*Not Rated M officially but Rated M unofficially because of cursing. You have been warned. 

I rubbed my droopy eyes, straining to see if I was even seeing correctly. I mean, there’s no way this is actually happening. There’s no way I actually woke up to find not even a hint of crispy bacon or buttery pancakes, a favorite breakfast combo of the Tokebi, wafting through the air from downstairs. There’s no way I actually woke up to find not a single soul, demon, spirit, or otherwise, anywhere in the house.

Not in my bedroom. Not in the bathroom. Not in my grandparent’s bedroom. Not in the living room. Not even in the kitchen. There was no one here.

And that’s when I remembered the two words I had said to the six otherworldly beings earlier this morning.

I had done it.

I had really done it.

I had succeeded in ridding myself of the devil and his associates.

And I couldn’t help the laugh that came bubbling out of my throat. A laugh that if anyone else heard it, they would think I had gone certifiably insane. But, they would be wrong on that account. I was the farthest from insane at this point in time. I was ecstatic. In my right mind and completely and utterly ecstatic.

So much so that I did a quick run around the house, waving my arms around as I felt not a single Gumiho’s face nor Demon’s tail get in my way.

Okay, maybe I am a little insane.

And maybe, this is too good to be true.

Maybe I’m dreaming?

The doorbell rings and I bound towards it from my the living room, opening it as though I’ll find Mr. Demon there, pulling an April Fools prank on me early. But, it wasn’t him. It was Oh Sehun. My crybaby best friend. And honestly, I’m not exactly a fan of pinching myself. So, before he could even say a word about my pajama clad appearance or the bird’s nest that was my hair, I reached forward and pinched the back of his hand hard.

“!” He cursed, causing me to slap chest right after, reprimanding him for using such a word, to which he cursed again, “, woman! Quit it!” And I hit him again, this time my hand had clenched into a fist as I punched him right where I slapped him.

This time, he wasn’t dumb enough to let loose upon the world another profanity. Instead, he bit down on his lip and glared at me with that childish face of his, threatening me. Come on Sehun, we all know you can’t intimidate anyone when you look like an overgrown puppy.

But, the fact that he was reacting so normally, that he indeed felt the pain I was inflicting upon him, meant that this wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t an April Fools prank either.

And at such joyous thoughts, I threw my arms around the puppy in front of me, gaining an irritated groan from said pup.

“Why are you hugging me? Stop being gross!” He whined as he wiggled in my embrace. But, I didn’t let go. I continued to smile like a maniac as I shook him back and forth in delight.

Yes, I think I have gone insane.

And I have no problem with that in the least.

“So, what kind of game are we going to play today?”

“My hand still hurts you now.” Sehun grumbled from behind me as we entered through the automatic doors into the heated gaming arcade.

“Maybe a shooter first?” I stalked towards the James Bond shooting game whilst forming a pseudo-gun with my hands. I pivoted on my heel and turned to face him, pointing my “gun” at him and figuratively cocking it back before letting it loose, “Bang!”

“And promote your violent tendencies? Yeah, no thanks.” He answered back as he brushed by my shoulder, bypassing the shooter for now.

“I pinched you because you cursed. Someone with a face like yours shouldn’t be allowed to curse. It should be outlawed. I’ll start a petition to make it happen.” Okay, so I was enjoying myself a bit too much I think. I couldn’t help the light hearted feeling that filled me though. I had not a single thing to worry about. Not a single demon nor spirit. So sue me for being overly happy in the face of my less than happy best friend.

Still, I was serious about what I said. Oh Sehun should not be allowed to curse. Sure, I won’t deny the raw emotions that come with dropping the f-bomb that makes it so much more satisfying to say when one, for instance, stubs his toe on the corner of a wall. I simply didn’t like the sound of his voice when he said it.

As I said before, his parents disapprove and as such, I am supported in my “violent tendencies,” as he and, I can’t believe he’s actually coming to my mind as though he knows thinking of him will deplete my happiness meter and send my rage meter off the charts, Mr. Demon, Bang Yongguk, like to call it.

“You pinched me before I even said a single word though.” Sehun answered, catching me off guard. When did Sehun stop walking and actually turn around to stare at me as he was doing now? Just now? Yeah, thinking about that particular demon is definitely not good for me right now.

I chose not to answer his completely valid point. I simply refuse to acknowledge any comment that could possibly jeopardize my validity.

“Maybe we should get into the photo booth and take a snapshot of your pouty face now before I beat you at 007 and you look even unhappier than you are now.” I mused, gesturing to the sparkling pink machine in the corner of the arcade.

If there were anything Sehun hated more than cleaning and creepy noises while cleaning, and being away from me of course, it was taking pictures. He was never satisfied with how they would turn out when we took them together.

His nose looked too big. His eyes looked too small. His hair looked unenthusiastic. How he could judge his hair’s feelings is beyond me but hey, it’s his hair, maybe they have secret conversations with each other while I’m not looking.

And so, at the very mention of the word “photo,” Sehun went walking past me again, “Fine, we can play the shooter first.”

“If I’m James Bond, will you be my Bond girl?” I asked as I jogged towards him.

And I caught it. For a single second, I caught that smile of his. It had been far too long since I had hung out with him like this. I had almost forgotten what it looked like. But there it was, albeit he covered it up with a scowl right after, refusing to show how much he enjoyed the idea of being my “Bond girl.”

“Take the offer while it stands.” I teased and he scoffed, just another way of covering up that smile of his.

Even if you don't take it now Sehun, you’ll always be my Bond girl. My best, crybaby, potty-mouthed Bond girl.

“I still say you cheated. There’s no way you could have beat me at a shooter. You never have.” Sehun frowned as he sat in front of me at a booth at a nearby fast food restaurant.

After 3 hours of playing games and exhausting all of the change out of my wallet, we had decided to end the day with an order of hamburgers and fries. We took pictures at the hated picture booth before heading here as well. Pictures that Sehun was now in the process of sorting out as he decided which ones he looked best in and thus which ones he wouldn’t be ripping up and throwing away.

As for this whole cheating business, Sehun is referring to how I literally kicked his , proving myself to be the true James Bond incarnate, at the first game we played. He’s right, I’ve never beaten him at it. But, no, I did not use cheats to win. I used motivation.

Plain ol’ human motivation fueled by a vengeance driven mind that has the ability to superimpose the faces of certain gummy smiles, fox pig faces, and stomach wormholes onto all incoming bad guys that needed to be slain. Thus, it is safe to say that playing that game first definitely put me into an even better mood than I was originally in, if that was even possible.

“I didn’t cheat. I channeled my inner Bond to win.” I answered him as I mindlessly went about the task at hand. In particular, the task that was in my hands at the current point in time. “Don’t worry though. As the Bond girl of this relationship, you just have to stand back and look pretty.”

I was joking and I honestly expected some kind of profanity to spew from his mouth in response that would have made me in turn deliver a lightning fast kick to his shin from underneath the table separating us. But, he said nothing. He said nothing for a long time.

And this was the reason I stopped what I was doing and looked up, finding him staring at me. Staring at me with those big brown eyes of his as he rested his chin in his propped up palm.

“What?” I asked, the question the most obvious one to ask when he was looking at me like that. Looking at me as though he was satisfied with doing just that. With doing only that.

“You’re babying me again.” He answered, his eyes downcasting, gesturing downwards to the item in my hands. The task I had at hand.

The task of removing the excess corners of bread off of Sehun’s hamburger because he was picky and didn’t like it when he took a bite and only tasted bun. I put it down, back onto the thin sheet of filter paper it came wrapped in, forgetting to tone down on the whole “feeding” thing. Sehun didn’t mind it in the past but lately for the last few times we had met up, he had. It seemed as though he were becoming too manly to be catered to by me.

I wonder what he would think of it if he knew that there were five spirits and a demon who relished in and took advantage of this habit of mine. If he would think it was such a bad thing if he knew others liked it as well. At least, I think they liked it. Daehyun complained only that one time but from then on I didn’t hear a single peep from him about it.

Okay, I have to stop thinking about them. Clear the mind, Sora. Purge it of all otherworldly thoughts. Purge it of the satisfaction it felt whenever it stomped down on that inviting red tail. Purge it of the contentment it felt when the Haechi said “Miss” before my name every single damn time he called for me. Purge it of the sense of normality it felt whenever the Dokkaebi would be reading the newspaper in the living room early in the morning. Purge it all. World War III is over now. 

“You don’t have to stop.” Sehun pushed the hamburger close to me, a slight tilt in his voice as he said it that caused him to clear his throat before he continued, “It’s been awhile, so I’ll let you do it.”

And with his consent, I went right back to it, deciding to ignore the laugh I heard from in front of me as I went to finishing up the task I had started.

“I’ve decided which pictures you can keep too.” A pair of photos were slid in front of me. One of them featured him and me playing as James Bond and his Bond girl. Those ones caused me to laugh. The last one featured a pose that he initiated by himself.  A pose in which his hand was wrapped tightly around my neck, pulling me closer to him as he smiled at the camera. “The rest are all crap.” He pocketed the other three, probably with the intent to throw them away later.

And I decided to leave his shins unbruised since he had let me indulge in my habit just this once without a single complaint. I decided to ignore that and the pose he had chosen in that last picture. For now, anyway.

When I woke up the next morning, it was to my phone ringing on my nightstand. I reached over, feeling for it before I felt it brush by my fingers as it vibrated across the wooden surface. When I answered it, I was not surprised to find that it was my Bond girl who was calling.

“Good morning, Sehun.” I mumbled as I lifted myself out of bed, “What’s up?” Even though I had asked such a question, I didn’t exactly expect an answer. It was more out of courtesy than anything. Plus, even if he had answered me, I would have been too out of it to really hear his explanation.

What he said though did wake me up. It woke me up instantly.

“I didn’t want to say anything yesterday but it kept on eating at me and eating at me and,” I heard him curse faintly, meaning he pulled the phone away from his lips to do so so that I would hear it. Well, I did. And I wasn’t going to let that one go in the future. I can imagine the look of confusion on his face as I punch his shoulder for the umpteenth time since I’ve met him. “Well, yesterday your grandfather’s friends were—”

That was all it took. That was all it took to make me go sprinting out of my room and down the stairs to the front door, my grandmother looking up from the living room curiously in response as she decided yesterday night that she would be spending the morning at home today. That was all it took as I opened the front door, not caring for the clothes I was wearing or how I looked as I myself looked around. Frantically searching. And it didn’t take long until I found what I was looking for.

The distance had increased, sure, but they still couldn’t go far from me.

And there, to my immediate right, checking the mail with a newspaper in his hand, was the brown haired Dokkaebi.

What was the rest of Sehun’s sentence he spoke just earlier?

Yesterday, your grandfather’s friends were hanging around everywhere we went.

And that’s when I heard the deep voice of my nightmares, my nightmares come true, call out to me from the second floor window of the house right beside my grandparent’s home.

“Sleeping beauty, how’d you enjoy the day off?”

Soon followed by the screaming banshee that was the Gumiho, “Sora baby, I missed you! Let’s have breakfast together!”

And the ever-polite Haechi’s voice sounded from behind the two, “Miss Sora is awake?”

And the front door opened up, revealing the dark gray haired Xiezhi who had on his face the most annoying of smiles, “Hurry and come in.”

And last but not least, the whining of the bottomless pit of a Tokebi who appeared beside him, “I’m not waiting to eat. If you want some, you come over now.”

The devil had moved in next door. The devil and his five friends of the spirit persuasion.

Let World War IV begin.