love

all we need of hell

though she would consider herself immune to the violence and savagery of demons, seungwan did not expect them to go this far. she picks a random spot to teleport to and after some guidance from joohyun, they arrive at the heart of the battlefield. letting her charge down, the devil takes in everything with a sinking heart.

 

to her, it feels like she’s woken up from a nap only to find that all hell has broken loose — literally. her fellow brethren have ravaged the mortal realm as they once did upon the departure of lilith. a grim expression rests on her face at the thought of cleaning this mess up — heaven will not let this slide.

 

“how long was i gone?”

 

“two days.”

 

“two days?” seungwan exclaims, clutching her chest dramatically, “you left my soul with those hags for two whole days?”

 

“to be fair, i didn’t know you were dead until today.” joohyun murmurs, “i would say i got you back fast enough.”

 

seungwan casts an offended look at her charge, “i vanished right before your eyes.”

 

“i thought you went back to hell.” the mortal shrugs.

 

“that’s a fair assumption.” seungwan sighs, “now where’s the war i’m supposed to stop?”

 

 the streets are eerily silent for a war, almost as if the demons have murdered every living creature and continued to spread their rampage in other areas.

 

“they were here…” joohyun frowns, recognising the roads despite the surrounding buildings being absolutely wrecked, “yerim was fighting the scary file angel.”

 

“file angel?” the devil arches a brow in confusion, “azrael?”

 

dread settles in the atmosphere though the reasons differ for the two. while joohyun worries about the well-being of byulyi, the thought of heaven unleashing its deadliest weapon scares seungwan. this war that she assumed was nothing more than a scuffle seems to be a lot more serious than she thinks.

 

pulling burger out of her pocket, her hound returns to his regular size and seungwan scoops joohyun up before hopping onto him. 

 

“where are we going?”

 

“to yerim, wherever she may be.” seungwan mutters, “we’ll be in luck if neither of them is dead.”

 

burger takes off, racing through crumbling buildings and seemingly following a path filled with blood and destruction. the intensity of it all increases with every second, buildings have disintegrated into nothing but dust and rubble alongside mangled corpses buried in between.

 

“how do we fix this?”

 

joohyun’s quiet voice interrupts her train of thought and seungwan glances at her. the guilt in her eyes is immense and with all the information seungwan has gotten, it’s easy to piece together that joohyun thinks this is all her fault.

 

taking her hands gently into hers, seungwan reassures her in a whisper. whatever comes their way, they will weather the storms together.

 

“we will find a way,” she murmurs, “even if heaven’s gonna be pissed at us, things will be okay.”

 

the words that leave her lips feel nothing more than a lie to soothe her charge, or herself. truth be told, she worries about how many of her kind are still standing at this point. the damage they have left on the mortal realm is extensive but violence is all they’ve ever known when it comes to tackling their anger. the devil knows it best and she is to blame for the way they are today.

 

perhaps some group therapy will be good for them — if anyone is left alive after a clash with azrael. 

 

the alleyway that burger has been following ends abruptly and the hound is forced to skid to a stop. small pieces of debris fall off the edge and the pair processes what they are looking at. a humongous crater seemingly forged by a meteor falling from the stars has devoured a chunk of the earth, leaving nothing in its wake.

 

bodies of demons litter the area but at its deepest point, seungwan spots a flash of pink — yerim. it’s relieving to know that she still breathes but as far as seungwan can see, she’s locked in battle with azrael and each blow exchanged wreaks devastation upon the earth.

 

two seraphs of war fighting to the death would frighten anyone, including seungwan. with increased urgency, she tells joohyun to sit tight.

 

“stay here with burger, i’ll be back.” 

 


 

it takes the devil multiple teleports to even get close to the two angels and her heart sinks when she catches glimpses of her fallen kings. leliel has fallen too, though she barely clings to life. some have gotten lucky like the angel, azrael did not rend their souls from their bodies but others are nothing more than piles of ash and dust, their magic fluttering into nothingness. 

 

tightening her jaw, the devil swears to mourn them later. for now, she slips into her celestial form to stop the two seraphs from killing each other.

 

vengeance from centuries ago bleed into the air around them and while seungwan fears the angel of death, baal is devastated and grieving, with plenty of reasons to want azrael dead. 

 

they are too focused on their fight to notice that lucifer has returned from the abyss, only when she grabs onto their spears do they take a moment to breathe. with their concentration broken, the two snap their heads towards the being that has the gall to interrupt their fight.

 

yerim’s jaw drops in disbelief and she stammers helplessly, “seul… seulgi said… you were dead…”

 

“i was but now i’m not.” seungwan grimaces, “would you two quit fighting so we can talk?”

 

begrudgingly, they listen. azrael yanks her spear away from lucifer’s grasp but remains poised to kill while yerim lets her weapon fall to the ground.

 

“go back, olivia. there has been enough destruction for one day.” seungwan sighs and attempts to wave her away but the angel remains firmly.

 

“it is my duty to stop the demons.”

 

seungwan scoffs lightly, seeing bits of her old self in olivia. obedient to a power that has no care for them.

 

“there’s more to life than duties, oli. return to the far shore, i will handle the seraphim.” the devil shakes her head slowly, “plus, if you haven’t noticed, most of us are dead or dying. i think you did your job.”

 

the angel scans the area around her and finds that lucifer speaks the truth. in her mind, she has been focused on her task and has neglected everything else. drawing a deep breath, she deems her duty complete and returns her attention to her original mission.

 

“you owe us a file but your mortal charge has read it.”

 

seungwan purses her lips — she just came back from the dead and can’t even catch a break from the angels at the archive. there’s only one way to escape azrael's wrath and seungwan lies to weasel her way to safety, “i will return the file but the fates said it was fine that she read it, they’re letting it slide.”

 

“you are lying.”

 

“how would you know?” the devil shoots a pointed look at the angel, “you're not the one who spoke with them.”

 

azrael quietens at that and nods, “that is valid.”

 

“yeah, now go home.”

 

the seraph takes her leave and seungwan heaves a loud exhale, negotiating with the angel of death feels like she’s wading through a minefield with a blindfold on. one wrong sentence and seungwan might find herself in the void for real.

 

the devil eventually turns her attention to yerim and still in her celestial form, a stinging pain runs through her arm as she lands a blow on the side of the demon’s cheek.

 

“you know we’re in deep because of this, right?” seungwan combs a hand through her hair as she waits for a response. yerim looks like she’s had a rough day but looking like absolute is marginally better than being dead.

 

“you were dead, seungwan… seulgi said she felt your magic fading…” yerim chokes back a sob, her shoulders sag with the weight of her repressed emotions and the sheer relief of seeing seungwan alive, “joohyun wished you out of existence… what else was i supposed to do?”

 

a frustrated sigh slips from seungwan; she can’t fault her king for doing something she would’ve done as well but she draws the line at hurting joohyun.

 

“i get the killing and almost starting a war part, but you knew joohyun is important to me yet you still hurt her.”

 

the demon king casts her gaze to the ground, “we were prepared to kill her. she doesn’t love you, only lilith truly did.”

 

another hit sends yerim sprawling to the ground, one that is too fast for her to even react to. seungwan’s hands leave burns on her cheek but the demon ignores them. crouching over her, the devil lifts her up by the collar of her shirt.

 

“she brought me back, yerim.” seungwan grits her teeth, “i will never share what i had with lilith with anyone else. more than anyone, i know joohyun will never be her but still, she loves me in whatever way she knows how.”

 

and that is more than enough.

 

releasing her from her grip, seungwan lets yerim fall to the ground with a soft thud, giving both of them time to ponder.

 

the sun begins to set in the distance and seungwan sinks to the ground next to baal and takes it all in with a deep breath. lilith may have taught her to live but joohyun has shown her everything there is to know about love — she would not be complete without either of them.

 

yerim shifts eventually, propping herself up on her elbows before muttering, “i’m sorry.”

 

seungwan accepts her apology with a slow nod, “after we fix this mess, how does going to therapy sound?”

 

the demon scoffs, picks up a chunk of debris, and hurls it at the devil. it crumbles against her arm like a snowball and the two break into a soft laugh.

 

“sure.”

 

a shower of angels soon descends from the heavens and seeing the seraphim amongst them forces a tired sigh from seungwan. she sends yerim back to hell with instructions that everyone should be summoned back as well, no one is allowed to leave hell until she deals with the angels.

 

lucifer comes face to face with the council of seraphs alone. they mask their emotions with indifference but with no harsh remarks from them, seungwan assumes they’re glad to have her back as well. a truce is forged once again though seungwan knows the demons won’t get away that easily, they’ll call for a long meeting to grill them once everything on earth is back in order.

 

the devil leaves it to heaven to clean things up, or rather she sneaks away while they aren’t looking. they have ways to cover the destruction up with the help of the angel of memory and seungwan wants nothing more than to be curled up next to joohyun. though she’s not as callous as to leave them without any help from hell, she summons some imps to help out in her stead while she slinks back to joohyun’s side.

 


 

“oh… when you said a mess i expected an overturned table at most.”

 

seungwan glances up at the large hole in the ceiling of joohyun’s apartment, cringing at the disaster the demons have left behind. she might have assumed that joohyun was overexaggerating when she said her apartment is a disaster, but now she sees that it is beyond a disaster, it's a whole dumpster fire and more.

 

“can you fix it?”

 

the devil makes a sound and grimaces, “well, you see, i was supposed to help the angels clean up but i didn’t want to so i sent the imps there instead.”

 

sighing, joohyun pinches the bridge of her nose, “your place in hell works.”

 

“my place?” seungwan questions quizzically before noticing that the shirt joohyun is wearing is oddly familiar, “is that my shirt?”

 

the mortal nods, “we needed a place to hide.”

 

“smart,” the devil grins, “you know, it could be our place if you want.”

 

“i hope you know your timing is terrible.” joohyun mutters as she allows seungwan to hoist her onto burger before the devil jumps on behind her.

 

a retort slips from the devil, “but i’m not hearing a no.”

 

“you are asking me to move in with you when you’ve been sleeping in my bed for the past few months.”

 

“yeah, i’m like a billionaire in disguise. it was a test, what if you wanted my money instead of me?”

 

rolling her eyes, joohyun turns and presses their lips together in a kiss falling back into normalcy as if she hadn’t been mourning seungwan's death in the hours prior. her fingers dig into the fabric of seungwan’s shirt and she holds the devil close, savouring her existence more than ever.

 

the fluttering warmth in her chest demands a name and joohyun gives it one as she pulls away, cradling the devil’s cheek with a gentle touch.

 

love, joohyun decides, will be the only thing seungwan will know for as long as she’s around.

 

“let’s go.”

 


end notes:

feel like lately and i didn't feel like writing. no idea if i still wanna finish this, feels like i'm losing steam. we'll see.

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ILJIDO
we got a star! thanks to everyone who's shown this a little bit of love, really thought everyone lost interest in this fic by now and it's nice to know that's not the case. final chapter soon i hope 👍

Comments

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gfdahmo #1
Chapter 48: this was so incredibly fleshed out! thank you so much for the work that you do 🙏 your stories have brought me so much comfort, and i'm rooting for you to achieve whatever it is you're working towards :)
chchcn #2
Chapter 48: Hallo authornimm glad that everything to acording your wish 🥹🥹
Kuajae
#3
Chapter 48: I'd like to think that everything went well at the end😌
f8nt_echo
#4
Chapter 48: Just like Seungwan, I don't know if I'll be happy or not about this pregnancy (traumatic events c/o the fates) but I'm just glad you updated authornim 🫰🥹🫶.
Kuajae
#5
Chapter 3: lmao getting pepper sprayed😭🤣🤣
Kuajae
#6
Chapter 2: the jesus night lamp took me out🤣🤣🤣👆👆
butterscotchbar #7
I promise to leave a comment when I’ve gotten my thoughts in order 🥹
Marina_Leffy
1627 streak #8
Chapter 48: How Ironic when Heaven and Hell ready to be civil and peacefull, the fates are the ones stirring chaos. I think their child would be Kratos like, capable killing everyone including fates XD "Fates! I am Lucifer and Joohyun /Lilith's child! Here to seek revenge!!" Lmao
Thank you for updates
WluvsBaetokki #9
Chapter 48: *picks jaw from the floor* Like... OKAY I AM EMOTIONAL LIKE WTF! those fckn fates 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
maknae-mess
#10
Chapter 48: Listen you I WAITED WITH SUCH ANTICIPATION AND BATED BREATH AND CLENCHED HEART you YOU ARE AMAZING AND I'M PROUD OF YOU FOR FINISHING SCHOOL AND HAVING SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND like seriously was rooting for you all the way and I AM SO HAPPY you decided not to gatekeep this story (I am a little loopy from lack of sleep BUT I HAVE THOUGHTS) I'm glad you were able to come back with such a monster of an update and it was just so beautiful to read the entire thing even if I kind of sped read it but at first blush I have so many things to say

First of all when we left off last I could not stop thinking about Lilith and you describing it in the manner of which Seungwan Joohyun was just so /scary/ And I mean legitimately scary because you just we don't want the same thing to happen and I've waited all this time to find out that honestly truly and gladly to find that seungwan feels entirely the same

Before we delve into that I have to say fck those mthrfkn fates because we knew that they were going to get something but we don't know when it was going to come up and then it came up and I just thought wow they are really big fkn s truly harbingers of just chaos and as much as it helps the plot which I love the plot I still fkn hate them for doing these things to our babies. It's just so wild because Joohyun It's still in school and stuff She has a whole life and girly is now bearing the possible next king of hell

then Seungwan doesn't talk to Joohyun outright about how she's feeling and just goes off and thinks that she can go find the solution solve a problem and just leave Joohyun. So I get where Joohyun's so frustrated and Seungwan is definitely in need of some sense kicked into her that when they reunite I'm just so relieved that they're able to start communicating for such an important pivotal part of their lives. Our babies is going to about to have a baby as much as I'm happy I am anxious because like I said fkn fates *shakes fist at the sky*

I'm going to make a note here because I need to know what I'm going to come back to talk about and it's definitely the reappearance of sahaquiel beating the out of Seungwan, the visible changes in Joohyun already, and THEIR SOFTNESS THAT IVE MISSED

Seriously thank you for coming back and updating this because in my head I was complaining about how there was nothing I wanted to read and seeing this update made me really happy and I'm happy for you for being able to write so much and go through the edits so welcome back for a little bit and I hope you get to finish the final part soon!