Devil in disguise

♦

Jongdae woke up slowly and carefully. He had a beautiful dream and he didn’t want to let it go. The world outside the window was still swallowed by darkness – as much darkness as one can get in New York. He watched the lights illuminate on top of the Manhattan Bridge, skyscrapers on Manhattan burning like torches on the black sky.

Jongdae loved nights. He felt safe when the sun disappeared behind the horizon. When the city went to sleep. When angels closed their eyes.

He looked to the side, at a man sleeping next to him. Gold locks surrounded his head like a halo, his light complexion seemed to be glowing in the light coming in from the window, and his thin, pink lips were slightly parted. He looked so calm and so innocent. Jongdae smiled to himself, running a hand through the boy’s hair.

His eyes fell on dark, purple marks on his wrist and forearm. He stopped his movements and just looked at his arm and at his boyfriend. Why is it that these are always the devils disguising themselves as angels? Jongdae didn’t understand. And no matter how many times he questioned it, there was never anyone to answer him.

He fell for an angel.

But he slept with the devil.

He shivered upon hearing his alarm clock going off. Turning it off, the boy quickly left the warm bed and started preparing for work. Skipping breakfast or any warm drink, he left the apartment the moment he was ready.

♦

“Lunch break!” Kris shouted the moment the clock twelve.

Everyone sighed in relieve and dropped anything they held.

“Finally!” Kyungsoo murmured, “I swear, if Mrs. Abbots comes in one more time talking about her eleven cats, I’m gonna shave all of her hair.”

Minseok chuckled, “I’d like to see that.”

“You’re all my witnesses!” the younger mumbled, laughing slightly.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Kyungsoo whined the moment his eyes landed on a newcomer.

“Hello, hello!” a young boy yelled, beaming, “did you miss me?! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?!”

“Baekhyun, tone it down,” Kris ordered, putting on his jacket.

“But I’m just really happy to see all of your beautiful faces again!”

“No flattery will get you a free haircut, so cut it.”

Baekhyun gasped, “how dare you! Do you think I’m nothing but a er for free haircuts?!”

Kris raised an eyebrow, “yeah, actually that’s what I think, because that’s what you demand each time you come.”

“Wow,” Baekhyun mumbled, “just wow! I cannot even visit my friends without being accused!”

“We’re not friends, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo said, his face blank.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “where’s Jongdae?” he asked, instead.

Everyone looked in the direction of the younger’s work place.

“Is he…?” Minseok started, confused.

“Sleeping?” Kyungsoo finished, as he tilted his head a bit.

The boy was lying on a small couch by the wall, curled into a ball, drowning in his hoodie, with his eyes closed, and breath steady.

“He client left five minutes ago,” Kris spoke, “wow.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and neared his friend.

“Jongdae!” he said, poking his cheek, “Dae, you alive?”

The younger groaned, pushing Baekhyun away.

“Get up!”

“Go away!” the boy nearly cried, desperation audible in his voice, and all three of his coworkers laughed.

“You see,” Kyungsoo said, “even your friend doesn’t want you here.”

Baekhyun ignored the other, and run a hand through the younger’s hair, “Dae, wake up, let’s get lunch.”

Jongdae opened his eyes slowly, feeling defeated, “can you bring it in here?”

“Dae, Café Bene is literally across from here!”

“Hyunnieeeeeee,” Jongdae whined, and that was it for Kris.

“I’m out to eat, it’s not the day for his whining,” he said and left.

Minseok laughed at both of them and looked at Kyungsoo, “I’m gonna go get something, do you want anything? Or are you going out as well?”

“Are you going back here later?” the other asked, surprised.

The older only shrugged, grabbing his wallet and sweater, “so, you want anything?”

“Just get me whatever you get for yourself.”

“Sure thing,” he nodded, and looked at the youngers, still bickering by the couch. Baekhyun was pulling Jongdae by the arm, trying to get him up. Minseok chuckled slightly and took pity on them, “Baekhyun! Jongdae!” he called, and they both looked at him, “I’m going to get something to eat, want anything?”

Both of their eyes shone, “bibimbap!”

“Alright, I’ll be right back, behave!”

When the door closed and Kyungsoo disappeared in the back, Jongade grabbed Baekhyun’s hand tightly and looked him in the eyes, “hyunnie,” he whispered.

“What?”

“I beg you, you have to help me out now.”

Baekhyun frowned, “just spill.”

“Coffee,” the younger mumbled, “I need coffee or I’m gonna die!”

“What the have you been doing the whole night that you’re so dead now?” Baekhyun sighed, standing up to go out.

“Nothing. I went to sleep late and I woke up at 5. Nothing new there,” he mumbled, lying back down.

“You’re gonna end yourself living like this. But whatever. I’ll be right back.”

“Love you!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’d better!”

Jongdae sighed, put his headphones on, and turning on the music, he closed his eyes.

Take away your things and go,

You can’t take back what you said

♦

Kris was still gone, Minseok and Kyungsoo were chatting behind the boss’s desk, laughing and chuckling loudly, and Baekhyun and Jongdae were discussing something quietly in the other side of the salon.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Baekhyun sighed, pushing his half eaten meal away.

Jongdae rolled his eyes, and pushed it back in front of his friend, “just change your job! Simple as it is!”

The older bit on his lower lip, “is it? It might take forever to find something new.”

Jongdae leant back in his chair, when something caught his attention.

“Café Bene!” he exclaimed, looking past Baekhyun through the window at the building on the other side of the street.

“Huh?” his friend mumbled, “you want another coffee?”

“No, you dummy,” Jongdae laughed, “why don’t you just leave your CV there? It’s better than nothing, and for sure better than being a slave!”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, “it’s not a stupid idea, I guess. It’s always a start –“

“And remember about the hot barista,” Jongdae wiggled his eyebrows, and Baekhyun blushed a bit, making Jongdae burst out laughing.

He leant in to grab his coffee, when he felt someone embrace him from the back. He jumped, startled, and the hot coffee spilled all over his hand, hoodie and the table. He cursed out loud, gaining everyone’s attention.

“,” he whispered again, stumbling back. He looked up at whoever scared him, and was ready to scream at Kyungsoo for pulling a stupid joke on him, but the voice got stuck in his throat.

In front of him stood the devil in the angel’s disguise.

“Maxi,” he whispered, and his heart beat faster, “what – what are you doing here?”

“Jongdae, are you alright?” he heard a voice next to him, and when he finally adverted his gaze from his boyfriend he looked at Minseok, “what happened?”

“N – nothing, it’s just a – emmm – nothing really.”

He found it beyond hard to form a coherent sentence. What is he doing here? He was asking himself, looking at the blond in front of him, smiling at him like an angel.

“I’m sorry,” the boy spoke for the first time and everyone looked at him, “I guess it’s my fault, I shouldn’t be so careless,” he smiled wider, “I just wanted to surprise you,” he beamed, and both Kyungsoo and Minseok looked first at each other, then at the boy, and then at Jongdae, who looked both scared and confused.

“A way to go, for sure,” Baekhyun mumbled, standing up.

“Jongdae, we have to put your hand under cold water – “ Kyungsoo said, but was interrupted.

“Babe, I wanted to take you for lunch, can we go?” the blond spoke, as if Kyungsoo had never said anything.

“B – but, I… I’ve already eaten,” he whispered, looking at the boxes of food on the table. There was a second in which the blond’s face painted with anger, but it quickly shifted to sadness. Jongdae took a quick inhale of breath, thinking quickly. He put on a nervous smile, and proposed, “but how about I make dinner tonight, huh?”

“I guess I won’t be interrupting more,” the boy said and left the salon, without sparing them another glance.

Baekhyun let out a breath his was holding and fell down onto the armchair, “this is too stressful, Dae.”

Jongdae was only standing there silently, counting, until he felt a touch, light as a feather, on his hand, and a stinging pain shot up his arm.

“Your hand, Jongdae,” Minseok spoke softly, “come, we should put it under a cold water.”

“It’s already too late, anyway, that’s okay” Jongdae replied, but the older pulled him after himself, anyway.

♦

When the door to the back area closed behind them, Minseok opened the tap in the bathroom, and moved to roll Jongdae’s sleeve up, but the younger pulled his hand away.

“Jongdae,” Minseok spoke, trying to catch the sleeve again.

“Hyung, stop it,” Jongdae spoke softly, “my hand is fine, it was only coffee. It wasn’t even that hot.”

Minseok sighed, “what is going on?” he asked.

Jongdae frowned, “nothing.”

“Jongdae,” the older spoke again, his tone full of authority.

The boy smiled softy, “hyung, it’s just coffee. Don’t worry,” he laughed, “my hand is fine. You’re overreacting. You shouldn’t worry about me,” he said, smiling at the older.

“Who was that boy?”

“Huh?” Jongdae hummed, as if not understating the question.

“The blond one, who scared you,” Minseok pressured.

“Oh. That was my… boyfriend.”

Minseok stayed silent for a moment, his features focused, and then nodded slowly.

“Are you sure your hand in fine?”

“Yes, hyung,” he smiled, “go back and enjoy your brake.”

“What about you?” Minseok frowned.

“Ah, since I’m here, I’m gonna check a few supplies. I think a few of my clients today are to have their hair dyed. I’ll just prepare all the colors,” he shrugged.

Minseok looked him up and down, but nodded slowly, and left without another word.

The moment the door closed, Jongdae put his hand under the stream of cold water and sighed a sigh of relief.

His brain was working on full speed, trying to figure out how not to come back home in the evening. He bit his bottom lip, panicking slightly.

The door opened once again, and Baekhyun stepped in.

“Are you alright?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“That was unexpected,” he replied quietly, focus on his hand.

“Why did he come here?”

“I’ve no idea,” the younger replied, “I’m not even sure how he knows where I work,” he trailed off, looking at Baekhyun terrified.

“Dae,” the older started, “why don’t you end it?”

The boy swallowed, “I cannot – I – I’m afraid of what may happen then.”

“I’m afraid,” Baekhyun confessed, “I worry about you, Jongdae. This is no good to you.”

“That’s okay, Baek,” he tried to sound calm, “I’ll figure something to break away. I will. But it has to be good. I don’t want to – I am just afraid to do it now… without any plan.”

The older nodded, and his face gave away his fears. He neared the younger and pulled at the other’s hoodie, “we should get yo –“ he started, but the moment he lifted the fabric he saw dark purple spots all over Jongdae’s ribs. The moment Jongdae realized what his friend was doing, it was too late. Baekhyun had already laid his eyes on his bruises. Nevertheless, he backed away instantly, his eyes wide in fear, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“What – what is that, Dae?” Baekhyun asked, however, the younger had a sickening feeling that it was more of a rethorical question.

“No – nothing, I – I fell,” he lied anyway.

“Did he – has he done it? He has, hasn’t he?” Baekhyun covered his mouth with a hand, “oh God.”

“Baekhyun don –“

“How can you be with him!” he yelled, and his eyes watered.

“It’s not so simple, please calm down!”

“But Jongdae!” Baekhyun yelled again and his voice broke.

“Please, be quiet!” the younger begged, desperately.

Baekhyun turned away and ran out of the room and out of the building, without sparing Jongdae another glance.

“Please,” Jongdae whispered.

♦

Kyungsoo and Minseok raised their heads the moment the back door slummed shut and a silhouette of a shaking Baekhyun passed them. They gave each other one look and Kyungsoo ran after the other right away.

“Baekhyun!” he screamed, running down the street. At last, he reached him by the zebra crossing, and putting a hand on his shoulder he turned the boy around. Baekhyun was still shaking.

“What happened?” he asked.

The boy swallowed and took in a deep breath, “please,” he whispered, “please, look after Jongdae.” And after that he ran across the street and down the subway stairs.

Kyungsoo stood confused, looking at the disappearing form of the older.

Biting his bottom lip, he came back to the salon. Jongdae had just come out of the back area, his arms filled with hair colors. When he looked at the oldest, he realized Minseok had his eyes fixed on Jongdae all the time, silently watching his movements. He opened his mouth to say something, but the door opened again and another client came in.

“Hello, hyung!” a boy beamed at him widely, and Kyungsoo cracked a smile.

“Hello, Jongin. What do we do today?”

“Let’s go full force! I mean white!” he spoke excitedly, and his eyes shone.

Kyungsoo chuckled and skinned for the boy to take a seat.

♦

The rain was falling heavily the whole day, but it wasn’t until around five that it seemed like the sky had crushed and it would be raining forever. The streets were flooded, there were hardly any people outside, and apparently on the Bronx the electricity went out.

“Ugh,” Kris groaned, “I hate rain.”

A shadow passed by the window and suddenly the door opened and a panting Baekhyun fell inside, “I thought I’m gonna drown there!” he exclaimed dramatically.

“What are you doing here?” the owner asked.

“Yes, hello again to you, too!” the boy rolled his eyes, “I came up to pick up Jongdae. We made plans,” he explained, looking in the direction of the younger, who was silently cleaning his work place.

The boy looked up, and gave his friend a sad smile, “about that –“ he started, and Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, but Kyungsoo interrupted them.

“I don’t think you should go out,” he mumbled, looking outside. A loud clash filled the room, and after a moment the whole street was lit up by a white lightning, and everything was followed by a complete darkness.

“No,” Kris whispered, “don’t tell me the power went out!” he whined, falling onto his chair, “I am so done with today!”

“You guys should stay,” Minseok spoke, looking at Baekhyun and Jongdae.

The older of the the two pouted, “but I’m hungry, hyung!”

The man laughed, and opening one of the drawers in the desk, he threw a pack of cookies to the boy. Baekhyun beamed, and made himself comfortable on the couch, “okay, I think going outside right now would be really irresponsible, don’t you think, Dae?”

The boy chuckled, and nodded his head, going back to cleaning.

An hour later, when everything was spotless in the salon, and none of them had any more clients, they were ready to go. However, the weather outside seemed to be only getting worse, to which all of them decided to wait. They put on candles all over the place, to lit the room up as much as possible, and sat down, not knowing what to do.

“I am so bored,” Baekhyun said.

“Me too,” Minseok nodded, spinning in his chair.

“I wish I could be anywhere but here,” Kris confessed, pressing his face to the cold window.

“There’s so many thing I could be doing,” Kyungsoo mumbled, looking at the door longingly.

Only Jongdae didn’t say anything, deep inside very glad that everything turned out that way. And even though he felt sorry for everyone else, he hopped that the rain would never stop. He picked his phone, and quickly typing ‘I am stuck at work, I’ll make it up to you another day,’ he let out a sigh of relief.

“Can we listen to music?” he suggested, looking at everyone.

“My phone is dead,” Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose.

“Mine is about to die,” Minseok followed.

“I ca –“

“No one wants to listen to your music, Kris!” both Minseok and Kyungsoo exclaimed, and the youngers laughed slightly. Kris made an offended face, but there was little he could do.

“I can play something,” Baekhyun suggested.

“Oh no! If you don’t wanna listen to my music, I don’t wanna listen to his!”

“Kris, that’s just ing childish,” Soo pointed, rolling his eyes.

Baekhyun observed as the hairdressers started bickering, and after a moment his eyes shone, “then let’s sing!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands.

Everyone looked at him, their eyebrows raised.

“Can you even sing?” Kyungsoo ask, sounding disapproving of the idea.

“He sings really well, actually,” Jongdae nodded, smiling at his friend,

“Dae, sing with me!” Baekhyun tagged at his arm, and Jongdae tilted his head.

“What?”

Baekhyun looked at his friend in silence for a few moments before he got back to his previous spot, and never breaking the eye contact with Jongdae, he started singing.

The man I loved so dearly, has deserted me
And I am now weeping, holding with my wretched heart

Jongdae took a deep breath in, surprised, but followed the song.

The man I trusted with his love, has left me indeed
Honest God, I really didn’t know that he would leave me
Really, I didn’t know

Minseok looked at Kyungsoo, and then back at Jongdae sitting next to him.

The sound of someone whistling I hear
Perhaps could it be he?
Would he be back?
I am finding myself wretchedly waiting for him

Jongdae looked past Baekhyun, on the dark street outside the window, and placed his hand over his arm. His expression seemed sad and longing. As if the boy was reliving something.

The man I trusted with his love, has left me indeed
Honest God, I really didn’t know that he would leave me
Really, I didn’t know

A loud thunder filled the quiet space around them, before the song finished.

The man I loved so dearly, has deserted me
And I am now weeping, holding with my wretched heart

Yup, felt like writing angsty/sad things, don't blame me. I still do my best to finish LMRYH but it's really ahrd to find inspiration for fluff and comedy, that's why I am not updating that story. Because it takes forever for me to finish the chapter. Nothing feels good enough. Back to this story. It's not proof-read yet. But yeah, have some Jongdae story. Basically, I am giving all out in this chapter. Whoever was like 'Jongdae's ebing abused!' yup, right. He is being abused. I hope ou figured it out, and I didn't spoil my own story... well... hope you enjoyed it ~~

P.S there was no teaser this time! Did you like it? Are you happy I posted the chapter right away? I hope so <3