22

Chapter 22

The walk back home commenced in nothing but utter silence. Jieun merely stared ahead, idly concentrating on the scenery enfolding before her, trying to push to the back of her mind the curious thoughts circling through her mind about the enigma that was no one other than Kris. Excluding the information she read about him in the book and the enlightenment moment from earlier in which she discovered that the blond model-like demon was a self-confessed artist, she knew hardly anything about him.

Then again, now that she gave some thought into this, she didn’t know much about the others either.

Giving a fleeting side glance to her right, she felt a light blush crossing the bridge of her nose. The brunette was not oblivious to the swift change in varied expressions to smitten or stunned stricken looks etched on the faces of passing pedestrians once he breezed by.

Though, it was made more than evident that the quiet demon was more of a listener than a speaker, she herself could not find the words to say to him to initiate some sort of a conversation between them to sift out the underlying feelings of awkwardness. At least, that’s how she felt from her own perception; there was no way of trying to distinguish his opinions on the matter, especially when she had trouble looking at him straight in the eye for longer than seconds, let alone actually hold a small talk chat with him.

“…Jieun, is something the matter?”

At first, she nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing the abrupt intrusion in her mind. Jieun’s hand raced up to where her heart was, only to feel its irregular beat pounding lightly against the palm of her hand. She inwardly let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding before the girl casted her eyes towards him, not expecting in the slightest to see concerned eyes staring back at her. She had to remind herself for the umpteenth time that Kris, along with the others, was not normal human beings. He was a hundred-something demon who wielded the power to frigging fly, for goodness sake. What else could she expect him to act?

She forced a small smile into his direction, relying on a silent response as she didn’t trust herself to be able to compose an intellectual answer through the telepathic link she seemed to share with all of them. That was also an aspect she did not fully understand. However, this didn’t appear suffice his rising worry as he nudged her shoulder slightly, almost encouragingly.

Jieun stared into his dark, brown eyes for a moment longer than needed, feeling a sudden burst of warmth fill her just simply by the eye contact. Usually, she could not detect emotions from the immaculately composed leader, for he remained emotionally stable at all times, because he had to, not because he wanted to. The endless duties and responsibilities resting on his shoulders weighted him down, forcing him to be somebody he wasn’t, in order for him to be able to fulfil his so-called ‘fate’ to look after his brothers. After what it seemed an eternity, she averted her eyes away. The brunette let out a tired sigh before casting her focus back on the scenery in front of her.

Nothing is the matter, Kris. I was just thinking that’s all. The girl was adamant on keeping the silence, folding her arms over her chest as if to further support her answer. From the corner of her eye, she nearly thought she saw him scoff in disbelief.

Until she quickly came to the conclusion that he did, indeed, scoff at her, but it wasn’t long before a crooked smile twitched at the edges of his lips.

“…You know… if you really wanted to know more about me or my brothers, all you had to do was ask.”

She blinked a few times, feeling a rush of colour spreading to her cheeks rapidly in sheer embarrassment of being caught out. Aish, was I that obvious…again? She tapped her cheeks lightly; through the palm of her hands she could feel the sensation of heat pooling around her face. Jieun grew bashful as she avoided eye contact at all costs.

I did not expect to have answers straight away. It’s probably best if we had this discussion with everyone else. The petite brunette shrugged her shoulders, swinging her arms back and forth with a purse of her lips causing her to miss the surprised look on the blond’s face. Besides...there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while. He merely inclined his head in understanding, waiting patiently for her to continue.

I just wanted to say thanks…The brunette cleared awkwardly, looking anywhere else but at him, she didn’t know why she did not feel at ease with him. For accompanying me today, even though you didn’t have to. The gesture was very much appreciated, so uh, thanks…Kris. The dragon tamer threw a bemused look in her direction until it gradually softened and a tingling sound escaped into the air, catching the girl by surprise. It started off with quiet, nearly inaudible muffled chuckles growing into louder—but not boisterous of course, since that would be completely out of character—more distinguished laughter.

Instantly, her face soured at the reaction. I didn’t know what I said was so funny. She bit out, not holding any of her annoyance back, her arms crossed over her chest as her lips were pulled into an irritated scowl. What she didn’t realize at that crucial point, was that her actions could easily be interpreted as nothing less than childish. However, much to her evident distain, her reply only seemed to fuel his laughter even more. The brunette narrowed her eyes as she quickly spun on her heel abruptly to turn left. It would only serve to be a diversion but she needed some space before her short temper would blow the situation out of proportion.

“Does my laughing offend you, Jieun?”

She didn’t bother to give a response. Jieun was more annoyed at the fact that hearing his voice shot calming waves through her, than the actual reality of him laughing at her. Sure, for the first initial seconds, she could not help but feel slightly offended that he felt it was the suited, appropriate timing to laugh at her when she felt uncomfortable to voice such views to him earlier. But she found that these negative feelings towards him had evaporated within seconds, now she was left with nothing but undeniable warmth whenever his voice floated in her mind.

“I am not laughing at you, but at the idea that you felt it was necessary to thank me, even though I had not done anything spectacular. Besides, I could not help it when you looked like that.”

“Looked like what exactly?” This time, she didn’t care about what the other pedestrians thought at the fact that she was snarling at the silent male, the former feelings were once again shattered as she whirled around with blazing eyes. But the part that really pushed at her buttons was that the demon was openly smiling at her. As if this whole farce provided him pure amusement at her dispense.

“You didn’t let me finish, easy there Jieun.”

He even had the gall to wink at her, causing a few unfortunate girls to be looking his way to faint. She could only stare at him agape, did the silent blond go through a rapid personality transplant while she turned her back? Kris took only a few steps as he advanced towards her, clearly exploiting the fact he had long legs, until he was merely a few inches away from her.

“You looked especially adorable back then, shy yet feisty like a kitten. I can see now where the inspiration from the devil twins came from.”

It took the petite girl a few clicks before it all fitted into place. Though, it didn’t particularly matter given that her brief moment of eureka was short lived, when she was met with twin blood-red eyes staring into her own. The words uh oh instantly sprung to mind at that sight. She tried to lean back to add to the small—microscopic even—distance between their faces only to notice his arm placed behind her back, thus preventing her from trying to escape.

“I’ve observed that you act rather on edge when you’re alone with my host, I wonder why that is, hm?”

Perhaps it is because; I, like the general population, like my personal space. She shot him a dry look, not even going to attempt pushing him away when she already knew it would be futile. The demon merely released a toothy grin at her as he leaned an inch forward causing the girl to tightly shut her eyes, only to open them a fraction of a second later to see him nuzzling her neck, causing soft strands of blond hair to tickle her cheek. She blinked before she rolled her eyes good-naturedly, lifting a hand to pat his head, which was quite a feat in itself considering the height difference between the mismatched pair.

“Well, from now on I, along with my host, will be the only ones who can invade your personal space.”

And with that been said, she felt a light peck on her lips before she was being dragged back in the direction of her apartment. Jieun could only look on in horror as she raised a shaky hand to her lips, where she could still feel the burning sensation, regardless of how feathery touch the kiss was. Inwardly, she was experiencing an emotional turmoil, feeling her soul escape from her body in sudden awareness of the situation.

…That…was my first…kiss…which was taken…by a demon…

The part that troubled her mind the most was when she realised that, strangely enough, she didn’t really mind all that much about the skinship. Perhaps, it’s just my inner fan girl talking here.

“—I allow you to accompany my little angel because I trusted that you would take care of her, I turned my back for five seconds and BAM!” The light demon dropped his fist onto the table, causing it to tremble for a brief moment under his strength, his tone dripped with nothing but rage. His eyes flickered from its normal brown orbs to its dormant crimson irises threateningly.

“You try to take advantage of her good nature by getting too touchy feely—“

“Aren’t you taking about yourself?” Chen piped up, only to receive a scalding glare in response from Baekhyun who paused momentarily mid-speech. The brunet simply waved the lightening demon off, pointing an accusing finger at the completely uninterested tall blond who was more content on simply watching the unspoken girl read the book that led him to meet such an appealing human such as herself.

“I would only treat Jieun the way that she deserves,” He argued with a firm expression. Like a princess? Jieun idly guessed as she turned a page. “Like a woman, whom I deeply respect and adore.” The brunette hid her flushed face behind the book as she inwardly cursed the greasy demon.

“Because I love her like how she loves her Baekhyun oppa, right baby?”

I say that sentence once and he will never let me forget it. She rolled her eyes, turning a page.

“And I, Byun Baekhyun, Jieun’s knight in shining armour—“ The oldest, Xiumin, could not suppress the urge to snort in disbelief as the brunet continued to solider on. “—will do everything in my power to protect your honour, my love!”

“…Just when we thought you couldn’t get more embarrassing, hyung.” Sehun threw a pillow in his direction, disgust written all over his face. “What are you? Some prince from a cheesy Disney film?”

“Jieun’s ideal type is someone like prince charming, for your information.” He argued heatedly, pumping a fist just over his chest. “I’m the closest to that description out of all of you!” Jieun, having heard more than enough, jumped to her feet from the couch, the book nestled in her hand—Luhan who had been resting near her jostled up—and sought out sanctuary in the kitchen before the situation worsened. Which it probably would.

I’ll let them sort it out themselves. Honestly, talking about my ideal types as if I’m not even there. The brunette shook her head; though the thought of making hot chocolate on the other hand was suffice enough to appease her.

“How do you know you’re her ideal type? Have you even asked her?”

“I just know.” Was the light demon’s argument, folding his arms over his chest with a defiant look etched on his features.

“Right, just like when you thought one of us was stealing your eyeliner?” Chen raised an eyebrow, daring his brother to prove him wrong. Instantly, blood pooled around the latter’s cheeks as he ducked his head for a moment in embarrassment.

“I used it one time because SNSD noona’s told me it would make me more handsome.” He puffed his cheeks out, a dark blush was scattered across his cheeks.

Xiumin was one of the first to burst out in unsuppressed laughter, slapping his thigh for good measure. “And you actually believed them? Aish, you really must have been infatuated with them if you listened to their advice to wear their cosmetics!”

“I wonder how Jieun would feel if we were to…inform her about your shenanigans with the siren noona’s, hm?” Sehun looked contemplative, placing a finger on his chin. It wasn’t long before his lips twitched into a devious grin, that old mischievous glint returning in his eye.

“If I remember correctly, you visited them quite frequently. I wonder what for, dating advice, perhaps hyung?” Jongin proceeded to add his own two cent with a knowing smirk.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened drastically as he shot up to his feet as he protested his innocence. “No! I swear that nothing happened between me and them! Sure, the noona’s are all beautiful and I admire them greatly—“

“You hear that guys, he admires the SNSD noona’s. That’s a new word for fooling around, hyung.”

“—BUT, I never viewed them anything more than older sisters. Jieun is the only one for me!” Despite that fact that his intentions were true and pure, his voice turned whiny and childish, he even subconsciously added a foot stomp to emphasis his words.

Luhan snickered into the palm of his hand. “Yeah, try convincing our dear kitty that whilst we tell her all the gritty details of your previous conquests. Maybe you’ll even rival our Jongin over here!” Even the silent Suho and Lay could not help but join in with the laughter.

The light demon looked alarmed before he narrowed his eyes dangerously as he grounded out lowly. “…You wouldn’t dare.”

Surprisingly it was Tao who spoke out, with a smirk gracing his feline-like features. “Try us.”

Ah, nothing better to lift my mood than hot chocolate and cookies. The petite girl munched contently on the saccharine coated confections.

She flicked a few pages with idle interest. Munch. Her attention drifted along each sentence, her selective memory taking in useful facts whilst forgetting the rest. She reached out into the cookie jar. Munch.

So, twelve demons huh? There’s none left hiding in this book, eh? She casted a suspicious look at the book as she picked it up, inspected it from all angles possible—without making her look too much of a lunatic—tapped it on the table top, peeked through the pages before she placed it back to its original place with a resigned sigh.

I don’t think I could cope with anymore demons popping up. I can just barely handle twelve, well badly anyway. She leaned against her fist. Maybe I could ask a favour off Yunhee? They need some sort of life other than being caged within the walls of this apartment. They could easily pass off as models anyway effortlessly.

Jieun, being too absorbed in her deliberation, did not see the towering shadow over her. It was only when she felt a napkin wipe her cookie crumb smeared lips that she was brought back to reality. She jumped slightly in her seat as the owner of the hand retracted itself slowly.

“Oh Chanyeol, you startled me.” She lifted a hand to steady her fast beating heart. “Is there something I can help you with?” The brunette maintained a calm composure, not entirely sure where she stood with the fire demon in the slightest since his personality transplant.

He stared at her for a moment, tilting his head to the side causing his hair to fall into his crimson eyes. The action did more harm than good, she could feel her nerves starting to get the better of her as she silently waited for his response.

“Yes, there is something you can help me with.” His voice was low and raspy to her ears, sounding underused than usual. He waited a few seconds then he added. “With the trial you have to face.” Jieun’s calm expression dropped, predominantly due to fear than anything else.

His eyes narrowed as his lips were pulled into a tight frown. “There is nothing to fear, little human. If you are worthy of my host’s attention, then I will return him to you.” As if he could read her mind, he answered her worries. Part of her felt slightly reassured, before a deep chuckle emitted from his lips darkly which caused that reassurance to die out completely. “If not, then I will take much pleasure in taking you for myself.”

She felt the blood drain away from her face; she had trouble swallowing the saliva in as she tried to distance herself as much as she could with the unpredictable demon. The brunette looked immediately towards the door that led towards the living room area where the others were. Surely, they would be able to sense if she was in trouble?

Chanyeol…or whoever he was suddenly grinned manically. But it wasn’t his usual derpy grin. It practically leaked in evil motives, his eyes mirroring the action with a much darker intention. What it was, she didn’t think she wanted to know.

“The others are not allowed to interfere with the trials that we, the demons set, it’s written in the book. So basically, whatever’s in the book goes. It’s their choice whether they pick easy or difficult ones.” He shrugged noncommittally. “Though you’ve already been through the worse with Suho and Lay’s demons, I’m not going to let you off so easily like how Baekhyun and Kris did.” With the latter, he seemed to emit disapproval, as if expecting more from the older dragon demon.

With a click from his fingers, a rapid torrent of fire encircled his form. Jieun let out a gasp as she placed her arms out over her form, it was a futile attempt to protect herself but she was only human. She did not possess special powers that would have enabled her to shield her body from harm. However, what caught her attention the most was that the fire was not red like she expected it to be, but black. The flames out the air and anything they could touch with greed and hunger.

Chanyeol’s face was contorted into nothing but amusement upon watching her face flicker from one emotion to another at a swift pace. Silently, he extended his arm out towards her with a single eyebrow raised.

“My challenge for you, human, is to prove that you fully and completely trust in Chanyeol that his fire will not bring you any harm. If you attempt to reach out but don’t trust with all your heart, well, I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure that one out by yourself.”

Jieun could only silently look on; her face conflicted as she averted her gaze elsewhere to collect her muddled thoughts. There’s no doubt that Chanyeol is a…unique character. He’s very child-like and innocent at times, but that one time when he suddenly shifted into demon mode…I can’t deny that for a while, I did not know whether I could trust him. If he could easily change in a split second into a state where he could hurt her without even a second thought…it is questionable whether I can trust him fully.

She bit her lip. The burning inferno surrounding Chanyeol was daunting. There was a voice at the back of her mind telling her that it wasn’t worth it, she would be putting herself at risk for something that she could not completely believe in.

But then half of her protested that regardless of whether the fire breather’s demonic nature had promptly scared her into not totally trusting him, every single time he had done something wrong even if it was trivial or fatal, he never failed to go far and beyond to apologise to her, there was something in him that did not make herself question his loyalty to her. The distinct memory of Chanyeol kneeling before her, bowing his head in shame—even though she was seriously angry with him—came to mind. He wasn’t afraid to toss aside his own pride and ego in order to obtain her forgiveness. It was almost as if sometimes, he gave off the impression of wanting her approval of him, he was bubbly and…dare she say it, adorable at times.

The brunette looked back towards the impassive demon. He wasn’t Chanyeol. Not that one she had grown to know over the past few weeks. He possessed a dark aura around him, though there was something charming about him, it made him appear manlier than his former self who acted more of a child. There was danger lurking in his blood stained eyes, but she could not deny that there was an element of unadulterated seduction that had an inviting appeal to them. Although, this was a side to him, it was a side that she had to accept because even if didn’t, that would prevent her from being able to trust him as a whole whether she liked it or not.

She wanted…no, she needed both the old and the new Chanyeol where he belonged. Here, with his brothers. The petite girl lifted her head higher. It was selfish, but she wanted Chanyeol back with her. He may be absolutely annoying, even at the best of times but he wouldn’t be Chanyeol if he wasn’t. She felt a smile pull at the corners of her lips. He wouldn’t be her Chanyeol otherwise.

It took her a few attempts, feeling both the physical and emotional weight it brought upon her, the brown haired girl had to will herself to take the first step—though it was tentative, it helped her to walk the rest of the way towards him. The fire demon watched every single action she took, his gaze so intensive and filled with scrutiny that it made her feel conscious of herself.

I have to do this. Jieun locked eyes with him. For a brief moment, she could have sworn she saw surprise dancing in his eyes. I have to prove that I can trust Chanyeol.

With that, once she was close enough to feel the heat radiating from the erratic surge of fire swirling around his figure, beads of perspiration began to form on her temple. She directed one final look towards Chanyeol before she dove in, reaching out for his hand. The girl had anticipated the smouldering pain from the burns, but the time seemed to go by at a snail’s pace as she fell forward through the fire circle.

“I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you’ve passed the test, little human. Though it wasn’t for proving that you trusted Chanyeol,”

Chanyeol’s demon commenced on intruding her mind, being the only confirmation that he no longer took possession of his host’s body, the voice started to turn quieter as Jieun began to drift from the reality of consciousness and unconsciousness. The last thing she remembered seeing was the adoring smile that only could belong to her Chanyeol as he held her in his arms, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead as he nuzzled her head in nothing but pure contentment.

“The real test was to prove that you love him.”

Author's Corner

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I can't even with the response I've gotten with this fanfiction. You guys are so amazingly patient, thank you so much for continuing to support me and my work!!

So, I've made every effort to get this posted today! It's a lot shorter than my chapters usually are, but I got everything I wanted done in this chapter!

Tomorrow, I'll reply to both old and new comments! Sorry I haven't been active properly in the last few months, it's been quite emotional to say the least! But we're all still here together!