“She needs to go back,” you said, using the same direct tone that you had used on the guard earlier. “She doesn't have any sins.”

Hongbin's brow furrowed. “What do you mean she doesn't have any sins? How did she get here then?” The girl looked between the two of you, trying to follow the conversation.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” you retorted. Hongbin huffed.

“Let me see her paperwork.” The longer he spoke the more you could hear his accent, though with the naturally smooth quality of his voice it became a soothing lullaby, unlike the harsh was the guard had spoken. You handed him the papers, now crinkled yet again, and he skimmed them over quickly.

"Hey, Megan, would you go play with Taekwoon for a minute? I think he probably wants to see your teddy bear. We're going to talk real quick about how to get you home."

She looked startled at the use of her name – probably the first, you realized, since she got here – then nodded once, firmly. Hongbin reached out to fix a pigtail and then called his assistant.

"Taekwoon! Can you come here?"

Taekwoon appeared in the room quicker than you expected, and it took you a moment to realize that you couldn't even figure out where he had come from. Another demon trick, no doubt, though you were starting to get used to them. The first time Hongbin had accidentally spawned in your shower you had had a heyday; luckily you weren't in it at the time, otherwise it might have turned into a blood bath.

The girl ran up to Taekwoon, noticeably less frightened now despite the sudden appearance, and begin to chatter about how she got the bear. Taekwoon knelt down in front of her, immersed in what she was saying and giving her his full attention.

"Don't let him fool you," Hongbin said, grinning at the sight; "he loves kids. More than he loves me, probably," he winced good-naturedly. "But," he said, looking back to the paper, "we need to talk about this. Come with me." He was more serious now, the smile fading as he headed to another room and motioned you to follow. Really, if you thought about it, following a demon alone into the darker parts of his residence in hell was really not a good idea. Definitely not a good idea. But hey, you were also his employee, so he probably wouldn't do anything too bad. Besides, the undead over in Hades were a hell of a lot worse than the demons of hell, or at least that's what your coworkers claimed. They were mostly demons as well, though, so they were likely to be biased. Regardless, you had never met any of the undead and for now you planed to keep it that way; working in one underworld was plenty, thank you very much.

Hongbin pulled open the door for you and motioned for you to go inside. With a quick nod you acknowledged his action and entered.

The sound of the girl's chatter quieted as he followed and closed the door behind him. The room was dark inside, too much to see anything, but Hongbin nonchalantly snapped his fingers – and from some unseen place, the room was illuminated. You looked around, taking it all in in surprise. Yet again, it was something completely different than what you expected. You were still waiting for the fiery pits and God knows what else, but instead you were faced with something akin to a Wonderland. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and partially hidden in the corners were deep seated chairs with small lamps by their sides.

You almost vocalized your surprise, but instead bit your tongue and just enjoyed the view; no need to boost the ego of a demon lord, after all. A set of huge bay windows on the other end looked out into a night sky filled with stars, something you never expected to see in hell. They probably weren't real but they certainly made the room seem more alive. You couldn't resist taking a few steps forward and running your fingers over one of the huge leather chairs near the door.

Hongbin seemed to noticed your change of attention, pausing before mentioning the paperwork again to take a moment to watch you. “You know,” he finally said, “You can come here anytime if you want.”

You had already moved on to one of the book shelves, looking at range of titles for something that piqued your interest. The shelves were half modern paperbacks and hard covers and half ancient leather-bound manuscripts; there wasn't a single one that you didn't want to take down and read. You whipped your head around, trying not to look absolutely gleeful. “Really?!” You questioned. Suddenly, you could relate to Belle on why the Beast was so goddamn attractive. Libraries.

Hongbin smothered an extremely undemonlike giggle at you and nodded furiously. “I can set up a direct portal if you want,” he continued, “between your house and in here. You won't have to go through the arduous journey up those stair every time.” You could swear his eyes twinkled. A trick of the unseen lights? “Taekwoon will have a fit about me putting a portal to the outside world in here... but it'll be fine.” He smiled, expression nearly glowing.

Of course having a portal to the outside world wasn't a problem for him; he was a demon lord for goodness sake. But you, on the other hand, were now faced with the debate of whether you wanted that demon lord to be able to walk into living room whenever he pleased, not to mention any other demons that happened to get into the library. But oh, the library. The room itself was larger than your apartment, even if it was ridiculously small. Maybe the size of several apartments. You debated, but you knew it was a lost cause. You already worked in hell, this would be a good bonus. Besides, Hongbin could come in any time he pleased regardless of the portal, and had proved that on several occasions. And besides, of all the demons you met, you feared Taekwoon and Hongbin the least. Or at least, Hongbin the least.

“Yes, please,” you said, now caressing the bookshelves itself. How old was this wood?
Another stifled laugh caused you to turn. “Oh shut it,” you murmured, not quite sure of the boundary lines. How rude could you be before hell became a permanent residence?

“I'll set it up after we talk about this then,” he said, holding up the paper work with a sobering expression, but we do need to talk about this.”