Minji heaved a sigh of relief after they left the building. Finally, that disastrous interview was over—she would do her best to forget about it. Baëkhyun seemed to think the same, walking next to her with an irritated scowl on his face that prompted several people in their vicinity to cower away from him.

“What an ,” Baëkhyun growled.

“Calm down, we won’t see him again,” she said. She certainly wouldn’t be back for another interview. “Baëkhyun, you know what? Why don’t we turn this into a date now? Since we’re in the middle of town and it’s only three o’clock… there’s plenty of time left to do something.”

“Sounds good,” he nodded. “Where do you want to go?”

“How about the shopping mall over there?” she asked and pointed at a nearby building that was swarmed with humans. It was loud and colorful—everything that he hated.

“Minji,” he sighed. “Really?”

She smiled, taking his hand and pulling him along excitedly. “Yes! It’s going to be fun, I promise! They have many amazing shops in there… and I’m sure you’d love the arcade on the top floor.”

Minji wanted to spend the rest of the day doing something fun. She was well aware that he preferred to avoid other humans, but she also knew that his love for videogames probably would make him like the arcade.

And indeed, her comment had sparked his attention. He caught up to her and walked alongside her when they crossed an intersection, heading straight for the mall. It had several floors and was filled with small shops and boutiques. Minji’s smile widened. With all the chaos going on in her life lately, she hadn’t had time to go shopping, and she was tempted to head into the first shop she saw.

It was a cute little jewelry store that offered pretty necklaces and earrings. Her feet became rooted to the ground when she peered through the shop window, and Baëkhyun was forced to stop. Looking over her shoulder, he saw different kinds of jewelry. It didn’t come as a surprise to him when she took his arm to guide him into the shop. He could have stopped her, but since she seemed to be happy about being here, he didn’t.

Whenever he sensed her happiness through their bond, he couldn’t refuse her. Why would he let disappointment taint the joy in her heart? Especially after their strange encounter with the incubus, he’d noticed her unease and he wanted to do something about it. So he went along with her and held in his complaints. However, that didn’t stop him from sending the other humans in the shop evil glares.

Minji didn’t notice any of them, too busy looking at the silver necklaces. She considered buying one of them, but in the end decided against it. Moving on to the array of colorful earrings, her eyes darted over them.

Baëkhyun stood behind her and hugged her, resting his hands on her stomach. “Did you see something you like?” he said.

“Well, yes, but I can’t decide what to buy,” she mumbled absentmindedly. Her gaze got stuck on a necklace with a blue flower pendant. Its color was identical to that of his gorgeous eyes. “Maybe this one?”

“Why not?” he replied. “Would go well with your dress. I like what you’re wearing today, by the way.”

Her cheeks warmed, and part of her was glad he couldn’t see her face right now. But he certainly felt the surge of happiness that erupted within her, smirking to himself.

“Thank you,” she replied. “I’m surprised you’d like cute dresses. Doesn’t seem like your style.”

“Not mine, but yours,” he said amusedly. “They suit you, sugar.”

“You’re a charmer,” she breathed. Hearing his quiet chuckles, she moved on to the next display, this one showing several different rings. She wasn’t particularly interested in those, but her eyes scanned over them regardless.

One of the shop’s employees noticed the couple and hurried over to them. “Hello,” she said and smiled kindly. “Are you looking for wedding rings?”

Caught off guard by this, Minji’s eyes widened comically. She was at a loss for words and stared at the other woman with hanging open.

“No,” Baëkhyun replied before Minji could even find her voice. “We’re already married.” His devilish grin caused her to blush bright red. Of course he would say that.

“O-Oh, I see,” the employee said sheepishly. “Then is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Well, now that you’re here…” Baëkhyun said and pointed at the necklace with the blue pendant she’d been eyeing earlier. “I want to buy this.”

The employee nodded and took the necklace, walking to the counter. Minji’s wide-eyed gaze moved to Baëkhyun. “Um… are you serious?”

“You wanted it, don’t deny it,” he grinned, ruffling her hair. “I know you well enough, sugar.”

Baëkhyun went to the checkout, paid for it, and then they left the shop. He helped her put the necklace on, the blue flower sparkling in the artificial light inside the mall.

“Thank you,” she said and hugged him, giving him a peck on his lips.

“Don’t mention it.” He looked happy, his usual scowl gone. Instead, he wore a relaxed smile, his eyes the color of the sky.

The mall was filled with people at this hour, so it was somewhat crowded. In order not to lose each other, Minji took his hand while they strolled through the building. She occasionally stopped to glance at the shop windows, taking her time. Between the many humans in the mall, she sometimes spotted a supernatural creature that was invisible to everyone else. It was mostly small demons. They scurried away when they noticed Baëkhyun, disappearing from sight. While their presence had scared her at the beginning, she had grown used to them now. Most of the time, she didn’t care they were there.

Minji stopped when she noticed something interesting. “Look! They’re selling Halloween accessories!” she gushed and ran to the display in front of a shop nearby.

Baëkhyun followed her, lacking her enthusiasm as he scrutinized the cheap plastic things that were sold here. Not only did these humans offer ridiculous demon horns, but they also sold red tridents and witches’ brooms. The plastic vampire teeth looked so stupid he rolled his eyes. Why humans bothered to celebrate Halloween was a mystery to him. They were probably jealous of every supernatural being ever. Typical.

“Minji, what do you want with those horns?” he asked suspiciously, scrunching his nose in disgust.

“Huh? I thought they would go well with my costume,” she said, holding a pair of red curled horns. “You were the one who told me to go for a demon costume, remember?”

“Yeah, but those are ugly.”

“Always so straightforward,” she mumbled, suppressing her laughter. He did look offended when he browsed through the various items, holding up a pair of feathery angel wings with two fingers. He acted like they were a stinky rat or something, and his behavior made her snort.

“Oh, so you changed your mind?” she teased. “Hyunnie wants to be an angel now?”

He threw the wings back like he had burned himself, his lips curving down. “Eww, no. Angels are ing disgusting. They’re nice and kind and helpful.” Even though he listed positive traits, he somehow managed to make them sound horrendous. She hid her grin behind her hand.

“Yes, how dare they be kind! That’s outrageous!” she added.

Baëkhyun raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, why would you think that?”

He wasn’t convinced, but he let her off the hook and busied himself with inspecting the witch hats right next to the bloody plastic knives.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll find anything decent here,” she sighed. “Shall we go to the arcade now?”

“Yeah.”

They left the shop behind and took the escalators to the top floor where the arcade was. The entrance was decorated with flashing neon signs and from inside, music and the chattering of people could be heard. Upon entering, Minji was overwhelmed by the countless blinking lights she saw everywhere. She hadn’t been in here before and was surprised at how many arcade games they had put into the hall.

They walked around for a bit, looking at all the different kinds of games until Baëkhyun had found something that he found interesting. It was one of those games that required you to use a gun to shoot at a monitor, and she honestly wasn’t too happy about trying it. However, since it was meant to be played by two people, and Baëkhyun was already looking at her expectantly, she wouldn’t get around it.

“Do we really have to do this?” she whined and eyed the plastic gun in her hand. It was connected to the monitor with a wire and had a trigger just like a real gun.

“Yes,” he grinned as he scrolled through the different options for the game.

“You know what? Why don’t we make a deal?” she asked when she laid eyes on a way more appealing game. It looked more girly than this one, and it would surely be fun to try it...

“You shouldn’t make deals with demons,” he smirked and winked at her. She flushed.

“Baëkhyun, stop being weird!” she muttered. “I just had an idea, okay?”

“Then tell me,” he chuckled.

“We should take turns in deciding which games we want to play! That way we’ll both have fun,” she said.

He doubtfully raised his eyebrows, knowing that there most likely was a catch. But in the end, his impatience to play the first game won and so he agreed.

“Fine, we’ll do it that way,” he said, and she was happy with that, inwardly already looking forward to seeing him try the game she had seen. It would probably make him look hilarious, and she always liked it when he got flustered over something.

So she complied and played the shooting game with him, of course losing right in the first round. He was better at aiming than her and got all the points for himself. In the end, she was faced with his smug grin as he bragged about his win.

“Now it’s my turn,” Minji said, ignoring his confidence and arrogance to pull him over to the game she had been eyeing the whole time. It was a dancing game with several arrows on the ground that you needed to step on at the right time. Seeing it, Baëkhyun heaved a sigh.

“Minji, what the hell? This looks boring,” he nagged.

“It’s not boring,” she countered. “This is going to be fun! Let me just pick a song and then we’ll start.” Minji went through the song list and picked the cutest one she could find; “Party” by Girls’ Generation. Smirking evilly, she started the game and went to her spot next to Baëkhyun, getting ready to dance.

As soon as he heard the first tunes of the song, he scoffed and glared at her. “What is this?! Do you want to make a fool of me?”

“No,” she giggled unconvincingly, keeping her eyes on the tv. She stepped on the arrows on the ground and collected points for herself while Baëkhyun just stood and stared at her.

“Hey look, I’m winning!” she said, and that finally got him to react.

“No, you’re not!” he retorted and began to join her, furiously stepping on the arrows. He was so fast that he even managed to catch up to her, gaining points rapidly. In her astonishment, she missed a few steps, and that allowed him to overtake her. Eventually, she gave up and decided that it was much more entertaining to watch him dance. Even though the song was very girly and not his style at all, he managed to impress her with his fluid movements. By the time the song ended, she was gaping at him and clapped.

“Wow, Hyunnie! That was amazing!” she gushed. He looked at her for a moment, remembering that he’d had an audience, and awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Of course it was. Everything I do is amazing.”

“Yeah, I’m actually starting to believe that,” she said and nodded. “What do you want to try next?”

“That thing looks interesting,” he said and pointed at a claw crane. The kind of machine that only stole your money without actually giving anything in return. There were many interesting prizes hidden behind glass, but Minji doubted that they would win anything. Still, her stubborn boyfriend wouldn’t let himself be stopped by her. He’d already dropped a few coins into the machine and tried to get one of