Maybe it was the fact that he knew Satan was attatched to him. Maybe it was the fact that he knew it was someone he called a friend, that he was near all the time. Whatever the reason, it kept Yongguk awake. He stared at his darkened ceiling and thought of all the possible suspects for Satan.

Han Sunhwa, talked to him during Writing 107, but never talked to him outside of class. She wouldn't leave a strong enough aura on him.

Woo Jiho? They were friends. Both interested in rapping and producing music. He was too busy to ever stay around long enough though.

Hyoseung? No way. He'd felt her aura before. It was powerful, valiant, and took charge. It had every sense of a leader and authority figure within it. There was no possibility of her being a demon with that sort of aura.

Yongguk raked his brain for anybody who'd ever cling to him and stay around for so long that they would have a long lasting impact on the aura around him. Someone who frequently saw him and was with him every day. No one came to mind.

Especially since he was only considering people that he called friends.

Youngjae was losing consciousness and blood. Fast. Junhong seemed to not care, seeing as a grin remained dormant on his lips. Labored and distant breaths were taken, the angel struggled to steady himself. 

"Are you willing to listen yet?" No response. "I'll take that as a yes then!" The demon sprung up from his seat on the ground and twirled his finger, the vines loosening and eventually unwrapping altogether. Youngjae had no energy to run, respond, or fight back. He just sat there, barely listening yet fully paying his undivided attention.

"Well," Junhong started, "to cut it short: you're gonna be bait. To make it long: the Spring Fling is in three weeks and I'm counting on you to sit pretty and attend, while I send out a warning to all demons in the area that there is angel activity. I'd tell you why I need you for this when I could just fake it, but then you'd know too much." A pause. "Anyways, warning sent, demons come, you die, and they massacre everyone else just in case of witnesses. Fun! Right?" Finally the Second in Command stops talking and smiles genuinly, as if the thought of murder was a normal and innocent game.

He stepped close for a moment, however Youngjae was unable to physically inform him of the red flags that were put up in his mind. Instead, he finally let himself slip from the real world and as Junhong realized this, he picked the angel up and took him back to his dorm house, no longer needing to explain anything more.

"What did you say?" The younger spoke cautiously to the hunched over Daehyun, but it failed to not startle the other as his head shot up and he stumbled while he stood up. He brushed his hair away from covering his eyes and started to walk away.

"Hey... Don't... Hey!" Jongup grabbed Daehyun's arm just before he was too far to catch up to. The older turned and attempted to seem angry, but with tears falling, him biting down on his lip to stifle the waterworks, and eyes puffy from already having started to cry a while ago... he didn't look very threatening.

Daehyun didn't speak but Jongup continued to. "Hey, how about we go back to the dorm. Whatever you need to solve... we can do that when you feel better." A soft smile was plastered on his lips, but the offer of kindness wasn't returned. The angel just pulled his arm from Jongup's grasp and kept walking. The younger followed, sure that it was a silent 'follow me'.

Observation was the key to everything. Jongup had a sharp eye, and without it, the pair might not have noticed the limp heap blended into the darkness of the night and the thickness of the bushes.

"Hey, is that...? A person?" Jongup stated it slowly, but the Fallen wasted no time in running over to the creature. He felt its features, checked its faint pulse, and examined the warm, rich, and dark liquid that found its way from the body to his fingers. 

"It's Youngjae!" He whisper shouted, curling his arms under his best friend's neck and knees. Jongup didn't know that this was the Youngjae Junhong was overly obsessed over, but Daehyun recognized them and so he didn't question it. Said older lifted his best friend bridal style and went inside the dorm house, avoiding late night security guards. There was no light in the hallway, so the two carrying Youngjae were far from realizing how bad the state his body was in actually was. It was only until Daehyun laid the limp body on the couch of their shared dorm and Jongup entered uninvited while turning on unwelcomed lights, did they notice every cut, bruise, and the amount of blood pouring out of his body at a rapid rate.

"Holy ." Jongup whispered shakily, while Daehyun's resolve crumbled to pieces.

"- - Oh my God... Youngjae... Jae... JaeJae... Wake up... For me... Please? Come on man..." Daehyun's breath grew more unstable as he continued to speak, and Jongup decided they couldn't just sit there and hope for the best. He looked for the bathroom door and when he finally found it, he looked over his shoulder and yelled over to Daehyun.

"Take off his clothes!" It was a weird request, but the Fallen understood. He stripped the body before him clean of clothes, ignoring the... man parts. Youngjae needed help, no time to be embarrassed.

He was cleaned in the shower, the sight of water and blood mixing made Daehyun want to vomit. Jongup looked around the bathroom and found bandages, something required in every first aid kit placed in all the dorms. Before bandaging Youngjae, they used alcohol wipes to disinfect around the cuts, and looked into them in order to make sure they weren't deep enough for stitches. Then they wrapped him up. It was a sloppy job compared to the professionals, but Jongup's mother was a doctor and he had some sort of idea of what to do.

After clothing Youngjae in sweats - he would be much more comfortable waking up to clothes - and a white t-shirt, the pair plopped onto the now stained with dried blood couch, relief filled their veins. 

"I thought he was gone."

"Is he why you ran off?"

The brunette nodded slowly. "I had to find him. I'm glad I did. He would have..." He didn't want to think about it.

"Yeah."

Youngjae's eyes fluttered open but the sudden attack of vision made him close them just as fast. He shifted over on his side and slowly opened his eyelids once more, taking in small portions of sight at a time. After getting used to the darkess ( and the crack of light emanating from under the door ) he looked around only to find he was in the dorm's bedroom. A sigh left his lips as relief washed over him. He'd almost relaxed completely, if only the door hadn't opened a crack at the same moment the memories of the hours prior were remembered. 

"Oh." An unfamiliar voice came from the silhouette at the door. A strip of light cut down Youngjae's facial features. "Daehyun will be glad you're awake, he seems to really care about you. But he fell asleep... so..."

"It's alright. Who are you?" The injured man squinted in hopes to catch a glimpse at any unique features, but all he could note was the other's sharp jawline.

"My name's Jongup." And that's when Youngjae's heart sunk. He realized it was the boy who was stuck with a bloodthirsty demon as a best friend.

"Are you going to the Spring Fling?"

That was sudden. A question that Jongup wasn't prepared for and yet he answered it with a steady voice, not a hint of hesitation or cautiousness in his tone. "Yeah, why?"

"Don't."

His cuts and bruises were finally halfway through healing, and soon enough Youngjae was able to go to school with a hoodie, long jeans, sneakers, and poorly done make up to cover any marks or scars. 

Unfortunately for him, that meant just in time for finals to start and him being unable to focus. He prepared for so long only to be distracted by the thoughts of what Junhong had said. Youngjae attempted to distract himself, but when repetitive pages of calculus equations were his sole entertainment, it's difficult to not let his mind wander.

In the end he gave up and asked to go to the bathroom, hoping that the last thirty minutes of class when he comes back will be enough for him to fly through the problems with ease.

Lazily he washed his hands, bubbles of diminishing soap popping or sliding down his hand and into the sink drain. He pulled his damp hands from the running water and ran them under the hot blowing air of the automatic dryer. The sink turned off automatically as he did so.

Only, his school didn't invest in those.

And the pressing of a hand next to his head onto a wall was enough proof that it wasn't only the sink being faulty.

"How's my favorite little holy bird doing? Why are you wearing a hoodie? Let the world see what I did to you." A frustrated sigh was let out when Youngjae recognized the voice. While he understood from the moment the faucet turned off, he had a fraction of hope that it was some other jackass, and not this particular one. The voice crushed his hope, grinded it into dust, and threw it into the wind. "You've been missing for half a week, I was getting ready to visit your dorm, I was worried." The last part was a lie. He thinks.

"To believe you were worried would be like saying I'm in love with you. Not gonna happen." Youngjae turned in place, facing the demon who was way too close for comfort, but the angel would never back down. Instead, he glared at the other in a flaming fury. "And I wouldn't have to miss school if a certain someone hadn't nearly killed me. I still have some open wounds you know!" And it hurt like hell! It was a pain in the and body in general to have thorns stick through every portion of his skin. He wasn't exactly masochistic, that was saved for some other person. He wasn't one.

"Awe~" Junhong cooed, an amused smirk playing at his lips as he mocked the significantly shorter. His left hand reached up and he lifted Youngjae's chin only slightly, a loving gesture that was filled with mockery and ridicule. As if he would ever care for the creature in front of him. Though... "You're still looking delicious as ever. Maybe I should tell the demons not to kill you, and instead kidnap you. I could use a personal slave." His smirk turned sloppy and lazy, though it was admitably y. But Youngjae would never tell him that. Or admit it to himself. Never. Ever. Why was he even thinking of it in the first place?!

Red and warmth coated Youngjae's cheeks, but he was supposed to be angry. So in attempt to save face and prove to Junhong that he didn't have an ounce of effect on the angel, he pushed the pink-haired's chest roughly, making him stumble backwards slightly. "Leave me alone, dickhead. I would never be a slave to the likes of you, or in general. off and rot in Hell."

"Gladly. I definitely wouldn't mind rotting at home."

Youngjae exited with a huff.

Daehyun left his classroom when finals were over. He could have sworn that today's finals were aced, but tomorrow's would be bombed. Oh how he despised science. The Fallen remembered he had a task to do, and set out to find Jongup. Where would the other be at this time? Daehyun knew he went to the same university, but in which building did he frequent his visits? The performing arts building? The science building? Math? Literacy? Art? He didn't know what type of person Jongup was like at school, so he set out to search each and every one.

Beginning with literacy.

Himchan was angry. Furious. Seething. He walked through the hallways shoving people into the walls and each other, despising them just for being in the halls they had the right to walk through. 

Yongguk had been in that crowd. Luckily the person that fell into his arms wasn't hurt and didn't push him far back. He muttered a quick 'you're welcome' to the thankful student until the wave of aura hit him like a house of bricks. The dark, evil, and malicious aura found it's way into Yongguk's every sense. He felt suffocated by the thickness and strength of it. No doubt, it felt like it belonged to a demon high in power. An angry one at that.

Auras were frequently affected by the emotions of the owner. One would feel the original aura depending on the creature, and then an extreme emotion of that aura's owner would add to it. The intensity of the aura also depended on how strong the feeling was. Say someone was relaxing, their aura would be just the original aura, and not as bone chilling or overwhelming as the aura of someone who was furious or depressed. In this case: furious. 

Yongguk spotted an angry Himchan's retreating figure and followed it, falling in step behind him as he made his presence unknown. Himchan was too angry to mask his aura, and Yongguk was slowly but surely putting two and two together. He was Satan. Or just someone high in the chain of command. Either way - Himchan wasn't just the playful and lustful guy that'd pester him and skate on thin ice when he continued to get on Yongguk's nerves. No, he was much more dangerous than that. The childish front was just a facade, a distraction. To veer any angel, specifically Yongguk, from the right path. It was well thought out, Yongguk had to admit. 

The archangel hid behind a wall when Himchan rounded a corner and suddenly stopped. His boisterous voice rang through the wide hallways. It turned the heads of many. And if the yelling didn't catch their attention, the physical contact surely did.

"You ing idiots!" Himchan yelled at three boys who'd stood by their artist lockers and chatted away happily, until the older interrupted them. He grabbed the middle of the three and slammed him into a locker by his neck. The boy was lifted so his feet didn't touch the ground, and he struggled to breathe, if the spluttering and coughing was anything to go by. His face reddened quickly.

"You guys are ing disgusting! Idiots! Rodents!" Insults flew from Himchan's lips naturally. "I'm the cherry on top of this ing chain of command! I'm at the top of the food chain!" As he continued to speak his aura grew thicker, far from being concealed. It made sure its presence was known. "So you listen to me! Try some like that again and you're dead!" Himchan punched the guy in his hand in the face and let him go. The boy fell to his knees, coughing and wheezing as he tried to regain air in his lungs. Crouching now, Satan slowly and gently lifted the boy's chin again. "If they weren't around us... you'd be destroyed right now. So don't take this for granted."

With a scowl he got up and left, but not before making eye contact with Yongguk, raising a brow, and giving him a knowing smirk to complete.

It was his fourth try. The performing arts building. He tried literacy, science, and math, but as he found Jongup dancing in an empty practice room to the sound of silence, he realized how uncharacteristic those majors were for the fun boy he met and was crushing on. 

Especially when he moved so gracefully and elegantly on the dance floor. It was beautiful, the way he could crump and backflip and pull off crazy stunts at one moment, and dance slowly and smoothly in the next. Beautiful. Deahyun was mesmerized by the gorgeous man doing what he does best. Dance.

"You never told me you were a dancer." The Fallen's voice cut through the silence and interrupted Jongup. The dancer froze in his spot and then stood straight, looking at Daehyun through the mirror.

"You were kind of too busy running away." At the joke Daehyun smiled sheepishly.

"About that... I never properly apologized for being so... rude. I didn't mean to say that to you when I left, I was-"

"You were worried and angry, it's alright. I really don't need an apology." Jongup turned and walked to the back of the room, grabbing his bag.

"Yes. You deserve it. You were still so nice and I feel so bad. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-" A hand covered Daehyun's mouth and the owner chuckled.

"Shut up. It's okay, I forgive you." He removed the hand.

Daehyun smiled and Jongup swore he saw an angel.

Classes ended hours ago, resulting in Junhong and Jongup sitting on the couch in awkward positions and playing every video game they owned. There was a concentrated silence until Jongup won and suggested that they played another game. The silence now was uncomfortable.

"I met Youngjae." Jongup decided to break it, sensing the waves of discontent and discomfort that were radiating off of Junhong.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I met him through Daehyun."

Lack of aura guy. The Fallen. Junhong knew him. "Oh." He repeated in astatement rather than a question. 

"Why are you always talking about him? Do you have a crush on him or something?"

Now to such a question, a normal person would be embarrassed, disgusted, or shocked. Fortunately, Junhong wasn't a normal person, and the situation didn't turn awkward. Instead of the three options, Junhong laughed. He laughed heartily, truly believing the statement that was processed through the other's brain and then sent out of his lips was a joke. " no, man. But, he's interesting." He couldn't tell Jongup that Youngjae was going to assist him in a massacre. He couldn't warn him that he might be among the deaths himself.

It was then that memories of that one moment in the garden came flooding back. Junhong had avoided Youngjae for a few days after that, but came to the realization that ignoring him could jeopardize his plans, and Himchan would murder him. With that as his reason, he had pulled himself together and proceeded to kidnap and explain to him. Now that everything was out of the way and all he had to do was wait for the date of the Spring Fling, there was no stopping Junhong from thinking of the confusing chitchat from the garden. It made him feel... awkward.

"Hey, yo. You okay? You still want to play video games?"

"I need to think." Junhong left the dorm and the building, welcoming the chill air outside.

♥️

A/N; Hey!! Sorry for taking so long!! I had exams, projects, and competitions so. But now that's over!

DID YOU SEE ZELO GRINDING IN PILLOWTALK I NEARLY DIED OH MY GOD!!

Anyways, as repayment for not updating in a while, it's a little longer than usual ;) Also, *fangirls ocer own story because daeup* also oohhh Himchan was angry~~~

Please upvote and subscribe if you like the story~ Thank you for reading!!!

Adieu~ ^u^