Chapter 12

 

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There was no denying there were high levels of tension hung in the air, with animosity practically radiating from all the males’ bodies as they glowered openly at the smirking male before them, who was now—thankfully to the girl’s relief, clad in a loose fitting black shirt with matching trousers with the fluffy towel hanging off one shoulder.

 

Chanyeol stood beside her, with a fiercely protective look etched on his face as he clenched his fists so tightly that his sharpened nails were close to drawing blood.

 

“Wipe that smirk off you face you erted brat, or I will personally remove it for you!” The hyper virus growled lowly, and for a second his eyes glinted crimson from the anger palpitating through his veins.

 

The male in question ignored the threat as he kept a firm gaze on the chestnut haired girl, who in return was staring at him with high scrutiny with a scowl plastered across her face, yet a faint blush dusted the bridge of her nose prettily.

 

“No need to look so angry, maiden. I won’t bite you,” He drawled playfully, the lopsided curl of his lips made him look more of a pompous bastard than anything else in Jieun’s eyes.

 

Then, his eyes flashed yellow as he purred sultrily. “Unless of course, you want me to my fair maiden?”

 

Instantly, she could not suppress the feeling of disgust as a scowl spread across her face. But even before she could retort back, a blurred figure flickered in front of her eyes with inhuman speed until she heard a crack resound through the room.

 

Oh , he did not just break a wall! Was her immediate worry, but she shook her head at her set of priorities as she focused her gaze on the scene before her.

 

The ebony haired male’s form was hunched over, as a considerable dent of his back was engraved into the wall behind him, grimacing slightly at the pain that entered into his body from the sudden attack.

 

“That’s just a warning, pretty boy. Next time, I won’t be so kind and I will kill you regardless of whether you are my brother or not.” Though his voice was calm, the fire breather was no doubt imagining the numerous ways he could slaughter the demon kneeling before him.

 

Kyungsoo could not watch no longer as he quickly rushed over to his brother’s side, concern was written all over his face as he helped the younger male to stand. “Jongin-ah, are you okay?”

 

“What the are you doing, Kyungsoo? He’s a good-for-nothing scumbag and should be treated like one.” Luhan spat out with a frightening amount of venom and hatred coated in his words as he started to advance forward.

 

Good for nothing scumbag? She frowned in thought as she could only watch from the sidelines, feeling that it wasn’t her place to interfere with their personal family business. However, she could not deny that it seemed that the favours were against the exotic looking male, what with the towering forms of the fury-filled demons surrounding him watching his every move.

 

“Yeah, he nearly got us all killed for his sheer stupidity. It seems that you’ve still following your womanising, spineless ways like before.” The other devil twin added his input, with a dark scowl on his face as he folded his arms over his chest.

 

Jongin seemed to muster up what was left of his strength to lift his head up; however there was no longer a trace of his smug smirk as he simply stared straight past the hostile stares and into the warm irises of the girl.

 

“As much as it would surprise you to hear this, I have not returned to my…old ways since I have been living here.” He murmured so softly, his over-confidence façade was already starting to show cracks. If he was in his cat form, she could easily imagine his ears flattened. The brunette heard a snort of disbelief to her left, but she easily dismissed it as she kept her gaze firmly on the Jongin.

 

“When the witch had casted her curse on me, it not only bound me to stay in feline form but I could not look at any woman the same again.” He explained, running a hand through his straight cut locks.

 

“…Until I met her.” This time, he enunciated his words more clearly as his smouldering black eyes locked more firmly onto Jieun, an unreadable emotion evident in the depth of his obsidian orbs.  

 

Uh, please tell me that he’s not talking about me…right?

 

But of course, much to her dismay, it really did seem like fate was enjoying the fact they it was successfully screwing up her life.

 

“You’re lying.” Was all Chanyeol hissed out, refusing to believe what the tanned male was implying.

 

“That’s impossible. You couldn’t have…with our kitty.” The fair skinned male shook his head in denial as Sehun cried out in frustration.

 

Suho’s shoulders seemed to deflate as his eyes were downcast in what she assumed was disappointment as the shy healer was stuttering in surprise.

 

However, feeling out of the loop, Jieun could not help but feel confused to what the heck these guys were going on about. The only thing I can kind of understand is that it has something to do with me. Surprise, surprise there.

 

“What are you guys talking about?” She nearly threw her arms up in the air in exasperation and the sense of suspense lingering in the air. 

 

Jongin raised a hand to wipe the traces of blood from his plump lips before the smirk decided to make another unwanted appearance.

 

“The only way I could break the witch’s curse for my womanising ways is if I could find the woman who I am destined to be with for the rest of my life,” He shot her a meaningful glance that was filled with an abundance of warmth and affection, which made her double back as his words were starting to sink in.

 

“It is considered to be quite uncommon for demons to bond with mortals, but I’m sure that you can be an exception to that, my love.”

 

First it was demons popping into my life ranting on about being my ‘servants’ or whatever and now they’re talking about…bonding…with me?!

 

Baekhyun directed a worried look at her considerably pale complexion. “Jieun, you’re not looking so good. Maybe you should sit down.”

 

Hearing this, the tanned male disappeared into a cloud of smoke before he popped up in front of her, a mixture of distress and worry etched on his handsome face. And the fact that he was standing up close to her wasn’t exactly helping her current state neither.

 

“Babe, do you want me to carry you to your bed?” The brunette seemed to snap out of her trance as her eyes slowly trailed up from his broad shirt covered chest which emphasised his muscles, up to his face where only a tender expression took up the vacant space.

 

“YAH, you’re going nowhere with Jieun-ah you damned ert. If anyone should carry her, it should be me!” Chanyeol butted in, as he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, shooting a laser glare in the offending male’s direction.

 

“Jongin-ah, you’re bleeding! You’re in no state to be doing anything, now go into the kitchen and Yixing-hyung and I will look after your wounds.” Kyungsoo clicked his tongue in disapproval, as he gestured at the tanned male in a shooing manner.

 

However, this didn’t deter him as he kept his attention on the nervous girl before him; the way she was biting her lip was starting to drive his emotions crazy.

 

“I’m not going anywhere until I know that she is okay.” He all but growled out, his eyes flashing yellow warningly.

 

If any other girl was in my shoes, they would be melting in a puddle of goo right now for being the centre of attention of eight males—sorry, demons. However, the tip of the iceberg had to be when some guy who-was-supposed-to-be-a-frickin-cat went and said that she was ‘fated’ to be with him.

 

Somehow, she didn’t think the idea of that settled right with her.

 

I’m only eighteen years old for goodness’ sake! I’m too young to even be thinking about spending the rest of my life with this guy who I only met a few hours ago!

 

She felt a hand her head as a voice cooed out comfortingly. “You’re being awfully quiet, babe. Or is it just because you’re dazzled by seeing me in my human form?” Jongin ended the sentence with his lopsided grin, though this time instead of it looking arrogant it was significantly toned down enough to be teasing. Before she allowed herself to be captivated by the seemingly endless depth of his eyes, she took a step back to let some space in between herself and the others.

 

She exhaled deeply, as she nervously took a glance towards her bedroom which at this point seemed like a beacon of light.

 

“I-I think I need some time to think.” She mumbled before she turned around to walk towards her room, keeping her head low as she did so, which prevented her from seeing the pained look that was plastered across their faces.

 

Once she had closed her door firmly shut, Chanyeol spun around to let out all his suppressed anger onto the tanned male. “Now look what you did, you just had to open you mouth and scare her off. She had no idea about the bonding issue until you came along!”

 

“What? You were just going to leave her in the dark about it and then tell her at the last minute that we’re all at some point going to be bonded with her?” He scoffed.

 

“You don’t understand, Jongin. We were finally getting somewhere with her, she was placing her trust in us and now you’ve just made her doubtful of our true intentions.” Baekhyun released a sigh of exasperation as he ran a hand down his face, feeling his energy quickly draining.

 

“Jongin-ah, we’ll discuss this in further detail another time. As if you didn’t already know, you’re currently standing in a puddle of your own blood. Now listen to me for once and wait in the kitchen so we can heal you!” Kyungsoo demanded insistently, as he unintentionally stamped his foot down which caused a few cracks to appear on the wooden flooring.

 

Automatically, his hands flew up to his face as he emitted a squeaky gasp, completely ruining his manly image he portrayed only a few seconds ago. “Ack! I didn’t mean to do that!”

 

Suho released a sigh as he clasped a hand on his worried brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it Kyungsoo-ah, we’ll take care of it. Just focus for the moment on helping Jongin-ah.” He turned to shoot a pleading look towards the silent healer, after suppressing the feeling of tiredness while being in Jieun’s presence it finally seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks.

 

Lay simply inclined his head, too forcibly to seem natural as he made his way towards the kitchen with an unreadable expression clouding his usually neutral trance-phase.

 

The tanned male remained rooted to his stop, his gaze locked on the door that Jieun had disappeared into. He, on the other hand was far more reluctant to follow his leader’s instructions as he felt the foreign feeling of pain surge through his veins at being separated from her.

 

Luhan rolled his eyes as his youthful appearance was contorted into that of annoyance as he extended his hand out in Jongin’s direction, causing his feet to robotically walk towards the kitchen. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he focused his energy on transporting away, but found that there was a formidable intruder blocking his mind thus stopping him from leaving the fair skinned male’s control.   

 

“Geez, such an insolent kid.” He grumbled with the bowl-cut brown haired male nodding in agreement by his side, who kept a wary look on the newcomer.

 

“…You don’t think she’ll notice that right?” Chanyeol scratched the back of his head, as he covered the extensive crack with a nearby fluffy carpet mat with the wood fracture peeking out from underneath.

 

“We’ll get it fixed before she finds out, but I’m sure that at this present moment, she’ll have more things to worry about.” Suho strained a smile as his gaze flickered back towards her bedroom door in unconcealed worry.

 

I know that this must be overwhelming for you right now, Jieun-ah. But I’m going to make it known to you that no matter what happens, we’ll stick by you through thick and thin.    

 

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Well, I hope you’re happy with yourself. I knew that book was going to bring us nothing about trouble from the moment I laid eyes on it. Grandma must have some knowledge about it; why else would she possess such a book in the first place?!

 

For the duration of what was left of the late afternoon, she had paced around her room countless times as she tried to conjure up a plausible explanation for what was happening to her. But that did not get her anywhere and her attempts only earned her a mild headache. Huffing, she collapsed unceremoniously onto her mattress as she curled up in a feral position.

 

Now, her mind was backtracking at a rapid speed, towards what she assumed was the root of her problems—the place where she had first found the cursed book, in her beloved grandmother’s house.

 

However, she could not imagine such a sweet old lady keeping such a possession, when they practically told each other anything. Well, besides from the fact that she currently had at least eight with a future addition of four demons staying in her apartment. As much as her grandmother was fond of Suho and Lay, the brunette was absolutely positive that the old lady would have a heart attack if she knew the exact number she was keeping a secret.

 

Locked within the confides of her bedroom, Jieun felt extremely light-headed her breathing started to become more quick and off-beat. She could feel herself hyperventilating as her heartbeat was racing, the internal organ hampering against her ribcage making it difficult to breathe properly.

 

The sound of a faint knock interrupted her chain of thought as she turned her head warily at the door, almost expecting Chanyeol to burst through. She wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest, considering how impatient he was over trivial matters.

 

Instead, Kyungsoo’s head popped through the small gap as he pushed the door open with his ever curious doe eyes trailing around the room until it landed on her figure and in an instant his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

 

“Ah, I thought you were resting Jieun-ah. I was going to leave you some food, in case you were hungry when you woke up.” He informed her as he nudged the door open further with his shoulder before kicking it shut as he walked towards her with a tray filled with kimchi spaghetti and a few slices of bread and butter.

 

“O-Oh, you didn’t have to go through all the trouble of cooking Kyungsoo-ssi. I’m not really all that hungry anyway…” She tried to smile as she sat up properly, only for her attempts to become futile as she grimaced instead. The events that occurred not too long ago left her with little appetite for anything, as she did not feel that she could possibly stomach anything without it coming straight back out.

 

He frowned in evident disapproval as he settled the tray onto her nightstand, making sure not to knock over her books as he did so.

 

“It’s been quite some time since you ate last, are you sure you don’t want anything?” He inquired anxiously, fidgeting from one foot to the other from being the centre of her attention.

 

How can I be annoyed at someone as cute as him? It’s sweet of him to be so thoughtful. Her face softened, as her impassive façade broke in a matter of seconds for being in the company of D.O.

 

“Not for the moment, thank you for asking though Kyungsoo-ssi.” She responded with a small smile, but nearly giggled at his mock stern look directed towards her as he folded his arms over his chest in a huff.

 

“Although, I would be grateful if you were to stay with me for a while…I could do with some answers to my questions.” She admitted, patting the vacant space beside her on the bed, a simple enough action in her eyes but his face burned up as if she asked something scandalous.

 

“I’m fine sitting on the floor, Jieun-ah.” Was his only response, as he began to make himself comfortable on her carpet adored floor. Jieun simply raised an eyebrow before she turned her head and snorted, as she pushed herself off the bed and slid down to the floor so that they were roughly on the same level.

 

Unsurprisingly, his doe eyes widened even more. “J-Jieun-ah, what are you doing—“

 

“I’m not going to pretend that I like this whole I’m-the-maiden-and-you’re-the-servant relationship that you guys keep insisting on, because I think that’s total bullcrap in all honesty.” She rolled her eyes before she shot a good-natured smile at him.

 

“I’ve been forced to accept that you guys aren’t going away, despite my initial denial phase, so for the mean time I don’t plan on treating you any differently than I would anyone else and I expect the same from all of you too.”

 

Kyungsoo pressed his lips into a firm line. “But we’re the ones who are supposed to support you in any way we can, that’s our sole purpose Jieun-ah.”

 

“Yah, Do Kyungsoo-ssi.” She lightly swatted him over the head in a chiding manner. “If I wanted servants I could just hire maids, although that would be pretty expensive in the long run.” She pursed her lips in thought for a moment, before she returned back to the topic at hand. “I want you to know that while I deeply appreciate your efforts to help me, there is absolutely no need for you to baby me as if I’m a child. I want you guys to behave normally around me, not as if I’m in some kind of high authority—which I might add is definitely not the case in this situation.”

 

 “So, if it’s not too much trouble, could we try to friends Kyungsoo-ssi?” She leaned forward slightly to nudge his shoulder with an eye smile.

 

He stared at her for a moment, feeling a sudden rush of warmth fill his cheeks at the undeniable beauty sitting so close to him. He briefly entertained the thought whether she could hear the deafening sound of his heart beating madly against his chest at noticing the proximity between them as his gaze dropped down from her eyes to her inviting bubblegum pink lips.

 

“O-Of course it wouldn’t be too much trouble, Jieun-ah.” He nearly face palmed himself for allowing such disgraceful thoughts to escape into the conscious part of his mind. The wide eyed male did not want to tarnish the innocent image of the oblivious girl as he stuttered through an answer quickly.

 

The girl in question beamed at him in response, causing his heart to nearly stop at the sight before it automatically started to race at a seemingly inhuman speed.

 

“Great! Now, if you would be so kind to answer some of my questions then that would be pretty helpful right now.” In her enthusiasm, she clasped her hands together in a pleading sort of manner.

 

The demon pulled nervously at his collar, as he averted his eyes elsewhere whilst trying to control the urges to hug her. Out of all his brothers, he was among the few who had the best control of their emotions despite also being one of the most curious of them.

 

“I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can, Jieun-ah.”

 

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“Let me get this straight so I know this is correct, the reason why I can hear you guys in my head in all due to the blood bond?”

 

Kyungsoo nodded patiently. “Yes, it is also through the blood bond how we can sense whether or not you may be in any danger.”

 

The girl’s face lit up in realization as she snapped her fingers together. “I see, is that why Luhan and Sehun appeared so quickly that one time?”

 

For a moment, his face darkened at the mentioned memory as it flooded through his mind relentlessly. Quickly to compose himself, he shook his head before clearing his throat. “Yes, that is why they came to your rescue so to speak. Although, they weren’t the ones who were originally supposed to appear next from the book, as a matter of fact—“

 

“It was meant to be Kris and Tao right?” She shot him an apologetic smile for interrupting, to which he blinked in surprise, and then proceeded to nod in muted agreement.

 

“Yes, that is correct. Kris or also known as Wu Fan is the leader of Exo M, just like Suho is the leader of Exo K. He knew that Luhan and Sehun were greatly unsettled by what could have happened to you, so they decided to intervene without consulting him first. But given that , he decided to take it upon himself to make sure all of the members entered into this world before him so that he would be certain that we were all able to make it to the over side successfully.” With that, he smiled at the thought of his brother.

 

Jieun watched the fond look spread across his face, there was a flash of respect in his eyes. “He sounds like a decent guy.”

 

Frowning at the unfamiliar word, he turned to her with an abundance of curiosity burning in his doe eyes. The brunette could easily imagine a huge question mark lingering by his head and nearly laughed.

 

“Decent? What does that mean Jieun-ah?”

 

She hid her grin by lifted her hand to conceal her amusement.

 

“It’s like another word for describing him as polite and responsible.” He bobbed his head in evident understanding.

 

“What would you describe me as, Jieun-ah?” There was no denying that he was staring at her with anticipation, his eyes were practically sparking like an excited puppy.

 

She placed her forefinger on her chin feigning thoughtfully for a moment, tilting her head to the side as she took this opportunity to take an once-over on him, though it was mostly to humour him.

 

“Well, despite the fact that I have only known you for a short amount of time, it would honestly be understated to say that you are the most adorable person I have ever met, I mean you have such big curious eyes that look like they could penetrate through anyone’s soul!” She spoke enthusiastically, accompanied with grand gestures of her hands.

 

He tilted his head to the side, jutting his lips out slightly as if he were pouting. She thinks I’m adorable?

 

Stopping in her rambling for a moment, she observed him silently for a few seconds before she pointed at him with a burst of giggles escaping her lips. “See! What you’re doing now makes you look adorable!”

 

He frowned as he quickly straightened up, feeling like his mainly pride took a beating as he turned away from her slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Jieun raised an eyebrow in amusement as she leaned forward to poke him in the shoulder, cooing teasingly towards the unimpressed male. “Aww is the little Kyungsoo being all embarrassed because I called him adorab—“

 

He clapped both of his palms over his ears as he shot her a feigned warning look. “Just because I look the way I look doesn’t mean I’m any less of a man than the rest of my brothers.”

 

Realising that she had unintentionally hurt his feelings, she reached out to pat his head in a comforting manner the way her grandmother did when she was upset, a guilty look etched on her pretty face. “I’m sorry Kyungsoo-ssi; I didn’t mean to upset you. I thought that calling you adorable would be a compliment, but then again I have always been awkward when it comes to being sociable and whatnot.” With that, she shot him a strained smile, but he knew that beneath that was a broken girl.

 

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in shock as he hastily shook his head, not liking at all the saddened look that was currently taking up the vacant space on her face. “No, I’m not upset at that at all Jieun-ah! I completely don’t mind if you want to call me adorable, cute or whatever you want!” As long as you don’t force yourself to smile because of me…Aish, why did I have to make her feel guilty over my stupid man pride? It seems that she isn’t as strong as she pretends to be.

 

The brunette allowed a small, genuine smile to grace her features as she simply nodded in acceptable of his words. “Alright, but I do reiterate what I said before, if I did offend you—“

 

“Which you didn’t!” He was quick to defend her, earning a short laugh from her in response.

 

“But enough of the melodramatics, let’s get back to the question and answer session, hm?”

 

The doe eyed male smiled, though he pushed the matter of her change of personality to the back of his mind to ponder over later, what mattered most to him at this current moment was keeping that smile on her face. 

 

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“I don’t understand…why was Jongin talking about bonds? I’m also confused about his implications to me being his ‘destined soul mate’.” She gripped her clenched fists were so tight that they were starting to lose circulation, by the signs of her hands turning a chalk-white hue. The pair had been so absorbed in their conversation that they did not realise that an hour had easily flown by without either party knowing.

 

“It’s quite a complicated process to explain, especially when it now includes a female mortal.” He carefully deliberated his words, not wanting at all to upset her. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

 

“Demons tend to be quite a fickle race, it is considered to be quite rare for my kind to have a soul mate when we have the power to pick and choose who we want to be with. Most demons who are higher up in status marry other demons to ensure that the bloodline remains pure and untarnished.”

 

"But in rare circumstances, when a demon meets the person that he or she is meant to be with, then they have no choice but to follow the path that fate has created for them."

 

“So, are they called purebloods then?” Jieun inquired, feeling briefly reminded of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, only for the situation to include demons and not wizards.

 

If only I could have woken up in the Harry Potter universe that would have been pretty cool. At least then I could have been a witch who had the power to cast spells instead of being a helpless human being.

 

“That is one term used to name them, yes.” He nodded his head slowly. “While lower ranked demons are not as fussy and will freely integrate with humans, some even going as far as mating with them. Thus, this creates a half-blood species. Are you following me so far?”

 

She simply inclined her head, feeling slightly enraptured at having the opportunity to hear about an unheard of race. Who knew that demons could exist? This totally throws all the logic I learnt in school completely out of the window by this point.

 

Satisfied with her answer, he digressed. “My brothers and I are ‘purebloods’, we all were considered to be the elite of all demon kind. You could even say that we were Princes back in our universe, before we were trapped in the book.” Taking a moment to allow her to process his words, feeling a sense of shock rush through her veins through the bond they shared, he shifted his position so that he was sitting with his knees folded underneath him as he bowed his head with the utmost grace.

 

“I did not get the chance to personally thank you for releasing my brothers and I from that dreaded place. It has been quite a long time since we had even had the privilege of seeing simple things like the sun and the moon, both of which we had all foolishly taken for granted before. But now, I simply cannot thank you enough for being so kind for looking after my brothers by allowing us to stay within your home and—“

 

“Ssh.” She could not suppress the smile that curled on her lips as she placed her finger underneath his chin to lift it up, revealing his familiar doe eyes starting unblinkingly at her.

 

“Enough of your expressions of gratitude, I’m sure that I’ve heard a similar speech from the others. Besides, there’s nothing really to thank me for anyway, all I did was open it…and accidentally drop some of my blood on it. It’s not like I saved the world from destruction or anything, so there’s no need to treat me as if I’m some unappreciated hero.” She scoffed at the mere thought as she removed her hand away from his face, only for the male to quickly grab hold of it as she stared at him in surprise.

 

He bit his lip shyly. “You belittle yourself too much Jieun-ah. You’re worth far more than you think you do.”

 

I think I can now understand how my brothers could have easily fallen for someone like you.

 

Blinking owlishly for a moment, she let out a bubbly laugh as she flourished her hand dramatically in the air at him. “You’re just saying that, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

 

He simply smiled back in response. Not at all, I wholeheartedly believe it Jieun-ah. I just hope that all of us can convince you otherwise in the future, to be able to show you how much you mean to us.

 

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Author's Corner                                                                                                                                                 

WAAAAAH~ There's so much Kyungsoo fluff <3 He's such a cutie pie~~ 

*melts into puddle of goo at the cuteness*

Anyway~ This was pretty much a filter chapter, more than anything else. I hope that some of your questions have been answered in this, if not feel free to ask if you're feeling confused by anything! And I'll try to answer it as best as I can *without revealing too much*

I'm sorry for not updating! I've been busy with school, applying to university, exams coming up in like two months time and I've got a numeracy test a week today >< I feel extremely stressed right now, it's not even funny. 

So, I decided to spend some of my time finishing this off for you lovely readers :D I think I might be able to post one more chapter before I leave for a month or so! 

Thanks again for your continued support guys, the little notifications never fail to put a smile on my face! ^^ 

Hope you all have a good week~ Until next time! ^___^ *throws you pancakes for sticking with me~*