"Wait, say that again." I held onto the side of my head, my mind spinning at the words he just said. At the simple fact that not only was this not a dream but the sentence that came out of my grandfather's mouth did not sound sarcastic. He was never one to joke around. He was never one to play a prank. So then, what he just said, what was it again?

"This is Bang Yongguk, your demon." He said again, his deep voice repeating the last part off his sentence the same way he had said it the first time.

Okay, so this makes total sense. This blonde haired guy is now my demon. That's as simple as adopting a puppy who likes to salivate over a girl's legs and has a red tail coupled with a pair of devil wings on his back. That's normal right?

Wrong.

This guy is my demon?

Screw that, this made no sense at all.

Why did my grandfather even know demons? The two looked awfully chummy judging from how Mr. Demon did not hesitate in the least to use informal language towards him. What made Mr. Demon someone who could be given up anyway?

"No way in hell do I belong to this girl! No way old man!" Yongguk pointed towards me indignantly as he spoke as though I wasn't even there.

"Sora, come here." My grandfather called to me, ignoring him. He flipped his lid then and sent the flowers by my grandfather's beside flinging onto the ground, flowers most likely brought by my grandmother. At least the pot they were in was plastic.

I refused to come however. I watched as Yongguk properly went to pacing around the room, cursing about how absurd the idea was that he could "belong" to me. I agreed of course. This whole thing was absurd. However, my grandfather's narrow eyes staring me down caused me to follow his instructions and step closer.

Once I was by his bedside, he leaned over and pulled from the drawer of the composite wood nightstand by his bed a piece of folded paper. When he unfolded it, I couldn't help but be amazed at what I saw. Han’gûl script was written there. Well, painted I should say. It looked like an old piece of paper out of a historical drama about the Joseon era. I couldn't make out what is said because as soon as he unfolded it, he placed his hand over it and instead gestured to me what was written at the end of the paper.

A list of names. A list of names that had been crossed out, so much so I couldn't read them, no matter how hard I struggled to do so. At this point, Yongguk had gotten over his initial volatile reaction and was now rambling about how my grandfather must have been joking.

Looks like the two don't know each other as well as I originally thought.

I watched on in silence as my grandfather pulled from the same drawer he got the piece of paper an ink set. An old timey ink set I had seen him use multiple times in the shrine. An ink set that looked as though he had prepared it ahead of time.

"Sora, you remember calligraphy, don't you?" He didn't wait for my answer as he continued right after that, taking hold of my hand and placing the calligraphy brush there, "Write your name here."

I looked from him, to the piece of paper, back up to him, "Grandpa, why-"

Before I could get the words out, a deep growl bounced off of the walls in the room. I heard a deep, husky voice I had learned to associate with Mr. Demon cursed outrages robustly. As I was turning to find out why he had suddenly gone nuts again, I was forced forward, almost falling over onto the hanging table that my grandfather had laid the piece of paper out on. I felt him grip my hand, Mr. Demon, Bang Yongguk.

He pulled my hand back forcefully whilst saying something along the lines of “Don’t write your name” with quite a few curses sprinkled here and there. I didn’t get it of course, why he was so desperate for me to not do it. I would have listened to him if not for the fact that he was pinning me from behind to the side of my grandfather’s hospital bed. I was going to tell him to get off, when my grandfather got him off for me. How?

With one simple touch on his shoulder.

One simple touch and Yongguk went collapsing onto the ground, groaning in pain.

The second time he had been on the floor in pain today.

And it was a nice sight.

“Bastard.”

I heard him mumble towards my grandfather from under his breath as he continued to rock himself back and forth, trying with all his might to regain himself. What had happened to him though? I didn’t understand it.

“Don’t.”

I heard Yongguk mutter, his breath coming out raged and forced as his glazed over, dark eyes locked onto mine.

“Write your name.” My grandfather said again, his eyes on me as he drew my attention back towards him. His resolute decision reflected in them. He wanted me to sign it. And well, I had no idea what to do now.

To sign or not to sign?

“This .”  

“Considering I don’t exactly like you either, I’d say I’d have to agree.” I sighed as I drew my eyes away from the blonde, now visible to everyone, demon sitting next to me. Bang Yongguk. A lower level demon. One of many in the world. One of many I can now see.

All because I signed that damn piece of paper.

My grandfather’s shrine is a Buddhist shrine apparently. A shrine that has been handed down through generations of our family. Our family who can see the demons and spirits that live within our world. Can’t exactly say he’s wrong or go against him because well, blondie has a tail. A tail that is clearly attached to his body. Something that apparently he and all lower level demons have. That and that he used to be unseen by everyone earlier but me kind of made it hard to deny what my grandfather told me.

I mentioned before I can see them now right? Because I signed that piece of paper, my grandfather’s ability to see them transferred over to me. He explained this all as he pointed to the last name that was scratched out on the paper, his name. I couldn’t tell if it really was his name but my grandfather doesn’t lie. Doesn’t joke. Doesn’t play pranks. All as I have said before.

This is what .

That because I signed that piece of paper, that piece of paper that was a contract written generations ago with this lower level demon Bang Yongguk, I became the owner of a demon. The owner of Bang Yongguk. I adopted the devil’s spawn.

Altogether, I’m not that excited about it. I’d say I’d rather be cleaning the book room in the shrine than signing a contract to adopt a demon. Yet, I did it. And now I have to pay the price.

The price being that, well, it’d be better to demonstrate wouldn’t it?

I got up from the bench in the hospital’s garden I was sitting on. Yongguk didn’t budge an inch. He was giving me the silent treatment. Something I was used to after being with Sehun for so long. It was understandable but now really was not the best time for him to be throwing a fit.

The sun was going down by down and while I wanted to figure out exactly what all of this meant, we were pushed out of my grandfather’s room soon after I signed that piece of paper. It was time for his medication. Medication that promptly knocked him out.

I still don’t know what happened to him. What happened at the shrine that he had to go to the hospital for. Who he “pissed off,” in Yongguk’s own words. But, all I could do now was go home and sleep. And I have to say I am definitely looking forward to that.

Oh, I was going to show the price I had to pay, right? The price of signing that contract besides the obvious owning a demon part.

As I walked away from Yongguk, giving up on even attempting to get him to follow, I waited for it. I waited for the moment in which I would feel it. The tug. The tug of him being pulled to me.

And as I reached a certain point, a good ways away from him, a distance I didn’t yet know the exact measure of, he went falling face first out of the bench. I stopped and turned back, finding him pushing himself off of the ground, his upper lip curling as he snarled at me.

“Are you not going to come or am I going to have to drag you behind me?” I raised an eyebrow as I raised my leg, threatening to go another step forward.

“This .” He grumbled again.

“Doesn’t it?” I asked as he stood up from the ground, dusting off his clothes with a scowl on his face.

The price I had to pay?

Mr. Demon, Blondie, Bang Yongguk could not go, if I made a round estimate, more than fifty feet away from me.