“Well.” said the demon after he joined him at the edge. “This is where my promise comes to completion.”

He took a couple of steps towards the wall and nonchalantly leaned against it. The room was too dark for Jungkook to be able to see his expression, but he didn’t really have to - he could practically feel the demon’s enjoyment. His conviction that he had won was obvious and - despite how much Jungkook was afraid to admit it - most likely quite on par with reality.

The electricity was back on. If he were to leave the room without the demon disabling the security cameras on the hallway first, he would be caught in a second. He could, of course, always try giving orders, but by this point it was quite obvious that wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He let the demon take too much control – he would not obey him now. There was only one way to force him to submit, and that was to give him the orders in a pentagram – clearly not something that was currently possible.

Jugkook took a deep breath and momentarily closed his eyes. He knew panicking did nothing to help, but he couldn’t simply shut down his too-loud mind. His thoughts swirled around the possible consequences of getting caught, and he couldn’t help imagining his father’s reaction. There were no doubts it was possible he would be furious enough to subject him to something worse than death. Just thinking about it filled Jungkook with dread.

He clearly needed to get himself out of this situation. Unfortunately, it appeared that was only possible by getting help from the demon – at this point he couldn’t do anything without his cooperation. There was no way to get out of the room without immediately being spotted by cameras, and after the fire and the disappeared ceiling, the demon’s involvement wasn’t something that could be hidden. Jungkook knew it was extremely unwise to get caught up in V’s games, but he truly didn’t believe he had any choice left at all.

He took a deep breath, trying to convince himself he could do this. “No.” he said as firmly as he was able to, momentarily pausing to gather his thoughts, before continuing; “You said; ‘I’ll make sure you don’t get caught’. You didn’t specify the place - or the time.”

It seemed, for a moment, that the demon wasn’t going to respond, but then he leisurely pushed himself from the wall and took a couple of slow steps forward. He came to a halt close enough to the only source of light in the room that Jungkook was able to see the expression on his face - which was, obviously, highly amused. “So?” he wondered, his lips forming a small and clearly condescending smile.

“So…” replied Jungkook, failing miserably at trying to sound confident. He had no doubts the demon was able to pick up on the slight tremor in his voice. “You can’t just randomly decide when your promise ends.”

The demon’s smile deepened. “Oh really?”

“It should be decided logically.” said Jungkook shakily. He knew what he was going to say, what arguments he was going to use to convince the demon to help. What he wasn’t sure in however, was whether that was going to be enough. The way the demon was looking at him, his expression mimicking one Jungkook could imagine a spider having before snacking on the fly, made his doubts even stronger.

“Alright then.” said the demon, slightly waving his hand. “Let’s hear your logic.” The way he said it, made it very obvious that he didn’t believe Jungkook had any logic to back up his statement at all. Jungkook couldn’t help wondering whether he was right.

He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling of hopelessness that suddenly crept up on him. He tried to convince himself that nothing was lost just yet, but he didn’t truly believe it. After all, his whole argument was built on an off chance that the demon was more interested in the path towards the goal than a goal itself. The whole notion was ridiculous and probably completely untrue.

“Well…” he said, trying to keep emotions out of his voice. “If you were a human, the most logical explanation would be that your promise lasts as long as the danger of me getting caught. But since you are a demon and had been summoned here for a single purpose, it would be only logical for it to last as long as that purpose.”

The demon raised his eyebrow in something that could only be amusement. “Oh? And how long is that?” he wondered mockingly. His words were accompanied by a slight tilt of his head and a small step towards Jungkook.

There was something dangerous in the way he moved. Like a tiger a moment before pouncing on his prey, thought Jungkook, suddenly fighting a strong urge to take a step back. It was obvious that the demon was trying to scare him – it certainly worked – and it gave Jungkook a small grain of hope. There was a tiny possibility V was doing it because he sensed Jungkook was on to something, as opposed to because he enjoyed it. A very tiny possibility.

“Well, I summoned you to get me into the office and then safely back to where we started. To my room.” replied Jungkook.

He could see a trace of emotion flickering in the demon’s eyes, but it was gone before he could identify it. V leaned closer, his lips still curled into that annoying smile. “Is that so?” he wondered, his voice filled with amusement.

Despite the demon’s easygoing attitude, Jungkook was able to sense a warning in his tone. He could feel a shiver running down his spine, and the fact that V’s face was suddenly only a few inches away from his, certainly didn’t help his raising panic. Jungkook gritted his teeth, willing himself to ignore every muscle in his body telling him to step away.

“Depends on whether you have a good contra-argument.” He said as firmly as he could master – which frankly wasn’t very firmly at all.

The demon scoffed before finally moving away. “I don’t.” he said matter-of-factly, before letting his lips curl into a chilling smile. “But I don’t really need one, do I?”

At this point Jungkook simply couldn’t help averting his gaze from the demon. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his fear under control. Perhaps his hypothesis was wrong, and the demon really only cared about the goal, but he was still going to argue as long as he could. After all, he had nothing left to lose.

He made an eye contact with the demon. “I don’t think you are the kind of person to go back on a promise.” he said, as firmly as possible. He was pleasantly surprised when his voice hadn’t shook.

The demon’s chilling smile deepened. “Oh, that is sweet. And naïve. Come to think of it, probably also the reason that you don’t have a magician’s mark. Which is quite a shame – I’m sure, with the help of your trustful little brains, we could have brought this kingdom to its painful end by now.”

At this point his voice was downright icy. The amusement was completely gone and Jungkook suddenly caught himself wishing that wasn’t the case. He didn’t particularly like being mocked, but there was no denying that V’s silent enjoyment made him seem almost humane. It was somehow easier to forget what he was. There was no forgetting now – everything on him, from his cold eyes to his icy expression to the way he held himself, screamed monster. Jungkook barely managed to muster enough courage to stay where he was. He didn’t think he could speak, but he certainly tried. He opened and closed his mouth three times before he finally found his voice.

“You offered to make sure I don’t get caught - if you didn’t I would most likely be waiting on a death sentence right now.” He said, realizing he sounded much braver than he thought possible in the current moment. “And you also pointed out that you wanted me to realize that would be completely my fault, and said you were being educational. So, this is clearly not just about me getting caught - it’s about how it happens and what I learn out of it. There is nothing I can learn out of you going back on a promise - I already knew demons are far from trustworthy.”

He paused and took a deep breath, before delivering the final punch; “You are the only one here who is going to learn something out of this.”

The demon raised his eyebrow, and Jungkook noticed – strangely relieved – that he once again seemed to be amused by the whole situation. “And what exactly is that?” he wondered.

“That you aren’t as clever as you think you are, since you had to use a dirty trick to get what you want.” He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Insulting a demon was always a bad idea – but it was even worse when your life depended on his cooperation.

Jungkook felt his muscles tense and he carefully peered towards the demon who reacted in an entirely unexpected way – he started to laugh. It was a full blown, boisterous laughter that sounded deafening in the empty room. Jungkook took a whole step backwards before he realized what he was doing and forced himself to be still. Something about V expressing this much emotion urged him to turn around and run as fast as possible. Or throw himself through the hole on the bottom of the swimming pool, into the inferno below - that also sounded strangely appealing all of the sudden.

It took ages before the demon finally calmed down. Jungkook caught himself wondering whether his reaction had actually been genuine – there were no tears in his eyes, and he didn’t seem to have any problems breathing. But then again – he was a demon. And he was looking at him with a highly unusual expression on his face - if Jungkook didn’t know any better, he would assume he was impressed.

“Oh, you are a lot more fun than I thought you would be.” finally said the demon, his voice filled with a strange glee. “You should really be put in mortal peril more often. Too bad our time together is coming to an end.” With that, he turned around and leisurely walked towards the door that led into the hallway.

Jungkook observed him, feeling a strange numbness. He imagined the utter defeat that he had just experienced would be accompanied by panic – or at least fear -, but instead he only felt exhausted. He hadn’t imagined that was how his life was going to end, but it was just as well – he had brought this on himself. If he had been a little less stupid and a lot less reckless, the only thing he would have lost would be his spot at the academy.

He absently noticed that the demon paused in front of the door. Jungkook wasn’t able to see his face, but it was quite obvious that he was observing him, probably with his usual annoying smirk on his face.

“Well?” said the demon after a few seconds had passed. “Are you coming?”

Jungkook stared at him, not comprehending. “Coming?” he wondered, not even caring his voice sounded incredibly weak. It didn’t matter what the demon thought of him – he no longer had any control over him and nothing was going to change that.

The demon sighed, which was so unusual for him that Jungkook momentarily wondered whether the sound was only a product of his tired mind. “You probably can’t see my face clearly right now, but I’m rolling my eyes at your incredulous incapability to read social cues.” he said.

Jungkook watched as the demon turned around and slightly tilted his head, before gently pushing open the door he had been standing in front of. A sharp white light from the hallway found a way into the room, and Jungkook’s eyes watered, not yet adjusted to it. After he blinked away the tears, he forced himself to move. He carefully walked towards the demon who waited with his hand gently rested on the door handle.

Once Jungkook was only a couple of meters away, V turned and stepped in the hallway. Jungkook followed, his head raised towards the ceiling, his eyes searching for the cameras. With relief, he noticed that every last one of them was turned towards the wall. The demon – who certainly noticed where his attention was – sent him an amused smirk.

They strode down the heavily lit hallway, and as they neared its end, Jungkook suddenly remembered that the door leading to the staircase were definitely locked – and equipped with alarm. Just as he intended to ask the demon how he planned to get past that, they arrived at the intersection and V turned right, away from the staircase.

Jungkook stopped, an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He could see the metal door of the elevator at the far end of the hallway, and couldn’t stop wondering whether he had been tricked by the demon again. He had no doubts the security was searching for them, and that the elevators were going to be the first place they checked.

The demon – who noticed Jungkook wasn’t following – turned around, his eyebrow slightly raised. It was quite obvious that the situation amused him. “I’m not sure about protocols in this institution…” he said evenly “…but usually the first thing they do when searching for the criminals, is stop the elevators. Less options to get from one floor to another and so on.”

Jungkook just stared at him. V’s eyebrow raised higher, disappearing under the strand of hair on his forehead. He somehow seemed even more amused than the moment before. “What?” he asked.

Jungkook wondered whether answering was a good – or at least decent – idea. In the end he decided it didn’t matter. He had already made so many huge mistakes while interacting with the demon that a few more wouldn’t change anything. He took a deep breath. “You’re a demon.” he pointed out.

V responded by slowly curling his lips into a smirk. “What a marvelous revelation.” he said. “I’ve had no idea. What a luck you’re this perceptive.”

Jungkook was sure that the demon knew exactly what he meant, and was only trying to irritate him. He should really have been used to it by now. “They know you are a demon.” he said slowly “Which is why it’s unlikely that they will follow the usual protocol.”

The demon responded by taking a long look at his nails. “You’re right, of course.” he said finally, his lips slowly curling into a smirk. “They will call someone equipped to deal with this kind of problems, and wait barricaded somewhere they think is safe.”

Jungkook had to admit that sounded likely, but he still had a few doubts. He knew he should probably voice them, and most likely would have, if he thought it would change anything – and if they weren’t standing in the middle of the hallway as a pair of sitting ducks. “We should get out of here.” he said.

Demon responded by curling his lips into a half-smile. “Indeed we should.” he agreed. “And you should stop questioning every single thing, and let me take care of this.” he added.

“Because that turned out so nicely the last time?” murmured Jungkook as the demon turned around. His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but V heard him nonetheless – at least if the amused look he sent over his shoulder was any indication.

It turned out that the elevators were indeed turned down. The demon stopped in front of the nearest one, slightly tilting his head. Jungkook couldn’t help but wonder whether that was an essential part of using magic, or just something he did out of habit. Whichever it was, a moment later the metal doors slid apart, and V nonchalantly walked into the elevator. Jungkook reluctantly followed.  

The elevator started shaking almost as soon as the door closed behind them. Jungkook stumbled and had to grab the nearest thing – which just so happened to be the demon’s shoulder – to stay up right. After he managed to regain his balance, he swiftly moved as far away as possible in the small space. The demon surprisingly decided not to comment – a gesture that was a bit less grand as it could have been if he also refrained from giving him a highly amused look.

Jungkook wasn’t sure how the demon managed to move the elevator to the second floor despite power being cut off. After a moment of consideration, he decided it was best not to dwell on it.

He carefully followed the demon out of the elevator and down the empty corridor, half expecting someone to come around the corner at any second. No one did. It was far too early for students to be outside of their rooms, and the faculty mostly stayed underground. Jungkook knew that, by now, the fire in the office must have been put out and - most likely - connected to the supernatural forces. But there were no alarms, and no one seemed to be looking for them - which meant that the demon was most likely right; they were letting the professionals deal with this.

How long until they arrived? 10 minutes, 20? Jungkook had to be back to his room by then. He had to dismiss the demon by then. And get rid of all the magical supplies. It probably wouldn’t be bad if he scrubbed every single surface and showered as well – just to be safe. He took a deep breath, telling himself not to panic. They had no reason to suspect it was him - that should give him a few extra minutes. He could do this. 

It took additional five minutes for them to arrive to the hallway that led into Jungkook’s room. It was slightly wider than what was considered normal, and just as deserted as the rest of the academy – though Jungkook could hear muffled sounds of human voices coming from behind the closed door. It filled him with anxiety – if someone opened the door and seen him passing by with the demon…

He raised his head towards the ceiling, searching for the security cameras. The ones that monitored the hallway to the point where the door to his room was were all turned towards the wall. Jungkook was suddenly happy that he checked.

“All of them.” he said.

The demon turned his head towards him, his eyebrows slightly raised. The glint in his eyes told Jungkook that he knew exactly what he meant - but, of course, he wouldn’t be the demon if he let on as much. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a bit more exact.” he responded. “The lack of details in your order is astounding.”

Jungkook took a deep breath, trying to hide his anxiety. “The cameras.” he said slowly. “Disable all on this hallway.”

He honestly doubted the demon would actually comply. The agreement had been simple – V only needed to make sure he doesn’t get caught before he makes it to his room. What happens after was no longer his concern, so – theoretically – he wasn’t obliged to take care of the cameras. The fact that only those leading to his room were disabled would get him in trouble long after the demon’s dismissal.

To his surprise, V tilted his head and a second later the rest of cameras turned towards the wall. Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes in suspicion. It had been too easy - he had learnt enough while dealing with the demon to know that was usually a bad sign.

The demon – who certainly noticed his look - responded with a smirk, which somehow made Jungkook even more anxious. He took another glance at the ceiling, but – after a moment of consideration - decided to dismiss the whole thing. He couldn’t find anything wrong with the position of the cameras, and even if he did – there was nothing he could do about it at all.

After they finally reached his room, Jungkook needed an additional ten seconds to locate the key. Just as he managed to fish it out of his pocket, the demon stepped around Jungkook and put his hand on the handle. There was a quiet click and the moment later, the door swung open. The demon nonchalantly entered and Jungkook quickly followed after him, locking the door behind them.

V immediately plopped on to the bed, leaning his back against the wall and turning his head towards the ceiling. Jungkook was relieved that he didn’t need to tell him to get out of the way. He would lose an additional fifteen seconds he truly didn’t have.

Kneeling on the floor, he carefully removed the carpet, revealing the two pentagrams. Both were in a pretty bad state and Jungkook had to redraw at least half of the lines. It was much easier than drawing the pentagram anew, but it certainly didn’t improve his mood. Neither did the fact that he felt the demon’s eyes on the back of his head as he worked. He did his best to ignore him, mostly because he had a hunch that what he would achieve by telling him to knock it off would be the absolute opposite of what he wanted.

When he finally finished, a whole five minutes later, he carefully stepped in the pentagram, motioning for the demon to do the same. V complied, his lips curled into a smirk. “Well…” he said as he positioned himself in the middle of smaller pentagram “That was fun. I’m sure next time will be even more enjoyable.”

Jungkook felt a shiver run down his spine at the smile the demon’s words were accompanied with. He took a deep breath. “There will be no next time.” He said as firmly as possible.

The demon’s smile deepened. “Keep telling yourself that, little magician.” he said, his voice filled with amusement.

Jungkook decided to ignore both him and his words. He will never summon another demon again, and if he did it certainly wouldn’t be this demon - that much was for sure. He had been through hell, and he might have to go through another one if he doesn’t manage to properly dispose of all the evidence. Just thinking about it filled him with anxiety.

He took a deep breath, steadying himself before taking another look at the pentagrams to make sure they were drawn correctly. After he was convinced there was nothing wrong with them, he started reciting the incantation. Luckily for his tired mind, it was a simple one.

He sighed in relief when the lines of the pentagram finally started glowing and the demon was swallowed by a thick black smoke. Now all that was left to do was to expel all remains of magic out of the room. It shouldn’t take him more than twenty minutes.

I’ll be okay, he told himself despite not really believing it.