JOSEON ERA

Waking up before sunrise was part of his daily life. Prince Daesung would dressed in civilian clothings and exit the palace secretly, bringing a basket of buns and fruits that he would distribute to the the poor and homeless.

That morning was no different.

Even though he was second in line to the throne, Daesung had no desire for it. Being a king means loneliness. Trusting no one and having no friends, there might even be assassination plotted against him. Being a king means you have to be cold to people.

Being a king means you have to murder.

But Daesung was kind.

Too kind.

Sneaking out, the civilians gather around their beloved prince, offering blessings in exchange for providence.

Then he saw him.

A man, dressed in black and long grey hair sat on the the side of the road. It was common for men to have long hair but unusual for one to leave it down and flowing, like that man did. Not only his hair, his clothes seemed… different, out of place. He wasn't wear a robe nor cloth shoes but a long gown and his shoes were made with some kind of hide. Perhaps this man was from another land. Daesung could see that the man was deathly pale from what little skin he showed. Worried, he approached the strange man and tried handing a bun and an apple to him.

"Here, take this."

The man did not reacted to him. Prince Daesung was not one to let another suffer, the man appeared sickly. Or worse, dead. once more, he tried.

The man finally turned to face him.

The man had deep piercing eyes, as if he could see right into him. Instead of taking the food, he asked in an equally deep voice, "You can see me?"

A little bewildered by the odd question, he answered, "Yes, perfectly. Am I not suppose to?"

"No, you are not suppose to. No one is." the strange man answered back.

"And why is that?"

"Because I am not of your world."

The whisperings were starting to get to him, when he turned back to the crowd, he saw the people muttering amongst themselves and looking at him weirdly.

'Maybe it was because of the stranger. He is, after all, a new face.' The prince had thought.

When Daesung looked back at where the stranger sat, he was no longer there.

___

UNDERWORLD

Sitting with his back against the hellgate, the usually cold archdemon seemed colder than usual.

At times like that, G-Dragon would approach him, knowing somthing must be troubling his master. It was also a ploy to gain favor from his lord.

"G-Dragon, I have found an interesting one. He can see me." TOP spoke, looked at the endless desert but seeing nothing.

"That won't be a first. What's so interesting?" Hundreds of years he had followed Top, yet it was the first time he saw the archdemon in this mindless state.

"He did not fear me. His soul is so pure, I desire to taint it. I want that soul. I want to sully then rip it into pieces." His voice cold and hard as ice.

"Yes, my lord. I will think of a way."

-----

PALACE

Seungri, the youngest of the three princes, was the most ambitious one. Like his name, he wanted to be the one to succeed in everything. The polar opposite of Daesung, he was ruthless, his thirst for power knows no end.

Yet, the one person he had always given in to, the one he had always proctected was none other than Daesung.

"Hyung!" He spoke harshly as Daesung emerged from the cubbyhole.

"Oh dear lord! Ouch!!" He had bumped his haed against the concrete when he jolted in fright. He was a jumpy one, that Daesung.

Seungri barely managed to hold in his laughter, his hyung was such a scaredy cat. "Hyung, what if you get caught?"

Seungri knew of his hyung's escapades, thus was used to waiting by cubbyhole with a change of clothes for the older boy.

The older boy only smiled brightly as he changed his clothes. "Seungri-ah, then I would give up everything just to be able to do this."

"Why, hyung? You are a prince of this country, why mingle amongst the poor and dirty? Your reputation within the nobility will be tarnished by them!"

"Seungri-ah, you silly boy. You worry so much about me. I love you, my silly brother." He pets the younger's head affectionately.

_____

Daesung stirred from his sleep, the man in black was sitting just beside him. He scream in sheer fright.

The next moment, guards came dashing into his room.

"Your highness, are you hurt?" The commander asked, sending his subordinates to search the room thoroughly, looking for anything or anyone suspicious who could have frightened their gentle prince like that.

"Y-you don't see him?" Daesung asked incredulously even though the man was sitting right beside him at that very moment.

The troop commander frowned at him but answered, "No, your highness, I see no one but you and my men in this room."

"I told you, no one can see nor hear me. I'm not of your world. Only when summoned, will another person see me. You are different." The strange man looked at ease, not at all worried if any of the men could hear him. "Send them away, will you?"

"Commander Park, it must have been a bad dream. I'm fully aware of my surroundings now and I have troubled you and your men. I am deeply ashamed. Please, tell of no one what had happened. Please return to your posts."

"Yes, your highness." The men bowed and backed out of the room.

Once they were left alone, Daesung questioned the stranger. He didn't fear the man, just intrigued by him.

"What are you and what do you want?"

"I am TOP, an archdemon from the underworld, human. I want your soul."

Daesung would have laughed, that is if the man hadn't said the later part of his sentence. He said that as if it were an everyday conversation. Now, he was a little more than worried.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No, we do not kill nor have physical altercations with humans in contrary to legends."

Daesung exhaled, releasing the breath he had been holding in. "Then how are you going to do it?"

"Us, demons, create contracts with you, humans, under the witnesses of both hell and heaven. If the contract is fulfilled on both sides, I will take your soul."

"what is a contract?"

"Desires, greed, anything that is impossible, out of reach, I can give it to you. There are conditions that you have to meet to fulfill your contract."

Daesung was skeptical, was it really as simple as he said? He did say somthing about heaven and Daesung was sure that heaven wasn't there just to be a witness. There must be more but he was tired and his brain was fried, so he opted to keep his questions to himself. He would ask another day. Now he will just sleep, stranger or no stranger on his bed.

____

UNDERWORLD

Using all his resources available, he finally found a way to hopefully lure that prince into his trap.

TOP would praise him.

But TOP was no where to be found.

Should he move on his own?

Maybe.

_____

PALACE

The demon was still beside Daesung when he woke up. Not only was he still in the same sitting position as the previous night, he was staring at Daesung.

"You look lonely." Daesung stated.

"What is lonely?" The demon asked.

"Being lonely is… worse than being sad, it's more than hatred because if you can hate, that means there's someone for you to do that. If you are lonely, it's like you're dead inside. There's nobody but you. It's like an endless pit where you fall in but on one will pull you up. You'll just fall deeper endlessly." Daesung explained, already feeling sorry for the archdemon.

"I am a demon, I care not for useless things like feelings."

"Oh…"

"But I can give you anything, anything at all, if you agree to a contract."

"There is nothing I desire. I'm content with what I have."

Daesung proceeded to wash up and dress in his civilian clothes. "Why don't you come with me?"

TOP finds this young man really intriguing. Million of years he had existed, he was never fascinated by anything nor anyone, the only except was when he dealt punishments to the residents of hell.

Not only did he not display any fear for archdemon, this man says he wants nothing. When he had looked into Daesung's mind the night before, he knew it was true, he desires nothing more than what he already had.

He was fascinated by Daesung.

And so, he followed the prince, seeking to find a single moment where the prince would stray from his resolution and leave himself vulnerable.

___

HEAVEN

Sol, the archangel, watched from above as the demon followed the prince. He too, held a great interest in Daesung, the prince had the makings of a fine angel.

Knowing that TOP was one of the most ruthless demon, Sol kept an eye on the pair, ready to intercept should the demon harm the prince.

Not that he can physically harm the prince, but he can slowly corrupt Daesung.

As trusting as Daesung was, he should never trust a demon.

Because what wasn't told to Daesung was that if a contract is formed, an angel of equal rank to the demon would be sent. If the demon or tbe human fails to fulfill the contract, the soul would be safe.

The demon had the power to plant darkness in his subconscious, to lure the soul into temptations. They are sly beings, able to tweak situations to their favor.

An angel, however, is able to influence a person's veiw on the situation to seek repentance from their conscience.

Say, if there is a reward for every cat killed and a person wants it, that person has the choice to kill a cat. That is the seed of darkness at work and the killing would the condition that person has to fulfill in order to get the reward.

Look closely again, the cat is starving, it is skinny and weak, that person can also choose to let it go and spare a few scraps to feed the sad looking thing, forfeiting the reward. That would be the light of conscience and that life would be saved.

That is the way a contract works.

Sol had lost many souls to the demon, unable to save them. Many had given in to greed and temptations. So he swore to himself, even if it was one person, he would give his everything to save that person.

Sol swore to save Daesung.

So, the first chapter is up and it is short! This is mostly to introduce the characters and to explain how the contract works in this story. More characters will make their appearances in the later parts.