in between discussions with her kings and the turn of the new year almost upon them, seungwan decides that it’s alright if they dealt with everything in the next year. the eve of the new year is solemn in the underworld, so to raise the spirits of her demons, she allows them to traverse the realm of humans just for a night.

to her delight, joohyun asks her out on a date — well, seungwan assumes it’s one, joohyun just wants to see the fireworks together.

their evening is spent eating street food — seungwan shoving multiple skewers in thinking it would impress joohyun but the mortal mostly watches in exasperation. as midnight draws closer, they intertwine hands and weave through crowds to find a suitable spot by the river to catch the fireworks.

perhaps the one thing keeping seungwan from constantly complaining about the fact that joohyun wants to see fireworks when she can recreate them herself is the fact that they’re surrounded by a sea of couples. people who seem to be drawn together by fate just as they are. with joohyun clinging to her side, the feeling of belonging in this space fills the devil with a warmth — how she has longed to feel like she’s reunited with the right person once again.

the countdown begins from a voice somewhere behind them and naturally, seungwan amongst many others, enthusiastically joins in. joohyun startles at the sudden loudness booming from beside her but she laughs when she notices how excited she is about it all — so much for whining that it’ll be boring.

7!

6!

flecks of snow begin to fall and land on her dark, shaggy hair and eventually one lands on her nose. it seems the world slows as she turns to lock eyes with her charge, and the chanting of the crowd drowns out as joohyun reaches to brush the snow off her face.

4!

“you know, in all my lifetimes with your soul, i’ve never asked this of you.” seungwan cracks into a smile that leaves joohyun with a raised brow.

3!

“are you going to say it or are we going to miss the midnight kiss?”

2!

“i’m getting to it!” seungwan grumbles, “since you’ve said no to being my queen, what about being my girlfriend instead?”

a giggle slips from joohyun, though amused, the look in her eyes holds nothing but affection for the devil.

1!

her cold hands rest on seungwan’s jaw, drawing her in for a kiss. the fireworks they came to see begin to go off in the background but like most couples, amidst the cheers to celebrate the new year, they’re too busy basking in the presence of each other — or in the words of yerim: they’re too busy gobbling each other’s faces.

joohyun pulls away eventually, catching a swift glimpse of the shimmering lights cascading from the night sky. she rests her head on seungwan’s shoulder, a small smile tinting her lips. everything about this moment feels beautiful, but nothing can quite compare to what she has with seungwan.

“i thought we got married the day i signed a pact with you.” joohyun hums, “if i say yes, does this mean i’m no longer your wife?”

seungwan stutters, “n-no! i mean! w-would you rather be my wife?”

“yah! i thought we were girlfriends!” joohyun laughs.

a groan slips from seungwan, “now you’re just playing with me!”

her ribs begin to ache and joohyun has to forcibly quell her laughter to speak, her tone is sincere and tender as she slips her hands into the warmth of seungwan’s.

“i told you, i don’t need any titles. be it your girlfriend, your wife or your queen, i could care less about any of those things as long as i’m with you.”

“so, you’d be down to be known as the wife of lucifer, the fallen angel of dawn, the killer of god, destroyer of heaven, the king of hell, the flayer of mor—”

joohyun pinches her arm, twisting her flesh to a point where she yelps in pain and pleads for forgiveness.

“girlfriends!”

“here.”

the devil eyes the bowl of soup that her charge has just slid in front of her. arching a brow, she shoots a confused look at joohyun who expectantly waits for her to try it.

seungwan, dreading returning to hell to meetings upon meetings, opts to stay another day on earth. the new year brings in new behaviours she supposes; joohyun has never cooked for her specifically, and most of the time the demon is the one mooching off her food.

“you made me tea disguised as soup?” seungwan murmurs, it’s hardly the meal she envisioned when joohyun said she would cook for her.

an exasperated sigh escapes joohyun, “it’s not tea.”

picking up the spoon, seungwan scoops a spoonful of soup and allows it to dribble back into the bowl, narrowing her eyes.

“hot water plus leaves equals tea.” the devil retorts, “sure looks like hot leaf soup to me.”

“it’s seaweed soup, you idiot.” joohyun clicks her teeth sharply, “if you don’t want it, you don’t have to drink it.”

as the mortal begins to lift the bowl away, seungwan quickly stops her by gently taking the bowl out of her hands.

“i didn’t say that! i will cherish every drop of this soup, i’ll eat the bowl if i have to.” seungwan declares loudly as she begins slurping from the bowl.

settling across the demon, joohyun grimaces, “please don’t. there’s more in the pot if you want seconds.”

“i will eat the whole pot.” a bold but muffled declaration from the devil whose cheeks are stuffed with soup, “lid included.”

her words earn her a sharp glare from joohyun, “i’m going to murder you if you eat anything that’s not part of the soup.”

a cheeky grin appears on her face, “what’s the occasion anyway? and why seaweed soup of all things? i think i would’ve preferred a nice juicy steak.”

“you’re asking me?” the mortal raises a brow.

“yeah?” seungwan bobs her head, “you’ve never cooked for me.”

sensing that it is a genuine question, joohyun mutters with a tint of confusion in her voice. “unless yerim lied to me, isn’t it your birthday? it’s just a tradition for puny little humans to have seaweed soup on their birthdays.”

a warmth flutters through her chest at the gesture, she’s lived for thousands of years but she can count the number of times her birthday has been celebrated in one hand. to immortal beings, the years tend to blur — there’s no real point in keeping track of it anyway. for the first time, it occurs to seungwan that she has no clue how old she truly is.

seungwan cracks into a small smile and gradually it grows into a beaming grin, “what’s the date?”

“the first of january?” joohyun mutters strangely, “we just celebrated the new year last night.”

“wrong, i don’t have an actual birthday.” seungwan sticks her tongue out with a wide smile.

“yah, so yerim was lying to me?”

“yes and no,” the devil raises her shoulders, “i was born before calendars were invented and angels liked the idea of timekeeping because age kinda ties back into the hierarchical nonsense they love so much.” 

arching a brow, joohyun murmurs, “so being the first angel, your birthday is on the first of january?”

seungwan bobs her head, “pretty much, and yongsun was made seconds after i was so we share a birthday. apart from that, it’s just some self-made symbolism that the angels made up long after i was born.”

“so you have no idea how old you are?”

“yup,” the devil bobs her head as she tilts her head back and tips the bowl towards , “birthdays never meant anything, it’s just a date.”

“but you remember mine?” joohyun smirks.

her reply is muffled by a mouthful of soup but the mortal is able to catch the words three two nine. 

“dates can be important if we want them to be, you’ve proven that yourself.” 

seungwan places the now empty bowl down and shoots a smile at her charge. reaching across the table to intertwine their hands, the devil beams widely.

“i guess it means it’s the only day you’ll ever cook for me.”

the corner of her lips curve into a slight smile and joohyun scoffs, “you don’t even need to eat.”

“i know,” seungwan nods, “but i think i’m a fan of seaweed soup now.”

“bummer, you can only have it on your birthday.”

“technically, every day could be my birthday.”

joohyun rolls her eyes, swipes the bowl from seungwan and returns to the kitchen to offer her another serving, “better start rationing.”

the details of hell’s mass restructuring take the kings a few days to figure out, everyone has varying concerns and seungwan knows absolutely nothing about therapy. like almost every underworld denizen, they mock and scoff at emotions, tying them to humanity that they’ve learnt to scorn over the centuries. perhaps it’s a blessing that there are no demon therapists, one could only imagine how unhelpful it would be.

naturally, it’s only right for lucifer to be the first one to try it out since she suggested it. plus, the demons will more or less follow in her footsteps once she promotes it as a good thing. joohyun fixes her first appointment for her, with a human therapist that has a plethora of good reviews according to the internet. if seungwan didn’t seem so intent on changing for the better, her charge might have laughed at the fact that lucifer of all beings needs therapy.

if anything, joohyun tries her best to be supportive. if humans could experience such immense suffering in their fleeting lifetimes, then what of an immortal being? underneath her cheery facade lies a demon that perhaps even seungwan herself doesn’t quite recognize.

the first session leaves the devil with a pensive look on her face and an imaginary cloud of gloom hanging over her. joohyun tries to accompany her but at seungwan’s insistence on having to do this alone, she waits for the devil outside her therapist’s office instead.

despite being the person seungwan holds closest to her heart, joohyun doesn’t probe, she can share whenever she feels it’s right. seungwan was patient when it came to her past, and joohyun thinks the least she can do is reciprocate the gesture. she simply slips her hand into seungwan’s when she’s done and they take off in search of a post-therapy session dessert.

the realm of earth returns to what it was before thanks to the imps working around the clock. in between helping seungwan sort out the mess in hell, joohyun remembers to stop by the hospital to visit her father who is still recovering from his burn wounds. seulgi did her best to repair most of seungwan’s damage but there was a limit to how much she could help before they would need to heal on their own. the hollowed look on his face accompanied by the dark circles under his eyes makes joohyun’s chest twinge with guilt but before she could even apologize, he’s on his knees begging for her forgiveness.

and she forgives him, wanting nothing more than a fresh start to their relationship. the hell she has seen in the past few days has no doubt stemmed from a culture of vengefulness deeply rooted within the demons, further solidifying the fact that forgiveness is the right way.

it’s a relief to know that her younger step-siblings have little to no memory of the situation. the demons’ mass destruction of the world has called for the angel of memory to step in and essentially, the memories of humanity in the moments before lucifer’s disappearance have been altered, all except her father’s it seems.

a week after the new year, the entirety of hell descends upon earth to seek out therapists. initially, it started with lucifer, then the kings, followed by the upper ranks then finally, the lesser demons. seungwan deemed it necessary for there to be some sort of form of accountability, leaving the administrative department of hell to sort and process everything regarding a demon’s progress with therapy.

much to contrary belief, some demons enjoy mundane, archival work, but their numbers are small. having to handle the files of the nine circles at a moment’s notice is an impossible task and yerim being the king who oversees them, decided it apt that the rest of the kings and a handful of high-ranking demons would help out. they grumble and whine but seungwan happily strolls into the dusty office every day with a smile on her face and joohyun by her side. 

joohyun gets used to travelling between hell and earth at yerim’s behest since seungwan refuses to do work without her girlfriend around. 

sickening, the demon gags, but as long as work is getting done, she won’t make a fuss.

weeks pass before the realms reconvene again, the fates seem to have sensed stability returning and decide it is a good time to summon the celestials once again.

this time, lucifer isn’t on the brink of spiralling and she allows her kings to step in to deal with the fates and the seraphim. in short, by showing statistics of how many mortals tend to die at the hands of a demon every week, yerim manages to prove that hell is indeed leaning towards a positive change with seungwan’s absurd suggestion of therapy. the numbers have dropped so the angels can hardly dispute it.

therapy, they whisper, praying for repentance would be more helpful instead.

sahaquiel silences their doubts with a sharp glare. given her actions and foresight to save joohyun amidst the chaos, sahaquiel and leliel have been fully reinstated as seraphs, punishments wiped from their name. while the two may never fully regain the respect of the angels, with the authority they hold, none dare to show their contempt.

the fates deem therapy as an appropriate solution, perhaps for the sole fact that they understand just how much demons hate being vulnerable, let alone in front of humans — it’s torture for a good cause.

the meeting adjourns without more fussing from either realm or the fates, it seems that even the angels are worn by the hours upon hours of discussions. that being said, sahaquiel’s annoyance is evident on her face when lucifer stops her from returning to heaven alongside the rest of the angels.

in a secluded part of the building where no angels or demons bother to roam, lucifer and sahaquiel rest their backs against the walls of the corridor, facing each other with hardened looks in their eyes.

it hasn’t been that long since the annual meeting where they last saw each other, but it’s been a while since they’ve fought and truly spoken. anger twists and writhes in sahaquiel’s soul and she folds her arms across her chest as if to repress it. the fight may have brought them closer in some ways but lucifer will always remind her of how easily her strength was stolen from her.

“didn’t think i’d see you around for a while.” lucifer starts awkwardly, figuring something light would help ease the tension between them.

it doesn’t.

irritated, a slow exhale is released from the angel’s chest and she hisses, “let’s not waste each other’s time, lucifer. what do you want?”

running a hand down the nape of her neck, lucifer’s eyes drift from one thing to another until she fixes her gaze on the diaphanous robes of the seraph.

“i heard from the other kings that you and leliel saved joohyun…” she mutters, “so i… i just wanted to say thanks…”

seungwan knows deep down, in the cold dead heart of sahaquiel lies some affection for joohyun and leliel. the seraph cares but alas, her loyalty to the throne of god doesn’t allow her to show it.

sahaquiel scoffs, “we didn’t do it for you, we did it to preserve the peace, we did it for her.”

“i know,” lucifer forces a slight smile, “i’m trying to fix things now, hurt people less and all that sort.”

in a swift move, the angel of the sky has the side of her arm pinned against the devil’s throat. she could’ve reacted to dodge the angel but lucifer lets her slam her into the marble wall.

“what do you know about the hurt you’ve inflicted, lucifer?” sahaquiel bristles, pushing her arm further into lucifer’s chin, “you and your bull about change when you can’t even muster an apology.”

“you don’t believe i’m capable of it?” lucifer’s voice is small, but she looks even smaller being held up by the seraph.

“you’ll change because of joohyun, just as you did once because of lilith. but to be capable of apologizing for your wrongs? i think not.” sahaquiel clicks her teeth, “you’re never sorry, lucifer. to you, every action is justified and never a mistake.”

lucifer stills, eyes falling upon the rage-filled expression of sahaquiel. “would my apologies make you feel better about what you can’t have?” 

the truth is gentle, spoken without the intent to hurt but sahaquiel feels them piercing her soul regardless. lucifer, being the cause of her pain, is also one of the few who can understand it. bitterly, the angel releases seungwan from her grasp.

“you don’t know anything about what i feel.”

the demon’s shoulders sag slightly, “we were cut from the same cloth, sahaquiel. at my very core, i am still a creation of god’s. i feel as you do, and you… you feel everything i do.”

two otherworldly beings born with similar paths find themselves at complete opposites time and time again. hell and heaven, good and evil, want and restraint. what one has the other does not. 

one cannot exist without the other, it’s the balance he spoke of.

“we’re more alike than you think, even if it looks like we’re complete opposites. between us, i know apologies hold no weight because nothing will bring back what we’ve lost to each other.” lucifer continues to speak. the versions of lilith she has lost to the hands of sahaquiel and the powers she has stripped from the angel, words won’t even come close to making up for it. “i think it’s time we try to put it all behind us, at least i want to.”

“you think i could ever forgive you for killing our creator?” sahaquiel snarls, “for rendering me weaker than the likes of an angel in the middle order?”

“that’s not up to me, is it?” seungwan murmurs, “if i can forgive you for the number of times you’ve killed her, the times you’ve stolen her from me, i hope we can reach a point where we won’t have to hurt each other anymore.”

turning to leave, the angel bites the insides of her cheek, “you’re a fool, lucifer.”

“joohyun sees the best in me, in all of us really… even after we both hurt her.” the devil’s eyes follow the angel’s figure, “a little kindness and forgiveness go a long way, don’t you think? nothing good has come out of hatred and vengeance.”

the memory of leliel returning from her duties on earth to share how she crossed paths with joohyun stirs a warmth within the angel’s soul. it feels strange that while lilith was the one that tore the two apart, joohyun is the one who is trying to bring them back together again. all things come full circle but as much as sahaquiel wants to mend things, her bitterness still lingers. 

“it’s taken you too long to realise that.”

“these things take time, sahaquiel. i don’t expect you to forgive me anytime soon but maybe we can ease up on the hostility for joohyun’s sake. regardless of the reasons, i’m grateful that you protected her.”

their animosity began a long time ago and lucifer was right about her apologies holding no weight, and neither does her gratefulness. the angel of dawn had no qualms about severing their bonds and has kept it that way for thousands of years. to want to remedy it now makes the seraph laugh, but deep down, her resentment is not only directed at lucifer but also at herself, for still wanting this bond despite everything.

“i’ll kill you if you let anything happen to her.” sahaquiel mutters, leaving lucifer with a light smile on her face.

in forgiveness, they find traces of hope that their bond will one day be restored.

the world gradually eases back into normality for the mortals with ties to demons. having witnessed the sheer power of demons, the mundanity of the days seems to bore park sooyoung. unlike her sister, she doesn’t have a special status that allows her to be involved in matters of hell, leaving her with an itch for more otherworldly thrills.

her relationship with seulgi has been in a weird place; they’ve been flitting in the betweens of a friendship and relationship for a while now. she hasn’t let the mess of a demonic massacre get in the way of the fact that seulgi had signed a contract with her piece of dad and the demon has been trying her best to make up for things, attempting to placate her in every way imaginable.

with the urge for a break from the monotony of her life and a demon wrapped around her finger, park sooyoung easily finds a near-perfect solution.

“yah,” the mortal kicks the demon’s shin beneath the table, “let’s get married.”

in a split second, seulgi goes from peacefully chewing on some boba to choking on them. she hacks and coughs while sooyoung tries and fails to hold back a snort, clearly not the slightest bit remorseful about her abrupt idea.

while seulgi still helps with some administrative work here and there, she spends her free time hanging out with sooyoung. much like her best friend, they’re both enamoured with a mortal.

they’ve just caught a romantic movie together and sooyoung wanted dessert, so that’s why she’s proposing this insane idea at a cafe.

“y-you… really caught me off guard.” seulgi wheezes, setting down her boba cup to rap a fist against her chest.

sooyoung rests her cheek in her hand, “i’ve been thinking about it for a while now… since you offered me a pact.”

“i offer plenty of humans various contracts.” seulgi hums, “a pact just means i expect nothing in return.”

the mortal sighs, “yah, kang seulgi,” the demon’s fake name stuck around after their whole tutoring spiel, “you offered me a pact because you like me, i’m offering to get married because i like you.”

a flush unexpectedly crawls up seulgi’s cheeks. she has never gotten too friendly with mortals, perhaps a sage or philosopher every once in a while but seungwan’s eternal torment with lilith has left her wary. 

until the terror that is park sooyoung summoned her to get mathematical help.

it’s a nice gesture, one that sooyoung thinks is equivalent to a demon surrendering their free will. she eyes the demon expectantly, waiting with a confidence that only someone in her position would have.

“are you sure it’s not because you’re bored with your life now?” seulgi asks, “administrative work in hell is as boring as it is here.”

sooyoung puckers her lips at the accusation, “just give me an answer already!”

the demon laughs; she has a menace for a charge. “we can have the wedding in hell, at least that’ll give you an excuse to run around.”

“so i take it as a yes?”

seulgi bobs her head, reaching across the table for sooyoung’s hand, “like you said, i like you enough to offer you the most important thing to me.”

“great, we can skip the trouble of a dating phase.” sooyoung beams widely, “i was half-expecting you to say no out of fear of my sister.”

the mention of the soon-to-be appointed queen of hell sends a chill down her spine. she planted the idea in seungwan’s head weeks ago and she’s aware her best friend has been trying her best to make it happen. if it does come true, despite it merely being a title, the position and power that joohyun will have in hell are equivalent to a king’s. she may be a mortal, and she may have killed seungwan but the legions of lesser demons will still respect her commands.

sensing her apprehension, sooyoung narrows her eyes at the demon.

“you agreed, you can’t back out now.”

“she already killed seungwan once, what if she kills me?”

“we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” sooyoung smiles cheerily while standing up and yanking the demon out of her seat, “let’s go ring shopping.”

with seungwan occupied in hell, it means the couple has to spend time apart. joohyun keeps herself busy with her mundane mortal tasks, like chores and her job and at night, they tell each other about their days. sometimes they squeeze into joohyun’s bed on earth but most nights, it’s more comfortable to sleep in seungwan’s bed in hell.

“this old lady came in today wanting to get a toy for her grandchild,” joohyun says while preparing for bed, “i asked how old they were so i could recommend something and she smiled at me and said they weren’t born yet.”

seungwan chortles as she rolls around in bed, waiting for joohyun to join her, “never hurts to be prepared early.”

the mortal rolls her eyes as she finishes lathering the last of her collection of lotions on her skin, “that’s not even the worst part, seungwan-ah, she bought a nativity set.”

“oh my, you are right.” seungwan gasps mockingly, “the worst part is they’ll have a jesus christ figurine.”

joohyun smacks her lightly, “shut up, that’s not my point. what is a baby going to do with nativity figures?”

“bite them? it’s not like babies can even do anything other than cry.” seungwan shrugs.

“yah, i’m just surprised anyone could be so out of touch with what children enjoy.” joohyun frowns as she slips into bed next to her demon girlfriend.

arms snake their way around joohyun’s waist and seungwan snuggles close to her. “easy for you to say considering you work at a children’s toy store.” the devil snorts.

“you would know too since you seem to enjoy messing with the toys.” 

“i’ll have you know that they’re intellectually challenging.”

“for a five-year-old.”

“a five-year-old wouldn’t know how to draw a summoning circle but i do, we’re different.”

“why would a five-year-old need a summoning circle?”

“oh, i’m sure sooyoung would’ve taken over the world if she had a demon at five.”

peace in hell lasts for approximately a couple of weeks and surprisingly the reason it’s almost compromised is not due to a demon. 

“you what?” joohyun’s screech is ear-piercingly loud to the point that seungwan thinks even the ones in the ninth circle can hear her. lucifer and beelzebub wince, casting a mutual glance at each other to stay out of this. 

“we’re getting married.” sooyoung smiles smugly, “seulgi and i, you’re invited of course.”

joohyun jabs a finger towards her sister, “yah, park sooyoung! you can’t go around marrying demons!”

the younger girl scoffs, folding her arms across her chest nonchalantly. “you’ve slept with the demon you’re dating,” sooyoung quips, “besides, who’s gonna stop me? god?”

seungwan snorts involuntarily and quickly bites her lip to suppress a laugh when joohyun glares at her.

“who’s idea was this? do demons even get married?”

“mine.” sooyoung shrugs.

seulgi chimes in, “some demons do, though most are because of pacts and contracts.” 

without much of a rebuttal, the mortal directs her frustration to the devil instead, “aren’t you going to say anything about this?”

“yeah?” seungwan blinks, “go for it guys!”

joohyun should’ve known her girlfriend is hopeless when it comes to things like encouraging sooyoung to do something dumb. chaos ensues as joohyun tries to argue over the trio’s cheering — she’s not winning an argument with her sister, especially when it’s backed by two demons. still, she finds a moment to speak to seulgi when seungwan and sooyoung begin to animatedly discuss ideas for a grand wedding in the second circle.

“is this what you want too?” joohyun asks quietly. growing up with sooyoung, her sister has always gotten what she wanted, if she didn’t then she would find a way to make it happen. 

the fallen angel of dreams shifts her attention from sooyoung to her sister. a small smile creeps up her face and she nods, “yeah, i think it’d make her happy, even if it’s fleeting.”

“even if it’s fleeting?” joohyun arches a brow.

seulgi hums softly, “someday, she’ll leave me, but before that happens i want to give her everything she deserves, especially if it’s in my power. i like her, joohyun, maybe it’s not as intense as what seungwan feels for you but i promise i’ll treat her right.”

she’s been through a lot since she’s met seungwan but not once has she truly considered what happens at the end of her life — what happens to seungwan then? swallowing her thoughts, joohyun forces a smile.

“i know you will,” the mortal pats the demon on the shoulder lightly, “i’m more worried about you instead.”

a laugh slips from seulgi, “don’t worry, i rarely err in my judgements.”

“let’s get married too.” seungwan blurts the next morning. 

she sits at the kitchen counter while watching joohyun prepare breakfast for them and decides it’s the right moment to ask. she’s spent the entire night thinking about it before finally mustering the courage to bring the matter up with joohyun. it seems that talking and rambling with sooyoung about wedding ideas has enticed seungwan into making the same choice.

joohyun snorts loudly before bursting into a fit of laughter, “you’re only saying that because of sooyoung and seulgi, aren’t you?”

“we’ve been through some life-changing stuff, hyun. don’t you think we should celebrate it in some way?” seungwan pouts.

“you’ve already made me your girlfriend, isn’t that enough?” 

sensing something is amiss, seungwan narrows her eyes, “are you against marriages?”

joohyun purses her lips before nodding. the words of seulgi echo in her head — fleeting, that’s what she and sooyoung are. that is what she’ll always be to seungwan, regardless of how much she loves her, it’ll come a time when she has to leave too.

“because i don’t see a point, seungwan.” joohyun swallows, voice dropping low, “you’ll marry me, then what? one day, i’ll have to leave you and you’ll find someone else, someone with the same soul.”

the heartbreak that fills the devil’s expression is painfully familiar and while joohyun wants to take her words back, the truth has already been spilt.

running a hand through her hair, she approaches seungwan, “i’m sorry, i just… look… at the end of the day, i’m human… i can’t promise to spend forever with you.”

“i’m not asking for eternity, hyun. just this one lifetime.” the words leave the devil’s throat in a defeated whisper.

joohyun exhales slowly, “i’ll think about it, okay?”

the topic of marriage tears the inseparable couple apart with awkward tension. it feels as if her very presence hurts the demon so joohyun avoids travelling to the realm of hell for a few days. their abrupt distance raises questions from the demons closest to the two and when sooyoung eventually catches wind of things, she traps her sister in an inescapable confrontation.

it’s a simple yet effective way, to lock joohyun up in her only safe place — her room.

“yah, park sooyoung, what are you doing?” joohyun swivels around on her chair when she hears sooyoung trudging into her room and the lock of her door clicking shut shortly after.

plopping down on the bed, her sister demands instantly, “what’s going on between you and seungwan?”

“it’s between us, you don’t have to know.” joohyun snaps.

“she looks devastated like burger died or something. does it have to do with the whole marriage thing?” sooyoung chances a guess, “did she ask you too?”

a momentary hesitation before joohyun answers tell the younger girl all she needs to know. her eyes light up and she shakes her head.

“what’s wrong, unnie? shouldn’t you be happy about it?”

happiness and all things tied to her, is merely a transitory moment in seungwan’s life. joohyun tightens her jaw, “i’m going to die one day, sooyoung, and she’ll have to continue living without me. i can’t promise her anything beyond this lifetime and the last thing i want to do is hurt her.”

sooyoung frowns, “what’s wrong with creating more memories with her then?”

“what if i become like lilith?” joohyun feels a dread inching its way into her chest, “what if she falls apart again?”

ah, understanding why her sister is against them marrying demons is less complicated than it seems. sooyoung sighs with a small smile, joohyun simply cares too much.

“you’re sabotaging your happiness, unnie. if you worry so much, you’ll end up missing out on the good things.” sooyoung crosses over to joohyun and flicks her finger towards her forehead, “seungwan loves you too much that nothing you do now will ease the pain of losing you eventually. just think about how long she’s been waiting for you, maybe someone else will come by but this is the only life we get, we should make it count.”

joohyun falls silent and sooyoung decides it’s best to let her sister sit with her thoughts. though, the moment she leaves the room, she hears the familiar sound of the ground shattering as the devil’s hound appears to ferry joohyun to the underworld.

joohyun’s sudden appearance takes the demons in the administrative department by surprise, though of them all, seungwan is the most shocked to see her. the mortal grabs her by the hand, dragging the king of hell to a corner where she thinks nobody will hear — but she’s in hell, all demons have enhanced hearing compared to a human. 

“let’s do it, let’s get married.” joohyun blurts, “let’s do everything that you’ve ever wanted.”

seungwan’s eyes widen in surprise, “where is all of this coming from?”

“sooyoung talked to me and she’s right i was worried about what would happen to you after i’m gone, so much that i wanted to hold back so i wouldn’t have the same impact that lilith did on you.” joohyun’s voice quivers slightly, “but… maybe you’ll still hurt regardless of what i do. so we can still make this count, i want to choose a lifetime of happiness with you.”

despite being stunned, seungwan softens her gaze as her breath escapes in a quiet gasp. she tries her best to sear this memory into her brain; the very moment that joohyun is offering all of herself to her. 

though, before she could even reply, yerim’s voice interrupts their moment.

“say yes already!”

joohyun doesn’t see the blast of hellfire that hits the demon because seungwan pulls her in for a tight embrace but she feels the heat of it as it leaves seungwan’s palm and the eventual groans that follow.

“say the word and she’s uninvited from our wedding.” seungwan sighs in contentment, burying her face in the crook of joohyun’s neck.

joohyun chuckles, “i’ve never seen your kings obey you.” 

“they’ll obey the queen,” lucifer pulls back with a smirk, “we’re making this count, right?”

wrapping her hands around the nape of the devil, joohyun nods and leans in for a quick kiss. “yeah, we are.”

the underworld is thrown into a perpetual state of chaos at the announcement of joohyun being the new queen of hell. given the depressiveness of recent events, joohyun’s imminent crowning ceremony would be something to look forward to. it would be the biggest event to happen in hell for a long time. demons buzz with excitement and their animosity towards her for killing lucifer has been easily forgotten. word quickly travels to the realms above but it seems that the angels saw this coming from a mile away, they don’t send their regards but lucifer takes their silence as a form of congratulations. 

if the couple hasn’t been busy enough before, they’re twice as busy now because yerim and sooyoung will not settle for anything less than extravagant.

in the midst of planning a wedding and a crowning ceremony, a nagging feeling rests at the back of joohyun’s mind — things have been going too smoothly.

perhaps she’s been conditioned to major otherworldly disasters occurring shortly after each other. apart from sooyoung finding ways to wreak more chaos in hell, things have been relatively calm. as they’re forced to spend more time apart because of their duties, the mortal finds it almost impossible to relax without seungwan around like she’s constantly on edge. she attributes a lack of appetite to a change in her lifestyle, it’s more hectic than she anticipated and she assumes she needs more time to adjust. in turn that lack of appetite seemingly leads to a sluggishness that weighs down on her.

joohyun brushes it off, thinking her ailments would pass soon enough but a sudden lightheadedness strikes her in the middle of a conversation with yerim and it becomes impossible to ignore. the demon notices an illness creeping up on the queen but she can’t seem to pinpoint the reason and seungwan comes up with the same diagnosis when she’s notified about joohyun’s condition.

the mortal reassures them that it’s likely due to stress and with no visible symptoms, the demons reluctantly relent. seungwan lets her curl up in bed, making sure to take care of her but as the days go by the devil finds it hard to chalk it up to merely stress.

she tries whisking joohyun to a hospital but the mortal seems insistent that whatever this is will eventually trickle into nothingness. 

their little mystery illness would find its name one morning when joohyun wakes with a start. springing forward, the mortal furrows her brow as she acutely feels something wrong with her body. a warm, twisting feeling in her gut makes her nauseous and the unfamiliarity of it sends a wave of worry through her.

“hyun?” 

being a light sleeper, the devil stirs awake when her beloved leaves the warmth of her arms. the sudden rush of coolness coupled with a burst of movement is enough to wake her.

joohyun sits at the edge of the bed with her face buried in her hands, neither moving nor responding. 

“hey?” the sight worries seungwan as she pushes herself up and places a hand on the mortal’s back.

“i think i’m coming down with something. my head hurts and my stomach feels weird.”

“weird?” seungwan’s tone is filled with concern, “i’ve been trying to tell you that you’re sick.”

joohyun nods, and a bead of cool sweat rolls down her temple as she shifts to face seungwan. “i-it feels warm… hot even…”

worry washes over her as she presses the back of her hand to joohyun’s forehead — cool to the touch, with not the slightest hint of a fever. seungwan presses a hand to joohyun’s abdomen, allowing her magic to pass through to get a better sense of things.

joohyun jolts in surprise and seungwan catches her in her arms, calming her with a hug. 

“sorry, just give me a—”

the devil freezes when she feels it. an old memory comes rushing forth from the depths of her mind and seungwan finds it hard to speak. closes up as she feels her heart sinking further into the pits of her stomach with every second.

“what’s wrong?” joohyun turns to see the ashen look on her face, “wan..?”

seungwan is afraid to meet the mortal’s gaze, “i… can you lie down?”

“huh?”

seungwan shifts over, giving joohyun space to lie down again. the way the devil is acting unnerves her and she’s never wanted a direct answer more than now.

“is something wrong with me?”

“i need to be sure, just lie down.” the devil’s insistence further fuels joohyun’s anxiety and she quickly obliges and lays back down on the bed, watching seungwan carefully. 

with shaky hands, the demon pulls her shirt up to her ribs and presses her ear against the warm skin.

“what are you doing?”

seungwan shushes her, clamping her eyes shut to focus. her ears can hear even the quietest of sounds if she tries, and she needs to hear this to confirm if it’s true or if whatever she felt is a fluke.

she tunes out the ambient noises of the city to concentrate her hearing within joohyun’s body. the consistent yet rising thrumming of joohyun’s heart is loud, and she’s too familiar with the sound of it. but deep down exists a softer heartbeat, almost inaudible and entirely foreign.

and it is coming from joohyun’s midsection.

as far as seungwan knows, this is impossible. the sheer thought of it makes dry. like blood pouring from an unstauchable wound, her fears claw their way from the darkest corners of her mind, mocking her for thinking that she could hold on to any modicum of happiness in her life. 

sitting up straight, she looks at joohyun with darkened eyes.

“you’re pregnant…”

end notes:

she pregrante !?!

this is the first part of the final chapter LOL, it's just... so long... that i felt it was easier to split it into two. some thoughts: luc and sahaquiel's lil chat was something i looked forward to writing, the whole pregrante thing was always gonna be how things ended, actually wrote a lot of it back in january when i didn't wanna resolve the whole hell conflict stuff in the prev chap. fun times!

anyway, isn't it ing wild in the span of the previous update to now rv announced their world tour and i ing bought tickets already???? also i was left with $13 after buying the tickets today haha... the past few days have been nothing but a black hole for my anxiety but it's all good because i'm about to see wenrene flirt in front of me!

next chapter's like 70% done probably, depends on how much i feel like adding but bad news i start school tomorrow =) hope i finish it before rv comes so i can quit kpop entirely aheehee. cheers y'all, thanks for reading!