Hwayoung had known him all of her life, Lee Taemin, or she had thought she did, until well—she had discovered what he really was.

"I didn't expect you to come," He smirked, taking a sip of the latte he had ordered. He stared at her over his mug, a smirk plastered on his thin face, and Hwayoung sinked into her seat, "I know how much you hate me." 

Taemin, he was a lanky boy. Tall, thin and beautiful like no other. All hair and limbs he was, but that was what made everyone fall for him. His looks and his charms were what drew people in before he ultimately trapped them in his grasp. Hwayoung knows this, she knows how he works all too well because she had been prisoner of his too.

They used to be inseperable.

"Hate doesn't even describe what I feel for you, Taemin, not one bit," She muttered coldly, the contempt she held for Taemin was to the bone, and she knew—she could never see him as anything other than what he was. He was a cold-blooded murderer, and pure evil. 

He was the Devil.

He laughed, amused by her curt tone and Hwayoung slightly cowered at the volume of it. She decided to stare at the piece of cake that sat in front of her half-heartedly instead of listening to his detestable cackle, and squinted at it. It was cheesecake (her favourite, Taemin knew that), with small chocolate orbs sitting on top of the rich, creamy surface. It looked incredibly delicious, but she definitely didn't trust eating it. He was the devil, one who could do almost anything, and who could never be trusted. 

Hwayoung groaned internally. Why was she even here? What was she thinking agreeing to this? Blame it on curiosity, blame it on the temptation. She sighed once more.

"I've always found your backbone amusing," He grinned at her, his eyes shifted into crescents, "You're the only one I know who will dare to talk back to me."

"Well of course, you fool." Hwayoung huffed, "Even though I'm the only one who knows what you really are, I’m not scared of you. Everyone else is so bent on pleasing you because of your pretty face and your fake act, they don’t dare to upset Lee Taemin. Your 'innocent' facade may fool everyone else, but it doesn't fool me." He giggled at this, which only angered Hwayoung further, and he raisesda questioning brow at her. He stared at her as if he were challenging her tirade, like he knew she was lying. He probably did. "Everyone else may love and up to you, but I never have nor will."

"Oh really? It seemed you were fooled until you had discovered what I really was," He grinned at her again, folding his hands as he leaned over the table. Hwayoung stared at his face, inches away from hers, and trembled. This person, this devil—He looked so angelic. How could she have ever guessed that he so was evil? "And if I am not mistaken, I am pretty sure you were infatuated with me for quite a bit when we were teens." She looked up in surprise, her eyes widening. He.. knew all along? He gives Hwayoung a smug smile before sitting back down in his seat. 

"I—I was out of my mind to like a person like you," She recollected herself quickly, and looks away, a bit humiliated at finding out that—he—had known of her obscure crush on him this whole time, "I was crazy, foolish to like a bastard like you. Besides it was short, it didn't last long." Hwayoung turned her cheek, opting to stare out the window than look at the man who sat in front of her. Taemin chuckles at Hwayoung's defiance, he would overlook that insult—for now.

"Quite a shame how you found out though," He tsked, the foam from his drink coating his upper lip. She rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, "Catching me tearing apart one of your classmates—or rather, former classmate, to feed to my adorable imps. Sort of miss that fellow." Hwayoung's eyes widened at the horrific memory—His screams, the blood, the rushing, black shadows, Taemin's red eyes— and he laughed, as if cheerfully. A cold, dangerous chill ran down her spine as he looked her up and down, relishing in her fearful reaction, "Anyway, I was doing so well at hiding my true identity, no one would have suspected me to be Hell itself. Pity you, of all people, had to discover me."

Choi Minho, we were neighbours, he was like a brother. A brother.

Hwayoung gritted her teeth, angry once more at how easily Taemin mentioned Minho. He spoke of it so lightly, like he hadn't ripped Minho out of this world—like he hadn't done anything wrong at all, Especially—No, she didn’t want to think about —him— now, "Enough with the crap, Taemin, what do you want from me?"

He laughed again, a brilliant, inhuman laugh, one sliced through Hwayoung’s heart and left her shaking, "Oh Hwayoungie, always so impatient. Just like when we were kids."

Hwayoung shakes her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she clenches her fists on top of her knees, "Don't call me that. It reminds me of—I don't want to remember the past." How could the Taemin she knew, the sweet, kind boy, be the monster that sat before her now? She just didn't get it. She shook her head once more, willing the memories of their childhood out of her head. She forces back the memories of Taemin's soft smile and his warm hands, blue skies and yellow sunlight; and the ring of the wind chimes that hung from the balcony in her backyard from the summers they spent together as children. She pushed those memories out of her thoughts, her mind, her heart, and she urged herself to see Lee Taemin as what he should be seen as. A demon, and nothing more. She hates him, and hates all the things he had done. He had taken everything she ever loved from her, he had taken Minho, her friends, her smile, even her happiness—and the worst, he had taken him away from her.

"Hm, why?" He stared at her, a frown sat on his face giving off the feeling as if he were sad. But Hwayoung knew, he wasn't sad, not at all, he was just playing around with her, mocking her, "We used to be best friends, did you forget?"

Of course she didn't, "Oh course I did!" She hissed, slamming her hand on the table, tears threaten to fall but she holds them in. Although people around them glanced in their direction, Taemin didn't stir, only a blithe grin sitting on his lips. Hwayoung lowered her voice to an angry whisper, "I don't want to remember that a boy I used to be friends with is—is a—"

"Is a what?" Taemin asked, "What, Hwayoung? What am I?"

Hwayoung shuddered, falling back into her seat defeated. She was tired, Hwayoung didn't want to remember all that she had worked so hard to forget but it seemed like Taemin didn't want her to forget either. Hwayoung knew that Taemin almost always got what he wanted. 

She laced her fingers together, avoiding looking into the boy's eyes because she was afraid of what she would see. She was afraid she would see those devilish eyes like she had that night, those blood-laced eyes that had haunted her dreams for years, "A monster."

"Oh, you make it sound like it's a bad thing," He chuckled, setting his mug down, and he runs a finger along the edges of the table. She stares at his empty cup, tired, "Aw, come now. Don't make that face, you know I can't resist that face!"

"Shut up," Hwayoung muttered, "I'm tired of your games, Taemin. Just tell me what you called me here for."

"Alright, alright," He giggles, as he slides her uneaten cake towards him. Hwayoung watches, anxious, as he lifts the fork to his mouth and takes a bite, "Let's get down to it."

She in a breath.

"Recently, I was skimming through the lists in the Book of Purgatory and I—Oh, this cake is delicious—happened across a name that holds meaning to both you and I—well more to you than myself, I never really was quite fond of him," Hwayoung froze as Taemin continued munching on her cheesy treat. Him? He can't mean.. "Oh, are you confused of who I may be speaking of?"

She nodded hesitantly, and he chuckled. A dark grin takes form on his face as he whispered, "Lee Jinki, that was the name I saw."