Chen was glad that Minseok insisted on driving to the venue because of silly human etiquette. At first, he wanted to just hurry and hell port to the fancy party—if they were porting, they could afford a few wrong pop-ins—but then Minseok walked out of the hotel bathroom, and Chen could not stop staring.

His prey wore a suit of a different style than Chen’s, accented at the shoulders and the triangle between the two flaps was narrower and brought together by a pair of buttons. The color of his jacket and pants was the lightest blue, almost white, the same shade as Chen’s own shirt. His inner wear was silvery, and the tie had silver and dark green stripes, the green matching Chen’s suit too.

The part that set off that fuzziness in his chest though was the fact that Minseok had styled his hair up. He remembered and kept his promise. And he looked hot.

Chen couldn’t even say so. He was too mesmerized by his prey’s appearance as well as by his movements. Minseok was actually quite graceful (not as much as Chen though), but he waited, hesitated, often. In the suit, that hesitance vanished. He strode down hallways like they had built themselves in only the finest materials to have the honor of being stepped on by him. His actions turned smoothed and precise, and even his aura bolstered in confidence.

And THAT was really hot.

He wanted to tell him. Chen knew that he had put in a lot of time (almost two hours), and he deserved the praise. He also helped Chen do some extra things before he had started preparing for himself—including some pokey and irritating process called eye make-up that Chen wanted to snap in half but couldn’t because it was Minseok’s tool, and he did look even better when he saw himself in the mirror. At the time, his guardee ushered him to the car, so Chen forgot to say his thanks, but right now Minseok’s side profile was way too distracting.

Sometime between his guardee driving to the fancy ballroom parking area, leaving the car to a valet, and them walking inside, Chen shook out of his daze and opened his mouth to speak.

“Chen, let’s take a picture in the bathroom before we go in!”

He let himself be led to another hallway and into a bathroom almost cleaner than Minseok’s home one. They stopped in front of the middle mirror of five, and Minseok pulled out his phone and Chen closer.

“Say ‘clean’!”

 Clean? Before Chen could ask why the word was ‘clean’ (wasn’t it supposed to be cheese or kimchi or something?), he was nudging him out of the bathroom, so Chen dug in his feet.

“Come on, we should go in and meet up with my boss first.”

“Can I have the picture too?”

Oh, that wasn’t what he was going to say, but it was true—he wanted to save the picture into his own phone to print out later. His guardee looked a little surprised, but then his aura puffed out with what Chen had learned was a form of happiness.

“Yeah, I’ll send it to you. I didn’t think that you’d like this kind of stuff.”

Chen peered down at Minseok’s screen and saw his gallery, and he grabbed Minseok’s hand, making him tap on another picture. It was of him watching the spinning machines at the nigheag’s store. He hadn’t seen the machines recently, the last time being—

A squeak and shout rang in his ear, and the phone and Minseok’s hand yanked away.

“Wait, that picture, that one was from a while ago.”

“W-What picture? There’s no other picture.”

“Even if you are turning into a demon, you still at lying.” He prowled close, right under Minseok’s chin. “Why did you take that one of me at the spinning machines? I remember that we weren’t really on good terms then.”

His guardee let out a bunch of stammering noises, and Chen smelled the embarrassment whiff out of him. Smirking, he prowled even closer to claim his prey in his arms.

“You liked me from the start.”

“No! I mean, I didn’t NOT like you, but you were kinda… cantankerous, as Yixing put it, so when I saw you looking at the machines— I don’t know—it looked so oddly uncharacteristic of what I knew of you.”

“What about now?”

“Now I know you better, so it wouldn’t be uncharacteristic, but I’d still probably have taken a picture. Uh, if you’re okay with that.”

Chen shimmied up and rubbed his jaw against Minseok's, inhaling that cologne-tinted mountain scent.

“Same with those pictures of me at the zoo?”

“You saw?”

“Nothing escapes my notice. You can take pictures of me because it means that I occupy your mind and your phone space.”

“I can’t deny that…”

“Good.”

Chen pulled back but didn’t let go yet. He looked Minseok up and down again, and a satisfied growl churned deep in his throat. Yes, like this, holding his prey, the words formed much easier.

“Chen?”

“You look so y.”

The last word carried some of his growl, but he was sure that Minseok understood because his scent spiked in perspiration again.

“T-Thank you.”

“It’s not just how you look. You also walk and move more confidently, which is personally gratifying.”

“T-Thanks? Probably from the clothes…”

“And you kept your promise of styling your hair up for me. You remembered. You also helped me look nice for your party. It’s different but not bad. I like this look too, so thank you.”

His guardee’s aura made another poof, and he suddenly closed in on him with a hug, sighing in relief, then giggling. Chen claimed his prey tighter, but not without a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“I thought that you didn’t notice or care about all the effort I put in, but you did. That makes me really happy, so thanks.”

“You’re thanking me for thanking you? Weird human.”

But Chen let out a few chuffs, and Minseok laughed again. He nudged them out of the bathroom after Chen checked that he got the picture, and they walked into a massive beige room.

The walls were carved in a Roman style with chandeliers sparkling above. A grand piano sat at the side, and Chen would have listened to the composition more closely if it wasn’t for what he sensed. Through all the weak sparks of dark and light human auras, there was one that yawned out of hell, humming with power even while inactive. Before Chen could do anything, the aura awoke and dispersed, concealing itself, but he felt eyes peeking over his shoulders.

“Chen?”

He pulled Minseok behind him.

“Chen, what’s wrong?”

“Did you feel it? There’s another demon here.”

His eyes widened, but before he could respond, someone called his name. The ginger-haired woman, Minseok’s boss, waved and started walking closer. Chen felt his guardee lean in close.

“There’re at least fifty human moguls here plus security. If the demon is flashy, someone will notice. Act normal for now. I’ll get us to the side in a bit.”

A warm hand slid into his and tugged him towards the human boss, and Chen pulled his aura back as much as he could. He would trust Minseok. The other demon didn’t seem to be making a move either, so he decided it was best to just watch and have his guardee do his human work.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Mo. CEO Gu, Ms. Mo, this is Kim Jongdae, my partner.”

He whipped his head back to the human conversation. They had been talking, but Chen didn’t think that he would be included in it. Minseok had also used the same alias he used with Baekhyun. Smart. Oh, and he called him his partner—in public. He smiled at that and nodded to the other humans.

“Nice to meet you, Jongdae!” The ginger-haired boss said. “Thank you for keeping one of my best employees company. Parties like these can get a little boring with all the business talk, so give Minseok a little fun when you two return to the hotel. The booking’s good for five days.”

She gave him a sly grin, and judging from that expression, what she said, and Minseok’s smell of embarrassment, Chen knew her unspoken meaning. He gave back a smirk.

“I will. Thank you.”

Minseok covered his face, the woman and her person said their byes, and they moved to a table of food along the side opposite of the piano. While his guardee’s cheeks were turning red, Chen reached his senses out. The other demon hadn’t moved but seemed to be watching them. Their aura didn’t shift like any of the elements but like something that existed on another plane, like Tao’s power.

“Uhm, are you hungry?”

“Of course not. And you’re not allowed to eat.”

Minseok jerked his head ever so slightly to the food table, so Chen looked again. The servings ran along a wall but there was another serving table that stood on a raised platform, easily giving them a higher view. Pride welling in his cheeks, he nosed his prey’s temple and dragged him up the steps.

“I smell fish so just one bite.”

Minseok chuckled behind him, then showed him to grab the plate and wait in line. Chen thought that if they got bigger tables, then they wouldn’t have needed to pile the humans in a waiting line. Inefficient humans.

They went down the tables, Minseok expertly leading them in a pattern that would take them to the top and not seem suspicious. Chen took a few things that smelled interesting, and he only let Minseok take a few morsels of food after he pulled this look of pure pleading on him. Chen had one look at his expression, felt his chest cave while simultaneously wanting to nuzzle his guardee, and gave in. Perhaps that was one of Minseok’s secret weapons.

As they came to the top table, Chen glanced out and searched for the demonic aura. They didn’t hide their aura back now. In fact, it even pulsed in challenge. The chances of the owner being Hayong were low, and another demon would know better than to blow either of their covers. But rogues wouldn’t keep to that kind of propriety.

The aura started moving towards them, and Chen narrowed his eyes at all coming in their direction. A big group of humans were heading towards the food tables, but only one person had the arrogance to look up at him and smirk.

He nudged Minseok down the steps and away. Humans crowded closest to the exit and the food, so Chen moved them to a sitting table, sparser but just enough people to make any move hesitant.

“Chen, do you know where they are?”

“At the food table. I don’t think it’s Hayong because their aura doesn’t feel like an element. They’re probably a rogue demon playing human.”

“Are they bad?”

“Not always. Defectors are those who left the legions or glories, but most leave humans alone. That’s why I can’t guess what this one is doing at a party like this.”

“Then it should be fine if we run into them, right? We could just make small talk and then be on our way.”

“Why would you want to?”

Minseok poked at his food.

“Well, I wanted you to enjoy tonight a little. I know it’s not exactly fun, but since we’re here and at a party, it’s kinda like we’re on a…”

 Chen tilted his head. His guardee’s face got all red, and he just swished around his food more.

“Nevermind.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing. Just eat your food before it gets cold.”

But Chen didn’t like not understanding something, and he didn’t understand why Minseok smelled both embarrassed and disappointed. It was a weird combination of sweat and bitter too, so he set his food down and hooked his arms onto his guardee’s shoulders.

“What? Tell me.”

“It’s really nothing! We’re here for business anyways.”

“But you have other purposes?”

“NO, no.”

“That was a lie. I can smell it on you.”

“It’s nothing important.”

Chen opened his mouth to refute, but a presence opened its maw behind him. He spun around, shielding Minseok behind him, and came face to face with a woman in a brown and green suit, her eyes alit in emerald.

“Why, hello, gentlemen. Is this seat taken?”

A growl rumbled out of his throat, but he felt a hand rest on his, squeezing, so Chen let the sound die but kept his glare sharp.

“No, go ahead,” Minseok said.

The woman sat and started cutting her food into smaller bites—innocuous but Chen felt the way her aura shifted around them, examining and prodding. He shrugged the sensation off by using his own aura to rip through that annoying cloud and did the same for his guardee. Her aura laughed.

“Why don’t you sit too, little demon? You chose your spot well, and I will respect the humans and their purpose for hosting this evening.”

“Not until I know who you are.”

“Anonymity is a valuable tool. Wouldn't you agree?”

A glass clinked behind him, and Chen peeked behind him to see Minseok sipping on a wine glass, peering over the rim. When had he gotten that? Chen couldn’t think much of the question though when he felt his guardee’s aura chill in easy confidence.

“Human parties automatically include learning people’s identities. If you respect the humans’ purpose for hosting this evening, the barest perfunctory curtesy becomes mandatory.”

The demon gazed at him for a bit before emerald flashed in her eyes and a smirk followed.

“You’re not a regular demon either. Your aura is but one aspect of that. Very well. I am Taeyeon. And you two are?”

“Kim Minseok.”

Chen clicked his tongue when his guardee nudged him. “I am Chen, demon under Commander Suho of the Unit Tehom.”

The demon froze. It had been for but a second, but Chen caught the tension locked in her expression and aura before she had forced it calm again. Who was his commander to her?

“Surely you two didn’t come just to sample the hors d’oeuvres of a wealthy human party. Why are you here?”

“Invited guest by association. The company I work for, Alternatives in Disposal Solutions, was invited, and our CEO recommended I come.”

“ADS… and your name is Minseok?” She let out one chuckle. “How fortuitous. It’s nice to meet you in person.”

Chen looked to his guardee, but he just had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I don’t believe I met you before, in person or not.”

“Oh, but you have because I am a representative of Horizon Malls.”

It took Chen a moment to remember, but he did. That name belonged to the company that kept making Minseok shout in frustration a while back.

“I don’t remember your name being on the correspondence.”

“No, but the nature of my job requires secrecy from the humans. Seeing as you aren’t one though, I will make an exception. I acquire companies of corrupt employment or financing, turn them around for the better, and resell them back into good hands. Horizon Malls is the most recent venture of mine.”

“So you… flip companies in terms of ethics.”

“Correct.”

The more they spoke about business practices and what this demon did, the more Chen found himself slinking to the sidelines. That was fine by him—he could sit and taste the fancy food without listening to stuff he didn’t care about—but they started talking about the environment and gossiping about unethical companies exposed in the news that had apparently been this Taeyeon’s doing, and a frown settled on his face. He felt… like he had been plucked from Minseok’s side and made to stand inside a glass box, where he could only watch his prey outside instead of being next to him.

A little warmth curled around his arm, and he looked to see that Minseok had scooted his chair closer and was side-hugging him even as he spoke to the other demon. The glass box melted away, and Chen let out a short purr into his ear out of appreciation.

“I haven’t yet handed the rights to Horizon Malls to a trust-worthy human, so I will personally process the paperwork with ADS. I originally was going to wait for the future human CEO to handle it, but you seem a strange demon. And I rather like strange demons.”

“I’ve been told. Thank you.”

She nodded before leaning her elbows onto the table, her eyes aglow with emerald as they flicked back and forth between them.

“Never in my centuries did I think I would see a demon learn how to love.”

Chen bristled, not just at her prying gaze but also tha