Out of physical weakness, Sora dropped her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed while she tried to regulate her breath.

With a comfortable silence flowing between them, Cheondung gently took a hold of Sora’s hand, interlacing their fingers together. His caring gesture caught her slightly by surprise, her eyes looking down at their joint hands before she looked up at him. He had his head tilted back against the brick wall while his eyes were closed, steadily breathing.

She said nothing and did nothing but let him be, thinking that it might be his way to seek comfort.

She placed her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes, her lungs inhaling a deep amount of air before letting it out, her nerves slowly relaxing.

His free hand reached for her other cheek as he turned his head, his lips placing a soft kiss on the top of her head and let it linger for a few more seconds before faint noises caught their attention.

Cheondung let go of Sora as both of them got back up on their feet. He knew that a gun wouldn’t stop their predator but he still went for it, reaching it out from his belt. He glanced back at her as she was hiding behind him and spoke to her with urgency in his tone, scaring her once more.

“Sora. Run. Now and don’t look back. I’ll find you.”

“Run with me. They’ll get you! It’s three against one-” He quickly shut her off with a kiss, taking her breath away, and reluctantly pulled away with their foreheads pressed together. “I can’t have you hurt. Trust me on this, please.”

She bit her bottom lip, hesitating on listening to him, but ended up nodding her head.

The yelling was getting louder creating a race of shivers crossing all over her body.

She gave one last look at the man in front of her, feeling suddenly desperate to kiss him again; she rushed her movements with her arms wrapped around his neck and deeply pressed her lips against his before she pulled away and started stepping backwards towards the other end of the alley. Her steps were slow, but she soon found herself dashing off at the sight of three figures standing at the entrance from where the couple had come from.

Cheondung quickly turned to look at her as he prepped his gun, ready to shoot. “Sora, now. Go!”

The moment she started running away, two of the three started going after her just like their leader ordered to do, leaving him and his half brother in a duel.

“Who knew that the great Cheondung would come to care for a mere human? You amuse me so much little brother. You are the prince of the underworld, one of the most ruthless creatures and yet, I find you caring for someone like her. This is just the icing on the cake that I needed.”

Cheondung’s only response was a bullet reaching the other man’s chest.

It left nothing but a little uncomfortable feeling before it dissipated as if he was never hit in the first place.

“You think you can kill me with that stupid weapon? Dude, I’m a ing demon. No technology from this earth can kill me.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try, brother.”

“Maybe from your perspective, oh dear Cheondung, but you are human. With just one hit, I can get rid of you once and for all.”

The victim tried to suppress the mortal emotion of fear, his grip tightening around the gun that was still held point towards his half brother. Knowing him, Cheondung had no chance of coming out of this alive, and the mere thought of leaving Sora alone tore him apart.

He started taking a few steps backwards when he saw the other man smoothly walking, rubbing his hands to show that he was ready for their duel, along with satisfied sigh coming out of his mouth.

“Let’s get this started, shall we?”

The moment she made her way out from the alley, there was only one place that clouded her mind, quickening her steps towards her abandoned shelter.

She gave one look to the back and saw that the two figures that started running after her suddenly disappeared. She slowed her steps until she came to a halt, a confused expression covering her face.

“Where the hell did they go?”

Front and back, she scanned the crowded area she was in and didn’t see them anywhere. Thinking that the coast was clear, she could feel herself gradually relaxing. She was ready to go back to where she was headed when the sight present a few feet away from her left a curse slipping under her breath, panic and anxiety coating her tired limbs.

The two familiar cops shouted at her from where they were before they rushed their steps to their car, turning on the siren, before their tires screeched towards her direction.

Without a second thought, she started running again, her first move being to turn around onto another street. She spotted the entrance to the subway and quickly went for it, skipping her steps to bump into people who annoyingly cussed at her rudeness. She ignored them and kept her pace rapid until she arrived at the ticket booth; she was thankful enough to the huge crowd that was coming in and out and used that chance to jump over the barrier before continuing her rushed race towards the next train that was coming.

She ran down the stairs, ignoring the yelling from a security guard, and slid skillfully through the closing doors of the underground train just as it left on queue.

She wobbled on her feet making her drop down on the floor. The presence of a few people here and there weren’t even a bother; she was too absorbed from the shock she went through since waking up this morning.

Slowly, she was silently shedding tears and still paid no attention to her wet cheeks, her mind too preoccupied to find a way to escape from the endless amount of trouble coming at her.

It was the first time that she was on her own during a time like this; she was always with her late boyfriend before he was violently ripped away from her. Realizing that she was all by herself made her heart ache through every beat, squeezing her chest into complete discomfort.

She ran her fingers through her hair and hastily wiped her tears away before she got back up and found a seat. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, listening to the intercom as it kept announcing the different stations it was headed.

Once she heard the name of the district she needed to be at, she left and quickly stepped towards the exit, following the flood of the crowd until it lead her back outside, the breeze of autumn hitting her straight in her face.

With one last deep breath out from her lungs, she started walking towards her wanted shelter, simply going at a normal pace since she didn’t have to worry about being chased at the moment. Her legs were numb from the excessive exercise they dealt with but decided to ignore it, having a much more important matter on her mind right now.

From the streets, she was walking down the sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood, every house practically looking similar. A few steps further and she stopped in front of a path that lead to one of those houses. She stood still for a moment, her eyes scanning every architectural feature that abandoned home had to offer to the outside world. Her heart made a leap at a distant memory concerning this household and shook off the nostalgic emotion that roamed in the pit of her stomach before she closed in the distance between her and the front door.

Her hand was faintly shaking as she reached out for the knob, slowly turning it open to step inside the empty house. Once she was in, a dead silence greeted her, a morose atmosphere dancing around her. She closed the door behind her and simply strolled towards the living room, dropping her body on the dusty couch.

She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep when her short peaceful moment was abruptly taken away by a pounding against her front door.

They weren’t friendly knockings, which put her on guard.

She looked around and picked up the fire iron of the fireplace before turning her back around as she saw the door getting flown across the hallway. Her breath got stuck in at what she just saw, her blood rushing across her veins from the terror that crept her body.

She soon found herself facing the two cops before they shimmered themselves to their original forms, turning back into the two individual demons that went after her first.

She shook her head, thinking that she might have hallucinated but when her eyes noticed the two bodies of the police officers unconscious – or probably dead – on the floor, her heart picked up its rapid pace, her grip tightening onto the metal pole with an inhuman fear overtaking every particle of herself.

“W-who are you people? Wh-what d-do you want from m-me?!”

In the blink of an eye, she was thrown across the room by one of the demons, its strength sending her straight against a wall as it cracked the moment it came in contact with her body. She groaned in pain as she tried to get back up but instead she was gripped by , leaving her stare at the same one that threw her away.

He squeezed her vocal pipes, unable to let her breath properly. She was still holding onto the metal in her hand and gave it a swing as she stabbed it straight against his chest. He looked down and a dark chuckle came out of him, sending shivers across her spine. He easily pulled it out before dropping it on the ground, the impact letting an echo sound across the room.

With whatever was left of the bit of energy and strength in her weak body, she spit right in his face hoping that it would do the trick to drop her down but instead, the infuriated look in his eyes made her heart stopped.

Another throw and she came crashing straight against the fireplace, her head hitting onto the brick shelf above. Old picture frames came falling on the floor as the glasses broke into pieces, scratching her skin along the way.

“Tsk. Pathetic human.”

“You did the trick, now let’s go. His Royal Highness would want to know that she’s dead.”

“Do you think we should bring her head?” Evil seeped through his eyes just as it escaped his words, evidently no mortal sentiment leaking through his bones.

“For what? Let’s just go. This place is making me sick.”

Just like how they came, they shimmered their way out, disappearing without any traces of their presence; three bodies were still on the floor in the destroyed living room with the front door crashed against the stair case that lead to the second floor. The entrance was wide open, inviting back the gloomy area that had been disturbed just a few moments ago.