The next day, after spending most of the morning with Soo Jin’s parents, and the rest of the morning and half the afternoon with her grandmother, they eventually made their way back to Seoul. The back of Yoongi’s sports car was filled with bags of food, snacks and gifts that her parents had prepared for the two of them. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the bags reflected in his rear-view mirror.

He glanced over to Soo Jin who had fallen asleep not long after they started their journey back to Seoul. Soft music was once again playing from the car’s stereo, but this time he drove much more slowly, wanting to stretch out the time he could spend with her, even if she was asleep. The throbbing sensation that had started in his wrist the night before had taken hours to dull down, he had been grumpy in the morning from the lack of sleep, but after a generous breakfast, and a large cup of coffee while sitting watching the sun climb higher over the ocean, his grumpiness had quickly vanished.

He looked over at her, the mark once again flaring to life. He didn’t know why, but there was something about her that made him want to protect her. She obviously wasn’t the damsel in distress type of girl, she was obviously able to take care of herself and her family, but there was just something… something which he couldn’t put his finger on that made him want to protect her from every bad thing out there.

He shook his head and focused on the road again. “I won't be able to protect her if we don’t make it back to Seoul.” He muttered to himself with a chuckle as he forced his eyes to stick to the road instead of the girl sleeping beside him.

Despite the fact that he was driving slower than normal, they still arrived back at her apartment much too quickly for his taste. Soo Jin had woken up when they had been just outside of Seoul. She had apologised for falling asleep again, but he had waved off her apology, telling her that if she was tired, then the best thing she could do was to sleep.

He helped her take her share of the food and gifts her parents had given her up to her apartment. She frowned at a small piece of paper that had been stuck to her front door. “What’s this?” she said as she pulled the paper from the door. She unfolded it, her eyes widening as she scanned the words written there. “This cannot be happening!” she said as her bag fell from her hands. “What’s wrong?” Yoongi asked as he took the paper from her hand. “I’m being evicted!” she cried as panic welled up within her. “The whole building is being evicted!” she said desperately as she ran her hands through her hair.

Her neighbour appeared from a few apartments down, his eyes landing on her as he pulled a large suitcase out from behind him. “Mr Kim!” she yelled as she rushed up to him. “What’s going on?” she asked the older man. Mr Kim shook his head. “It’s terrible! The landlord hasn’t been paying any of the bills! I heard he took everyone’s security deposits and ran away! No one can find him! The building his being repossessed, and we’re all out on our asses!” he spat furiously.

Soo Jin cursed loudly, her hands once again running through her hair. “This is ridiculous.” She muttered, hardly believing the situation she was now faced with. Her mind was already racing, trying to think of all her options. “We have to be out in two days. I’ve been wondering where you’ve been. I was afraid you wouldn’t be back in time to get your things!” Mr Kim exclaimed. “I’m heading to my son’s house, he’s waiting outside. You should hurry and go pack your things.” He said sympathetically before lugging his suitcase to the end of the hall. Soo Jin didn’t move as despair washed through her.

Without the security deposit, she wouldn’t be able to secure herself another apartment. She knew that her parents wouldn’t be able to spare her the money so she had no other option…

“I’m going to have to go back home.” She whispered, more to herself than to Yoongi whose ears pricked up at her words. “What?” he asked as he stalked up to her side, gently grabbing her arm to turn her around so that she was facing him. “I’m going to have to go back home.” She repeated as she looked up at him, her worry and panic clear to see on her face. “I don’t have any other option. I paid that jerk of a landlord a security deposit and six months’ rent. Now I’m not going to get any of that back and I don’t have enough money in my savings to find myself another place.” She said, her hands carding through her hair as she desperately tried to think of any other solution to her predicament.

Yoongi’s mind was running just as fast as hers. The thought of her being so far away made him want to swear and curse. He wracked his brain as he tried to think of some alternative. He didn’t want her to have to go back home. Even if it was only a couple of hours away, the thought of not being able to see her every week left a bad taste in his mouth. Suddenly, as if a light switch had been , he had an idea.

“Move in with me.” he blurted out, startling Soo Jin as much as himself. “What?” she asked, not sure she had heard him correctly. “Move in with me.” he repeated. “That way you won't have to give up your life here.” He stressed, leaving out the part about how he hated the thought of her leaving him.

“It doesn’t make sense for you to have to give up everything you’ve got here because of a minor setback.” He said, hoping he could convince her. “Minor? Yoongi, I’m going to be homeless in two days!” she said, her voice laced with anger and panic, but it wasn’t directed towards him. She was frustrated with the way things had turned out. She was finally starting to make something of herself and the thought of having to run back to her parents… she felt like she had failed. Like the little countryside girl had tried to live in the big, bad city, and it had beaten her. She knew that there would be a lot of people back in her hometown who would gossip about her if she were to return like this.

Yoongi’s eyes softened as he watched her struggle to come to terms with the sudden situation that she had been thrown into. “Soo Jin.” He said gently, once again reaching out for her, this time his hand resting on her shoulder. “Do you really want to give up your life here?” he asked softly, already knowing the answer. She paused for a few seconds, looking into his dark eyes, and for the first time noticing the tiny emerald flecks in his irises that matched the natural highlights in his hair before shaking her head.

He smiled and patted her shoulder. “Then it’s settled. You’re moving in with me first thing tomorrow. We can pack up all your stuff and we can get you out of this place.” He said as he headed back towards her apartment, picking up the bags they had discarded by her doorway. “But… won't it be a bother for me to move in with you?” she asked hesitantly.

Yoongi shrugged, “We’ll figure it out.” He said as he held up his wrist. “Besides, I apparently still owe you a favour, maybe this will solve it?” he said, hoping that bringing up the mark and the favour attached to it would help convince her. She nodded, still feeling hesitant about the whole situation. Yoongi grinned at her. “Besides, if this doesn’t get rid of the mark and you turn out to be a horrible roommate, I’ll kick your to the kerb.” She burst out laughing at his words, a feeling of relief slowly washing over her. “I promise I’ll be the best roommate ever. Just until I save up enough money to get myself somewhere else.” She promised.

Yoongi’s grin faltered for a split second at the thought of her moving out, but he covered it with a lazy smile. “We’ll see. Now come on. We’ve got some packing to do. Please tell me you haven’t thrown away all those packing boxes yet.” He said as he jerked his thumb in the direction of her apartment.

Two days later, all of Soo Jin’s belongings had been moved into Yoongi’s apartment and unpacked. They sat side by side on his large balcony which overlooked the city. They each sipped on their drinks as the sun slowly set over the city, lights in all the buildings slowly springing to life around them.

Neither of them had mentioned that since she had moved in that they both still had their marks on their wrists. Soo Jin felt guilty that he had obviously done so much for her already, but their marks remained as clear on their skin as the night they had appeared.

Yoongi was no longer frustrated by the ever present mark, instead, he had become curious. He didn’t know why their marks weren’t budging and it had made him curious. He absentmindedly looked at the mark on his wrist… so similar to Soo Jin’s but slightly different at the same time. He couldn’t work out why their marks were different. Any demon he had ever known that had received a mark with a human had received matching ones. He hadn’t thought about it much until recently, and it only served in making him more curious. He decided that he needed some expert advice, and made a mental note to meet up with his friend Namjoon the next day, to ask the older demon for some advice.

“What are you thinking about?” Soo Jin asked, shaking him out of his thoughts. “I was thinking about the marks.” He said honestly. A guilty look flashed over her face at his words. “I'm really sorry. You’ve done so much for me and it’s still there.” she said, her gaze locked on the can of beer in her hands. “Don’t apologise.” He said, his voice gentle. “It’s not your fault that it’s there. It just happened.” He said, flashing her a smile. She gave him a half-hearted smile back. “But still.” She protested. “You’ve done so much for me. You’ve helped me move twice. You gave me a job. You saved me from being homeless… I feel bad that you’ve done all that and for some reason it still doesn’t seem to be enough.”

“Don’t think like that.” He said, interrupting her. “Okay, the first time I helped you move it was because I thought that it might be enough to make the mark disappear, but everything after that… I did it because I wanted to. The more I got to know you, the more I started to like you. You're a strong, independent woman and somewhere along the line we became friends. So it’s only natural that I helped you when you needed it. That’s what friends do, right?” he asked. She nodded at him, her smile a little warmer than before as she drained the rest of her drink. “I honestly cant thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. I promise I’ll pay you back… somehow.” She said as she smiled at him.

Yoongi waved off her thanks, “You don’t need to pay back anything.” He said. She gave him a thankful smile, desperate to tell him again and again how thankful she was, but she knew that it only made him embarrassed. She stood up and stretched. “I’m going to go make us something for dinner.” She said as she made her way back into the apartment, leaving Yoongi on the balcony alone with the rapidly darkening sky and the unexplained throbbing in his wrist once more.