“Alright- Wait, me!?” Sungmin asked as he pointed at himself.

I nodded, “Yes.”

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea who would make for the best choice. Be he alone stuck up for me and he looks nice enough, so…

“But Sungmin’s still in training.” Kyuhyun said, “I’m not sure he’s fit for surveillance duty just yet.”

“Aw, who gives a hoot? This could be funny and she picked him herself, y’know.” Donghae replied.

“Agreed.” Yesung said.

Heechul said nothing. He only stared at me with a sort of angry look.

“Um, i-is this alright or…?” My voice trailed off.

“Brother…?” Sungmin asked Heechul.

“Bah, I get it. Fine, then.” He gave up.

“Huh?” Sungmin was confused.

“I can’t say I don’t have my worries.” Heechul added, “However, I have been looking for the chance to give Sungmin some work. Guarding a toastee ought to be the perfect role for him.”

Sungmin smiled, “Thank you!”

“We’ve got our own work to do, so it’s good to see Sungmin standing on his own two feet.” Kyuhyun said.

Donghae smiled, “This is your big chance!”

“Good luck.” Yesung gave a small smile toward Sungmin.

Sungmin smiled even wider, “Thanks! I’ll do my best!”

Giving him work, standing by himself…. There’s a lot of depth to demon society.

“At the same time, you had better keep yourself in check. Understood?” Heechul ordered.

“Of course!” Sungmin replied, “I’ll do my utmost.”

Heechul turned to me, “Are you sure you’re fine with Sungmin as your guard, _______?”

I nodded with a smile, “Yes, don’t worry.”

“Got it.” Heechul replied, then looked at Sungmin, “Sungmin, you’re in charge or guarding her now.”

“Yes sir!” Sungmin said happily.

“Ming’s on guard duty… Words cannot describe how curious a sight this is.” Donghae smiled.

“Ask us if you have any questions.” Yesung told Sungmin, a bit concerned.

“Thanks.” Sungmin said, then turned toward me, “Ah, um… _______?”

“Hm? Oh, something the matter?” I questioned.

“You don’t have to talk to me like I’m too important. Just the same, I’d prefer that you call me Sungmin rather than Ming.” He suggested.

I nodded, “Okay.”

“I’m new to this, but I hope we can help each other out.” He gave me a soft smile.

“So am I, of course…” I joked, “I hope you’ll look after me.”

“Now, see, you’re getting all polite again.” Sungmin looked at me seriously.

“Ah, whoops. Well, fighting!” I put up my fist, showing him support.

He laughed a bit, “Thanks!”

So now I have Sungmin to guard me. It’s hard to believe he’s a demon for that smile, that earnestness.

“It’ll only be ten days, but let’s make the most of it.” Kyuhyun said.

“That’s right,” Donghae joined in, “Don’t count your blessings before they… Hatch?”

Heechul looked at him like he was stupid, “It’s just ‘count your blessings’.”

“O-Okay then…” I blinked at them awkwardly.

And to think, I’ll have to spend the next ten days with these people. I can’t even imagine what kind of a daily routine this will create.

“But I have to ask,” Heechul started, “Why ten days? Is there something you want to do?”

“Yeah, yeah. What’s in ten days?” Donghae questioned.

“I want to celebrate my mother’s birthday.” I replied.

“Huh…?” Sungmin blinked a few times.

“How about that? Your mom’s birthday, huh?” Donghae smiled a bit.

“Y-Yeah.”

“So?” Yesung said plainly.

“Hm?” I questioned.

“That’s it?”

I looked at Yesung angrily, “What do you mean, that’s it!? This is very important to me!”

“It’s merely a birthday.” Heechul added.

“Yes, it’s a birthday, but it’s more than that!” I replied a bit offended.

“What’s that mean?” Kyuhyun asked.

“My parents have worked overseas since I was little.” I said, “But they’re coming back for the first time in ages. That’s why I want to celebrate my mom’s birthday with the whole family.”

“Then her birthday is…” Sungmin thought for a moment.

“Yeah. Exactly ten days from now.” I finished his thoughts.

“Huh.” Kyuhyun said.

Donghae nodded, “I see now.”

“And my mom’s really looking forward to it. I don’t want to let her down!” I added as I looked at the ground.

It’s been too long since we were all able to get together to celebrate Mom’s birthday…

“I see,” Sungmin started making me look up, “So, it’s for your mom!”

“Ridiculous.” Heechul said plainly.

I looked at him shocked, “Wha-!”

“Family, celebrations..” He scoffed, “Human heads are filled with the most idiotic things.”

That’s terrible! Just, excessively mean! Heechul feels so cold in comparison to how he acts at work…

“But, fine. The reason matters a little at this point.” Heechul continued, “In the end, you’re destined to be toast.”

When he said that, I could’ve sworn I saw a glint of red in his eyes. I swallowed nervously.

“Now then, time to get home. Another busy day tomorrow.” Heechul finished.

“Get where?” I asked, “Where’s home supposed to be? I can’t go back to my-”

“The Demon House.” Sungmin interrupted.

“The what!?” I asked a bit shocked.

What on Earth… Or in.. Hell… Is that!?

“We all live together in the Demon House.” Sungmin said.

“Right.” Heechul agreed, “And as of today, you will be living there, with us.”

“Wait, with all of you…?” I blinked a few times.

“To keep an eye on you, of course.” Heechul added.

“B-But… What about my luggage, my clothes!?” I questioned.

“They all got burned up, remember?” Kyuhyun chimed in.

“Oh… R-Right…” I replied.

Heechul coughed a bit, getting my attention again, “The essentials are all in order. If you still lack something, tell Sungmin.”

“Don’t worry, _______, there’s a room for you, too.” Sungmin smiled a bit.

This is very hard for me to accept fight now…

“Okay, time to go home!” Donghae hugged himself for warmth as he began to walk in a different direction.

“I’m tired…” Yesung yawned, following Donghae.

“Now that that’s decided, we need to hurry. Come on.” Heechul said following the others.

“Woah, hold up…” I said, though no one paid attention and continued walking ahead.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

“Here’s the Demon House.” Sungmin said as we arrived.

I looked around the outside, “Woah…”

This place is huge! But, what makes it a ‘Demon’ House? It looks normal to me.

We all headed inside.

“Sleep. Now…” Yesung said slowing and drearily heading toward the stairs.

“Ay, Sunggie!” Donghae called after him, “Hold your horses, good kids brush their teeth before they go to bed.”

“I’m not a kid!” Yesung shot Donghae an angry look.

“I might excuse myself to my room, too.” Kyuhyun said.

“What? Already?” Sungmin asked him a bit shocked.

“Sungmin, don’t let her out of your sight.” Heechul followed Kyuhyun up the stairs.

“Well Ming, she’s in your hands now.” Donghae smiled before saluting off to Sungmin.

“Uh, sure…” Sungmin said slowly.

The others headed upstairs.

Sungmin looked at me, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Hm?” I turned to look at him.

“I’m awful sorry. You must be exhausted from all that’s happened today.”

“Not really.” I shrugged.

Forget being tired. I’m too confused for that. What’s going on here…? I know at the very least that I’m not dreaming this.

“Would you like me to show you around the Demon House?” Sungmin suggested.

“Really?” I thought for a moment, “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

It’ll only be ten days, but I’ll be living here so…

“Great!” He smiled and looked around the living room and mumbled, “I guess we should start here…”

I giggled a bit.

“Well, here’s the living room. People tend to end up here when they’re home. Everyone eats here.”

“Everyone, together?” I asked.

“Yeah. We only eat once we’re all home.” Sungmin replied.

“I see.” I nodded.

Kind of like a family. They all must get along better than I thought… Sungmin brought me to the kitchen.

“And here’s the kitchen.” Sungmin said, “I’m the one who uses it the most, but feel free to make use of it yourself.”

“You cook, Sungmin?”

“Yup!” He smiled, “I’m pretty fond of cooking, actually.”

I smiled at him. I wonder what kind of food would a demon cook? Don’t tell me they’re going to force me to eat lizard, or frog!?

“I’ll cook for you too.” Sungmin blushed a bit.

“What!?”

“I might not look the part, but I’m pretty good at cooking.” Sungmin replied, “Pasta, or really any European food, Japanese food. Anything you want, just tell me.”

Wait… That sounds pretty normal.

“Hm? Something wrong?” Sungmin asked, tilting his head a bit in confusion.

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

Sungmin looked at me confused but said nothing more about it. Instead, he brought me outside to the next location.

“Wow, you’ve even got an inner garden here!” I smiled as I looked around.

“Yup. We sometimes gather out here, when the weather’s good.”

“I see.”

From all that I’ve heard so far, it sounds like that despite being demons, they all behave like regular humans.

“Hey Sungmin.” I asked.

“What?” He looked at me.

“Just what kind of people ARE demons, anyway?”

“Huh?”

I looked up at the sky, “I mean, what do they do differently from humans?”

“Ah, yeah… Yeah, it really is something you’d wonder about.” He started, “Let me explain a little, okay?”

I looked at him and nodded.

“Demons have all sorts of special powers, and we use those powers in our work. For instance, Yesung’s mind control helps him gather data about toasting candidates. Then theres Kyuhyun. He uses his clairvoyance to figure out the cause of death.”

So much for behaving human… They’ve got all sorts of scary abilities!

“And next, my brother separates the soul from the body-”

“What?”

“Hm? something I said?” Sungmin asked.

“Yeah, your ‘brother’?” I questioned.

“Oh, sorry I still haven’t told you.” Sungmin cleared his throat, “My full name’s Lee-Kim Sungmin. Heechul’s my older brother.”

“Huh…” I thought for a moment, “You two don’t look very similar.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot. We’re different in both personality and looks. I mean, my brother and I were raised in fairly different environments.”

“Really?” I questioned.

“Yeah.” Sungmin replied, “My brother’s the prince of the Demon Realm.”

“A prince!?”

“That’s right.”

My co-worker, a prince!? Wait, but then that would mean…

“Why was anything different for you? I mean, he’s…” My thought’s trailed off, “You two are brothers, aren’t you?”

Sungmin’s smile dropped, “Well…”

I coughed awkwardly, “Ah, um… Maybe we ought to leave this topic for another time. Let’s get back to talking about demons. How about that?”

Sungmin nodded, “Yeah.”

It seems like there might be some messy story to his relationship with Heechul.

“So what about those souls, again?” I questioned.

Sungmin smiled, “Hae’s the one who escorts the souls to Heaven and that’s pretty much the process we call ‘toasting’.”

I tilted my head in confusion, “But, what do you do?”

“I’m still in training, so I don’t have a position yet, but I still live here, with everyone else.”

“I see, I see.” I nodded slightly.

“Yup, it’s easier to live over in this world, and the Demon House is a nice place.” Sungmin looked up at the house and sighed happily, “Well, let me show you to your room.”

Sungmin lead me back into the house and up the stairs. I looked down the hall, there’s a bunch of rooms.

“Sungmin, what are all the rooms around here?” I questioned.

“Everybody elses rooms.” Sungmin lead me down the hall and stopped at a door, “My room’s right her- U-Um…”

I looked up at saw how close I was to Sungmin. He quickly stepped back, withdrawing his hand from the door, blushing.

“I-I’m sorry. I almost ended up touching you…” Sungmin said.

“Huh?” I looked at him confused, “It’s not that big of a deal..”

“Ah, yeah, you’re right… S-Sorry again.”

Well, now that I get a better look, Sungmin has a glove on his left hand only. I wonder, is it possibly and injury…? Changing the subject, Sungmin brought me to a room at the end of the hallway. We walked inside and I looked around.

“Here’s your room. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask me.” Sungmin smiled.

“Thanks.” I smiled back, “You’re very kind, Sungmin.”

Sungmin blushed, “Oh, I um, n-not really…”

“No, you are. I mean, I’m just days away from being toasted…”

“But, I… I don’t…” Sungmin looked down sadly as his voice trailed off.

“... S-Sungmin?”

Sungmin quickly put on a smile and looked up, “Oh, sorry. It’s nothing. Anyways, good night. Have a good rest!”

Before I could reply, Sungmin quickly retreated from my room.

I sighed and sat down on the bed, “So I’m in the ‘Demon House’, huh…”

At first, I had worried about what kind of place it would be, but it’s surprisingly normal. Not just the house, but the people in it too. And in ten days… I’m toast. I still can’t believe it… I sighed again and thought about everything that had happened today and Sungmin’s kind smile, kept trading places as the memories came back to me…

 

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*Coming Soon*

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A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! But here’s the first chapter! Summers only a week away for me, which means, more updates! Haha so I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one!(:

Thankyu to all my Commenters, Readers, Subscribers, and Upvoters!(: