Wrath and Pride were the first ones to barrel down the stairs, closely followed by Sloth and Lust. They stopped abruptly in front of the living room door, the ominous aura emitting from the room strong enough to make nausea course through their bodies. Nobody dared to say anything while they were waiting for the remaining demons to arrive.

They hadn't expected them to bring along the human tenants though.

"What are they doing here?" Wrath hissed through gritted teeth, after pulling the demons aside with a very forced smile towards the remaining housemates. "It's dangerous!"

"I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen," Gluttony whispered frantically. "What do we do?"

"Maybe Jeonghan can help?" Envy proposed and sent Sloth an inquiring stare. "Knock them out or something?" The blond demon nodded after a short, worried glance at the humans who were still watching them curiously - but before he could do anything, a voice boomed through the corridor and brought a sudden stop to the discussion.

"There is absolutely no need to be so nervous, my dear children. Why don't we have our talk in that lovely living room of yours instead of this uncomfortable hallway?"

The king of hell had opened the door they were gathered in front of, his tall figure towering over them. Dressed in white and illuminated by the sunlight flooding through the windows in the living room, Lucifer certainly lived up to his name. The demons fell to their knees at once and bowed their heads - except for Lust who was stubbornly staring at the wall, arms crossed protectively in front of him.

The humans witnessed the display of subordination in confusion. "Hyung, what's going on?" Chan whispered towards Hansol who shrugged, warily eyeing the stranger standing in the doorway. Wonwoo and Seokmin had looked just as baffled as the other humans but after a few seconds, realization began to dawn on their faces. Seokmin took a step back in fear while Wonwoo paled considerably.

"Master," Pride dared to speak up, eyes still directed at the ground, "what happened to the humans that greeted you when you arrived?" The demons around him blanched, unaware until now that the remaining two tenants were involved as well.

"Master? Humans? What-" Hansol immediately got cut off by Seokmin's hand while Wonwoo pulled Chan behind him, an anxious frown marring his features.

Satan only spared them a disinterested glance before he once again smiled down at the kneeling demons. "Oh, Minghao and Jun, right? Lovely boys, those two. They even offered me coffee," he said pleasantly and chuckled. The sound sent shivers down their spines.

Lust couldn't hold back any longer and glared at the devil, fists clenched. "What did you do to them?!" he spat.

Despite his harsh tone, Satan kept smiling while he turned his attention to the demon. It was obvious that it took Jisoo considerable effort to not back away from him. "Ah Lust, my long lost favourite. Or should I call you Jisoo? That seems to be the name you've been using for the last few decades." Lust remained silent but the devil didn't seem to mind. "I've missed you my little lamb. I was a bit disappointed after you left me but everyone makes mistakes, right?" Satan's smile stayed the same but his eyes held a dangerous glimmer.

The lightbulbs in the hallway suddenly exploded all at once, prompting the humans to scream and the demons to jump up and shield them from the falling shards.

The devil laughed at their fear. "Look at that. Is that compassion I'm seeing? Worry? Perhaps even love? Who would have thought that you would turn so soft after just two sad little years. But let's move to the living room. All of you." With those words, he turned around and walked through the door. The sunlight that filled the living room seemed to waver around him.

Wrath worriedly brushed off the glass shards from Chan's stiff shoulders, thoroughly checking him for injuries, while Greed fussed over a cut on Wonwoo's cheek. Hansol looked like he had swallowed his tongue, his fingers tightly wrapped around Envy's arm, who patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. A shaky Seokmin leaned against an equally shaky Gluttony and was the first to actually ask any questions: "Was that him?"

"If by him you mean Satan, yes, that's him," Sloth replied, sighing in resignation. His fingers were tightly linked with Lust's.

Now it was Chan's turn to open his mouth. "What the hell is going on?" Jisoo still had the strength to send him a reprimanding look at his choice of words.

"We'll tell you everything later, I promise, but we really need to go. He doesn't particularly like to wait," Pride said, trying hard to sound calm and collected. "He wants all of us to come, that includes you guys. But please, whatever you do: don't anger him and don't make any deals. The devil is bound to his word by nature but he's also a master of deception."

The humans gulped but nodded.

Walking into the living room in pairs, Chan being flanked by Jisoo and Jeonghan, the first sight that met them was the ruler of hell sitting on their couch, playing with Minghao's hair. The Chinese couple was sitting silently by each of his sides, not showing any reaction to the arrival of the other tenants.

Seeing this, Lust clenched his fists even tighter while Sloth tried to calm him down by rubbing his back.

"Why are they like that?" Wrath asked daringly, prompting Pride to shoot him a warning glare. "....Master?" Jihoon bowed his head.

"Ah well, they were a bit reluctant about letting me inside the house at first, so I convinced them that listening to me is always a good idea."

"Is... is it permanent, Master?" Soonyoung sounded somewhat breathless.

"Why? Do you want your little friends back, Gluttony?" He asked with a friendly smile, his hand still Minghao's hair as if he was a pet.

The demon bowed even deeper than before and squeaked, "Y- yes, Master."

Satan's smile turned into a dangerous smirk. "What will you give me if I return them to you?"

Jisoo stepped in front of them, breaking the line of sight between the devil and Gluttony, who had started to shake at the seemingly innocent question. "Return them back to normal and let them go in peace and I'll return to your side." Jeonghan immediately moved next to his lover and opened his mouth to intervene but Lust merely held up a hand to stop him from speaking.

"That's quite an interesting offer, Jisoo. And frankly speaking, it's quite tempting, too." Satan leaned back lazily, the corners of his mouth curling upwards. "But what stops me from just taking you by force?" For a split second, the handsome face in front of them deformed into something horrific, before it was back in place. Chan couldn't stop a whimper from escaping and pressed himself closer to Seokmin, who wrapped his arms around him even though he looked just as scared as the younger.

Jisoo seemed completely unimpressed by the display but his whitening knuckles gave him away. "If you wanted to do that, you would have done it 400 years ago already," he said monotonously.

Wrapping an arm around motionless Jun, Satan grinned at the response. "That's true. As always, my little Lust knows me best. You are a pest when you have to do something against your will, which is why I allowed you your playtime. But now this playtime ends here. Have your humans." He pushed the two boys off the sofa and they stumbled in the demons' direction, both looking disoriented but much more alert than before.

Seungcheol caught Minghao before he could fall and Seungkwan wrapped his arms around Jun, who was rubbing his head. "Are you guys okay?" Wrath asked while patting Minghao's back.

"I think so," Jun answered slowly and Minghao only nodded. "What happened?"

"Um... It's kind of a long story," Envy nervously avoided eye contact, looking at Pride instead who sent him a reassuring smile.

"Oh, but is it really?" the devil disrupted with twinkling eyes that made the demons stiffen. "Don't you think your lovely housemates have a right to know your real identities?"

Seungkwan dared to step forward now. "But Master, humans are not supposed to know-"

"My dear Envy, if I would work by that rule, I would have to punish some of you quite severely, do you want me to do that?" Seungkwan immediately shook his head and looked at the others in terror. "Good. But if you don't want to tell them, suit yourselves. We have mo