20

Chapter 20

It was such a surreal feeling—not knowing whether you were dead or alive. Jieun could no longer feel the intense, sharp strikes of pain that she could have sworn she felt simply moments ago. She lifted her hands to rub her eyelids, slowly opening her eyes as she half-expected to wake up to see the worried faces of the demons, to find that the events that played out earlier on was just a simple illusion, a distortion of reality.

To her dismay however, she found herself waking up to nothing but pure and utter darkness. She blinked multiple times, as if this alone would help clear her eyesight; trying to sit up straight, she turned her head from side to side in an attempt to try to locate any other beings in whatever place she was in, but it was futile.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” The brunette croaked out after a short pause of hesitance, her voice was on the brink of cracking as if it had not been in use for a considerable amount of time—which in itself was simply ridiculous.

“How foolish can you get, human? Risking your life for those twelve insufferable demons is one thing but actually dying for them is just beyond the phase of being stupid.”

Immediately, Jieun frowned at hearing that. There was no point in trying to look where the owner of the voice was when nothing but darkness penetrated her vision from all corners. She furrowed her eyebrows together, small pearls of shock coursed through her veins. “…I’m dead?”

She was startled out of her short-lived stupor when the stranger let out a sound as if it made a noise of disbelief from the back of it's throat. “Well, what did you expect to happen? You ing jumped in front of a lighting-speed dagger. Honestly, it baffles me why you humans do not think before they do things like this? It makes my workload ten times more difficult to manage, damnit.” It cursed further profanities under its breath, grumbling in evident annoyance.

Oh my god…I’m actually… dead. She blanched completely, all thoughts instantly drained from her mind; the feeling of numbness infiltrated her system until the point where she could not feel anything. All her plans for the future, going to university with Zelo and his new group of friends, her grandma welcoming her warmly with her seemingly never-ending plates of freshly cooked confections, seeing the happy faces of the children at the hospital…even seeing the arguing group of brothers every day who had been unceremoniously dumped into her life to the amusement of whatever higher power existed. Tears began to build up in the corners of her eyes; she gripped her knuckles until they turned white. I…I cannot believe that my life ended just like that, I didn’t even get to say goodbyes…to grandma, my parents…

“If you’re just about done reminiscing about your mundane life, then I think we should get started.” The snapping of fingers resounded in the room and in seconds her vision was harshly assaulted by a blinding radiant presence of light, her eyes felt like it was burning from the intensity alone as she tried to adjust.

Jieun glanced all around her somewhat like a lost child, only to find four blindingly white walls was the first thing to greet her. There was no sight of the person talking to her, for a moment she thought that she was just imagining the voice—that is until of course she felt a shiver from icy breath which ghosted around her neck mockingly reminding her of her reality. “I’m afraid that I’m as real as the fact that you are undeniably careless, human.”

She jolted upwards, staggering to stand up awkwardly, whirling around to find apathetic piercing cerulean eyes staring back at her. The brunette let out a surprised squeak as she moved to back away as far as she could from the cloaked stranger who remained indifferent to the reaction, as if expecting it.

“W-Who are you?”

“It does not matter who I am. I am merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things around here. What greatly concerns me most at this present moment now is why you are in the transition zone lying between the world of the living and the dead.” The stranger stated with an air of nonchalance, the blue eyed person waved their right hand around lazily—causing two chairs to materialise out of thin air. If Jieun wasn’t already getting used to the crazy whirlwind that has been circling her life then she would have no doubt been stunned into silence by now.

“Come, take a seat. This may take some time.”

The brunette paused for a moment, her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. “Don’t give me that look, human. It’s not like I can cause any real harm to you anyway, unless you piss me off like you’re doing right this instant. It’s probably best to explain things this way, wouldn’t want to you faint suddenly like most wannabe heroines do these days. How troublesome.”

Taking the seat directly opposite the cloaked individual, she could feel the person’s stare on her. She gulped quietly, fidgeting with the hem of her bloodied shirt—the only indication and evidence to show her that this was not a dream, a reaffirmation of her actions, much to her own frustration.

The blue eyed stranger hummed under its breath. “You know, most people in your position would have already died by this point. That injury that you’re sporting right now should have been an instant kill since it cut through your chest into your internal organs. But for some reason that I cannot fathom, you’re here instead of being in the other world.”

“Then…does that mean I’m not yet dead? I can still be saved?”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up yet, human. You’re practically on the verge of being dead, so far off the edge your soul is hanging onto just a single strand of string. It would take a miracle to save you now.” The unknown creature shook its head, folding its arms over its chest, the response caused her shoulders to deflate as a disheartened expression took up the space on her formerly hopeful face.

“But what I’m most curious about is why you gave up your own life, how did you even know they were telling the truth in the first place? They could have been lying to you in order to see what makes you tick.” It leaned it's head against its fist; the blue eyes scrutinized her with such burning intensity it nearly made her recoil. “And you, like most humans, could not wait to see what would happen next, and then make a rational decision however you just decided to throw yourself into harm’s way. Tell me; was it all worth it in the end, human?”

What did make her sacrifice herself? For somebody like Tao no less, the stubborn demon who utterly refused to even speak to her unless it was absolutely necessary, otherwise he never bothered to even spare a glance in her direction. Looking back on it now in hindsight, she could understand the confusion of her actions from the cloaked stranger sitting before her. Why would a young person such as herself, who had her whole life ahead of her, wasted all of the efforts she had put into her life for somebody like him of all people?

Jieun sighed wearily, leaning back in her chair. When the demon possessed pair consisting of Joonmyun and Yixing had revealed to her the price for their supposed freedom, she didn’t know what the ‘right’ thing to choose was. She felt responsible in terms of giving them what they wanted—something that she often takes advantage of herself, the ability to do what she wants without having to follow the orders of anyone. Of course, there was nothing forcing her to commit such a costly act. There were a few fleeting moments where in the back of her mind; she did not even want to give it a second thought in terms of forfeiting her own life in exchange for their freedom. But it was only once Tao had stepped forward, to claim the place where she should have been in and when he had defended her—willingly, might she add— that she became more certain of her decision. As much as she wasn’t particularly fond of him, on many occasions she would imagine killing him over and over again in a fit of suppressed rage from watching on as he revelled in evident amusment, she felt touched that he would do something like that for her. It made her realise that he wasn’t as bad as she initially thought he was, much very like his eleven other brothers—who all would have missed him terribly if he was the one to have died.

Those twelve demons only had each other to look after one another; they were all they had left from their world. If she was the reason why they had to lose one brother, she wasn’t sure whether she could live with herself for that. She knew that they all cared immensely about each other; whether they admitted it out loudly or not. She couldn’t bring herself to tear the brothers apart even if it came at the price of her own life. Perhaps in later life—wherever she may be at this point—she might have some regrets, have a few ‘what if’ moments, but knowing that she was able to give them the gift of free will that they’ve been wanting for goodness knows how long, their once again happy smiling faces returning as they continue to live their lives, then that would override any negative feelings dwelling inside her.

“I gave up my life in order to give them back the chance to live their lives without having to listen to anyone’s orders, as if they are mindless machines that only operate on command. Even if they were lying, it would not matter because I know that they weren’t acting like themselves, they could only do so much to restrain their demonic instincts, and if they were in their right state of mind, I know they would do the same for me. I would do it again because I did not want any of them to sacrifice themselves for me, I was able to live my life the way I wanted to up until this point with the people that I love and care for and that’s more than enough. So to answer your question, yes it was worth it and I have no regrets.”

“It’s rare for me to witness such sincerity from such a childlike human such as yourself that it makes me want to puke. But I respect your decision, regardless of how irrational you were, your intentions were honourable human.” The stranger suddenly grinned at her from underneath its cloak, at least that’s what she thought he did anyway. “You’ve dashed away part of my initial opinion of you, though I still think your lack of thinking in situations may result in the real end of you.”

“Oh gee, thanks…how nice of you to say such a thing to somebody of my incompetence.” She snipped back with evident sarcasm with a roll of her eyes.

“Don’t get used to it. I’m not always this friendly; you just caught me in a good mood.” It waved off her concerns with a bat of its hand. This is what this demon’s like in a good mood? She dreaded to think what it would be like otherwise, nearly shivering at the notion.

“So…” She drawled slowly, not knowing how to approach her next statement as she pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow. “What happens now? Do I have to walk into some kind of light or is there some kind of queue I have to wait in?”

“Is that what you think happens when you die? Oh god, the human perception never fails to amuse me. Well, I’ve got some good news; it doesn’t seem like it’s your time to join me yet, human.” It gestured towards her bloodied shirt, which was starting to return back to its standard white colour with the peace sign no longer smeared in streaks of her blood, much to her surprise. She blinked a few times, trying to register what he had just said before shooting a questioning look in its direction.

“But I don’t understand…didn’t you say I was dying a while ago?”

It shrugged its shoulders at her. “Life spans can change in an instant, it was hard to tell whether you were going to make it or not, but it seemed like your demons have managed to sort things out on their side.”

Jieun’s eyes widened as she leaned forward in unveiled excitement, clearly oblivious on how he placed more emphasis on ‘your demons’. “You’re saying that I’ll make it out alive?”

“You’ll have to wait and see. I have no doubt in my mind that you are indeed suitable for those twelve demons you’ve got there.”

“I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick, sir…whatever you are. I’m not in that kind of relationship with them; in fact it was purely just friendship.”

“How cute, you’re in denial. Well, you’re gonna have to start learning to accept your blossoming relationship soon, those twelve demons of yours do have hormones you know.”

“Ugh, what are you even insinuating? That’s just disgusting; I’m still practically a teenager for goodness sake!”

“And it seems that you’re in need of the birds and the bees talk urgently little girl, otherwise you need to understand the concepts of how demons court the ones they are interested in.” It chuckled at her mortified expression. “I was only kidding about the mating part, but seriously you need to be aware of their feelings. It’s dangerous how you’ve not only got a few but the whole number of twelve demons wrapped around your fingers, especially with such power as theirs combined. I would recommend first acknowledging how you feel about them, the bond you share between them has already shown signs of how much you care for them but you need to be able to admit it, not only to yourself but to them.”

“But I don’t even like them in that way!” She insisted with wide eyes, waving her hands in front of her face frantically as if to emphasis her point further.

“Whether you like them or not, they’re yours. I’m sure they won’t take no for an answer either so prepare yourself, human.”

The colour had completely drained from her face. What has my life come to?!

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you change your tune in the near future. Once you return, your bond will strengthen with each of them depending on how much time you spend with them so I suggest that you avoid favouritism because you’ll only make the others jealous.”

The cloaked stranger seemed to pause, as if deliberating for a moment on anything it might have forgotten to say before it continued without taking much notice of the brunette’s stiffened body. “Oh, and just some advice for future reference, don’t go off spending too much time with those boys you’ve become friends with recently. Demons are known to be incredibly possessive of what they consider to be theirs, so they won’t like it if you’re covered in some other boy’s scent rather than them.”

Jieun could feel herself slowly losing consciousness, the panicked voices of the demons in question were a welcomed sound in her ears, though the relief only lasted for a few seconds. I’m not sure if I’m ready to face them after what this stranger’s told me!

“Looks like your time with me is coming to an end, I hope that I won’t have to see you any time soon. Otherwise, take care of yourself. Don’t let those demons bite you…too hard,” It had the nerve to smirk at her; she didn’t have time to shoot a glare in his direction before she was vanished from the white room.

She barely had time to control her breathing as she suddenly lunged forward against her will, her body shuddered violently as streams of uncontrollable coughing and spluttering escaped her lips leaving in a state that left nothing to be desired making it feel dry and scratchy, and by the end of the ordeal her voice increasingly became strained. It was only after she had managed to calm her body to a manageable level that the brunette could feel hands rubbing her back soothingly in circles, she became more aware of the hushed voices around her, some were sighing in what it seemed to be relief as they clutched their fists to their chest while others were repeating whispers under their breath in a never ending mantra. The teleporter was leaning against the wall, his hair covered his face thus acting as a veil, his shoulders shook with such emotion that he just could not contain it.

“Don’t you ever do that again, you ing hear me?” Jongin growled lowly with such ferocity it caused her to wince from the other side of the room; however he evaporated into thin air for what it seemed a millisecond before he materialised right in front of her own eyes. He leapt forward to take her into his arms, carefully holding her in a gentle hold as he a few stray stands of hair from her forehead.

“You scared me to death when you did that…I thought you were…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish, leaving his statement to trail off into nothingness. Jieun remained silent, only clutching onto the fabric of his shirt as she did not have the heart or strength to push him away, she could feel him pressing his lips against her forehead for a longer period than she had expected him to, pausing in his actions for a moment as if saying a silent prayer. “Please…don’t act so recklessly. I don’t know what I would do if…if you were no longer with me…”

The chestnut haired girl could hear shuffling next to her, causing her to lift her head up slightly to see the puffy eyed Kyungsoo and Chen kneeling at her side, a few teardrops continued to fall down their cheekbones, the sight was enough to cause her heart to ache for making them like this so much so that she slowly released her hold on Jongin to reach out both of her hands to clutch onto theirs tightly.

“It hurt so badly when we saw you…in that awful state. We never wish to see you so vulnerable again…we could not bring ourselves to even consider the fact that you were no longer with us.” As if to reconfirm their words, Jongin’s hold on her tightened slightly before it slackened to allow her to breath but not enough to let go. Jieun did not even register when the latter had reluctantly released his hold on her, she was so overcome with emotion that she could not even begin to comprehend her surroundings. She swallowed slowly, trying to push away the tears that were on the verge of falling, perhaps it was the feeling of a near death experience, realising how much she meant to these demons, and of how much these emotions were being pent up so high that she was practically on breaking point.

“You’re alive…you’re okay…thank goodness.” That’s all she was able to make out before she was enveloped into a warm embrace as a foreign scent flowed into her nostrils, she didn’t know how to respond at first. Jieun’s eyes softened as she lifted her hands to wrap them around his waist loosely, leaning her head against his shoulder, the action itself was more comfortable than she had initially thought. The demon lightly squeezed her arm before leaning back to reveal his face, a soft look stretched across his face as he glanced over her to ensure that not one scratch was etched on her body.

Tao released a heavy sigh, shooting a half-hearted glare through narrowed eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that. I was more than capable of defending you or did you doubt my power to do so?”

The petite girl merely shrugged her shoulders, mustering a small, tired smile. “Your actions were a testimony of how despite how you disliked since I first met you…you would still sacrifice your life in order to save mine. That is more than enough for me to wish to do the same for not only you but for the rest of your brothers.”

He tapped her forehead with an unimpressed look. “Don’t take away the only responsibilities I have, I’m here to protect you, Jieun.”

“And I am here to look after you, not as the title of master, but as someone who cares about you.” She was quick to rebuke with a slightly irritated look at first before it gradually melted into something that could only be described as affectionate. It was a highly unusual sight to witness first hand as a small—microscopic even—smile twitched at the corners of the panda eyed male’s lips, he slouched forward to lean his forehead against hers.

“And there was me thinking that we were back to hating each other again.” And then he decided to ruin it. The brunette suppressed the urge to roll her eyes in exasperation.

“You’re quite troublesome, little human. Yet, I think I’ll grow fond of you.”

Jieun grinned, letting out a sound of approval from the back of . And you’re still a jackass. But I think that I can overlook that if we both try to be nice to each other?

“I cannot promise that I’ll be able to put up with your human tendencies but what I can agree on is that I’ll make more of an effort to court you like my brothers do.”

She felt her eyes widening in shock, only to find that he was smirking at her with an undeniable sense of smugness as he lowered his voice to a sensual murmur. “I do look forward to that very much, Ji-e-un-noona~.”

YOU’RE NOT EVEN YOUNGER THAN ME AND YOU HAVE THE CHEEK TO CALL ME THAT, YOU BASTARD. She openly seethed at him, baring teeth and all in a way she thought was intimidating. It was just in essence, absolutely adorable. Tao had to hold himself back from the sudden urge to never let her go; simply setting on a mehrong, which only seemed to fuel her anger further until she reminded herself that there was no point in overreacting especially just after the events that went on so she decided that a light knuckle to his head would have to suffice for now.

“You must be curious to how you were able to return back.” Once she was resituated into the kitchen area, nursing a hot cup of tea with a warm blanket draped around her shoulders—courtesy of Kyungsoo, Joonmyun had uttered a statement which had been unquestionably playing on her mind.

“Firstly, I think it would be an appropriate time to announce that you have passed the test. But before you spurt out your questions, we will try to explain as best as we can in these circumstances.” He wetted his lips for a moment; his eyes seemed to exert some warmth back into the brown orbs she found herself staring into. “We wanted to ensure that our new master, who is you, would be approved by not only us but by our demons—which is a race that does not look keenly on those who are weak. You had surpassed their expectations just by your actions alone, when you took the blade that was supposedly meant for Tao. They wanted to test whether you would be willing to sacrifice yourself not only for our brothers but for somebody that you do not find pleasant company such as one of our youngest brothers Zitao. This has shown to us that you are cooperating and responding well to the bond and that you were the right person to have freed us.”

Kris patted her head from the side with a slight smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “Our powers are directly correlated on whether you are living, which would explain why we were incapable of healing your wounds—which would have been fatal, if the bond did not exist. That experience has not only established to us how strong the bond has become but also how we have all come to value you in our lives, Jieun.”

“…We nearly lost you at one point. Yixing hyung and Tao hyung were trying to do everything in their powers to bring you back; we were starting to get desperate towards the end of it where we were seriously contemplating going to the underworld just to bring you back, to have you with us again.” Sehun wrapped his hands around her left side, leaning his head against her shoulder as he breathed in her smell that lingered on her clothes that he could never get enough of.

Luhan had remained religiously quiet during the duration of when she had regained consciousness until this stage in the conversation; his eyes were hidden furtively under his blond fringe. “I did not know what to do with myself…while I knew the purpose of the test, seeing the level of pain you were forced to endure because of it, I wanted to take your place instead…anything to take that hurting away from you. I thought we were too late when you turned pale, your lips started to turn purple…for a brief second, I was forced to think about how life would be like if you weren’t with us.” He took in a sharp shaky breath, not knowing where to look as if he was going through the events in his mind. “…I did not like it, not one bit.”

She did not know what had come over her at that exact moment, but there was a significant need to comfort the baby faced male stirring within her. She leaned over past Sehun, being careful not to move him from his spot otherwise he would just whine like the child he was, to his head with a fond look. “Well, I’m not going anywhere Luhan. I’ll stay with you for as long as I can.” Because she could not make any promises that she could not possibly keep, she had no guarantee that she would live until she grew old, life was unexpected and cruel in that sense—but that’s how it has always been like. Instead, she settled on an answer that she could promise with all her heart. The male in question leaned into her touch, closing his eyes before he kissed the inside of her wrist.

“It was like some miracle had happened with you returning back to live again. It’s quite rare for human masters in particular to manage to survive an attack like that; the majority of attacks result in deaths due to too much blood loss when they go through the different demonic rituals in order to prove their worth. Then again, it’s rare for humans to be masters of demons, period.” Yixing stated with a thoughtful expression taking up the space on his face, folding his arms which caused Jieun to notice the traces of red tainting his fingers.

The brunette’s eyes lowered to her hands in her lap for a brief minute, which were still continuing to tremble slightly. “…What were the actual chances of me surviving?”

“Slim, very slim.” The oldest out of the group, Xiumin was quick to notice the look of fear that spread across her face, he decided upon himself—for once—to mediate the situation before it turned sour as he waved his hands frantically but not before he shot the healer a scathing glare. “But that does not matter anymore. What matters is you are here, all healed up and alive Jieun.”

Kyungsoo reached out to hold onto her hands, to steady them from shaking. “And we’ll always be right next to you, we promise not to let anything like that happen again at least not if we can help it anyway, Jieun-ah.” There was an overwhelming amount of emotions radiating from each and every one of them, nearly to the point where she could feel herself tearing up at the level of affection each of them held for her, she bowed her head, letting out a quiet sniff, before she lifted her head once more only to realise the people missing from the group.

“Where have Baekhyun and Chanyeol gone?” She tilted her head around her cramped kitchen area—at least that’s what it felt like with an additional ten demons surrounding the table.

“…Well about that…” Chen was about to continue when a blur suddenly passed them all until it was standing in front of a startled Jieun, the light demon suddenly leaned forward, pressing some of his weight against her seat thus successfully aggravating the sleepy Sehun on her side.

“My poor baby…let your Baekhyun oppa take good care of you, yeah?” He pressed a long chaste kiss to her collarbone, making her gasp at the unexpected contact—and the act of skinship she knew Baekhyun would not have done if he were in the right mind—trailing one finger along the side of her face with such tenderness it nearly caused her to forget where she was. “Why don’t you let me sleep with you tonight, keep all those bad dreams away from my precious girl. I’d kill anyone who would even dare to lay one finger on you,” He inhaled deeply her neck, it unnerved her that he was being casual about inflicting an act as terrible as death upon someone, even one of his brothers, but it was evident that he was far too focused on other matters like the smell of her lavender shampoo was most certainly pleasing, but there was something else…something he could not distinguish.

“Does that mean I get to kill you for touching my mate?”

This was not the Chanyeol she knew. Sure he possessed the same baritone voice and owned the same looks, but there was something noticeably about him that had changed, his bubbly child-like personality was spun around until all he had left was his sadistic side. He sauntered leisurely into the kitchen, his dark eyes trained on her and suddenly his curls not longer gave him a boyish look but instead he appeared more roguish. It didn’t help the fact that his eyes were gleaming like red rubies, they were haunting that was the only way she could describe them. He did not speak any further to justify what he had said, but his burning stare seemed to engrave into her mind causing an involuntary shiver to run down her spine.

“You’re mine, Jieun. Never forget that.”

Author's Corner

Guys...can you believe that tomorrow/today/whatever day it is where you are// 25th August...this story is gonna be 1? Happy birthday EBB <3~~~