Chapter Twelve: Outlander

The door closed behind him; clearly the courtship was over.

                “D-Deal,” she choked out, blood wetting her lips as Youngbae’s canines continued to constrict her windpipe. She gasped as his teeth began sinking into her flesh; pain burned through her entire body but slowly dulled around her feet and hands as more blood bubbled up from her lungs.

                “Good!” This time Jiyong’s voice was definitely outside of her head. Heat flooded the surrounding area as if a bonfire had suddenly appeared in the middle of her living room. There was a grunt and a growl but the jaws clamped around her neck suddenly disappeared.

                Gayun gasped for air but coughed up more blood before her eyes flickered open and refocused on where the shifter was. Youngbae was half transformed, his face that of a wolf but his body mostly human. His hands were larger with sharp claws and his muscles bulged and rippled under his skin as the half-wolf snarled at the new arrival.

                “What are you doing, Jiyong-ah?” Youngbae demanded. Her brown eyes moved over to the skinny man smirking at Youngbae. Two sets of horns grew up from his forehead, one set larger than the other but both of them stained a dark red at the tips. Though his frame was small, he held himself with such a manner that Gayun doubted that there would be but a few who would wish to challenge the man.

                “You were attacking my property,” he answered simply, “So I thought I’d intervene.” He turned slightly and offered a smile to Gayun; his eyes were as red as the freshly spilled blood on the ground all around her. She tried to return the smile but winced instead though she figured that her response was quite understandable given the circumstances.

                “You have no claim on her!” Youngbae growled. His eyes darted back and forth between her and Jiyong, seemingly less interested in killing her now much to Gayun’s relief.

                “Au contraire,” he chuckled, “Her soul is mine.”

                “No!” Seunghyun cried out, speaking for the first time in a while. His sudden outburst was ignored by most of the occupants of the room.

                “You haven’t taken it yet,” Youngbae argued but his wolfish exterior was beginning to fade away. His snout slowly shortened and the fur covering his face slowly receded back into his eyebrows and mohawk.

                “But I will. So it’s mine. Back off.”

                “Uh…help?” Gayun whimpered. She managed to reach out a bruised and possibly sprained or broken hand out. Jiyong glanced over at her but rolled his eyes at her pleading.

                “I would leave before I let Seungri out of that trap you made,” Jiyong continued before slowly stepping towards the enraged incubus. Youngbae’s yellow eyes narrowed as if he were seriously debating staying or not. However, once Jiyong was three small steps away from the intertwining circles, Youngbae saw fit to depart.

                “I’ll see you later, Jiyong-ssi,” Youngbae called over his shoulder before going down the steps. Jiyong raised his hand in acknowledgement and waited in front of Seungri until he was sure the shifter had vacated the premises before stepping on the chalk line and disturbing it.

                “That bastard,” Seungri stepped out and the familiar crackle of his magic filled the room. He took a step towards the door but paused, much to Jiyong’s amusement, and walked over to Gayun instead. He kneeled by her side and reached out a clawed hand to gently rub the blood from her parted lips. “That was stupid of you.”

                “You’re…stupid,” she mumbled. Her vision was becoming blurry but his violet eyes remained completely in focus. He pressed his forehead against hers as his fingers caressed her cheek. Pudding mewled nearby, drawing attention to the cats currently huddled in a corner of the kitchen.

                “Shall you heel her or do I need to do it?” Jiyong asked with the amount of care one would have for an ingrown toenail or pimple in need of popping.

                “Stay away from her,” Seunghyun hissed. His voice became soft and almost melodic as he whispered words in a foreign tongue. Slowly, feeling returned to her hands and feet. The pain grew white hot before slowly disappearing. The cuts and bruises healed up before her eyes until, if not for the puddle of blood she was sitting in, it appeared as if nothing had occurred.

                “Thank you,” she sighed in relief.

                “You idiot,” was his reply. He pulled her up into his arms, hugging her tight against his body while burying his face in the crook of her neck. She clung to his back, shaking from the latent fear that she’d been suppressing the entire time. “You idiot,” he repeated, “How could you give up your soul like that?”

                “As touching as this whole scene is,” Jiyong piped in, “I do believe that I have a deal that needs to be completed.” He took a step closer and purple lightning struck the spot right in front of him. He cocked an eyebrow at the action but moved no closer.

                “Don’t touch her.” Seunghyun’s voice was muffled by Gayun’s skin but the threat was just as evident.

                “We made a deal.”

                “I don’t care!”

                “I made a deal,” Gayun whispered, causing Seunghyun to stiffen, “I made a deal, I have to honor it.” Much like a child, the incubus shook his head vehemently and tightened his grip on her form.

                “Fine, we can negotiate from here,” Jiyong said, sounding more than a little annoyed at the whole situation, “You know, I could have just left her to die.”

                “Shut up.”

                “How were you able to do that?” Gayun asked, “How come I could hear you in my head?”

                “You summoned me,” Jiyong explained, “We have a bond now. Well, now we have an even stronger bond, but one existed before your soul fell in to my possession. Once I’ve been summoned somewhere, I can show up whenever I please and once someone has summoned me, I can choose to contact them whenever I wish it.”

                “How did you know I was dying?”

                “I felt it,” he tapped his forehead, “You’re one of the only humans who has made a deal with me this century so it isn’t too difficult to lock on to your psychic wave length. Also, when you’re that afraid, the bond forms automatically as an attempt for the body to preserve itself.”

                “You shouldn’t have forced her to deal with you,” Seunghyun argued, “You should have just come.”

                “Where’s the fun in that?” Jiyong laughed, “Besides, Seungri-yah, you seem to be getting a little soft. Maybe you shouldn’t be spending so much time around humans, it seems to have an ill effect on your sense of morality.”

                “So what about my soul?” Gayun asked, redirecting the conversation to the way she wanted it to go. As fearful as she was over the answer, she still needed to know. “What’s going to happen now?”

                “Well normally I just take it and leave you a drooling mess on the floor, alive but unable to do anything,” Seunghyun snarled at that idea, “but since the little incubus seems so attached to you, I suppose I could allow you to keep it for another ten or fifteen years…at a price of course.”

                “What price?” she inquired.

                “For now, I’ll have it be that I can come here whenever I want too,” Jiyong shrugged, “It’d be nice to cause some chaos in this world for a decade or so. More than that, I guess we’ll leave that open to negotiation when you’re not so firmly in Seungri’s grasp.”

                “Deal, I guess,” Gayun nodded. She extended a hand out and Jiyong paused before walking the rest of the way over to the two of them. She grasped her hand in his and shook it once. Gayun gasped as pain once again etched itself into her wrist. She pulled her hand back quickly but in elaborate black scroll he letters “G” and “D” were now tattooed on her inner wrist.

                “Deal,” he agreed. He cackled before vanishing in a burst of fire and smoke, leaving Seunghyun and Gayun alone once again.

                “You shouldn’t make deals with demons,” Seunghyun said after a moment.

                “Well, it’s not my fault that they keep inviting themselves into my home. All I want to do is read books and drink coffee but no! I can’t have that can I? I just… I just…” Tears prickled the back of her eyeballs before slowly spilling down her cheeks.

                “I’m sorry.”

                “No… You’re not,” she sniffed, “This is all your fault anyways.”

                “I’m sorry that I’m not sorry.” Through hiccups and tears she laughed while he gently her hair. Minty and Pudding were the first to venture close but soon the pair were surrounded by cats. Pudding nuzzled Gayun’s thigh and offered a meow while Oreo jumped on Seunghyun’s shoulder to paw at the top of Gayun’s head.

                “You’re a jerk,” she said after a moment.

                “I know.

                “I hate you.”

                “So do you always risk your life and sell your soul for people you hate?” he mocked, giving Gayun some semblance of normalcy.

                “Only for you,” she admitted.

                “Yup,” he agreed, “That’s what you are.”

                “I am what?” she asked, pulling back away from him. Their legs remained tangled up and his hands slid down her shoulders and arms to rest on her wrists, his eyes staring down at the marking there on her left one.

                “Only for me.”

                “Shut up!” she hit his chest but that only made him laugh more, “I am not! I’m my own person!”

                “Am I moving too quickly?”

                “Shut up and make me some Pop tarts,” Gayun demanded as Pumpkin crawled over her lap. She scratched the cat behind the ears as Seunghyun got up to complete the demand. While the toaster warmed up the gooey, artificially flavored treats, Gayun’s face turned several shades of pink while Seunghyun stood there coolly.

                She really should have accepted that priest’s help two months ago.

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