to be aware of that as well, and - as usual - found it amusing. His response to Jungkook’s words was a smirk. It was only now that Jungkook realized how unusual this conversation was, considering what he had offered to the demon. He had expected the demon was going to grab the opportunity with both hands, but instead it seemed he was almost trying to talk him out of it. After a careful analysis, Jungkook concluded that his main purpose was probably to insult him, and the fact it appeared as if he was trying to convince him not to go through with it just an unfortunate side effect. One the demon probably wasn’t too concerned about, since he could tell Jungkook wasn’t going to change his mind.

“Could have fooled me.” said the demon, before he casually waved his hand. “Well? Ask the question.”

Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to let me…” he started, then let his voice wander off. He’d assumed that he was going to have to spend the next half an hour - or more - trying to convince the demon to answer the question before Jungkook told him his name. He certainly didn’t expect him to offer it on his own, which was why he immediately began to wonder whether this was some kind of a trick.

“It does seem so, doesn’t it?” said the demon, the highly amused look he sent in his direction implying he knew exactly what was going through Jungkook’s mind. Jungkook gritted his teeth in annoyance, a few seconds of thinking enough to conclude that it probably wasn’t a trick - the demon just wanted to see his reaction. He probably realized that Jungkook would never agree to share his name before he got what he wanted, and decided to have some fun.

Jungkook took a few deep breaths before muttering a quiet; “Okay…” He paused when he realized he had no idea how to phrase the question - he’d never told anyone about the issue, not even Jimin who had figured it out by himself, so he really didn’t know how to explain it. In the end he settled with; “I can see the demonic forms of lower and medium demons…” He wasn’t sure if ‘demonic forms’ was a correct term - there were no mentions of them in any of his books. It simply wasn’t a topic anyone would be interested in, since it had nothing to do with summoning.

Jungkook relied on the assumption that if anyone had the answers it would be the demon, but there was no guarantee that the demon actually had the necessary information. It was possible that he was just as clueless as Jungkook, which was why Jungkook let his eyes travel across his face, hoping to find some kind of clue on how much he knew. Needless to say, there was nothing but amusement. The demon let out a low hum, turning his head towards the ceiling. He looked almost thoughtful as he commented; “That’s interesting.”

He said nothing else, and Jungkook, despite trying to be patient, couldn’t help pressing; “Do you know why?”

The demon slowly averted his gaze from the ceiling, his eyes finding Jungkook’s. They were - as usual - filled with amusement, and it was more than obvious that he was enjoying himself. Quirking an eyebrow, he asked; “You’re prepared to tell me your name just for this?” The tone of his voice was mocking, driving home just how stupid he thought Jungkook was being.

Jungkook let out a sigh, wondering whether he had been wrong and the demon agreeing to answer his question had been a trick after all. Since the conversation certainly didn’t seem to be going anywhere, it was probably either that or the demon simply didn’t know the answer and was just wasting his time. “I am not going to explain myself to you.” said Jungkook as firmly as he could.

The smile the demon gave him in response implied he knew exactly what Jungkook was thinking and found it highly entertaining. “No need to be so impatient.” he said, before he slowly directed his gaze at his nails, pretending to study them. “One of your ancestors down the line was probably a demon.” he said after a few tension filled seconds of silence.

Jungkook wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. He felt his heartbeat pick up the pace, and automatically pressed his fingers into a fist, his nails cutting into his skin hard enough to hurt. Keeping his eyes on the demon, he searched his face for any trace of deception. Of course, he found nothing. The demon was good enough of an actor that he could be lying directly in his face with Jungkook non the wisest. The only way to tell if he was telling the truth or not, was by figuring out his motives. Taking a few deep breaths, he asked as calmly as he could; “Is that even possible?”

The demon snorted. “Oh, it’s very possible. And probably not particularly rare either. We used to be free to do what we wanted, after all.” he said, still studying his nails. Jungkook wondered if avoiding eye contact was a sign he was lying, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. The demon would have absolutely no trouble lying while looking him straight in the eyes - the absence of eye contact alone definitely didn’t prove anything.

Jungkook stared at his hands, forcing his fingers into strengthening and absentmindedly messaging the sore spots on his palms from where his nails had dug into skin. What demon had said actually sounded quite logical. Before the rebellion against the demon king and the subsequent existence of the first magicians, the demons lived alongside humans. They had been the monsters parents warned their children about, ones that could hide in plain sight. It wasn’t that hard to imagine that some of them might have had children with humans.

“I hope you’re not going to ask me why your relatives don’t have the same problem?” asked the demon, forcing Jungkook to look up. The demon’s eyes were no longer directed at his nails, but boring directly into Jungkook, lips forming a smirk.

Jungkook decided the only acceptable response to that was a glare. “I don’t need you to explain genetics to me.” he said as calmly as he could, which admittedly wasn’t particularly calmly - he actually barely refrained from adding a sarcastic ‘thank you very much’ at the end of the sentence. He suspected the demon was trying to irritate him mainly to make sure Jungkook didn’t notice how he didn’t really answer the question, and that definitely annoyed Jungkook much more than the demon’s remark.

“A demonic ancestor explains how, not why.” he said, trying - and failing - not to sound accusing. He truly hoped the demon wasn’t planning to be difficult - the last thing he needed was for him to give some far-fetched argument to explain how he actually had answered the question, all the while implying Jungkook was at fault for not forming it better.

The demon responded by sending an amused smile in his direction, more or less proving that he had indeed tried to distract Jungkook so he wouldn’t notice his attempt at deception. The failure didn’t seem to upset him, although that didn’t really mean anything considering the demon’s excellent acting skills.

“My guess is it’s a mix of magic detection and the sight, just in a much weaker form.” said the demon after a few seconds of silence. “I’m able to sense even the tiniest traces of magic, but I’m assuming you can probably only sense magic when it’s used in great quantities. The lower and medium demons can only make themselves look human by using illusions, and those demand a constant outpour of magic in big quantities. Once such a big amount of magic is present that you can sense it, your sight turns on, and voila - you can see through the illusions.” He quirked an eyebrow, the smile still firmly in place. “Does that explain it?”

Jungkook needed a minute to process the demon’s words. To his surprise - and relief - they made perfect sense. They even explained why he could only see the true form of lower and medium, but not higher demons - higher demons could shape-shift, which probably used much less magic than illusions. It still didn’t mean the demon was telling the truth though, and Jungkook couldn’t help being suspicious. The demon would achieve a lot by telling a convincing lie.

The exaggeratedly disbelieving look the demon directed at him made it very obvious that he knew exactly what was on Jungkook’s mind. He let out an exasperated sigh, not unlike the one he let out right before he had grabbed Jungkook’s hand the day before. Jungkook felt his cheeks burn at the reminder, and had to look at the floor, mentally kicking himself for being so easy to mess with. He was starting to associate that unpleasant event with a sigh, really? “Do you want a presentation?” asked the demon.

Jungkook glanced at him before looking back down. “I’m not sure it would help.” he said after a moment of silence. He didn’t know much about magic, which the demon could easily use against him - it probably wouldn’t be at all hard for him to make it seem as if what he had said was the truth. Jungkook kept his eyes glued on to the floor for a few more seconds, before telling himself to stop being ridiculous. The demon’s expression might not have told him much, but it still told him more than the floor.

The demon met his eyes with a quirked eyebrow. “You know…” he said slowly “you should really do something about these trust issues.”

Jungkook decided that the only response the demon’s words deserved was a glare. The demon let out a low chuckle, throwing his hands in the air as if surrendering. “Did I say something that wasn’t true?” he wondered, his voice filled with amusement. They both knew Jungkook’s silence was incriminating, and the demon clearly intended to make the most of it.

Jungkook decided it was best to bring the conversation back to their previous topic. “Can I turn it off?” he asked, trying - and probably failing - to seem nonchalant. He was pretty sure the demon was more likely to answer if Jungkook didn’t show just how badly he wanted to know. Not that he had much hope the demon would be prepared to reply at all - the demon’s side of the deal had been fulfilled, after all.

The demon reacted by slightly narrowing his eyes, carefully searching Jungkook’s face. His gaze was intense enough that Jungkook barely managed to refrain from looking away - or even more preferably; pull the covers over his head and hide underneath them. He had absolutely no idea what the cause of the demon’s behavior was, but he doubted it was anything good. “Probably.” said the demon after a few tense moments. “But why would you want to?”

Jungkook nervously turned the silver ring he wore on his left hand around as he contemplated whether to answer truthfully. There was absolutely no doubt that the demon could easily use it against him in a few different highly unpleasant ways. The possibility that worried Jungkook the most was that the demon would use the information to let the people who were aware of Jungkook’s ‘problem’ know he was a higher demon. Thankfully, the number of those people was fairly small, but their very existence made telling the truth dangerous.

On the other hand, he needed the demon to teach him how to turn the magic off, and he could already tell that the demon wouldn’t do it until he knew the reason. Of course, the question was whether he would have done it if he had known the reason, considering how much he enjoyed watching him suffer. “I will tell you if you promise to teach me how to turn it off.” he said, unsuccessfully attempting to sound confident. To be honest, he seriously doubted the demon would go for it, but he had nothing to lose by trying.

The look the demon gave him was a mix of curious and amused (amusement was - of course - prevalent). There was no reluctance in his voice when he said; “Sure.”

Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes in suspicion, which immediately earned him an eye roll and a smirk from the demon. “At least work on your trust issues? Please?” said the demon in mocked exasperation, turning his head towards the ceiling as if looking for godly interference. Jungkook was surprised words such as please existed in his vocabulary.

“If you work on being more trustworthy…” he murmured, unable to stop himself. His voice was barely audible, but he knew the demon would hear him anyway.

The demon’s smirk became even more irritating. “What are you talking about?” he said in mocked incredulity, widening his eyes as he leaned slightly forward. “I’m perfectly trustworthy.”

Jungkook snorted before he could help it, and the demon gave him an amused look. The next few minutes were spent in silence, Jungkook turning the silver ring around on his finger while he was trying to make the decision. There was no doubt that telling the truth was dangerous, but he concluded he had no choice. As with his name, Kangmin was familiar with his problem regarding lower and medium demons, and would have absolutely no problem using it against him. Not to mention the situation with the pentagram on the attic - its very existence meant that there was a lower or a medium demon somewhere on the academy. Those two things combined meant it was highly unlikely for the demon not to learn about Jungkook’s issue sooner or later. At least by telling him about it, he would - possibly - get something in return.

He let out a defeated sigh. “Because it’s making me sick.” he said finally, glancing at the demon whose first reaction was a raised eyebrow, the amusement suddenly gone. They looked at each other for a few tense moments, and then the demon suddenly burst into laughter.

 “Yes, your human body probably can’t deal with it.” he commented in between laughing fits.

Jungkook glared at him. “It’s not funny.” he said, because it really wasn’t. It was something that was plaguing him his whole life, something that prevented him from being a magician. Something that made him useless and unable to help Jimin. It was not a joke to him, though of course he should have expected that it would be to the demon. Watching Jungkook suffer seemed to be his favorite hobby, after all.

“It’s hilarious.” said the demon, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. The laughter finally stopped, and he straightened himself up, and smirked at Jungkook. Jungkook was quite sure he wasn’t going to like whatever was to come out of the demon’s mouth next, and - as usual with these kinds of things - he turned out to be right. “Turns out you were born self-destructive.” said the demon, erupting into another fit of laughter.

Jungkook stared daggers at him, which seemed to only further entertain the demon. Luckily though, the second fit was a lot shorter than the first one, and the demon soon calmed down. “Well?” he asked after a few seconds of blessed silence, slightly curling his lips upwards. Jungkook gave him a confused look, which earned him an exasperated eye roll. “Don’t you owe me something?” the demon prompted, reminding Jungkook of their deal.

He sighed, his hands shaking and heart racing as he reached for his black notebook and a pen, scribbling his name down in uneven writing before tearing the page out. He hesitated before offering it to the demon. “Burn it.” he instructed as firmly as he could.

The demon’s eyes traced his writing, his smile becoming increasingly more unsettling. Finally, he looked up, his eyes full of intensity. “Whatever you want, Kookie.” he said, before slightly tilting his head. As if on cue, the paper caught fire.