The next evening, the doorbell was ringing, surprising Minji who had just finished washing the dishes after dinner. Mochi had been observing her curiously, and when the small demon heard the noise, it shot off towards the front door with lightning speed. She followed it amusedly and opened the front door to discover Sehůn and Jangmi who were smiling mischievously.

“Good evening,” Jangmi chirped and pulled the stunned Minji into a hug before Sehůn did the same.

“H-Hello,” she replied surprisedly. “Please come in! It’s been a while since we’ve met. May I ask why you’re here?”

As they walked through the hallway to the kitchen, Jangmi answered, “We’ve heard interesting news from Läy, and we came to congratulate you two.”

They reached the kitchen the second Baëkhyun arrived and joined them. “What a surprise to see you here,” he said and leaned against the kitchen counter, folding his arms.

“Are you being sarcastic?” Sehůn mocked, staring him down with his eerie piercing eyes. His red scar always made him look a bit like a daredevil, Minji thought. “Jangmi insisted we should visit after she heard that you guys got bonded again.”

“Läy is such a damn gossip,” Baëkhyun nagged. “Doesn’t know how to shut up.”

“You can bet on it that the others will come by soon too,” Sehůn smirked. “I’m sure he’s told everyone already how whipped you are.”

“Speak for yourself,” Baëkhyun countered, his eyes glinting evilly. “Don’t act like you’re not bonded.”

Jangmi and Minji exchanged an amused glance, holding in their giggles. “You two are bickering like an old couple,” Jangmi commented. Their heads snapped around at the same time and they stared at her in disbelief.

“What?!” Sehůn sputtered.

“No, eww!”

“That was not necessary, Jangmi!” Sehůn nagged and put his hands on his hips. A gust of wind swept through the kitchen, ruffling his hair.

“I was just stating my thoughts,” she grinned. “You have an interesting friendship.”

“Who said we were friends?” Baëkhyun huffed.

“Oh come on, you’re close and you can’t deny it,” Minji teased much to his chagrin.

“Shut it!”

“I have no idea how you put up with this rude all the time,” Jangmi whispered to her, amusement plain to see in her eyes.

“Hey! I heard that!” he promptly yelled, already fuming again. Minji grinned at his antics.

“That’s a mystery. He hasn’t even invited me on a date yet even though we’re officially a couple now! The audacity!” she complained and shot him a very dark and pointed stare that made him flinch. His eyes widened a fraction, the spooked expression on his face amusing Sehůn to no end.

Jangmi gasped dramatically and hid her open mouth behind her hand. “What? He hasn’t? Unbelievable! Sehůn is much more attentive, we always go on dates together,” she said slyly and winked at Minji.

“See, I’m better than you!” Sehůn mocked, hugging Jangmi from behind. “Can’t beat me.”

His ego hurt, Baëkhyun grimaced. “Shut up, you idiot! I’m going to prove to you that I’m better!” he yelled.

“Why is he getting so competitive over it?” Jangmi whispered to Minji who had a hard time holding in her laughter. He could be somewhat easy to manipulate when his ego got in the way—not that she would ever tell him that. It was too entertaining to watch him making a fuss over something insignificant.

“No, I’m better!” Sehůn retorted stubbornly. “You’re as romantic as a stick and dates with you must !”

“No, they don’t!”

“Yes, they do!”

“Guys, stop it!” Minji cut in. “That’s enough now. I’m sure that Baëkhyun is more romantic than a stick.”

He huffed and sulked. “You’re making it sound worse!”

“We should go on a double date soon, now that you’re bonded again,” Jangmi smiled excitedly.

“Sounds good to me. What do you think, Baëkhyun? Are you in?” Minji asked.

“Of course!”

“Mission accomplished,” Jangmi breathed, exchanging a mischievous glance with Sehůn who was smirking widely.

They agreed to meet up the following Saturday at the local amusement park. Minji had been looking forward to it all week since she hadn’t been in a park for years and she wanted to visit one together with Baëkhyun.

When she sleepily trudged out of their bedroom early in the morning, she spotted Baëkhyun in the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine. He was dressed for the day already—and what he wore made her freeze in her spot. Her jaw practically hit the floor when she saw him. His jacket was of a daring ruby red color, and the black belt he wore on top of it emphasized his slim waist. And as if that wasn’t enough already, its open neck let her get a good glimpse of his toned chest.

Why did he have to be so damn attractive? She inwardly asked herself how her poor heart would survive the day with him looking like this. The sly little must have picked this outfit on purpose.

Before he noticed her, she quickly hurried on to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. Because it was fall and the weather was quite cold, she put on a warm sweater and skinny jeans before braiding her long black hair and letting it fall over her shoulder. Since today was their first official date as a couple, she applied make-up for good measure, emphasizing her warm brown eyes with mascara, eyeliner, and eye shadow, as well as painting her lips a pretty pink.

She took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen, pleasantly surprised to see that he had finished preparing breakfast while she had been gone. Flabbergasted, she stood frozen in the doorway and just stared until he noticed her.

“What?” he asked her and inclined his head. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

She coughed, clearing . “Um… I was just surprised that you made breakfast,” she explained.

“Oh,” he replied before his expression turned cocky. A teasing gleam lit up his blue eyes. “Didn’t you want a romantic date? I thought we should start early.”

Flushing and slightly overwhelmed by the demon’s boldness, Minji fidgeted with her hands. She was flattered and impressed since he normally was anything but a gentleman, though it seemed like Sehůn’s taunts had made him change his mind a bit.

“Thank you,” she said and sat down, picking some of the freshly made pancakes for herself. They were still warm and tasted heavenly. He was good at cooking, and she was always happy to try his dishes.

Resting his chin on his hand, he watched her eat with a satisfied grin. “Is it good?”

“Yes,” she answered. “You should do this more often!”

“If you beg for it,” he smirked and winked.

“You wish.”

He shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

“I take it back, you’re not a gentleman,” she mumbled under her breath, but he heard her anyway.

“What are you talking about? I never said I was.”

“Forget it.”

They met Jangmi and Sehůn at the entrance to the amusement park. The couple was in a great mood and looking forward to the rollercoasters and other attractions that the park had to offer.

“Hello, you two!” Minji smiled. “Have you been waiting long?”

“No, we just arrived,” Jangmi answered. “Let’s go inside!”

They paid at the entrance and walked into the park that was already filled with people of all ages, wanting to spend the day here. It was loud and colorful, the smell of sweet candy hanging in the air since various food stalls were nearby. Rollercoasters rose over the other buildings, and the excited screams of people reached her ears. Minji was beaming, knowing already that this would be a great day.

She linked her hand with Baëkhyun’s who looked slightly less convinced and shot annoyed glances towards the many humans around him. Whenever one of them got too close, he would scowl and literally make them back off with only his glower. Minji’s lips twitched in amusement seeing that. It seemed like she was the only human he didn’t mind being close to.

“Baëkhyun, today is supposed to be fun, you should smile!” she suggested.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“I told you that dates with him ,” Sehůn chimed in. “He is just a grumpy demon after all.”

“Sehůn, you better shut up,” Baëkhyun retorted and icily glared at him.

“I swear, they are like fire and water,” Jangmi whispered to Minji who grinned in response.

“It’s true—they just can’t stop bickering.”

“Want to choose one of the rides now?” Jangmi asked and Minji nodded, letting her eyes move over the attractions nearby. Her gaze got stuck on the haunted house that was nestled in between a colorful candy shop and a ride for children. It stuck out since it was entirely black, with cracked windows and a creepy ghost hovering over the doors.

“The haunted house looks interesting,” she said.

“Alright, then we’re doing that first,” Jangmi smirked. “Sehůn, Baëkhyun, are you coming?”

The two demons got distracted from their argument and glanced at the women, wondering what was going on.

Jangmi smiled. “Come with us, please! We want to visit the haunted house over there.”

They stopped arguing altogether and decided to accompany their girlfriends instead. As they walked towards the eerily decorated building, Baëkhyun snorted. “Are you kidding, Minji? You want to go in there? That looks so lame.”

“No, it’s going to be thrilling,” she replied poutily. “Just you wait!”

He sighed but didn’t complain anymore, following her inside. Sehůn and Jangmi went in first, while Baëkhyun and Minji had to wait for a few minutes in which Baëkhyun kept sneering at the overdramatic decoration in the haunted house. It was filled with puppets that were designed to resemble vampires, demons, zombies, and even witches, but of course, they looked ridiculous to him.

When they were allowed to enter, Minji excitedly walked ahead and glanced around curiously. They were in a dim hallway with old paintings hanging on the walls—and she got a little scared when she noticed that the eyes of the people depicted on them were actually moving. Other than her, Baëkhyun didn’t grace them with his attention, shoving his hands in his pockets in boredom and following her like a silent shadow.

At the end of the hallway, they reached a room with a creepy ghoul murder scene, fake blood bathing the puppets standing in the darkness. The light barely reached them and made them look frightening to her.

“Ridiculous,” Baëkhyun said and rolled his eyes. “Everybody knows that ghouls don’t look like that. In fact, they don’t even like to eat human brain. This is bull.”

She awkwardly cleared and shuddered. “T-Thank you for clarifying,” she stuttered. “But I did not want to know that.”

He chuckled seeing her freaked-out expression and they walked on to the next room. Minji got a huge scare when a skeleton suddenly fell from the ceiling right in front of her. She quickly hid behind his back and peered over his shoulder at the thing.

“Minji, are you serious right now? This is made of plastic,” he nagged. “They could have at least used real ones. That would have been funnier.”

She opened and closed it again, speechless at what he just said. “F-Funny?” she stuttered. “This isn’t even supposed to be funny, you weirdo! And why would a real skeleton ever be funny?”

“You don’t get it,” he sighed and shook his head.

“No, I don’t.”

Baëkhyun took her hand and tugged her after him. “Come on, this is boring, I want to do something else.” They walked through the rest of the haunted house with quick steps. He didn’t flinch at any of the scares, didn’t care about the frightening ghosts that appeared in mirrors, didn’t even care about the creepy hands that reached out to their ankles. However, his boredom faded when he observed Minji who got scared too easily and he ended up laughing quietly.

“I can’t believe you’re terrified of plastic dolls when you’ve fought demons before,” he commented as they left the haunted house. She heaved a sigh of relief.

“S-Sorry! But I just can’t deal with jump scares!”

“There you are!” Jangmi called. She’d been waiting with Sehůn near the exit. “Did you like it?”

“Not really,” Minji grimaced, prompting Sehůn to laugh. She glanced around for a moment, her eyes noting the candy shop right next to the haunted house. “How about we have a snack now?”

“But we only just arrived,” Jangmi said and Sehůn nodded in agreement.

“How are you hungry already?” Baëkhyun asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Fine, if you don’t want anything, I’ll go buy something for myself instead,” she shrugged and entered the shop.

When she came back a few minutes later, she was equipped with fluffy white cotton candy. Minji munched on it, noticing the weird glances Baëkhyun was throwing her and her snack.

“What is that? Looks hella fluffy and disgusting,” he grumbled. “Like a ing cloud on a stick.”

“It’s cotton candy, a heavenly delight,” she grinned and held it out to him. “Wanna try?”

“Eww, no!” he yelled and glared. “Never.”

She was sure he would like it, so she took some of the cotton candy and held it right in front of his face. “Open your pretty mouth,” she said teasingly and earned herself a disgusted stare.

“No.”

“Open up, please,” she repeated persistently, and when he didn’t move, she just shoved it at his mouth so he had no other choice but to eat it if he didn’t want to have it glued over his lips. He cursed and grumbled while he chewed, and to her amusement, he seemed to like it just as she had thought. Her demon had a sweet tooth, whether he liked to admit it or not.

“It’s good, right?” she asked and beamed at him, noticing a faint blush on his cheeks while he avoided her prying eyes. “You’re blushing, aww!”

“Minji!” he hissed. “I am not blushing! How often do I need to tell you?!”

She didn’t answer him and smiled to herself, finding him adorable. Annoying him was too much fun and she just couldn’t stop herself, especially when she knew he would get flustered over it. He obviously wasn’t used to receiving this kind of affection openly. It wasn’t common among demons, but that certainly didn’t mean she would stop.

“Do you want another?” she asked, waving another piece of the fluffy snack in front of his face. He didn’t answer, but she knew that wanted it judging by the glare he sent her. “Open your mouth,” she chirped.

He held in a curse, but he complied, and she stuffed the cotton candy in his mouth. She giggled when she noticed the embarrassed red hue of his ears, taking a bite of the sweet snack herself.

“Stop laughing, damn it!” he cursed.

“I can’t help it,” she replied cheerfully. “Do all demons love sweets the way you do? Maybe I should have bought strawberry flavored cotton candy...”

“There is strawberry flavor?” he sputtered before he caught himself. “I mean… that sounds interesting.”

“Mhm, very interesting,” she replied playfully and nudged him.

“Look at them flirting, so cute,” Jangmi whispered to Sehůn who had observed the peculiar scene with a sneer, already making a plan to tell Kāi about it. He’d have the time of his life annoying Baëkhyun over it, and Sehůn could not wait to see that.

“Very cute, yes,” Sehůn snorted. “He’s such an idiot, I can’t believe it.”

“It’s so obvious he’s in love,” she giggled. “But he shows it in a different way than you.” She winked at him, prompting him to awkwardly clear his throat.

“Well, um… I guess.”

“Are you embarrassed?” Jangmi laughed. “Don’t be. You know I love you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sehůn grinned, playfully ruffling her hair. “Where do you want to go next? I think we should leave those two alone for a while.”

“How about the house of mirrors?” she suggested. “It’s over there!”

He nodded and Jangmi briefly told her two friends where they would go. They barely even looked at her, too busy with each other. She held in a giggle, took Sehůn’s hand, and then they walked off, getting lost in the crowd of people.

Minji shared the rest of her cotton candy with Baëkhyun before they decided where they wanted to go next. She had been excited to try the huge rollercoaster and pulled him along with her towards the ride. Since it was filled with screaming humans, Baëkhyun was anything but happy, but seei