“Where the hell is she??” Woojin immediately ran down to check on his victim after the fall.

At the same time, his father had also made it down after witnessing the CEO jump right out of his office.

“Where are they?” his father shouted, turning his head every direction to look for the missing pair.

What remained were only glass shards from the broken window and droplets of blood with no signs of the bodies.

~~~

Luckily, Baekhyun managed to land near their car, allowing the pair to escape promptly. They somehow made it out of that hell hole in one piece but his back was still bleeding from the unexpected pressure. His wings disappeared, but the scars were still visible. Aera helped him to the passenger’s side and drove off. Her whole body was still trembling from the fall, but she forced herself to stabilize in order to get the two out safely. She glanced over at Baekhyun, who was trying hard to fight back the pain. Finding it difficult to watch him like this, she sped home as quickly as she could. 

Aera stopped the car in the middle of his driveway and rushed over to aid Baekhyun. He was weak, but at least conscious enough to still walk. She placed one arm over her shoulder and helped him inside the house. The risks were already high for a devil to show its true form, considering that it takes up to 50 life years out of them. This is also why most devils prefer its shadow form as it is one of the safest.

“What should I do? Do we need to go to the hospital? How can I help?” Aera bombarded the devil with questions after questions. 

She was still quite shaken from the event earlier, unsure how to process the aftermath and especially after what she witnessed. Her mind, juggling between almost getting murdered and being saved by a flying devil. 

Baekhyun raised his arm, signaling her to come closer. Without hesitation, she obeyed his order and sat down next to him. The devil gently ran his fingers across her bruised neck while scanning the rest of her body for injuries. He felt somewhat hopeless at the fact that he couldn’t be there to help her. 

“I’m fine,” she assured, “…but please tell me if you’re hurting.”

Baekhyun smiled softly, “I’m fine now.”

Just for a slight moment, he wanted time to desperately stop. He was tired. Tired of making deals, tired of wasting his nights wandering on the streets to manipulate fragile souls, he was absolute tired of everything…but this. 

After the confrontation with Sehun, he knew Baekhyun was running out of him and so was he. The devil needed to reverse their fusion to spare the CEO’s life or drain the remaining years in order to secure this vessel. Those were unfortunately his only options. Just a few months ago, he could have easily chosen to drain every last bit of life out of this vessel, but why the hesitation now. What was holding him back?

“You’re lying. I can tell,” Aera frowned. 

As gently as possible, she cupped one side of his injured face from the beating. Baekhyun immediately flinched upon contact.

“See. I can always see right through both of you,” she mumbled, referring to the devil and his human counterpart. 

The devil observed her carefully as she proceeded to explore the house for medical supplies. It was always her carefree personality that caught his interest, but it was also her kind heart that left him envious. He was envious of her selflessness to want nothing but the best for others, and that includes his human vessel. If anything were to happen to Baekhyun, this girl won’t live another day without drowning herself in regrets. Hence, the hesistation on his part. 

Baekhyun’s work phone kept going off despite it being on silent. Out of curiosity, he picked up the phone to see what was happening on the other end. There were numerous of missed calls and text messages from different people, assuming that they were all of his employees. 

‘Mr. Byun, an emergency meeting has been called. We need you back at the company, now.’

‘Nam Corps pulled out their investment.’ another message read.

Though he may not co