Let it be known, I don’t know anything about summoning demons. I don’t watch horror movies.

They’ve all forgotten who suggested it seriously in the first place. Taemin was the one who found the book, he’s been into this kind of thing lately (he’s also grown out his hair and has taken to wearing more leather, Jonghyun is getting Concerned). Minho brought the candles, and Kibum is a chicken but he’ll try anything once, if only so he can tell the story later in a dramatic fashion. Jonghyun has been against it from the start, not because he’s scared, but because the idea is just so DUMB.

“Really, you guys actually think you can summon a demon?”

They’re in Taemin’s basement. Jonghyun thought they were going to watch a movie, but apparently they’re now summoning a demon. This was not what they discussed.

Taemin nods seriously, book clutched in his hands. “Of course, people have done it before.”

“Who do you know that’s summoned a demon?” Jonghyun demands. “C’mon Taemin, it’s not gonna work. Key, tell him.”

Kibum shrugs. “I don’t know. If it’s not going to work, then what’s the harm in trying it out?”

Jonghyun wants to strangle him. “Minho, you’re seriously down with this?”

Minho startles and holds up his hands. “What are you asking me for?” He asks, pouting. Minho will always do something if it’s what Taemin and Kibum want, Jonghyun should have known better than to ask him.

“You two,” Jonghyun says, pointing at Minho and Kibum, “Seriously believe in demons?”

“I don’t know,” Minho says.

“Taemin wants to try, what can it hurt?” Kibum says with a shrug.

Taemin grins at Jonghyun smugly. “Looks like we’re doing it then.”

“I didn’t agree to this,” Jonghyun mutters. But he’s ignored, so he picks up the phone and calls his favorite chicken place. If he’s going to be present for this madness, he’s going to watch it unfold on a full stomach, damn it.

Taemin, Kibum, and Minho clear a corner of the basement out. They sweep it clean of dust, and they carefully draw a pentagram in red chalk. Jonghyun hears the doorbell ring and goes to get the chicken, and by the time he comes back the pentagram is surrounded by candles. Jonghyun eats loudly while the other three begin to light the candles.

“That’s a fire hazard,” Jonghyun says through a mouth full of food. “Taemin, what will you tell your parents when they come home and you’ve burned the house to the ground?”

“We won’t burn the house down,” Kibum says patiently. He and Taemin play with the candles a bit, Minho is off to the side rummaging through his bag.

Taemin leans back and pages through his book. “We need to put things demons like on the corners of the pentagram.”

“I brought the blood,” Minho says, coming back. “I got it from the butcher’s, it’s pig’s blood.”

“What a waste,” Jonghyun says, shaking his head.

Taemin takes the plastic container and opens it. The blood doesn’t smell, there’s not enough of it for that. On the other point Taemin lays out a creepy doll in a white dress.

“Demons like s,” he mumbles.

Jonghyun laughs obnoxiously. “That knocks us out!” He cries.

Taemin ignores him. “The white dress is a symbol for that.”

Minho also lays out a gold bracelet, “borrowed” from his mother’s jewelry box, because demons like shiny things, plus the fact that it’s kind of stolen will attracted them. Then he also places a small bottle of vodka on another point.

“Alcohol is the devil’s drink, right?” He asks Taemin.

Taemin nods. “Sounds good to me.”

“You guys don’t even know what you’re doing!” Jonghyun cries.

Kibum sprinkles salt around the pentagram. “One more thing,” he says cheerfully, and he grabs one of Jonghyun’s discarded chicken bones and places it on the fifth point. “There. Blood, bone, , theft, and alcohol. That should summon a demon.”

Jonghyun starts to get nervous, but he’ll never admit it. “What would you do if this even did work, not that it will.”

Taemin shrugs. “Talk to it, and then it will go home.”

“Is that so?” Jonghyun asks.

“We can’t summon a powerful demon,” Taemin says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re not strong or experienced enough.”

“It’ll be fine,” Kibum says, as if Jonghyun needed reassuring.

The three of them sit outside the pentagram and look at Jonghyun expectantly.

“I want no part in this,” Jonghyun says, gnawing on a chicken bone.

“C’mon,” Taemin pleads. “Just humor us.”

Jonghyun grumbles, but sits beside Taemin.

For a few seconds, nobody does anything. then Taemin pulls his book into his lap, and starts to recite a chant in Latin. Maybe it’s just their minds playing tricks on them, but it seems like with every word Taemin says, the candles burn brighter. When he finishes the chant, the entire room is still, and none of them dare to breathe. The seconds drag by.

“That should have done it!” Taemin cries, making them all jump.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” Jonghyun says, laughing to cover up his nervousness.

“Give it a minute,” Kibum says, and as soon as the words leave his mouth all the candles go out at once.

“WHAT THE—”

The candles relight, and sitting in the middle of the pentagram is a figure in a black hooded cloak.

All four of them shriek and stumble back. The figure in the pentagram jumps, and his hood falls off.

“WHAT THE HELL,” Jonghyun shrieks, leaping to his feet. “TAEMIN, WHO IS THIS CLOWN?!”

“Hey,” the pentagram-boy says with a pout, “I’m no clown.”

“I don’t know him!!” Taemin screams, his eyes wide.

“Of course you don’t,” Pentagram scoffs. “I’m the demon you summoned!”

There’s a silence, then Jonghyun laughs. “Very funny,” he says between giggles. “What school do you go to? Come on, you’re too smart for this crap.”

Pentagram narrows his eyes and holds up his hand. He lights it on fire, and his eyes turn red. When Jonghyun stops laughing, Pentagram lowers his hand, but his irises remain bright red.

“Now that I’ve proved myself,” the demon says, his voice suddenly deeper, “Allow me to give you an introduction. My name is Onew.”

They all stare at him.

“Onew?” Taemin repeats timidly. “That’s…a nice name.”

Onew grins brightly. “Thank you. I know it’s not terrifying, exactly, but I’m a low level demon. The big bad names go to the big guys.”

Taemin crawls forward and sits in front of the demon. “Sorry if we offended you,” he says. “You’re not what we expected.”

“You expected a red skinned, horned, hoofed, monstrosity, right?” Onew laughs. “Sorry to disappoint you, but Hollywood is way off about us. In this world, we have to take a human appearance. And just so you know for next time, this—” he gestures around the pentagram, “Is not how you summon a demon.”

“Is that why you took some time to get here?” Minho asks. He, Kibum, and even Jonghyun have all crawled back to the circle, sitting close to Taemin. Onew seems to preen under the attention.

“Well, the chant was a little hard to figure out. Which one of you recited it?”

Taemin raises his hand, and Onew looks at him almost fondly. “Was it your first try?”

Taemin nods. “I’ve never said it before.”

“Then it wasn’t bad,” Onew tells him. “You did well for your first try, but we’ll have to work on your pronunciation.”

“Then what’s wrong with the pentagram?” Kibum asks.

“Well,” Onew snorts, “I admire your effort, but the blood is supposed to be human, the doll is just weird, what is it, a bride? And I get what you were going for with the bracelet, but just…no. The alcohol, that was okay.”

“And the bone?” Jonghyun prompts.

“Won’t work at all normally,” Onew says, staring at the bone, “But it’s chicken. Do you have any chicken around here?”

Taemin, Kibum, Minho, and Jonghyun all stare at the demon in shock. Slowly, Jonghyun reaches for the chicken bucket and passes it over the ring of salt. Onew’s eyes widen and he snatches the bucket out of Jonghyun’s hands. He laughs to himself, and the laugh makes goosebumps break out over four human’s skin. Onew digs into the bucket of chicken, devouring what’s left in seconds. Then he munches on the bones, and eats them too.

“Ew,” Jonghyun whispers.

Onew wipes his hands on his cloak and smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s been years since I’ve had chicken, not exactly something we get to eat often where I’m from. I just love it so much.”

“So, the chicken bone summoned you here?” Kibum asks.

Onew nods. “Yup. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have gotten anyone to come here.” He claps his hands together suddenly, making them all jump. “So, what exactly do you want with me?”

They all pause.

“Well,” Jonghyun says, looking crossly at his friends, “Honestly, I didn’t think they’d get this far, and I don’t think they did either.”

Taemin shoves a hand over Jonghyun’s mouth. “We just wanted to talk,” he says. “We were mostly curious.”

“Is hell a real place?” Minho asks.

But Onew shakes his head. “Nuh-uh. I’m not allowed to talk about any of that stuff. Not that I would even if I could, it’s not for you sweet little humans to know.”

“Then, will we go to hell one day?” Taemin asks.

“Also not for you to know.”

“Is there anything you can tell us?” Kibum asks.

Onew thinks about it. “I can tell you that the weather will be good tomorrow. Sunny and breezy, pleasant temperature.”

“Ugh,” Jonghyun sniffs. “What’s the point of summoning a demon?”

Onew rolls his eyes. “You make a deal with them, usually. But since I’m a low level demon, I can’t do much.”

“So, what can you do?” Taemin asks.

“Well,” Onew begins, “I can’t kill or possess anyone for you. And I can’t make you know everything. But I can make people sick—like, give them the flu or a bad cold, at your request. Get your teachers to miss work once in a while, see. And I can give you answers to some of your homework questions. And I might be able to persuade your parents to give you later curfews, and the like.”

Jonghyun’s ready to throw his hands up and go home, but the offer has him hesitating. He can see the same consideration on his friend’s faces.

“What do we give you in return?” Kibum asks.

Onew’s red eyes light up. “Chicken. You give me lots and lots of chicken. Anyway I ask for it—fried, grilled, spicy, glazed. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it can be dirt cheap for all I care. But for every favor I grant, I get chicken in return.”

Jonghyun snorts. “You’re terrifying, really.”

“And you won’t like, steal our souls or anything?” Minho asks.

Taemin lunges for his book. “You can make a demon swear to the terms he’s stated,” he says, leafing through the pages. “And he can’t add in any fine print. Here it is!” And he recites a chant in halting Latin, which Onew actually helps him along with, and then Onew responds in Latin—a chant that Tamin says is an agreement to the terms he’s already stated.

“So you won’t kill any of them, right?” Jonghyun asks warily.

Onew grins at him. “Of course not, I won’t hurt any of you. But why are you talking like you’re not part of the deal?”

“I’m not,” Jonghyun sputters. “I want no part of this.”

“But you sat by the pentagram,” Onew says. “You are a part of it, whether you come to me or not.”

Jonghyun’s ready to pitch a fit, but Kibum stops him.

“Come on,” Kibum asks, “Is it really so bad to have a demon around to help you with homework?”

Jonghyun grumbles and mutters, but he doesn’t argue.

Taemin breaks the salt circle and invites Onew out, which apparently is all he needs to be free of the pentagram. He stands up and takes one step, and promptly trips over the hem of his long robe and falls flat on his own face.

Jonghyun stares at the demon. “Well,” he chuckles, “Some demon you guys summoned, isn’t he?”

Onew glares at him. “Least I don’t have a face like a dinosaur.”

“Didn’t hurt when Taemin said it, doesn’t hurt when you say it, pink-eyes.” Jonghyun snaps. He looks at the rest of his friends. “And by the way, since this demon isn’t terrifying at all, I say this little experiment only half worked, which means it half didn’t work, which means the record will show that I was half right.”

Nobody wants to argue his logic, so they all just nod along in agreement.

Since none of them were actually prepared for a sleepover, they all have to go home. Taemin frets over where to keep Onew, since his parents will come back soon and they’ll want to know why Taemin invited a friend over without permission.

“Can’t you go back to…wherever you came from at night?” Minho asks.

“Sadly, no,” Onew says, not sounding sad at all. “I’m here until you all don’t need me anymore. Can’t go back.”

“So he goes home with Kibum,” Jonghyun says.

Onew clears his throat. “Actually,” he drawls, staring Jonghyun down, “I want to go to your house.”

Jonghyun stares, wide eyed. “Uh…no.”

“Yes,” Onew says.

“No,” Jonghyun says firmly. “No way, and you can’t make me, because of the contract thingy.”

“Oh, of course,” Onew says pleasantly, “I can’t make you take me back to your house, but I can make your life miserable if you don’t. I can scream when you try to talk, I can follow you to school, I can whine, I can refuse to grant your requests—”

“Alright you whiny demon!” Jonghyun cries. “You can come home with me!” He glares at his three best friends. “Are you guys happy? Is this the reality you wanted?”

Kibum rolls his eyes. “Don’t be such a diva, Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun throws his hands up in the air and turns to his new demon roommate, ready to yell at him, but he freezes before he can say anything.

“Great,” Onew says brightly. “Let’s go home then.” And he gives Taemin, Kibum, and Minho hugs—he even ruffles Taemin’s hair and calls him a cutie—and waits for Jonghyun to lead the way out. It’s odd, Jonghyun swears he saw Onew smirking at him earlier, with an almost hungry look on his face. But Onew swore not to hurt them.

“I mostly live alone,” Jonghyun grumbles to Onew as he stomps his way upstairs to the bedrooms. There’s four, one for him, one for his mom, and one for his grandma, and the fourth one for guests, which is where he’ll stick Onew. “My mom and grandma live in our other house in Busan during the week, they own a business there. You can eat whatever you want but try not to eat it all.” Jonghyun looks over his shoulder and spots Onew walking into his own room.

“OYE!” Jonghyun yells, running after him, “Out, out, out! My room, not yours!”

Onew turns around and Jonghyun goes absolutely still. That smirk is back.

“You promised not to hurt us,” Jonghyun says quickly, stumbling back. His door is closed—he doesn’t remember doing that.

“Oh, I don’t dream of hurting you,” Onew purrs. “Any of you. No, I have…other intentions.”

“Like w-w-what?” Jonghyun stammers.

Onew grins, and his eyes seem to glow. “Well, precious, did you know that once a pentagram is drawn, it’s already a portal? I heard you guys talking before you even summoned me, and I also heard your little comment earlier. And I know you were lying through your teeth.” He steps so close that Jonghyun could count his eyelashes. “I’m willing to…help you out with that. If you’re interested, of course.” He trails his fingers down Jonghyun’s cheek. “You have such a handsome voice. I wonder how it would sound when you’re totally wrecked beneath me.”

“EXCUSE ME,” Jonghyun screams, shoving Onew away. “I never agreed to anything!”

“Not yet,” Onew says, looking Jonghyun up and down. “But I have a feeling you will.”

“What makes you think I’ll be under you, anyway?” Jonghyun asks, ignoring what Onew just said.

Onew throws his head back and cackles. The sound sends shivers down Jonghyun’s spine.

“Oh, honey,” Onew says when he’s calmed down. “Trust me, you’ll be begging me to have you.” Then he skips over to Jonghyun’s bed and lays down, burrowing under the blankets. “Of course I won’t touch you unless you ask me to. I can’t force you to have with me. I give you a week, before you cave.” He pats the space next to him. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

Jonghyun storms out and sleeps in the  guest bed. The next day he whines to the others that their demon is ert, but they all just look interested instead of repulsed or worried.

“I need new friends,” Jonghyun mutters. He looks at Onew, who is preening under Taemin’s attention. “Hey demon, can you get me new friends?”

Onew shakes his head. “Nope, nobody else would put up with you.”

Jonghyun shoves him over for that, but he’s almost glad because deep down he really does like his friends. Even if they do stupid things, like summon low-class demons in their basements.

(In the end, Jonghyun lasts eight days before he caves to Onew, and it’s a fact he doesn’t let Onew forget.)