“Junmyeon-dear, is this a cry out for help? If this demon is… is forcing you against your will to marry him, please , give us a sign. I’m here for you, baby, you know we’re here for you. Even if it costs us our lives, we’ll get you out of there, away from beneath his claws . Don’t you worry about us, son, we’ll be alright. Our number one priority— as parents —is making sure that you’re alright. So, come on, just give us a sign and we’ll draw up our pitchforks and go to war!”

Junmyeon smiles to himself while he connects the six symmetrical dots on Chanyeol’s chest with his finger. It’s Sunday morning, a few days after Junmyeon had dropped the bomb on his parents that he was getting married to a demon , and twelve hours since they requested that they had wanted to meet his demon fiance. Clearly, within those twelve hours of what Junmyeon would have to assume were spent restlessly, tossing and turning and reliving every horror story about demons ever told, something had changed.

“Chanyeol doesn’t have claws, ma,” Junmyeon says, and Chanyeol makes a low growling sound in the back of his throat and drags his well-trimmed nails lightly up Junmyeon’s back. He shivers at the touch, and digs his own nails into Chanyeol in retaliation. He likes it.

“Claws? What? Junmyeon, please, be serious here. ” His mother pauses to scold his father for doing something right not right enough . “Junmyeon, dear, we just want the best for you, and…” She shouts something and Junmyeon hears a door slam shut over the line. “I swear, your father and his love for Jeopardy. Talks more during the hour that trivial show runs then he does with me all day!”

Junmyeon says nothing, too occupied flashing Chanyeol puppy-dog eyes when he mumbles something about being hungry. Junmyeon whines when Chanyeol tries to move. “Don’t go,” he mouths.

“ Junmyeon, I’m starving, ” Chanyeol whispers, frowning. “ We’ve been in bed for two hours. ” His stomach howls between them to make a point, and Chanyeol raises his brows. “ See? ”

“But—”

“— Junmyeon ? You still there? What was that noise? Was that a wild animal I heard?”

“It was nothing, Ma,” Junmyeon replies. He tries pouting at Chanyeol again who only laughs.

“Is your fiance having one of his transformations? I saw something about that on the news last month. Junmyeon-dear, I don’t care how much you think him love him, but youcannot be around him when he becomes a savage. He’ll kill you!”

Suddenly, Junmyeon yelps as he’s lifted in the air. With a devilish glint in his eye, Chanyeol fakes dropping him, laughing at the sound Junmyeon makes when he cries out again. Chanyeol sets him down gently next to him, but Junmyeon clings onto his arms, giggling something along the lines of making him pay for that, and Chanyeol has to wrestle himself loose.

“I’m either eating real food, or I’m eating you,” Chanyeol declares loudly, as soon as he has wrangled himself free, pointing a finger in Junmyeon’s direction.

Junmyeon grins. “Eat me then, just come back to bed.”

Chanyeol hears his mother’s violent gasp from where he stands.

“There will be no eating of my son, you outrageous cannibal! Do you hear me? Junmyeon, put me on speaker! Junmyeon, are you still there? Answer me!”

Not that speaker was needed, Junmyeon hits it anyway.

“Yeah, Ma, I’m still here.”

“Why do you sound so winded? Did you just fend off an attack from him? Let him know if I spot any limb or ligament out of place on your little pale body that I am marching over to your house with a bucket full of holy water!”

“Ho —Holy Water ? Ma, seriously ? Why would you say that?”

Startled by his change in tone, his mother stumbles over her words; but before she can get anything out, Junmyeon ends the call.

He catches Chanyeol snapping his mouth shut and turning away as soon as he faces him. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that,” Junmyeon says. “I didn’t know she would go that far.”

Chanyeol’s gaze remains downcast, and Junmyeon bounds off the bed to bring him into a hug. His fiance responds immediately, pouring his weight onto him, and although Junmyeon has to take a step back to balance it all, he does so with strength.

“Go ahead, let it out. Don’t worry—I’ve got you.”

And at Junmyeon’s encouragement, he does. Chanyeol sobs loudly in the crook of his neck, and Junmyeon runs his hands in circles of his back, swaying with him through his convulsive gasps and whispering for him to breathe, to just breathe.

After a while, Chanyeol pulls away. “I’m okay,” he mumbles, but when Junmyeon’s quirked brow suggests otherwise, Chanyeol gives one last snot-full sniff and wipes his nose with his bare arm. “I am okay, now, Junmyeon,” he declares more loudly. “You can stop worrying. I’m over it. It’s just been a while…” since I’ve had to deal with this amount of bigotry.

Junmyeon runs his thumbs across Chanyeol’s tear-stained cheeks, smiling softly. “I will never stop worrying about you, Chanyeol.”

“I know,” Chanyeol chokes, choosing to press his lips into Junmyeon’s before he cries again.

“I love you, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon says after they part, hugging Chanyeol one more time because he knows he still needs it.

“I love you, too, Junmyeon. So much .”

A minute passes before Chanyeol’s stomach makes itself heard again. Junmyeon chuckles and drags his fiance out of the room, saying, “Let’s get you something to eat already.”

*

*

*

(Jongin) 

Are you ignoring Mom??? Why?

Not surprisingly, Junmyeon receives a text from his younger brother around Monday afternoon. By Monday evening, Junmyeon knows thatt he has fallen for his mother’s one-sided stories.

(Jongin)

Seriously, Junmyeon, why are you ignoring me, too? I know you’re reading these.

I CAN SEE WHEN YOU’RE ACTIVE ON INSTAGRAM! RESPOND.

Come Tuesday, they’ve managed to get ahold of the youngest.

(Yerim) 
Lmfaoooooooo, u would be the one who’s secretly engaged to a demon XD!!

Always knew u weren’t so Mr. Perfect like you pretended to be XD!!

WHY DIDN’T U TELL ME THO??? I CAN KEEP A SECRET!!! >:(

OMG what does he look like?? SEND ME A PIC!

Junmyeon starts Wednesday with nineteen missed calls (from his brother and mother combined) and ends it with twenty-eight. The only message his sister has sent him is in reply to his own.

(Yerim)

OMFG HE’S CUUUUTEE!!

WHERE DID YOU FIND HIIIIMM???

DOES HE HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? COUSINS?

UNCLES?????

Thursday, Yeri calls after her last of her classes, and the two of them have a long overdue catch-up. She sides with him, of course; she shares with him the details of the last dispute she and their mother had gotten into weeks before that led up to their period of radio silence that was only broken when their mother had called her to fume about Junmyeon. He had known that the two weren’t talking, but he hadn’t had the mind to ask why. Yeri chides him for this, accusing him of “not caring” about her, and capitalizes on his brotherly guilt by begging him to meet Chanyeol.

Junmyeon is hesitant, mind flashing back to the dejected expression his fiance had carried for the remainder of their weekend. “I don’t know, he’s in the shower right now.” Just as he says it, though, Chanyeol comes waltzing in the room from the bathroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips and another one working his hair dry.

“Did you call me, Junmyeon?”

Junmyeon pulls his lip into a tight smile as his booming voice is no doubt picked up by his sister’s sharp hearing.

“CHANYEOL!”

Chanyeol freezes at the chipmunk-ish sound of his name. “ Who is that? ” he whispers.

“My little sister,” Junmyeon sighs. “She wants to meet you.”

“YES, I DO! I PROMISE I’M NICE!”

“It’s up to you,” Junmyeon says seriously, staring Chanyeol hard in the eyes and ensuring that he understands that.

Chanyeol nods slowly. “Sure, why not. Gotta meet them all, anyway.” He isn’t exactly sure what he’s committing himself to.

Before he realizes what Junmyeon fully means by meeting her , though, his fiance has already switched to video on his phone, angling it in his practically direction.

Chanyeol and Yeri both scream, much to Junmyeon’s amusement. Chanyeol fumbles to grab the first thing nearby — their bedsheets — and covers himself up, blushing furiously when the girl on the screen implores him to stay as he was.

“ Damn , Junmyeon, his body! Whose life did you save in your past life to end up with him ?”

Junmyeon laughs because he knows , and Chanyeol wants to raise the sheets over his head.

“Uhhh, Junmyeon, what…?” Chanyeol can’t find the words.

“My sister’s weird,” Junmyeon explains as if that helps Chanyeol at all. She cackles at the statement, agreeing with him.

Once properly dressed, Chanyeol finds himself much more comfortable in the presence of Junmyeon’s sister. In fact, the two strike a rhythm and hit it off surprisingly well, so quick that, before long, they’re giggling over jokes while Junmyeon struggles to find the punchline. Junmyeon remarks that Chanyeol and Yeri are eerily similar when it comes to personalities, but Chanyeol says he and his sister are a pair of sly foxes. Yeri calls them “fire and water, a dynamic, unique and smokin’ hot couple.” Junmyeon tries informing her that her analogy is a little bit off, but Chanyeol and Yeri both gang up on him—” No one asked, Mr. Know-It-Al!” .

It’s hours after midnight when Yeri remembers that she has an 8 am and should probably go to sleep.

“It was nice meeting you, Yeri. Thank you for receiving me well,” Chanyeol says sincerely, causing Junmyeon’s heart to both sail and sink. “I know it’s not the easiest thing considering—”

“You shut up, you big baby boy!” Yeri interrupts. Junmyeon can tell she’s glaring even though her face is stiff under the green face mask. “Chanyeol, I swear, I love you so much already. If you don’t marry Junmyeon for whatever astronomically wrong reason, then I’m marrying you. You hear me? You’re gonna be a part of this family whether you like or not.”

Chanyeol’s unexpected laugh is sharp in Junmyeon’s ears, but seeing his face switch up so quickly brings a smile to his own face.

“She’s right,” Junmyeon agrees. He notices Chanyeol’s excessive blinking and squeezes his hand just out of the view of the camera. Chanyeol squeezes back.

“Thank you.” Chanyeol says it so quietly, Junmyeon notes, that it isn’t picked up by the mic.

“Don’t you worry, Chanyeol,” Yeri continues (when she was feeling passionate about things, it was often hard to get her not to), “I’m telling you: you will be one hundred percent accepted and welcomed into our family. You’re practically one of us already, so no more pity party-sounding mess from you!”

Junmyeon promises to call Yeri within the next few days, and Yeri tells Chanyeol to make sure he keeps his word. He hangs up and pulls Chanyeol to lay down with him, rubbing his hand over his fiance’s tummy while he cries again. Happy tears, this time.

“You really are a big baby boy,” Junmyeon says, teasingly. Chanyeol shifts around and buries his head in Junmyeon’s chest, making some whiny sound in protest that doesn’t help his case.

“You can’t call me that while you’re rubbing my stomach,” Chanyeol grumbles. Junmyeon smiles and moves his hands to play with Chanyeol’s hair.

“Noted. But I can call you baby boy now, then, right?”

After a beat, Junmyeon giggles at the subtle vibration in his chest. That’s a yes