Soo Jin went to bed long before Yoongi came home. Despite her desire to sleep and wake up to find out that what she had seen on Yoongi’s laptop was all just a dream, she couldn’t fall asleep. She heard Yoongi when he came home, quietly moving around the apartment so that he wouldn’t wake her, even though she was wide awake.

She covered her face with her hands, suppressing the urge to scream. She rolled onto her stomach and grabbed her phone, typing ‘demon mates’ into the internet. Some of the results were hilarious, some led her to some fiction, others were religious sites which ranted about how being with a demon was a sin. Some of the entries were horrendous. They spoke of girls being spirited away to be with demons, forced to live as slaves until the demon tired of them. Some of the other results were the complete opposite. Some sites stating that demons were exactly the same as humans. Some of them were awful, some of them were kind.

After hours of trawling the internet, she finally turned off her phone, her eyes bleary from needing to sleep. She barely remembered falling asleep and it felt like only too soon when she heard Yoongi knocking on her bedroom door. “Hey, are you alive in there?” he asked with a knock. Soo Jin opened her eyes, confused by the bright light that was shining through her window. “If you don’t answer I’m going to have to break this door down!” Yoongi threatened from the other side of the door.

She sat up quickly, pushing her hair away from her face. “I’m alive. I’m awake.” She mumbled, loud enough for him to hear. “Thank god. I was starting to worry.” He said through the door. “I’m making lunch, do you want something?” he asked. “Lunch?” She mumbled in confusion as she checked the time, grumbling at herself for sleeping so late. “Yeah, lunch sounds good.” She shouted through to him. She heard him walk away from her door and she breathed a sigh of relief. For a split second she had considered rejecting him, but she didn’t want him to think anything was wrong.

She pushed off her blankets and made her way to her dressing table to brush her hair and make herself somewhat presentable. She groaned at her reflection. “I look like death warmed up.” she mumbled as she attempted to tame her hair.

Once she was finished getting ready, she took a deep breath. “You can do this.” She said, nodding at her reflection before heading out to eat. Yoongi smiled at her as she took a seat at the table, making her heart skip a beat. “Ah, sleepy beauty!” he teased. Soo Jin gave him a half-hearted smile. “Thanks for making lunch.” She said as Yoongi put a pot between them. “Don’t get too touched, it’s just ramen.” He said as he sat down opposite her.

Their meal was quiet, except for the music that was playing from Yoongi’s phone. He gave her a curious look as she ate. Usually she was so bubbly, the last time she had been so quiet it had been because she was exhausted from working so much to pay for her grandma’s hospital bills. He put down his chopsticks. “Hey, is everything okay?” he asked worriedly. She glanced up at him, flashing him a quick smile. “Yeah, sorry I just didn’t sleep too well last night.” She said, her eyes once again landing on her food. Yoongi frowned, “Are you sure you're okay?” he asked. She nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just need an early night tonight.” She said. Yoongi nodded, “Okay, if you're sure.” He said, not convinced by her words, but he didn’t want to push her.

When he had been quiet after finding out the truth about their marks, he had been in an awful mood for three days and she hadn’t pushed him to explain what had been bothering him. He decided to extend her the same courtesy. They finished their meal in silence, Soo Jin offering to clean up since Yoongi had cooked. He sat in the living room, occasionally glancing through at her as she washed the dishes from their meal.

He started when a loud knock sounded at the door. “, I forgot Namjoon was coming over.” He said as he made his way to the door to let his friend into the house. Namjoon entered the apartment, Yoongi signalling to him that Soo Jin was still at home. He greeted her warmly as he entered the living room. “Hey, Namjoon, long time no see.” She said, giving the handsome demon a smile. They had met several times at Yoongi’s club, the two of them quickly becoming friends. “Can I get you anything?” she asked. Namjoon shook his head, “Nah, I’m good. Thanks though.” He said with a smile that showed off his dimples.

Soo Jin couldn’t help but smile back. “Okay, well I’ll leave you two to it. I need to get ready to go to work.” She said as she made her way to her room. “Already?” Yoongi asked. “Isn’t it too early for your shift?” he asked. Soo Jin’s step faltered. “Ah, I’m going in a little early to help out.” She said quickly. “One of the other girls needs away early so I said I’d start earlier today.” She said, flashing the two demons a smile before rushing into her room and closing the door behind her.

Namjoon looked between Soo Jin’s door and Yoongi who was staring at her door as if he could open the door by staring at it. “Everything okay between you two?” Namjoon asked. Yoongi sighed and dropped onto the couch. “Yeah, I think so?” he said uncertainly. “She’s been acting a bit weird today though.” He admitted, his gaze once again settling on her door.

The two demons chatted quietly, not wanting Soo Jin to overhear their conversation. They stopped talking when her bedroom door opened. She stepped out of her room in her cafe uniform. “I’m gonna get going. It was nice seeing you again Namjoon. I’m sorry I don’t have a chance to talk to you properly.” She said apologetically. Namjoon shook his head, “It’s alright. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” He said, once again flashing her his dimpled smile. She smiled at them both before heading out of the apartment.

Yoongi groaned whenever she left. “The scent is getting stronger.” He groaned. Namjoon patted his knee sympathetically. “I get it. It must be hard having to deal with it.” He said. Yoongi growled, “There has to be a way to make it stop. I can’t keep acting like nothing is wrong.” He said before letting out a deep sigh.

Soo Jin cursed when she stepped out of the elevator, realising that she had left her name badge in her room. She considered leaving it behind, but her boss was a bit of a nightmare and he would bite her head off it she forgot it. She groaned and hit the button for the elevator, impatiently waiting for it to come back down. “Thank god I left early.” She grumbled as the doors slid open, a couple getting out. She got into the elevator and hit the button for her floor, tapping her foot against the metal floor of the elevator.

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she went towards the apartment. She opened the door and opened to shout through to the two demons but Yoongi’s words made her stop in her tracks.

“Claim her?”

Soo Jin froze, her fingertips barely gripping onto the door to stop it from closing and making a noise, which would alert the two men to her presence.

“Yeah, just because you have the marks doesn’t mean that the process is complete. You need to claim her as yours.”

Soo Jin’s hand flew up to cover at Namjoon's words.

“Look at this.”

She heard the sound of a device, maybe Yoongi’s laptop being slid across the table. She tilted her head, both desperate and loathing to hear more. Her heart was thundering in her chest, her palms slick with sweat.

“So this is what I need to do to claim her?”

She stifled a gasp at Yoongi's words. She was shocked that he was considering doing something like claiming her without even telling her the truth about her mark. The hand that wasn’t holding the door open balled into a fist. Part of her wanted to storm into the kitchen and demand an explanation, but a tiny part of her was afraid of what would happen if she did. She stood there for what felt like an eternity before she slowly backed out of the apartment, quietly closing the door behind her, her name tag completely forgotten.

She made her way to the café in a daze, her feet walking of their own accord as they led her to work. “I can’t believe that I’m his mate and he's thinking about claiming me. What the does that even mean?” she said to herself, not caring or noticing the strange looks she received from the people around her. “This is completely ridiculous. How did I even get myself into this situation? How the hell did I go from helping someone to being someone’s mate? It doesn’t make any sense!” she said as she stormed into the café, completely ignoring her boss as he shouted after her.

She stormed into the back room and pulled off her jacket, stuffing it and her bag into her locker. She pulled on her apron and quickly tied her hair into a ponytail before heading out to start her shift, determined not to think about demons, marks, mates or anything like that for the rest of the day.

Back at the apartment, Yoongi was looking at Namjoon with an incredulous look. “This is insane. I’m not going to claim her, Namjoon. She’s not a ing possession! She’s a person!” he growled. “I know, I know.” Namjoon said soothingly, knowing that the earth demon had a wicked temper. “Look, I don’t make the rules. I’m just telling you what I’ve found out. The reason why you can smell flowers when she's near is because you're an earth demon, and since she's your mate, she gives off the scent of what appeals to you.”

Yoongi scoffed at him. “I know it sounds stupid but when you think about it, it actually kinda makes sense.” Namjoon said to his friend. Yoongi didn’t reply, too caught up in his own thoughts. Namjoon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Look, I know I’m not the one going through this, but I think you should talk to Soo Jin. She's not an idiot and I’m sure she's curious about the marks. You're going to have to tell her someday, because she's going to be stuck with that mark for the rest of her life.” He said, hoping to talk some sense into his younger friend.

Yoongi sighed, closing his eyes, his head tilted back to rest against the back of his chair. “I get that but… how do I tell the girl that I love that my love is physically manifested on her skin? How do I explain that to her without her freaking out? Imagine you were her, if someone said that to you, how would you react?” he asked.

Namjoon couldn’t hide his grin, “You love her?” he asked. Yoongi’s eyes widened in realization of what he had just said. He sputtered a few times, before cursing out loud. “!” he half shouted. “I love her.” he repeated, barely believing those words had left his mouth.

Namjoon smiled, “Even without the mark that was clear to see. If she could see how desperately you're trying to protect her now…” he said his voice trailing off before he let out a sigh. “I still stand by what I said, you need to tell her. Both how you feel, and what that mark means.”

Yoongi sighed, “I know.” He whispered, his voice defeated. “I know.”