park sooyoung always had a penchant for the occult and more recently, demons. though, she’s rather pissed at her own demon right now. 

seulgi has the audacity to not chase after her even though she knows full well her charge is fuming — fine, sooyoung can let it slide. but to act as if nothing happened? sooyoung is ready to unleash her ire upon the demon king.

“yah! put me down!” the mortal protests against seulgi’s firm hold, though her fists colliding with the demon’s back barely do any damage.

on top of being upset, she’s confused at what the just happened. joohyun confesses that she killed seungwan and someone, presumably an angel, broke into their home and tried to kill them. seulgi hasn’t said a word since she whisked sooyoung away from her apartment, however, she throws her head back each time she teleports through the city.

while her sister has been getting cosy with the king of hell, sooyoung has gotten rather comfortable with lucifer’s right-hand man. needless to say, she knows that the way seulgi is acting now is unlike her usual self. her grasp on sooyoung’s frame is tight, and alongside the lack of her usual smile, seulgi is quiet when she’s usually quick to placate her charge.

her silence is off, not the kind filled with reverence and warmth that sooyoung has come to enjoy after a passionate night. it feels wrong, hiding things from each other is not something they do.

there’s no way to get answers if seulgi is occupied with running, so sooyoung struggles with all her might, screeching at the top of her lungs until the demon king is forced to stop at the roof of a building. scrambling out of her arms, sooyoung scowls as her finger digs into seulgi’s chest.

“you have a lot to explain, demon!” she yells, “what the hell is going on?”

there is an inexplicable sadness on seulgi’s face, fresh waves of grief catching her in the undertow. her shoulders sag under the weight of her sorrow and she heaves out a heavy sigh.

“seungwan’s dead thanks to joohyun and the demons want revenge.” seulgi’s voice is strangled despite her barely maintained facade of calm. much like joohyun, there are more important things at hand than mourning the loss of her friend.

narrowing her eyes, sooyoung folds her arms across her chest. the contract with her father has become secondary and the urge to cast doubt upon the demon’s words is overwhelming but it adds up with what joohyun said earlier, and azrael or whatever, did try to kill them. the pieces come together, leading sooyoung to the horrifying realization that joohyun is in danger.

“you left without my sister! we have to go back for her!”

a whisper is the best that seulgi can muster, and she turns away from her charge. “i can’t, sooyoung.”

“what the do you mean you can’t?” sooyoung bristles, storming over to yank the demon by her wrist, “you have to get her out of that demon-infested place!”

“i can’t…” seulgi escapes sooyoung’s grip with a firm shrug, “i can’t… bring myself to save her…”

“you’re going to let her die?” she snaps as a spark of anger ignites in her chest. the thought of joohyun being killed by a horde of demons sickens her, she’s seen what they’re capable of during their bar fights and her human sister will not survive.

the silence from seulgi is deafening, and sooyoung can’t understand her turmoil. revenge is pointless to her, but what good would it do to protect her best friend’s killer? 

seulgi grits her teeth, “what would you do, sooyoung? if the tables were turned and seungwan killed jooyhun instead… would you want me to save seungwan?” 

stiffening at the question, sooyoung knows exactly how she would react, she would demand revenge of the same intensity or more.

the grim expression never leaves seulgi’s face, and anguish seeps into every word as she pleads with her charge. “seungwan… she was important to me. i won’t go after joohyun like the rest but please… don’t beg me to save her.” 

caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, sooyoung refuses to let joohyun die without a fight, and neither will she put seulgi in a situation that’ll hurt her even more.

“if the tables were turned, i wouldn’t save seungwan.” sooyoung swallows, “but my sister is still alive and i have to do everything to save her.”

their gazes catch and the soft collapse of seulgi’s expression is not enough to make sooyoung reconsider her actions.

“i can’t let you go, you’re going to die with her.” 

“you think i’d want to live knowing that i let my own sister die?” sooyoung snarls, “take me back or i will find a way!”

seulgi denies her with a firm shake of her head, “under the conditions of our pact, i can’t let you die.”

“ the stupid pact, seulgi! my sister’s life is at stake here!” sooyoung’s voice cracks under her desperation, and seulgi is quick to pull her close. not for a kiss, however, the demon simply wants to calm her.

she hovers close enough for the mortal to feel her breath on her cheeks. in a breathy whisper, while she holds sooyoung close, she speaks.

“i’ve already lost seungwan, i can’t lose you too.”

with seungwan’s death still raw, the idea of losing another person she deems important is all too real. beelzebub has always understood the process of life and death and the universe’s need for it, but it hardly means she’s willing to give up those important to her to death so easily.

park sooyoung has made a home in her heart, infecting every corner of her life, and seulgi would rather die than let her offer herself up to the demons.

sooyoung quietens significantly, resting her chin on seulgi’s shoulder and allowing her warmth to soothe her as she picks her thoughts apart bit by bit. seulgi’s refusal to help means that she’s powerless as well, she could fight off one demon at best, but with all the demon kings gathered, she doubts that seulgi alone is enough.

hopelessness settles into the depths of her chest and sooyoung caves in the demon’s arms, “i didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

the agony in sooyoung’s voice is heartbreaking, and seulgi will share the burden of joohyun’s demise with her. it will not be easy, but the consequences are easier to bear than the loss of someone she holds dear.

“i know…” the demon heaves, “i’m sorry.”

the uncertainty of humanity looms over them as seulgi takes them somewhere safe, a house that one of the kings owns in the countryside. though they are far from joohyun, demons crawl out from every inch of the earth. some slaughter in the name of lucifer, others for the sake of it. the celestials will descend upon them soon enough, and seulgi has to make sure that sooyoung isn’t caught in the crossfire.

the hunt for the devil’s hound begins the moment burger started running, vicious demons follow too closely for comfort and joohyun has difficulty holding on. the hound barks every time he feels her slipping, and joohyun is aware that they can’t run forever. 

a spear whizzes past them, narrowly missing as it pierces the ground. joohyun doesn’t need to turn her head to know that the demons are inching closer. she needs burger to get them somewhere safe, somewhere that she can treat her wound. 

hospitals are out of the question, she can’t risk having demons hurt other mortals. the toy store isn’t ideal, but she knows that they’re closed on mondays, and there’s a first aid kit in the backroom that will have to suffice. 

joohyun makes her destination known to the hound and in an instant, they land in the store, crashing into a shelf of toys. a couple of boxes land on her but some bruises are preferred compared to a fatal wound.

sliding off burger, joohyun stumbles to the backroom in search of a much-needed first aid kit. the hound shrinks in size and follows her closely. she finds what she needs tucked away in a cabinet and crumples against a wall.

some light pours in from the outside and it’s barely enough for joohyun to assess her wound. yerim’s dagger has pierced through seungwan’s leather jacket, creating a deep wound in her shoulder. she might need stitches but proper medical care is too far out of reach at the moment, others might get hurt if she leads a horde of demons to them.

the dagger sits snugly in her left arm and the pain makes it hard to breathe, it escalates every time she moves now that the adrenaline has faded.

“…” she murmurs aloud, catching the attention of burger. he approaches her cautiously, bowing his head and looking at her with saddened eyes. 

the mortal reaches a hand to pat his head, normally she would’ve been hesitant to pat the flaming dog but he saved her life. she wonders if he knows that seungwan is dead, and if he does, why would he save the one who killed his creator?

she keeps the questions to herself, mumbling an apology before turning her attention to her wound. the bleeding has lessened but having a knife stick out of her is hardly ideal. clenching her jaw, she readies herself to pull the knife out. with a pained grunt, she extricates the knife from her body. white-hot pain is all she feels and it causes a string of curses to leave . her head spins momentarily and she shuts her eyes in an attempt to ease it. drawing deep breaths, she tries her best to collect herself.

burger whimpers at the sight of her suffering but there’s nothing he can do to ease it. joohyun works with haste, stripping off her clothes so she can staunch the bleeding. the wound throbs erratically and biting down on her lips does little to help. she reminds herself to breathe, deep inhales and slow exhales to take her mind off of the searing pain. she sits in the backroom of the toy store with the devil’s hound for company, waiting for the bleeding to ease off.

“what am i supposed to do now?”

her voice bounces against the wall in the empty room, the hound can only tilt his head quizzically in response. he could take her anywhere but nowhere is safe when the demons are scouring the earth for her. it’ll only be a matter of time before they find her, maybe surrendering would be easier.

shutting her eyes, she shakes the thought of giving up away. after all, burger has just risked his life to save her. she’ll tackle the problems as they come, for now, she dresses her wound and hopes she won’t bleed to death before the demons come for her again.

having burger’s presence by her side lulls joohyun into a sense of safety, much like seungwan once did. her weariness overwhelms her fear at some point, causing her to doze off. sleep doesn’t last, however, before she knows it, burger is barking at her to wake up.

the clamouring of demons touches her ears, sending her heart plummeting to the pits of her stomach. joohyun slips on her clothes alongside seungwan’s jacket and waits, hoping that the demons would pass. 

no such luck there, cracks begin to appear on the ceiling and burger is quick to throw her onto his back. the ceiling crumbles moments later, revealing a three-headed demon king riding a bear.

gravel of anger edged into his voice, he growls, “you can’t escape forever, mortal!”

joohyun tightens her grip on burger and urges him to run faster. the streets are filled with chaos and demons, bodies line the street in a haphazard manner and it makes her stomach lurch. 

her body grows cold at the thought of thousands of people facing the wrath of the demons and this is all because of her. 

“burger, stop.” 

her command confuses the hound, unable to comprehend why joohyun would want him to stop when danger looms close.

“stop, please. they’ll catch up eventually… if i give myself up now, fewer people will die.” she murmurs.

the hound slows his pace hesitantly, coming to a stop a distance away from demons that have joined the chase. joohyun blinks away the tears in her eyes to take in the army that has been hunting her down. hundreds of demons are raring to kill her, but they are stopped by balam, the demon king on a bear.

“why did you do it? why did you kill lucifer?”

confronted with her actions, tightens.

“i never wanted to, it was a mistake!”

balam lets out a wry scoff, “you wiped her from existence! that was a mistake?”

his retort is supported by demons cheering, making joohyun feel smaller than she already is. she bobs her head slowly as she wipes away tears with the back of her hand. 

she could profess her love for the devil, but it’s pointless when seungwan isn’t around to hear it. pulling seungwan’s jacket tighter around her body, joohyun awaits her imminent demise, praying for a glimpse of seungwan wherever she ends up.

the fates may have willed her death, but multiple beings will put their life on the line before anyone gets to joohyun.

a blinding light descends from the heavens and joohyun is forced to look away, when it clears, the angel of the sky and the angel of night stand before her with their spears of light raised.

“yong? byul?”

joohyun gasps in a voice so soft and disbelieving.

splitting her spear into five, the angel of the sky turns to face the mortal with a small smile.

“we’re still friends, joohyun.”

end notes:

lil bit of joygi because exactly one person asked for it :)!!! and moonsun redemption arc!!!! yongsun is going to kick !!!!
have a playlist for this fic that i've been listening to, you can check it out here! it's honestly a mess but it has a vibe i guess.