"One never reaches home,' she said. 'But where paths that have an affinity for each other intersect, the whole world looks like home, for a time."

(Demian: The Story of Emir Sinclair's Youth)

Woojin wakes up to a dimly lit room. His eyes feel weak and his body is exhausted; bones aching with heaviness he can't explain. The room is hot, too hot, and it reeks with such a strong smell that Woojin struggles to breathe. The bed is soaked, with sweat or blood, he isn't sure. For a second, Woojin thinks he might be in hell. 

A small laugh catches his attention, and Woojin turns to its source. From the doorway stands Jihoon, his arms crossed on his chest and a wicked smile on his face.

"I'm glad you're awake." His tone is playful yet sincere. Woojin thinks hell's better than being with him.

"Why am I still alive? Aren't you gonna kill me?"

Jihoon fixes him with a fierce gaze so intense, for a moment he wishes he hasn't spoken at all. 

"I told you, you'd join me."

Woojin makes a move to sit up, but he's so drained of energy that he ends up falling on the bed again with a loud thud. He sighs, defeated.

"I'd rather be dead."

"Don't worry," Jihoon starts, "after a while, you won't even feel alive anymore."

Jihoon crosses the room quickly to sit on the bed, next to him. He reaches for Woojin's hand and guides it to his lips, kissing his fingers one by one. Woojin feels hazy, his vision blurring. 

Before he closes his eyes and succumbs to sleep, Woojin notes Jihoon's smile against his palm.

"Welcome home," the demon says.

Not long after, the nightmare began.

Woojin lives in fragments. He can't remember anything, his past life of twenty years coming to him only in bits and pieces in his dreams.

Jihoon says it's because of the accident he was in a month ago; that he hit his head pretty hard and didn't wake up for a few days, that when he came to, he couldn't remember anyone, not even his boyfriend, Jihoon himself.

Woojin was skeptical about it at first, his instinct telling him that Jihoon's not being entirely honest. Soon enough, he realizes that he doesn't have a choice anyway. He assures himself that Jihoon won't get anything out of lying to a person who couldn't even remember the face of his own parents. Somehow, Woojin also knows he shouldn't make Jihoon mad. 

When the school semester starts, Jihoon allows him to come back to his studies. They transferred to another school, he informs him, after the accident happened. Woojin accepts this just like he did the other things. Jihoon has been extremely kind and understanding to him, tending to all his needs, that he feels he owes Jihoon his trust, atleast. He's Woojin's boyfriend, after all.

Sometimes, he's visited by a man in his dreams. It's always the same scenario: the man stands between him and Jihoon and he cries and begs for Woojin's forgiveness. Whenever he voices this out to Jihoon, the other just kisses him and tells him that Woojin's mind is playing tricks, there's no need to worry. 

Woojin believes him.

Every so often, Jihoon brings his 'friends' to meet him. His boyfriend is polite and friendly, so it doesn't bother Woojin as much.

"They're just tools," he says one night, straddling Woojin on the bed. "You're all I need."

He catches Jihoon kissing one of them, a week later. Woojin can't explain it, but he feels sorry for the other person. 

He doesn't confront Jihoon about it, but somehow, Jihoon knows something is wrong. The next day, Woojin wakes up with a painful bite mark on his wrist.

He doesn't remember the kiss. 

Woojin lives in fragments. He doesn't want to be incomplete anymore, so Jihoon tells him to piece himself together using other people.

Woojin learns how to make people like him; what to do to make them vulnerable, what to say to make them trust him completely.

One guy stands out to him, Daehwi. The kid practically worships him; confides in Woojin about his dreams, his worries. Woojin feels powerful, and so he asks him his wish one afternoon, while they're studying in his house. Jihoon is present in the background, boasting a proud smile towards his boyfriend.

"I'd help you get what you want," Woojin tells him slyly, "but you need to give me something in return."

Daehwi smiles at him, innocently. Woojin can't find it in him to care. 

"Sure, what do you need?"

Woojin's face contorts into a broad grin.

"A piece of your soul."