Leeteuk was surprised when Raven returned to the room alone. She took a long look at him and began heading in his direction. Recalling the woman’s previous aggression, Leeteuk involuntarily stiffened up as he readied himself for another attack. However, violence didn’t seem to be her intention as she simply stood in front of him and held out a hand. When Leeteuk froze up and looked at her in confusion, she reached down and grabbed his hand in a firm handshake.

 

Three pumps, then let go. Three pumps exhibits confidence. One, two, three…

 

Recalling her mother’s training in etiquette, Raven gave three firms pumps, once every second, and promptly released Leeteuk’s hands. Still in shock, Leeteuk allowed his hand to fall limply down onto his lap. Sensing no further aggression from the woman, Leeteuk relaxed visibly when Raven stepped away after the handshake.

 

“I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Raven, as you might have heard. I’m a demonologist, as were my father, and his father before him. However, my work is not limited to demons. I travel the realms picking up odd jobs if they pay well. Because of this, I am known as a Realms Walker. What do you know about demonology or about the supernatural realms?”

 

“No-Nothing?”

 

“That’s very regrettable. We have lots of things to do then. I’ll prefer we start as soon as possible before anything happen to you and implicate me. Oh, by the way, Sungmin is my uncle. Before you say anything smart, he’s my biological uncle. He only looks young as it is the species characteristic of the fairfolks. They have an incredibly long lifespan of a millennium. He’s actually already over 2 centuries years old,”

 

“Wh-What? Over two centuries?”

 

“That’s correct. Also, before you ask, I’m not centuries old. I’m twenty-eight this year. My mother’s a Fae but my dad is a human. So while I have magic in my blood, I’m essentially human. Also, I do not have wings, in case you were wondering. I can’t do fanciful healing magic like Sungmin, but I can cast simple spells and enchantments. This is also what makes me different from the rest of the demonologists out there. I believe I am the only half Fae demonologist in existence. Any questions?”

 

“W-Where are your parents? Why didn’t you ask for their help last night?”

 

“My parents are presumably dead. They died when I was in my early teens. I do not enjoy talking about my parents so let’s just leave it at that. Oh, I apologise for my previous behaviour. Just take it as an occupational habit. Any other questions?”

 

“You believe I’m human now?”

 

“I don’t. But I have no issues with it. As long as you’re not a demon, I’m cool. So you don’t have to worry about me pulling a blade on you,”

 

“Why don’t you believe I’m human?”

 

“Because demon blood is lethal. I’ve had a brot- Someone I’ve known died from it. Why you survived, is something worth investigating when we have the time.”

 

“It must not be very lethal. There are human demonologists right? They would have been in contact with demon blood, but they survived right?”

 

“The lethality of demon blood has no exceptions. The only reason why human demonologists can survive the contact with the blood is because they take what we call “The Medium”, which negates the lethality, before engaging demons. Even so, they would not survive the amount blood needed to turn one into a changling. You are the only human changling I’ve heard of. Your species’ vulnerability would only increase the possibility of an attack against you,”

 

“My species’ vulnerability?”

 

“Humans, of course. Unlike the other species of the Underworld, humans have a much lower tolerance for sufferance before they die. In other words, it is the easiest to kill a human being,”

 

“What other species are there in the Underworld?”

 

“Many. You will have to learn all about them in due time. Next question,”

 

“You said you can walk through lamps? What does that mean?”

 

“Lamps? What ar-Oh. Realms! R-E-A-L-M-S, realms. Not lamps! What am I? An electrician?”

 

“I’m sorry! So, realms, walk through realms. What does that mean?”

 

“As the words suggest, I can travel through the different realms. Realms are like… well in your terms, like different planes, like a different dimension?”

 

“Oh… Like parallel universes?”

 

“Something like that. You know some of those ancient china movies depicting immortals, human, demons and ghosts? The reality is close to that. In truth there are many realms, some examples include the Celestial Realm where the ancient gods are. The Heavenly Realms and the Underworld where dead spirits and demons exists. The Mortal Realms, where we came from.”

 

“So..”

 

“Don’t ask me if God is real. I don’t do that religion ,”

 

“But you use holy water right? Assuming those vials contain holy water…”
 

“I use holy water because it is effective against demons. I don’t travel to the Heavenly Realm and steal the water there! I get it from Parazon,”

 

“Parazon?”

 

“It’s ‘bit like Amazon but for paranormal stuff. You should visit the website when you have a chance. They sell everything you can ever imagine,”

 

“Do they sell urm… eyeballs and intestines?”

 

“It’s… It’s rather disturbing that that’s the first thing that comes to your mind… But, to answer your question, yes they do sell those,”

 

“What about the creatures? Are the storybooks, myths and legends true then?”

 

“Depending, myths and legends mostly. Fictions are just figments of the imagination, and imaginations can be really weird,”

 

“So… Vampires?”

 

“Real,”

 

“Werewolves?”

 

“Also real,”

 

“Mermaids?”

 

“Yeah… sure… Just know that Disney did not have an accurate illustration of the MerPeople,”

 

“Loch Ness Monster?”

 

“Hey! Don’t call Nessie a monster! She is the sweetest thing!”

 

“You’ve met her?”

 

“How else would I get to the MerCity?”

 

“You travelled to the aquatic city on the Loch Ness Monster? That’s so cool!”

 

“I know right? Oh my god, you will love it! The view is magnificent, and the way the wat…”

 

She’s really cute when she smiles like this… Raven’s emotion really comes and goes as fast as a tornado. Looking at her now, you can hardly link her to the fierce, snappy woman before.

 

A smile slowly crept onto his face as Leeteuk watched Raven get increasingly animated in her description of her journey to MerCity on the Loch Ness Monster. The way her eyes widened and sparkled captivated Leeteuk and her words gradually faded as his focus shifted to her.

 

“Hello? Are you still listening to me?”

 

With a jolt, Raven’s words pulled him out of his trance. He had been so focused in looking at her that he did not catch a single word she said after ‘magnificent’.

 

“Yeah. You were saying MerCity is magnificent,”

 

“I actually said much more then that but it’s not relevant now. We’ve pretty much covered the basics unless you still…”

 

Pausing midway in her sentence, Raven narrowed her eyes at Leeteuk, who had been staring at her with a dimpled smile plastered on his face. He guilty shifted his gaze as he reached up to smoothen the sides on his hair.

 

“What? Is there something funny about my face?”

 

“What? No! There’s nothing wrong with your face! You have a very good face! I mean.. I mean you look okay. No, you have an acceptable face. No! That’s worse! You-”

 

“That’s enough. You don’t have to comment on my face this much. I am not terribly bothered by it,”

 

“Right… I’m sorry”

 

Stupid, stupid mouth. ‘You have an acceptable face’. What the hell? Why don’t you try saying ‘All your features are exactly where they should be’? Urgh! She definitely hate me now! To think the conversation was going so well!

 

Kicking himself mentally at his verbal blunder, Leeteuk lowered his eyes and stared at the ground, too embarrassed to continue looking at Raven. He wouldn’t have mind if the ground had opened up this instance and swallowed him whole. He was pretty certain that he had insulted Raven greatly, which was the last thing that he was wanted to do.

“So do you have any more questions?”

 

“T-That’s all I can think of at the moment,”

 

“Good. It’s my turn then. Tell me about yourself,”

 

“I-I’m Leeteuk. I’m thirty this year. I’m an architect. I’m human, as are my parents… I have an elder sister who is living overseas… That’s about it,”

 

“Are there any missing members in your family? Like an uncle or aunt whom you’ve never met?”

 

“If I’ve never met them, I wouldn’t know about them, would I?”

 

“You could have heard of them? But fair enough. How strong are you physically? Can you lift a cupboard easily?”

 

“A-A cupboard? I-Is that normal for you people?”

 

“For the men, yes. Obviously I’m not well muscled so I can’t do that. I have wits and agility to make up for it though. But you…?”

 

Raven paused midway in her sentence as she looked Leeteuk over, her eyes narrowing in disdain at his narrow frame and chiselled face. If nothing, Leeteuk was looking so frail at that moment that Raven considered herself to be stronger physically than the poor man. Bringing this man up to shape seemed a monumental, if not challenging, task.

 

As if he could read Raven’s thoughts, Leeteuk consciously pulled his covers up to cover the most of his body. Raven mistook his defensive action as an act of hostility and sighed before taking a few more careful steps towards his bed, closing the distance between the two.

 

“Look, you don’t have to like me. I just need you to stay alive. You want that right? Certainly you would prefer to be breathing than to be dead, wouldn’t you?”

 

“I don’t hate you! It’s just, all this demon thing. It’s a lot to digest,”

 

“We’ll figure a way to get the demon blood out of you, I promise. Till then… Truce?”

 

Leeteuk stared at the outstretched hand before him before turning his gaze upon Raven’s face. He hadn’t had the chance to take a good look at her since they met. It was only then that he realised despite her masculinity, she looked like a fragile porcelain doll. Her long black hair fell perfectly against her oval face and her features were well defined. He took her hand gently and a small smile lingered at the corners of . It was a very vague smile but it brightened the mood in the room instantly. He couldn’t help but return a sheepish smile at her, the tips of his ears turning red in embarrassment. Raven tried hard to stifle a chuckle at the innocent look on Leeteuk’s face as she withdrew her hand.

 

“Now, get some rest. Although Uncle’s magic did much of the trick, you still need lots of rest to recover. Don’t worry, we are completely safe here. The demons would not attack us in Mythicyn,”

 

Pushing Leeteuk down onto the bed forcefully, Raven gently pulled the covers over him. The man obediently laid his head down on the soft cushion and watched as Raven walked back to her own flower bed and settled down upon it. She gave him another small smile when she caught his eyes and turned her back to him. Closing his eyes, the day’s events began to playback in Leeteuk’s mind. He could hardly believe that in matters of hours, his greatest trouble had turned from not being able to complete his designs in time to not being able to lead a normal life because he had been thrown into the world of the supernatural.

 

I should have kept my big nose to myself! Park Leeteuk! You are always getting yourself into trouble! Why couldn’t you have minded your own business! You just had to go around poking into other people’s business! Look what you have done to yourself this time! Demons? Changling? Blood bond? But… If I hadn’t gone and saved Raven, would she have died? Argh! All these are making my head hurt! Forget it! I can’t undo what’s been done anyway!