“This is Yangmi.” said Seokjin, motioning towards his partner. ‘She’ smiled, slightly bowing her head in greeting. Jungkook knew he was staring, but couldn’t help himself, trying to find an inconsistency, anything at all that could signify the person in front of him was not actually a human girl. Predictably, there was nothing, and he was quickly forced to admit that if Taehyung hadn’t decided to reveal himself, Jungkook would have had absolutely no idea it was him - even Yangmi's mannerism and reactions were completely different from Taehyung’s. The demon’s apparent acting skills were probably one of the creepiest things Jungkook had witnessed in the past few months.

“Nice to meet you.” said Areum, jumping off her chair and holding out her hand. “I’m Areum.” she introduced herself. There was a welcoming smile on her lips, her jealousy either forgotten or carefully hidden. Yangmi returned the smile and shook her hand.

The others at the table took that as a cue to introduce themselves as well - that is, all but Yoongi, who crossed his arms over his chest while giving Yangmi an incredibly unimpressed look. His reaction was all Jungkook needed to know he hadn’t expected Taehyung would pull this either and hadn’t liked it any more than Jungkook did. Yangmi returned Yoongi’s look with a confused expression on her face, hesitantly glancing back at Seokjin. Seokjin gave Yoongi a truly impressive glare, while Areum nudged him in the ribs. “Yoongi, behave.” she instructed.

Yoongi didn’t behave, and Areum sighed, rolling her eyes. “Don’t mind him - I think he’s already drunk.” she said, pointing at the empty glasses in front of him.

Yangmi nodded before she turned towards Jungkook, who was unfortunately the only one at the table - apart from Yoongi - who hadn’t introduced himself yet. He wished he could imitate Yoongi, but he knew he wouldn’t get away with it, so he hesitantly accepted the offered hand. Yangmi was so different from Taehyung in every possible way that it would be easy to forget this was the demon and not some random girl Seokjin had met in the city. Jungkook wished he was the type of a person who could forget, but he wasn’t, which meant the physical contact with Taehyung was as usually accompanied by a rapidly beating heart and nervousness clawing at his chest. He held on to the hand for as little time as possible without coming across as rude, making sure to give the demon the ugliest look he could muster. Taehyung broke his cover for a fragment of a second, eyes glinting in amusement, before his expression returned to one of careful politeness.

Once the introduction was made, Jungkook sat back down, turning his head in the opposite direction from the demon and towards the dance floor. It looked like the next dance was about to start, and Hana fidgeted, glancing at the dance floor and then at Jungkook, an unsure look in her eyes. It was quite obvious what she wanted, and even though Jungkook still wasn’t too enthusiastic about dancing, he knew it probably had to be done for the sake of his deal with the demon. Besides, it couldn’t be worse than dancing with Taehyung. Not to mention he really wanted to escape from the table, especially as he had somehow - let’s be honest; it was on purpose - ended with the demon on his right.

He grabbed another glass full of brown liquid off the table and drank it in three gulps, trying to ignore the burn in his throat. Usually, he would stop at one drink, but he really didn’t think he could muster the courage to dance with Hana without the help of alcohol. Taking a deep breath, he motioned towards the dance floor. “Do you want to…” he let his voice trail off.

Hana’s face brightened, and she gave him a smile that was the most genuine yet this evening. “Yes.” she said, accepting his hand without hesitation. Jungkook pulled her towards the dance floor, steering her towards the other side of it. The farther away from the demon and the others they were, the better. He was only satisfied once their view of the table was completely obstructed by other dancers. 

“Do you know Yoongi?” asked Hana after they resumed the starting position, nervously glancing in the direction of their table, seemingly relieved when she noticed no one could see them.

Jungkook blinked. “Um…” he started, forgetting what he was trying to say because they choose that precise moment to start the dance. It was cha-cha, which Jungkook hadn’t danced in years, so he had little choice but to put his whole attention on the steps if he didn’t want to screw them up too badly. It took almost two minutes until he was confident enough in his movements to be able to talk at the same time. “Not particularly well. Why?”

Hana frowned. “I don’t know…” she started, a bit hesitantly. “It’s just that his reaction to Yangmi was a little… weird?”

Jungkook suppressed a sigh - it would be so great if the demons would stop causing problems for one night. “I think that’s just Yoongi.” he said. “He doesn’t care what people think about him.”

“I guess.” said Hana, but something was clearly still bothering her if the frown on her face was any indication. Jungkook decided not to worry about it. It would be almost impossible to connect Yoongi’s rude behavior to Yoongi or ‘Yangmi’ being demons, which, as there was no connection to Jungkook either, meant this wasn’t really his problem. Taking a slow breath, he did his best to push the whole thing out of his mind and focus on the steps instead. He had predictably fumbled a few of them a couple of times, but he hadn’t yet stepped on Hana’s foot, so he counted that as a win. Dancing with her was a lot less stressful than dancing with the demon, although still too awkward for his comfort. He wasn’t sure why, but for some annoying reason, he couldn’t stop comparing the two dance partners for the whole duration of the dance.

He returned to the table slightly irritated, partly at himself and partly at the demon, since the had involved himself in his life so firmly that Jungkook thought about him even when there was absolutely no reason to. As usual, Taehyung somehow picked up on his annoyance, and sent Jungkook a smile that probably seemed perfectly pleasant to a random observer, but was anything but to Jungkook who could detect a hint of mockery in it. For a moment, he was tempted to grab the nearest glass and pour it over Taehyung’s head, only managing to refrain because he knew he wouldn’t be able to explain it and around 50% of the table was already highly suspicious of him.

Ten minutes was all he could take before he had to leave the table again, this time using the need to go to the bathroom as an excuse. There was one adjoined to the ballroom, and it was mercifully empty when he entered. Turning on the water, he closed his eyes and splashed some on his face. He could feel a headache coming, and, needless to say, blamed Taehyung for it entirely - this evening would be a lot less stressful if he hadn’t decided to make an appearance, or if he’d at least warned him. Blindly reaching for a paper towel, he almost jumped out of his skin when his fingertips brushed against something else.

He hastily retrieved his hand before rubbing excess water out of his eyes and opening them. Taehyung was standing next to the sink, leaning against the wall, his lips curled into an overly amused smile. He was still looking like Yangmi, but there was nevertheless absolutely no doubt who he was, and not only because of the grin - everything from the way he tilted his head to how he crossed his hands over his chest screamed Taehyung. 

Jungkook pressed his lips together before he took a small step back, his heart still beating a bit too fast due to fright. “Could you maybe cough next time or something?” he wondered before he could think it through. Of course, the question was entirely unnecessary, the answer already known to both of them – Taehyung enjoyed messing with him way too much to even entertain the idea of revealing his presence in a way that wouldn’t almost give Jungkook a heart attack.

The demon confirmed that by curling his lips even further up. Jungkook let out a small sigh, wiping the water off his face with his sleeve. “What are you doing?” he asked. He knew Taehyung would be able to tell exactly what he meant despite the vague question, but he realized, as soon as the words left his mouth, that he should have probably phrased it a bit better - he wouldn’t put it past the demon to give him a literal reply just to annoy him even more.

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “Hoseok, get out.” he said, addressing the lady bug still sitting on Jungkook’s shoulder. It didn’t move despite the truly unpleasant way Taehyung was looking at it. The demon waited a few seconds before he sighed, slowly pushing himself away from the wall. He raised his hand, a small flame appearing on the end of his finger. It grew rapidly, and Jungkook flinched half in surprise and half in alarm, stumbling a few steps back. The demon glanced at him, something flashing in his eyes for a brief moment, before he lowered his hand and extinguished the fire. 

The lady bug promptly flew off Jungkook’s shoulder and towards the door, making a big circle around Taehyung. It somehow managed to climb into the keyhole, and then it was gone.

They both watched it go, and once it disappeared, Taehyung turned back towards him. It looked like he was about to speak, but something seemed to have attracted his attention before he could. Before Jungkook registered what was happening, the demon’s fingers were already wrapped around his wrist (his heart predictably responded by picking up its pace), and he was unceremoniously dragged into the nearest stall and pushed on the toilet. A moment after the lock clicked and Taehyung leaned against the door, there were unmistakable sounds of someone entering the room. The whole situation certainly gave him a sense of deja-vu.

What came next were a few of the most uncomfortable minutes in his life. He was forced to wait for the person to do his business and leave, while the demon was standing unpleasantly close and looking down at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. His current appearance was disconcerting as well, perhaps even more so than when he had turned into his professor. All the amusement just didn’t mash well with Yangmi’s features.

“I thought I told Yoongi to explain.” Taehyung said when the toilets were finally - finally – empty. His voice was nonchalant for the most part, a hint of danger creeping in only when saying Yoongi’s name.

“He did.” Jungkook said quickly - the last thing he needed was even more antagonism between the demons. He risked a quick glance up, and then - once he was successfully reminded of how close they were – fixed his gaze back on the floor. His heart refused to calm down, which was unfortunately a pretty regular occurrence when it came to being anywhere near Taehyung - the demon certainly had an unpleasant talent for making him nervous.

“Then what exactly is the problem?” wondered Taehyung, quirking an eyebrow.

Jungkook pressed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose. He was quite sure the demon knew exactly what the problem was, but was - as usual - messing with him. “Why are you here?” he asked.

Taehyung’s eyebrow raised a bit higher. “Did you think.” he started slowly “I would leave you alone with your homicidal brother’s demon on the lose?” His voice was amused, but there was a hint of something else in it, something Jungkook couldn’t identify no matter how hard he tried. Not that he tried particularly hard, too focused on figuring out a way to convince the demon to leave.

“Not…” he started, going for ‘not necessarily’. It wasn’t a big chance, but it was one nonetheless that there was no other higher demon at the academy and the inconsistency in the numbers was only a glitch in the system. Of course, Jungkook didn’t buy it for a second, but pointing out the possibility existed didn’t really count as lying. It was pointless though, because there was no way the demon would buy it.

Taehyung cut him off before he could even finish the sentence. “We both know the timing is a bit too convenient for it to be nothing.” he said, successfully summarizing Jungkook’s own thoughts on the situation, while simultaneously proving that the demon wasn’t planning to go anywhere. Jungkook couldn’t hold back a sigh. Really, he should have expected Taehyung to show up - there was a bit too much at stake for him to risk it, especially considering he didn’t seem to trust Hoseok and Yoongi at all. It still didn’t mean he liked it, though.

And he definitely thought the demon was overreacting. Even if there was a higher demon at the academy, Jungkook doubted they would attack him in the open. Not even Kangmin could afford to show his cards so early in the game. There was no doubt someone on the inside was involved in getting the demon to the academy, and it was almost impossible for them not to get discovered in the case of an investigation. Even if Kangmin was very careful, chances were his inside person knew other people who worked for him, and Jungkook was quite sure they would talk if enough pressure was put on them - and the NS was a master at putting on the pressure.

Jungkook was prepared to admit that he might have been in a little bit of danger if he hadn’t attended the dance, considering his room definitely couldn’t be counted as ‘in the open’. Of course, he would have been surrounded by demons and therefore probably on the winning side, but it was still better to avoid an altercation all together. Based on the experience from previous years, the hours from 8-10pm were especially problematic, because the vast majority of the academy’s inhabitants was in the ballroom at the time. After that however, a lot of people got bored of the ballroom dances and classical music, and returned to the dorms for the after parties. Jungkook knew about them because they usually kept him awake for at least a part of the night.

“Maybe.” said Jungkook, not prepared to give the demon anything more, even though the was certainly right. A barely noticeable quirk of Taehyung’s lips signaled his efforts were pointless and the demon knew exactly what he was thinking anyway.

“Are you sure you’re not here purely to mess with me?” murmured Jungkook, unable to stop himself despite knowing it was unwise to get into any kind of a verbal argument with the demon, since he – annoyingly - always managed to get in the last word.

“Oh, that's a plus, I’m not going to lie.” said Taehyung, finally pushing away from the door. He unlocked it with an amused expression on his face, pushing them open. “But no.” He winked at him before he walked out of the stall, putting the much needed distance between them. Jungkook let his head rest in his hands for a few moments, taking deep breaths through his nose. When he finally mustered the energy to get up and follow after him, the demon was already gone.

Hoseok was standing in front of the door leading to the ballroom, anxiously putting his weight from one leg to the other. “Are you okay?” he asked as soon as Jungkook stepped out of the stall, his eyes wide. Jungkook barely managed to bite down an ‘are you okay?’ Hoseok looked like he had been through the wringer, a haunted expression on his face matching his tense muscles and shaking hands. Jungkook didn’t think Taehyung had the time to do anything else to him, which made the demon having threatened him with fire the most likely reason for the unusual behavior. Apparently, it scared him a lot more than Jungkook thought possible.

“I’m fine.” he said after a few tense moments, trying to decide whether he should say anything. He concluded it was probably better if he didn’t - Hoseok truly did not look like he wanted to talk about it, and Jungkook didn’t want the only demon who hadn’t caused him any problems so far to begin resenting him. “I should go back before someone starts wondering where I am.”  Jungkook said.

Hoseok nodded, losing no time turning back into a lady bug and settling on Jungkook’s shoulder once again.

When he got back, only four people were left at the table; Yoongi, Violet, Areum and Hana. Yoongi had a pile of empty glasses in front of him, but didn’t seem any less sober than the last time Jungkook had seen him, which probably meant that demons either couldn’t get drunk or it took a lot to achieve it - ‘probably’, because you never really knew with Yoongi, considering how expressionless he usually was.

“Eunjae.” said Areum after he sat down, leaning a bit closer to him. Her perfume mixed with a scent of alcohol, her eyes slightly glazed over and cheeks red. Jungkook wondered if he had been absent for longer than he thought, but she seemed to be the only person at the table in that bad of a state. “I was starting to worry you got lost.” she said when she caught his eyes, awkwardly bumping her shoulder against his.

“Don’t mind her.” advised Violet from the other side of the table. “She decided to drown Seokjin’s ‘betrayal’ in alcohol.”

Areum gave no sign she heard her. She slowly outstretched her hand and pointed at the dance floor. “Isn’t this absolutely hilarious?” she asked, letting out a quiet giggle. Jungkook’s gaze followed her finger, his eyes landing on Namjoon and Gyuri dancing. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she found so funny - Namjoon seemed even tenser than usual, his back completely straight and his moves closely resembling those of a robot. Jungkook truly hoped his own dancing wasn’t that bad.

He let his eyes wander over the other people on the dance floor, searching for Seokjin and ‘Yangmi’. He couldn’t see them, which meant they were probably on the other side of the room, his view of them obstructed by the crowd. Taehyung definitely wouldn’t leave the ballroom, considering the reason he was here.

With a quiet sigh, he pulled the nearest still full glass towards himself. The previous drinks he’d had calmed him down a little, but didn’t seem to do much apart from that, so he deemed it safe to have more. He took a small sip, grimacing at the burn. Apparently, he managed to choose something really strong this time. He stared at the almost colorless liquid, contemplating whether it was a good idea to drink it, when a hand reached toward the glass and lifted it. Jungkook looked to his left, not at all surprised to find ‘Yangmi' emptying it as easily as if it was filled with water.

“Oh, I’m sorry” she said when she caught Jungkook’s gaze, looking apologetic “was that yours?” Obviously, Taehyung was back to full on acting, because Jungkook couldn’t see a single hint of him in the girl sitting next to him.

“I guess not.” he murmured. He didn’t take another glass, having a strong suspicion the demon wasn’t going to let him drink another drop.

The next hour passed relatively quickly. Jungkook stayed at the table, and so did the rest of the group. Areum and perhaps Hana were the only ones who seemed to actually enjoy dancing, and Areum was drunk while Hana took it upon herself to babysit her. The conversation was typical small talk, and Jungkook only participated when he was asked a question.

At ten past eleven, he decided it was high time to leave. The dance would last for at least two more hours, but Jungkook was already drained and his mind was getting more and more occupied with thoughts of sleep. It didn’t help that he had an early flight in the morning and knew he wouldn’t be able to rest on the plane - it was too crowded and loud for his taste, and he could never properly relax while in the air. Admittedly, the situation might have been different if he traveled first class, but he’d told Jimin not to put him there – he decided it was better to keep a low profile while Kangmin was on the lose.

“I have to go.” he said at the first lull in the conversation, covertly glancing towards Yoongi. He expected the demon would come with him, considering he hadn’t left him out of his sight for the whole evening.

“Already?” asked Hana, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Early flight.” he explained, forcing his lips to form a small smile. He hoped it looked at least somewhat genuine, although he doubted it - he was a bit too tired to do a good job at pretending.

Hana nodded. “Have a great holiday.” she said.

He murmured a quiet ‘same’, and was just about to stand up when Yangmi said; “I have to go as well.” There was an apologetic smile on her lips, directed mostly at Seokjin. Jungkook was not surprised - he’d already known there was no way Taehyung would let him leave the ballroom by himself. Not when he thought Jungkook was in danger.  

Yoongi seemed to be about to excuse himself as well, but Violet put her hand on his shoulder before he could do anything. “We’re out of drinks.” she said. “You drank the most, so it’d be only fair if you pay for the next round.” Her voice was firm but playful at the same time, signaling she wasn’t entirely serious.

Yoongi glanced at Jungkook, and Jungkook gave a barely visible nod. He didn’t need all three higher demons to babysit him. Taehyung didn’t respond, but Jungkook still had an unpleasant feeling that he wasn’t particularly happy with the current course of events. Yoongi seemed to have the same feeling, at least if the careful look he sent in the demon’s direction was any indication. He didn’t seem to particularly care what Taehyung thought though, shrugging his shoulders and following Violet to the bar.

“Already?” asked Seokjin, eyes fixed on Yangmi.

“I have a long drive home.” she said apologetically, gathering her purse and elegantly jumping off the chair.

“You could stay the night.” proposed Seokjin, his words successfully getting Areum to choke on water she had been slowly sipping for the past hour. Hana sympathetically tapped her back, while sending Seokjin an incredulous look.

The corner of Yangmi’s lips turned upwards, and Jungkook was convinced he could see a hint of genuine amusement in her eyes. “Next time.” she said.

Seokjin didn’t seem bothered by the rejection, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. “Well, then I better take my leave as well.” he said, before turning towards the rest of the table and giving them a quick wave. Taehyung’s expression didn’t change, but Jungkook saw he gripped the shoulder strap so strongly his knuckles turned white, and tried not to flinch at the sight. He was kind of surprised the strap didn’t immediately fall apart, given the demon’s strength. Jungkook knew Taehyung’s reaction had everything to do with the fact that if Seokjin left as well, Taehyung wouldn’t be able to accompany Jungkook to his room. Needless to say, Jungkook thought the demon was slightly overreacting.

“Oh please, don’t cut the night short on my account.” said Yangmi, but Seokjin dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“I have an early flight as well.” he said, pointing at the ballroom’s exit. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you out.” Yangmi hesitated for a few short moments, most likely contemplating how safe it was to leave Jungkook alone. Jungkook barely suppressed the urge to sigh - yes, it would have been safer to have Taehyung accompany him back to the room, but he couldn’t think of a single way to make that feasible in the current situation. The demon clearly couldn’t either, which meant they had no choice but to separate. It was unlikely he would get attacked on his way to his room anyway; there were security cameras in every public part of the academy and Kangmin wasn’t stupid enough to attack him in the open. Taehyung was doubtlessly aware of all of that as well. They looked at each other, their eyes meeting for a short moment, before the demon slightly inclined his head and finally followed Seokjin.

Jungkook walked behind them, nodding a goodbye once they reached the elevators. Seokjin and Yangmi stopped a few meters away, the demon making a show of putting on his cardigan, probably stalling until he could make sure no one followed them out of the ballroom.

Once the elevator door closed behind him, Jungkook pressed the button for the sixth floor and leaned against the wall. Now that he was left by himself - relatively; Hoseok was still on his shoulder -, he was no longer so sure it was a good idea to go to his room without Taehyung or at least Yoongi. The elevators weren’t equipped with security cameras. He shook his head - it was true there were no security cameras, but cornering him in the elevator was still a bad idea. It was public space, which meant anyone could get on at any time. He tried to dismiss a small doubt gnawing at him, reminding him that Yoongi had implied Gara wasn’t particularly smart, by telling himself she worked under Kangmin who certainly was.

He almost managed to convince himself he was needlessly paranoid, when the elevator came to a stop on the first floor. Unusual but not impossible - it was the floor the cafeteria was on, and it wasn’t at all hard to believe someone would go get snacks for the multiple after parties that were undoubtedly taking place in the dorms. Even so, the hair on his nape rose and his muscles automatically tensed, while his heart did what it seemed to do best - beat rapidly. He had just enough time to tell himself he was probably overreacting, when the door opened and he realized his worry hadn’t been misplaced at all.