Chapter 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was by no means easy trying to explain to ten livid and confused demons that the boy who they had witnessed ‘assaulting her with ill intentions’ that he was in actual fact her friend from school. To prevent any more misunderstandings from the awestruck bystanders in the store—having not been accustomed to the sudden appearance of several devilishly handsome males all at once in a single day, she pulled the reluctant demons away towards the nearest coffee shop.

 

“Yo! My name’s Choi Junhong, nice to meet you~” He saluted with two fingers with a cheeky grin.

 

Disgruntled looks were all plastered all across their faces, even the saintly Suho visibly seemed to struggle with his trademark 1000 watt smile, though he managed as his lips twitched upwards somewhat forcibly as he even extended his hand out, intending on a handshake—a human gesture, he had no doubt read about.

 

“I can assure you that the feeling is most certainly mutual, Junhong-ssi. I hope that we will get along.”

 

Someone scoffed loudly in the background, as if finding the idea simply ridiculous whilst grumbling under his breath. “That statement doesn’t involve all of us—! What was that for, you douche face?” The male in question was none-too-gently elbowed by the exasperated Baekhyun.

 

The tall boy waved with a swift flourish of his hand not showing any signs of overhearing the exchange, evident displeasure being shown as his lips were pulled into a dissatisfied frown. “That’s cool, man. No need to be so formal, we’re all friends here right?”

 

However as always, Junhong remained blissfully unaware of the levels of animosity surrounding them, but instead he clenched his hand before meeting Suho’s with a fist bump. To which the brown haired leader blinked slowly at before a polite smile flitted across his face.

 

“By the way, you can just call me Zelo, that’s my nickname that Jieun-ah helped me come up with.” He added as an afterthought, shooting a grin in the brunette’s direction causing Chanyeol to shift closer to her in suspicion.

 

“I’m sure you probably came up with it yourself, Junhong.” She merely shrugged as she sipped her drink. After a number of failed attempts, once she had finally managed to pry herself out of her friend’s constricting grasp earlier on, her main priority was calming the others down—which was not by least an easy feat, mind you.

 

The murderous auras that radiated from their bodies in waves were strong enough to intimidate the girls sitting around them. Jieun had an underlying feeling that any attempt made to try to calm them down would only make the situation worse and would inevitably end up causing an unnecessary scene. So she had to drag them to the closet coffee shop, partly to get her caffeine fix than anything else.

 

Plus, it wouldn’t particularly look good if they would reveal their powers by accident. Finding out demons actually existed would be the last thing those people needed to see.

 

“So Jieun-noona,” Zelo drawled with a teasing grin on his face, not making her feel comfortable in the slightest. “You were never really the social type in school, how did you meet these guys? Did Yunhee finally convince you to go clubbing?”

 

The brunette in question remained pokerfaced as she folded her arms over her chest. “You should know me better than most people Junhong that I don’t do clubbing.” For a few seconds, she averted her eyes to the window before returning the dark brown orbs back onto her friend, slated and not amused in the slightest.

 

“And I’ve told you before Junhong, it’s just Jieun. You make me sound like an old person.” She stressed in a deadpan tone.

 

Even if he was offended, he did not let it show as his content expression remained unfazed. “You’re just avoiding my question, Jieun-ah~”

 

Jieun shook her head tiredly. This was supposed to be a day out for the other guys, one last day before her daily schedule would be jam-packed with having to complete piles of assignments and research work not to mention numerous lectures—some even going at far as three to four hours long. She cringed at the mere thought of having to spend that amount of time in a lecture theatre without any break intervals in-between. It didn’t help either that she had a short attention span.

 

But she couldn’t blame Junhong for this. She was already accustomed to the fact that she had the worst luck going. Besides, at least now she won’t have to worry about not knowing anyone at her University.

 

“Aigo, is this what I think this is?” His eyes widened slightly as he pointed at her in feigned shock.

 

“Junhong, whatever assumptions you’re thinking of right now stop thinking them—“ She warned with sternness coated on her words, already expecting what he was going to say. But her preconception proved to be true as he nonchalantly interrupted her.

 

“This is like one of those harem things isn’t it! You dog you, Jieun-ah!” He snickered as he lightly punched her arm.

 

If looks could kill, given by the death glares being shot by Chanyeol, Jongin and the devil twins, then Jieun had no doubt that Zelo would have been dead ten times over.

 

She rolled her eyes yet a small smile stretched across her face towards her friend, to which was not received well by the others. “No, it’s not like that at all. They are just my new neighbours in my apartment; they are new to this part of town so I asked them if they wanted to tag along.”

 

Zelo raised an eyebrow, as if contemplating whether he actually believed her half-assed lie or not. Jieun felt dry up at the level of scrutiny in his dark gaze but nevertheless kept up her calm composure. The sheer weight of the silence started to play on her nerves; this began to show as crack started to appear in her façade. She let out a breath she was not even aware she was holding when he finally tilted his head to the side, an unhappy pout pulling on the corners of his lips.

 

“Aish, that’s not really fair you know Jieun-ah.” He blinked a few times at her cutely, something she would never admit out loud of course—she would never hear the end of it otherwise. She shot him an incredulous look. “What do you mean that’s not fair?”

 

The grey haired male sniffed slightly as he turned to the side in a huff. “You’ve known me most of your life yet you never ask me to hang out with you. I’m hurt by that, Jieun-ah.” To show his hurt even further, he held both palms over where his heart would be.

 

 

Maybe it’s because she prefers our company over yours, annoying brat.

 

 

Jieun suppressed the urge to sigh as she shot a look over to Luhan who claimed innocence despite being caught out speaking his mind…in her mind. “You know that’s not true. There was that one time we went to the theme park—“

 

“That was just a school trip, Jieun-ah.” He grumbled loudly, not sounding satisfied with her answer.

 

“But who stayed with you the entire time we were there? I even sat next to you on the bus trip!” Because he wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed—albeit reluctantly—to sit next to him. She retorted, exasperation evident on her face as she folded her arms over her chest.

 

“You tried to leave me all the time though!”

 

“Junhong, I had to leave you so that I could go to the toilets. Not because I didn’t like your company.”

 

He pouted even more, if that was even possible as he quickly turned towards her to cling onto her arm. But Jongin quickly interceded as he let out a hiss, his eyes narrowed into slits that promised pain if the boy were to try again.

 

“I will not allow you to touch my sou—“ Immediately Jieun slapped a hand over his mouth before he revealed all. She shot a silencing look towards him which she was grateful he seemed to understand as he grudgingly sat down, but of course not without pulling her down as well. Right into his lap.

 

“Jongin! What the heck?” She squeaked in a mixture of surprise and embarrassment, as a dark blush crossed the bridge of her nose at the sudden act of skinship instantly breaking her composure. He didn’t say anything as he simply wrapped his arms around her waist securely in place so that she could not escape no matter how much she struggled.

 

 

He touches you so familiarly and you do not even flinch, yet if I or one of my brothers dares to do the same you move away from us, as if we are nothing but strangers to you.

 

 

Jieun drew in a deep breath, suddenly feeling the presence of his heated stare at the back of her head. If it wasn’t for the fact that not only were they were in a public place or that Zelo was currently in their company, she would not have hesitated to venomously deny his accusation without giving it another second thought. However, seemingly to everyone else he did not utter a single sound—giving the impression that if she were to retort back that she was crazy.

 

“A-Ah, Jieun-ah…I didn’t know that you got yourself a boyfriend over the summer.” Zelo let out a nervous laugh as he tried to smile at her though it came out more as a grimace though she didn’t notice it.

 

She did not bother suppressing the scowl that stretched across her face in irritation. “Jongin is not my boyfriend, Junhong. He’s just overly clingy and should let go before I hit him.” The brunette hissed the last part out, to which he quietly seemed to scoff at. She was about to elbow him in the chest so that she could escape when he was caught off guard when she felt someone’s chin occupying the vacant space on her shoulder, she glanced from the corner of her eye to see Sehun leaning over from her other side, his poker face fixed directly onto Zelo.

 

“What kitten’s trying to say is that I’m her boyfriend.”

 

He spoke so seriously that it was a struggle to find out whether he was joking or not, a complete 180 in comparison to his normal self. Jieun gritted her teeth together in unconcealed exasperation; her temper was quickly rising to a whole new level at the nerve of that guy.

 

What the heck’s got into these guys? Their mood swings are even worse than a girl on her monthly pains. She harshly shrugged off the youngest and gave him the cold shoulder, not trusting herself to keep her temper under control if she spoke out loud.

 

“Don’t ignore me, please look at me kitten!” He whined, clasping his hands around her arm as he buried his head into her shoulder blades.

 

 

Why can’t you give me the same attention you give Baekhyun, Suho or Lay? It hurts me when you don’t smile at me anymore. You prefer to smile at the ‘perfect goody-two-shoes brothers of mine’.

 

 

It’s because you annoy the hell out of me that’s why! She wanted to shout back at him to say anything that would reassure him that she did not treat him any differently than the others. But once again, she was faced with the dilemma of having to keep silent so that Zelo does not find out the truth, no matter how much she wanted to explain to him what was going on in her life.

 

The grey haired male in question furrowed his eyebrows in evident confusion, visibly torn between wanting to help her and leaving her be—no doubt in fear of what the others, namely Jongin and Sehun would do to him if he even moved a muscle. She wanted to reach out to him, to reassure him that everything was fine…or maybe she just wanted him to reassure her that everything would be fine like back in the days when she did not even find that damned book which threw her life into a portal of never ending doom. Seams of frustration rose up in her as she did not even bother to shake the maknae off the second time round, knowing that he would only latch onto her the second she would do so.

 

I have to find a way to get these boys back to whatever world they came from. I’m not sure if I can deal with this anymore…it’s getting too much for me to handle. Her breathing became quick and panicked; her heartbeat was becoming irregular as her emotions swelled up altogether in a mismatched concoction thereby masking her rational state of mind.

 

 

"Stay calm, maiden. Take slow, deep breaths. It is no good to you to make misguided actions when you are upset."

 

 

This time Jieun’s eyes furrowed together at the unfamiliar sound as she subtly glanced around the room. Having been accustomed to hearing the voices of the others in her mind, she already knew that this voice could not possibly belong to theirs. It was somebody new…somebody from that book who had yet to appear.

 

She tried to follow the voice’s suggestion as she took one deep breath, closing her eyes to concentrate on drowning out the sounds that surrounded her. The brunette could slowly feel the anger leaving her as she released the breath, her shoulders slumped down as her tense muscles started to relax.

 

“Jieun-ah doesn’t like the term boyfriend, but I’m her favourite!” Chanyeol declared with an abundance of child-like smugness who has got all the candy as he pumped a fist in the air.

 

Breathe. In. Jieun. She forcibly drew in a sharp breath.

 

Luhan scoffed in evident disbelief, rolling his eyes as he did so. “You’re being delusional again, idiot. Since when has she ever told you that?”

 

10…9…8…7…

 

“She doesn’t need to tell me that because I already knew it.” He retorted with a light glare, a look which did not suit him in the slightest, making him look much older and intimidating before all that image was broken by the caramel haired male stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

 

“Besides, I’ve known her longer than you~”

 

The male in question’s eyes narrowed into slits as he flashed his teeth, flecks of red dancing around in his irises dangerously, practically throwing his seat backwards as he stood up. “Don’t give me that bull, you bastard. Your misguided assumptions are worthless and meaningless.”

 

Zelo could not comprehend the situation, how matter how he tried as he silently and albeit watched the exchange between the two. He took a sweeping glance at Jieun who seemed to be slightly trembling as her eyes remained tightly shut. At that moment, he could not sit around like a little lost boy while she silently suffered. He would not allow it. The grey haired male stood up as he held his hands out in a surrender manner, in an attempt to look less threatening.

 

“Maybe you should cool off before you hurt someone, guys—“

 

“BACK OFF, YOU INCOMPETENT HUMAN!” The pair roared out vociferously, whipping their heads around to glare mercilessly at the tall boy who was the main source of their problem before they returned back to their argument. Immediately, Suho and Baekhyun rose up out of their chairs to calm down their brothers albeit weakly. 

 

This ing breathing method isn’t working. Her eye twitched in annoyance, her attempts of trying to drown out the shouts were becoming difficult.

 

She felt a hand lightly tap her shoulder as the fury returned back into her system tenfold.

 

“…Um, Jieun-ah, are you okay?” The gentle, meek voice flowed into her ears that could only belong to Lay. At any other time, she might have allowed herself to calm down just by hearing his soothing voice. He was about to console her further when she suddenly spoke.

 

“SHUT UP, JUST ING SHUT UP!”

 

It all became too much for her. The heated bellows that were being tossed back and forth, insults being used as if they did not even bother to care about the other’s feelings. It pressed down on her as memories began to pool around in her mind, thoughts that she thought she had left behind a long time ago were instantly reawakened by this simple scene.

 

She let out a short, unsteady breath before she opened her eyes, half expecting to see the looks of pure shock rippling through them all at her outburst. Though at this point, she could hardly care less right about now, however once she saw the undeniable glint of hurt that flashed in Lay’s eyes, she could not swallow the feeling of guilt well as she chose to avert her gaze downwards to her feet instead.

 

“…Lay, I’m sorry I shouted at you…” Jieun sighed dejectedly, running a hand through her hair. She nibbled on her bottom lip as the silence continued to elude into the air, leaving only a sense of awkwardness to enfold.

 

“I know I can be a real jerk sometimes, you can even ask Junhong!” She made a weak attempt to lighten the situation, her nervous laughter escaping into the air until it died down into an uncomfortable cough. Her gaze remained solidly on the ground, refusing to meet eye contact with their—no doubt—disapproving and shocked stares.

 

“...Baekhyun? Chanyeol?” She called out, her eyebrows furrowed together in an intermixing mesh of hurt and confusion.

 

There was something wrong here. Regardless of whether she would shout at them, she knew that Chanyeol amongst a few others would not have kept silent; he would have been sorrowful and thoroughly ashamed of his actions until it reached a point where he would literally beg for her forgiveness, as much as she preferred he did not do it in his typical melodramatic fashion.

 

“Guys?” Finally she raised her head up, after mentally going through the internal battle in her mind that prevented her from doing the action seconds ago. She expected to see them annoyed at her, angry, anything that would justify their silence up until this very point. However, what she had found was not what she had anticipated in the slightest.

 

It was like they had all become stone statues, fixed into position like works of art which seemed very appropriative given their abnormal model-like features. Lay was the closest standing near her, his arm was reaching out for her; a surprised look was plastered across his unmoving face. Chanyeol’s face was half turned towards her, showing his wide child-like eyes that held nothing but unconcealed shock as Luhan seemed like he was just about to land a solid punch in the fire breather’s face, a look of unadulterated anger on his face with specks of red in his eyes.

 

“…W-What’s going on?” She whispered, her eyes slowly travelling from one person to the other until it landed on her friend, who seemed to have been trying to break up the argument between the two brothers, but was failing miserably as he was stuck in a position that looked as if he was about to fall backwards into the table behind him. Jieun heard a long, drawn out sigh from the back of her mind.

 

 

"Looks like the little girl cannot deal with such trivial issues. What a useless human we have been placed with."

 

    

“Who’s there? What have you done to the others?” She spoke out more confidently, her eyes searching around for the faceless voices but her attempts were just fruitless as there was nobody in sight other than the rigid statues of the people around her.

 

 

“We aren’t here to scare her brother, would it hurt you to try to be friendly towards her?”

 

“…Why would I waste my efforts being nice to a human?”

 

“Well, unless you’d rather spend all eternity in that book, then it’s your decision brother.”

 

“Is there an option to stay in the book?”

 

“…Not that I know of.”
 

“…Damn.”

 

 

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you two reschedule your little chitchat moment for another time and explain to me why the others and my friend have practically turned into statues?!” She was on the verge of ripping her hair out at that very moment. Jieun could hardly give a monkey’s if one of the pair did not particularly like her, on the contrary she welcomed the idea that at least one of these demons would not be overwhelmed by the ‘need’ to see to her every whim is attended to.

 

In any other situation, she would have been more than happy to listen to their mindless conversation, but for right now she was too stressed to think clearly enough to be able to think process this out as she was forced to throw out any kind of logical thinking—since all of these events she had gone against all she thought was true—and the fact that she was pretty low on her caffeine intake for the day. 

 

Overall, it was safe to say she wasn’t very happy in the slightest.

 

 

“My brothers did not turn into stone, incompetent human.”

 

“Please excuse my brother, as you can already tell he’s not fond of the human species—“

 

“Heh, that’s the understatement of the century.”

 

“My brother has the ability to control time which allows him to manipulate events or to erase them when suitable.”

 

“But of course, you would have already known that if you read the book.”

 

 

“Time control?” She slowly nodded her head in understanding; they must have been the last remaining pair to appear from the alternative universe of that godforsaken book.

 

 

“We wanted to help diffuse the situation before our brothers made a scene; I suspect that you could already tell some have quite explosive tempers. Plus, it seemed that you required some time to calm yourself.”

 

                                                                                                                                                    

“If they weren’t like that then I would not have made an outburst like that. I don’t understand how they are so…so—“ Jieun struggled to think of the word, frustration playing on her emotions.

 

 

“Protective?”

 

 

“More like overprotective.” She corrected, the dry comment accompanied by a slow eye roll.

 

 

“They are just concerned over your wellbeing, maiden.”

“And over your troublesome friend, are you certain that he is trustworthy?”

 

 

“Of course I am! He’s been my friend through school, I know for a fact that he’s completely harmless.”

 

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure, we’ve been around long enough to know that it’s better to be cautious than careless.”

 

 

“Are you suggesting my friend could potentially harm me?” The petite girl narrowed her eyes in evident annoyance at the accusation that her childhood friend would ever think of hurting her. It was a simply ridiculous thought.

 

 

“Well, it looks like she isn’t completely stupid—“

 

“We’re just advising you to be careful, maiden. You cannot be too careful these days.”

 

 

“Now, on to more important matters, how do I calm everyone down?” Not wanting to get worked up about this when she was trying to fix the other situation, she swiftly changed the subject before her anger level rose up.

 

 

“Simple, just order them to do as you say.”

 

 

“But what if I don’t want to order them around?”

 

 

“How peculiar. I thought this would have been an easy solution for a human in your position.”

 

 

“What do you mean by that exactly?”
 

 

“Humans are fickle creatures who are power hungry so I did not distinguish that you would be any different from them.”   

 

“Please excuse my brother, maiden. He does not intend to insult you.”

 

 

“As much as it would surprise you to think that I would not just command them around to do as I please, I don’t think its right for someone to force others to do something that’s against their own will. I would rather that they would choose willing to follow what I say because then they would not be treated like mindless robots.”

 

“I never asked to have servants for all eternity. I mean sure, it seems like a pretty good deal, if you’re like a kid of course. But now as I’ve gotten older, I have the choice and ability to decide my own path in life. You guys, on the other hand, do not share my privileges in that sense. I would be incredibly be annoyed at work when the owner bosses me around just for my 2 to 3 hour shift, so I cannot even imagine how it would feel to be ordered about day in and day out. That’s why I can now fully appreciate my freedom and that’s why I want you guys to experience it too. I know it’s not much right now but I’m willing to give as much help as I can.”

 

 

“I do not take back what I said before; you may just be all words like the others. Actions speak louder words, little human.”

 

“What’s my brother is trying to get across is that he respects you, maiden.”

 

“I would not go as far as say I respect her brother.”

 

 

“What do your brothers like to do in their free time?” She spoke the first thing that popped into her mind knowing that if this conversation continued further, no progress would be made, a thoughtful expression firmly on her face.

 

 

“Well, as you could already tell, they all like different things.”

 

“But there’s one thing they like in common.”

 

 

“Really? What is it?” A spark of hope suddenly appeared, her eyes widened in excitement of finally getting somewhere with this.

 

 

“Sparring, what else would they do?”

 

 

“Uh, isn’t there anything normal that they prefer to do if the option of sparring was not available?” She deflated slightly as she rubbed her forehead; there were no isolated areas near the café, the only place that mainly consisted of the countryside area which required a large sum of money to pay for using the public transport services.

 

 

“I believe that they were quite fond of the human game…football, if I remember correctly.”

 

 

“Football? You mean like soccer?”

 

 

“If you did not already guess, we are not entirely familiar with your odd human terminology, little human.”

 

“But it sounds like you know what we’re talking about.”

 

 

If Jieun were to ever have that light bulb moment in her lifetime, then this would be the appropriate time for it to happen. She grinned, nodding to herself absentmindedly. “That’s it! I know what I have to do now.”

 

 

“…Pray tell, how did you manage to reach that conclusion from the answer football little human?”

 

“I trust that maiden knows what she is doing, brother.”

 

“Aish, humans never cease to baffle me.”

 

 

That was the last thing she heard before her frozen surroundings suddenly began moving, almost like it was rewinding on a video tape. She blinked a few times, a surreal feeling washed over her until it reached a halt as all the regular sounds returned back, a welcomed feeling from the silence she was forced to endure earlier on with the pair of voices in her mind.

 

The occasional ding of the doorbell that signalled whenever a customer arrived or left, the appetizing scent of coffee wafted into the air, Jieun could see freshly made confections being hauled out of the hot oven, as the waves of the music floated around the little quaint café. An overall relaxing scene.

 

“…Um, Jieun-ah, are you okay?” Lay glanced down at her through worried eyes; his hand gently patted her shoulder. Just the look of his face was enough to make her feel incredibly guilty that she would ever raise her voice at him, the innocent meek voiced healer of the group.

 

Now that she was able to process her thinking more clearly, her former anger no longer clouding her primary calm emotion, she could easily smile at him without feeling the need to punch something to relive that anger.

 

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be Lay?” She beamed at him brightly, turning her attention to the less-than-happy Chanyeol and Luhan, thereby not noticing the blush that decorated the quiet male’s cheeks.

 

She loudly clapped her hands, a mock stern look fixed on her face. “Now, now children. That’s enough of your bickering. If you would rather stand around arguing all day then I guess you two will just have to miss out the football game later.” She shrugged with an air of nonchalance as she looked past their synchronised looks of disbelief to smile at her wide eyed friend.

 

“Junhong, did you bring along your soccer ball with you?”

 

“U-Uh, I didn’t bring it with me but it should be at my house?”

 

“That’s absolutely fine! We can pick it up on the way to the park; it’ll just be like old times!” She looped her arm around the startled grey haired male with a firm smile plastered across her face; she turned her head slightly to the others. “You’re all welcome to join us of course, if you agree to get along with each other.” The brunette shot a meaningful look in Luhan and Chanyeol’s direction before proceeding to stroll out of the café. The latter not wasting any time to ensure he was occupying the free space beside her. 

 

“Is it just me who thinks that it is strange for Jieun to be so…happy?” Xiumin blinked a few times, as if not truly believing what he had just witnessed.

 

“Yeah.” The majority chorused in response as they followed the trio’s example to walk out.

 

The worker who was cleaning the table near the door lifted her head to see the group departing bowed with a customary smile. “Thank you for visiting us, please come again!”

 

 

 

 

Jieun shook her head as she watched the boys continue to whoop in victory at winning a game, mud stains adored their shirts as the older ones affectionately ruffled the maknae’s hair. The teams were split into the oldest—Xiumin, Luhan, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun and herself and the youngest—Chen, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Sehun and Zelo. Despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to use their powers, it was no secret (at least to her anyway) that they used Zelo’s oblivious nature to their advantage. It was undeniable that there was a highly competitive streak in each and every one of them, but she didn’t let that deter her as she had the bruises to prove it.

 

“Keep the noise down guys, otherwise my neighbours will complain.” She chided gently as she fished for her keys in her pocket, humming to herself absentmindedly with the appealing thought of a long hot bubble bath dominated her thoughts to nurse her minor injuries. Chanyeol, despite being on the other team, never failed once to move in front of her to prevent any potential dangers that could cause her harm meaning of course that this left an opening for her to score a few goals here and there. Zelo had left the group to go home after many attempts of trying to persuade Jieun to let him come over. But then the cover of the boys being her ‘neighbours’ would have been blown, thus her cobweb of lies would have been exposed which would have ultimately forced her to reveal all to her friend.   

 

She leaned on the door as she tried to find the house key amongst the various key chains that embellished it, only to find that it was already open. Jieun drew in a sharp breath, as pools of panic began to assault her mind. What if there was an intruder? What if they were here to steal her electronics items knowing that she was ‘supposedly’ living by herself? She let out a shaky breath as her eyes were dilated in fear. Or what if this person was some kind of psychotic murderer who was waiting in anticipation for her arrival? 

 

The brunette inwardly slapped her forehead; this was no time to be getting worked up when there could be someone stealing from her apartment! She had to investigate this further as she carefully treaded into her apartment, holding a hand up to the others which silenced them at the abrupt gesture. There was light coming from the kitchen area causing her to narrow her eyes in unsuppressed irritation. She had just gone food shopping the other day; it was by no means cheap to feed the seemingly bottomless stomachs of ten demons let alone her own. She was not going to let some idiot steal her food.

 

“Guys, unless I shout for help, do not show yourselves, understood?” But she did not leave them a chance to speak as she made an immediate towards the kitchen leaving them standing outside her door—but of course, not without arming herself with a nearby bat—an item of which her father had sternly reminded her to store a few around in secret places in case scenarios similar to this would ever happen—half expecting to see an masked individual clad in all black trying to steal anything easy to carry.

 

However, what she had found was completely the opposite of she stumbled upon.

 

“Welcome back my dear, I’ve cooked you food~” The familiar overly chirpy voice drilled into her ears, the owner donned her bright pink apron with a spatula in hand.  

 

“…”

 

“You never told me you had secret admirers! I found these two standing outside your apartment and don’t worry I interrogated them to ensure that they actually knew you, they seem like such sweethearts!”

 

“…” The brunette merely stared at her in agape, suddenly feeling drained from the tense emotions of adrenaline pumping through her veins as her grip on her bat slackened.

 

“Jieun-ah, don’t stand there with your mouth open, you’re supposed to be going for the attractive look-at-me look, not the I’m-trying-to-catch-flies look.” The older woman shot her a meaningful look before releasing a short stream of giggles towards the dining area as she suddenly spoke louder. “I’m sorry about her, she’s quite shy with boys, I was getting worried when she kept saying that she was never interested in dating—“

 

“Kwon Yunhee.” She spoke through gritted teeth, all patience thrown out of the window. “Which secret admirers are you on about? I’ve hardly even gone out this summer—“ Lies. Big fat lies. “—so how could I have met them?”

 

She waved her off nonchalantly with a cavity-inducing sweet smile. “Now I don’t believe that, Jieun-ah. You’re too modest about your looks, you know. Granny and I were right about you having to fight off boys with a stick when you grew up!” The black haired woman suddenly let out a happy squeal as she enveloped the younger in a tight hug. “Oh, my little baby girl is growing up so fast!”

 

“Yeah and your little baby girl is going to suffocate if you don’t let go soon.” The brunette in question huffed out in the constricting grip.  

 

“Yunhee-ssi, I’ve set the table, is there anything else you need me to do?” A velvety deep tone that Jieun found strangely familiar averted the attention away from her as the older woman grinned at the appearance of the male.

 

“Kris, you’re a darling. Could you take care of Jieun-ah for me while I finish up cooking?” She winked inconspicuously towards the girl, giving her a nudge towards the blond male before returning to her task at hand.

 

Jieun scowled darkly as she walked back into the living area until she was sure they were out of hearing shot from Yunhee. She pivoted on her heel to face the startlingly handsome male in front of her. “I’m sorry; I don’t think we’ve met before. Are you trying to pull some sort of stunt?”

 

He smiled at her. A dazzlingly smile that nearly blinded her. But that wasn’t the point. “I apologise for not explaining further, maiden. We did not want to disturb you during your football game, so we just went to your apartment instead to wait. We did not mean to cause any unnecessary trouble by getting your neighbour involved.” Admittedly, she was far too absorbed in just simply staring at him that she just barely managed to get the drift of what he was saying as the pieces began to fit together in her mind.

 

“Wait; were you one of the people I was talking to earlier?” She tilted her head to the side, a subconscious habit. He inclined his head in confirmation.

 

“Then, I’m guessing you aren’t the time controller brother with an attitude problem?”

 

He let out a sheepish chuckle at that. “Tao is not accustomed to not only humans but any other creatures alike. He can be quite, anti-social you could say.”

 

“That’s because most people are incompetent imbeciles, gége.”

 

Jieun narrowed her eyes at the appearance of the jet black haired male, his steel gaze locked onto hers with a less-than-amused look etched on his face. “That statement, however doesn’t include you, little human.”

 

“Wow, I feel so honoured.” She retorted dryly.

 

“Don’t be. The only reason why I haven’t slit your throat is because you are my so-called master, so do not test me or face the consequences.” He growled out, specks of crimson made him look more animalistic.

 

“If you feel so strongly about not wanting to be here, then why don’t you just leave? It’s not like you’re pleasant company anyway.” She sneered at him, not showing that she was intimidated in the least to some egoistic demon who seemed to lack basic manners.

 

He laughed bitterly, a mocking tone evident in his voice. “You think that I would rather spend my time with some pathetic, emotionally unstable child who thinks that she can sway my brothers with a click of her fingers? I would much prefer being stuck in that book than being under the control of somebody like you.”

 

The brunette slowly lowered her head thus causing her hair to shield her eyes as her shoulders quivered slightly. Jieun did not know why she was allowing herself to get upset. She could feel the frustrated tears that threatened to pour out of the corners of her eyes but she mustered up all the remainder of the conserved energy she had left in her body to suppress the urge to cry. This bastard was the last person she would cry in front of, because that’s exactly what he wanted, for her to show him how weak and pathetic she was. His words struck through her like knives stabbing her over and over again, each time hurting even more than before.

 

Kris shot an exasperated look in his brother’s direction. “Tao, that’s enough.” The blond male averted his eyes towards the silent girl.

 

“You are right about one thing. I am weak and emotionally unstable.” She lifted her eyes to reveal the suppressed tears around the edges. “But that’s not because I choose to be that way. I was never like this before I even found the book, my entire world has been turned upside because of it and I’ve had to push all my other trivial human problems aside to ensure that your brothers were looked after. Sure, I’ve complained about it enough times, but I did it because I wanted to help you guys because you were forced to spend so much time in that book that I thought I would wait until all of you appeared so that we could try to think of a solution with a roof over your head rather than being on the streets. This world may not contain mythical creatures like in yours but I can guarantee the second you show off your powers to the public you would be only thought of as potentially dangerous and you would be eventually captured and be manipulated into following the instructions of people who would make you kill and destroy.”

 

Silence was all that followed as she folded her arms over her chest, she released a sigh before the voice of Yunhee broke the quietness.

 

“Food’s ready! Bring your friends in here while the food is hot, Jieun-ah!”

 

“But I’m not going to force you to do something against your will; I’ve already told you before that I did not want to remove your freedom so if you wanted to leave right now, I would not stop you.” She stated with a shrug as she walked towards the door to let the others inside before all her other neighbours found out about her living arrangements, that would only darken her mood further than it already was at this current moment. Jieun would just have to do the only thing left, tell Yunhee the truth.

 

Or, if all else fails like if she refuses to believe it, just laugh it off as if it were some kind of practical joke.

 

“Is everything alright Jieun-ah?” Was the general response she got, besides from the typically hysterical Chanyeol. “We’ve got guests today, so please be on your best behaviour.” She merely said as she walked towards the kitchen, mildly surprised to see not only Kris sitting around her table but also a somewhat reluctant Tao with the others following closely behind.

 

“There you are, I was wondering what you were—damn baby girl! Did you go to some hot guy convention or what?” Yunhee did a double take as she shot a questioning look in the girl’s direction who merely sat opposite her.

 

“...Uh, not exactly—” She started but was interrupted by the excited puppy dog that was Chanyeol as he practically bounded over to sit on the vacant seat next to the blond leader, which was conveniently next to Jieun also.    

 

“Ayo whaddup Kris?!”

 

“Please not here, Chanyeol.” The older male sighed wearily.

 

“Aish, that’s not the line you’re supposed to say Kris hyung!!” The fire breather shot an appalled look at his brother.

 

“I want to sit next to kitten!”

 

“Tough luck, I’m older than you Sehun.” Jongin stuck his tongue out as he moved to sit next to the girl, only to find Lay had taken up residence in the seat, his usual smile stretched cutely across his face.

 

“Heh, looks like you aren’t sitting next to her either, loser.”

 

“Stop taking so much food Xiumin when you’ve already got too much on your place!” Baekhyun lightly swatted his head in annoyance.

 

“But I’m hungry!” He whined back, not looking like the oldest in the slightest as he gestured towards himself dramatically. “Look at me; I’m practically wasting away here!”

 

There was an amused snort from Chen. “Yeah of course, Xiumin hyung.”

 

“Please eat more, Jieun.” Suho smiled at her tenderly, seeming like the only beacon of light in this situation.

 

So much for them being on their best behaviour. She released a weary sigh as she took a sip of water.

 

“You know, I never pegged you to be the more than one guy type, Jieun-ah.” Yunhee pointed her chopsticks towards her; nevertheless she gave her thumbs up in evident approval. “Though I can understand why you have trouble choosing, they’re all so handsome!” She sighed dreamily.

 

You wouldn’t have such highly esteemed opinions if you knew what they were really like. She glared at Tao who was sitting at the far corner of the table, eating with feigned innocence as Sehun mindlessly chatted to him.

 

It’s a shame that he looks like a cute panda when really he’s an arrogant jackass who thinks he knows everything. With that she stabbed her chopsticks violently into her food with a scowl etched on her face.

 

 

It’s interesting to know you think of me as a cute panda, little human.

 

 

She did not even have to turn in his direction to know there would be an insufferable smirk on his face as his mocking tone entered into her mind.

 

Too bad you act like you’ve constantly got a stick shoved up your backside. With that thought, she mirrored his smirk as the ebony haired male glared daggers at her to which she winked in response. He seemed to roll his eyes at her, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. And that was all Jieun needed to work on.

 

 

 

Author's Corner                                                                                                                                                                   

 

There we go! Now all twelve have finally made their appearances! And it only took 16 chapters, not like I took my sweet time or anything. 

Honestly, I did have some problems trying to finish this chapter it was almost like it didn't want to be finished and it didn't help my internet kept dying on me ;_; Like, everytime I tried to end it, more dialogue kept churring out, as you could probably tell lol. BUT I DID IT~ For you lovely lot. 

Seriously, the main motivator for me was just seeing the random new subscriber notice/thing, rereading your comments (which I'm trying to think of responses to, other than thank you you're the absolute best and all the other corny stuff I come up with.I don't want to seem ignorant when I'm just super awkward when people say such lovely things about me) and by how despite the fact that I don't update regularly (as you guys probably have already noticed by now) the views keep going up...like, I found it surprising that you guys like this story that much to keep reading it. THANKS GUYS <3 

Now for the part you'll probably be annoyed at...I won't be updating again until late June/early July//summer time. I've got important exams for the next two months, so I really wanted to get this done and out of the way so that you guys would have something before I went on hiatus. I really hate exams. Oh and revising. 

So yeah, I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the support you've given me for this story, whether you've helped me by simply reading this or subscribing ^^ But I love hearing from you, reading your comments really spurs me on when I've got writer's block :D

Until next time guys, I'll miss you ;A;