to fail at unsummoning a demon
all we need of hell"wait so you're telling me that there's a demon with us now?" sooyoung clarifies with a small squint, "and it's saying that it wants to form a pact with you?"
"my pronouns are she, her, but go ahead and botch them." the demon sighs while hovering just a little above her sister.
to further convince joohyun that it — she, is actually some supernatural entity, she decides to show off her magical capabilities by flying around. but joohyun's already convinced, considering how people can walk through her and that sooyoung can't see her either.
"yes, she... is saying exactly that."
"you summoned a demon without telling me?"
in what world would bae joohyun willingly summon a demon? why would her sister even think she's capable of doing so too? "no! i didn't! it's the same one i saw when you did that stupid ritual, this is because of you!" she yells in exasperation that borders on desperation. she needs sooyoung to take her seriously for once.
"the one you spent like three weeks being paranoid about?"
"yes! how do i get rid of it?" joohyun grumbles before feeling two glowing red eyes boring holes into her, "her!"
"have you tried asking her to leave?" sooyoung prompts and joohyun reaches out to flick her forehead harshly, "yah!"
"i'm not that much of an idiot, sooyoung!"
"wait but what happens if you don't form a pact? is it going to kill you?"
"she," the demon corrects while eyeing joohyun intently, "isn't going to kill you. bonus, if you enter a pact with her, she guarantees that no other demon will even want to come near you. win-win situation. but if you don't, she's going to die, and she’s considering taking you down with her. that's a lose-lose situation. so, you know, be smart about this."
the older girl drops her jaw slightly, "she's going to kill me."
"i'm not! you're missing my point!"
sooyoung hums skeptically, "hmm... can you get it to do something demonic?"
joohyun dares to glance at the demon and she relents with a sigh. on the coffee table lays one of the many bibles joohyun had bought in the weeks prior, it begins to emit a small string of smoke. after a beat of silence, it bursts into flames before reducing into a pile of ash.
definitely not a magic trick that her sister is capable of, sooyoung pushes herself up as she begins typing away on her laptop.
reddit, classic. seungwan chuckles quietly to herself at the thought of hellions messing about various subreddits, there's so much occult crap that there's no way they can find the right answer to get rid of her.
unless one of the angels of the seraphim offers to become her guardian angel, which is highly unlikely, seungwan is confident that they’ll be contracted by the end of the day.
while the sisters scramble to look for an answer, seungwan takes the time to destroy joohyun's salt barrier, along with other supposedly religious objects in the house. most of them have no effect on her but she finds it hilarious that every time something catches on fire, joohyun's fear ascends to a new level — sooyoung i'm going to die if you don't hurry up!
and in her defense, seungwan did try to explain the terms and conditions of the pact instead of continuing to freak her out, but joohyun refuses to listen. humans can be so stubborn sometimes. the amusement dies down in a couple of hours as seungwan runs out of things to do. she even tried skimming through the bible but she didn't get very far. three pages in, and the book transforms into a pile of ash.
sooyoung does come up with a plan eventually, but frankly, it's a pretty one. they would just do the three kings ritual again, and hopefully, it will somehow send seungwan back.
"rituals don't work like that you know," seungwan tuts disapprovingly while she picks at her nails, "usually the easiest way is to destroy whatever object i'm bound to while i was summoned. in your case, the three kings require non-broken mirrors for a successful bind, broken mirrors act as a one-way portal. so now, the only way to send me back is if you get someone equally as powerful to banish me. and you won't find them waiting for you to be done with a lecture, that's for sure."
joohyun leans in close to whisper something into sooyoung's ear, thinking that seungwan wouldn't be able to hear her, how adorable.
"she says we need someone equally as powerful to banish her."
to which sooyoung retorts with a simple why are you trusting the devil, unnie? the older girl presses her lips into a thin line and slumps against the couch in defeat. seungwan pities her momentarily, feeling a little guilty at the situation she's gotten them into. lowering herself so she's floating just beside joohyun, seungwan rests her chin in her hands and lies on her belly with her legs crossed in the air.
"we can save each other a lot of time if you'd just agree, you have nothing to lose." she smiles innocently, "i'll swear on my soul if it makes you feel like you can trust me."
joohyun frowns and opens to respond but she decides against it. it's funny how she thinks that not replying is going to make things better, if anything it only makes things harder.
"you already spoke to me, it's not going to make things worse. i'll explain everything before we sign a pact, cool?" seungwan reassures with a promising smile and raises her pinkie up for good measure.
the mortal doesn't hook her pinkie but bobs her head slowly, "explain it now."
"did you say something?" sooyoung pipes up from beside her.
"i'm talking to the demon."
her sister quirks a brow, "is she going to go?"
the older girl shakes her head with a slight furrow of her brows, "no, but she's going to explain this... pact..."
"wait i wanna know too."
"i'll tell you later." joohyun shushes her, "keep looking for a solution."
"right," seungwan beams as she sits up, not that it really matters considering she's floating around midair, but this is considered formal business after all. she should act a little more like a king. "so, pacts are technically blood contracts, except there's no price to pay on your end. demons, however, we basically give ourselves up to serve you. think of me as your guardian angel, but unlike those ers, i'll actually grant you anything you want."
"anything?"
the demon thinks for a moment before nodding, "except for things like wishing for the end of time. everything else is doable."
"can i wish for you to disappear?"
the question slips so easily from that seungwan wonders if her fear of demons was actually real. what the hell?
sooyoung gasps quietly, looking at joohyun with widened eyes. "can you?"
the audacity of these mortals! if she didn't need joohyun for a pact, they're getting an express ticket to hell. seungwan freezes midair and throws an offending look at the sisters, "well, aren't you guys talkative when it comes to my demise? but no! you can't!"
joohyun doesn't have to know that the answer is actually yes. she makes a mental note to never do pacts again; the threat of wishing herself out of existence is all too terrifying. she has to get seulgi and yerim to help her revoke this rule soon.
the older girl sighs disappointedly and shakes her head at sooyoung, "she said no."
"bummer."
"tell her i said she's very bold for talking about the devil, but i'll let her get away with it for now."
"don't wanna." the corner of her lips tugs upwards slightly as joohyun challenges the demon, "are you going to kill me?"
"i might if you don't sign this stupid pact with me." seungwan grumbles, "anyway, it's just for a year, which will pass pretty quickly. just think about how much you could get done with me around. student loan debt? snap of a finger and it'll be paid off. further education? snap of a finger and you've got the qualifications. want to grow a little taller? a little tricky but very doable—"
joohyun clicks her teeth sharply, "you're not that tall either."
the devil sticks her tongue out childishly, "my height is a personal choice. i'm much bigger in demon form but you'd be too scared of me."
a small giggle escapes joohyun, and it feels relieving in some ways, they're finally getting somewhere.
"so essentially, nothing happens to me if i sign a pact with you?" she looks at seungwan in the eyes for the first time, and there's not a hint of fear in her eyes. this is great news because this means seungwan isn't dying anytime soon.
the demon nods with a large grin, "yeah, except you get an exclusive long-term visit from lucifer, and we can totally set up boundaries. sounds neat?
"i guess..." joohyun scrunches her face into a small frown, "but it sounds too good to be true... why me?"
seungwan scratches the nape of her neck sheepishly, her . she's going to sound like an idiot in front of joohyun. "long story short, i made a stupid rule for myself and forgot about it. i broke it when i spoke to you after sooyoung summoned me by accident. the fates, otherwise known as my bosses in some ways, will punish me if i don't uphold my end of the deal." she explains, hoping that she could still come off as a little scary. her dignity as the king of all demonkind is slowly diminishing the more she has to beg a mortal to sign a pact with her.
"and that punishment is they'll kill you?"
"yeah, except that they'll destroy my soul entirely, so i'll cease to exist forever."
"that's nice."
"what do you mean that's nice?" seungwan cries out in a rage and laughter spills from joohyun's throat, "why are you laughing now?"
"you basically shot yourself in the foot, and your life depends on whether i'll sign a pact with you." joohyun wipes a stray tear from her eye, "you were a lot scarier before you started talking."
the demon folds her arms across her chest and huffs. "so are you going to help me?"
"yes, okay." joohyun nods, "only because i feel bad."
pure ecstasy fills seungwan as if she's never heard a more beautiful sound. the choir of angels back in heaven, joohyun saying yes is the very definition of harmony. releasing a sharp whistle, she calls for her beloved hound while scooping the mortal up in one swift motion. everything happens at once then, joohyun screams while burger pops up from the ground, creating a gaping hole in the apartment. seungwan makes a note to explain that it's all visual, nothing actually gets destroyed in the mortal plane. but she has a lot more to explain once they're back in her office.
"tell your sister we'll be back in a bit."
but joohyun is too ing terrified to even say anything, so sooyoung watches in horror as her sister disappears before her very eyes.
oh , reddit isn't going to help now, is it?
they're falling and it's all joohyun can process. so she reacts in the only way she knows how.
an ear-piercing scream could be heard during their descent into hell but luckily the speed at which they're falling causes deafening winds to whip harshly around them, so the only one who hears is seungwan. the devil resists the urge to laugh because that's mean and she can't treat her brand new charge like that.
joohyun presses her eyes shut tightly as she grabs a handful of seungwan to cling onto for dear life. she hates everything about this, why the did she say yes? beads of sweat are forming on her skin and it's getting increasingly hot wherever the demon is taking her but she dares not open her eyes. if she does, she might just faint.
"relax, we're almost there!"
it clicks in her head as they land with a loud thud and joohyun swears all her limbs have turned into jello. she wants to throw up, maybe she will, all over the demon's stupid ing leather jacket.
"welcome to hell!"
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