joohyun's second wish is to have seungwan clean up the apartment, citing that she did play a hand in destroying many religious objects earlier in the day, so it's only right that she cleans it up. of course, trivial tasks like this are beneath her — a snap of her fingers and imps that barely reach the height of her knees are crawling all over the apartment.

joohyun screams again, and sooyoung is reassured to know that her sister came back intact. even with trembling hands, joohyun somehow manages to push her sister behind her, even though she can't see anything demonic.

"relax! they're harmless imps." seungwan has to reassure the mortal, "they'll be done in a couple of minutes."

one of the imps gurgles something in a language that joohyun can't seem to comprehend like it's nothing she's ever heard before and she’s struggling to make sense of it.

"yes, get rid of everything." the devil nods.

"what was that? what did it say?" the mortal's eyes widen in a panic.

"cleaning imps, they just wanted to check if i wanted all these unholy symbols gone." seungwan informs with a small sigh, "you wouldn't want a working summoning circle drawn in lipstick on your white wall right?"

joohyun presses her lips into a thin line and lets the imps get to work. meanwhile, sooyoung steps beside her and rests an arm on her shoulder. something magical is going on as far as she can tell, things are moving on their own and the lipstick stains on the wall are being scrubbed off.

"so, what am i not seeing here?"

"cleaning imps, and the devil."

"how does the devil look like anyway? does she have hooves for her feet? and the devil is a woman?" sooyoung fires a relentless string of questions. how is she going to explain to her sister that the devil is actually a petty little brat who dresses like an edgy punk?

"can you show yourself to sooyoung?" joohyun shoots a question at the demon who's fiddling around with an ouija board.

"don't wanna."

the mortal turns to her sister, "she's ugly, you're not missing much."

with a woosh, seungwan materializes in front of the sisters. straightening her jacket, she bows her head and plants a kiss on the back of sooyoung's hand. "pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss."

the mortals exchange a questionable glance and joohyun merely shrugs.

"what do you mean i'm not missing much?" sooyoung hisses, "she's obviously hot."

hot? the older girl narrows her eyes, “she’s a demon, sooyoung.”

“so?”

“yeah, so?” seungwan chimes in, “what are you trying to imply?”

letting out a frustrated groan, joohyun walks away from the two. if they end up becoming best friends, maybe the ninth circle doesn’t sound so bad anymore.

“i’m going to take a shower!”

“can i come?”

“no!”

adjusting to life with a demon following you around is… weird. the imps are gone by the time joohyun exits the bathroom, but sooyoung and the demon are chatting it up. running a hand through her wet locks, she stands by the corridor and eavesdrops. given her brief introduction to seungwan’s personality, she wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the devil badmouthing her already.

“i can't believe of all things, unnie's salt barrier worked.”

“mhm, it was so strong it sent me flying.”

“no way… so how did you get in then?”

seungwan pulls out a familiar black card and hands it to sooyoung smugly. “gave it to your sister after imbuing it with my magic so i could use it as a teleport point.”

“you tricked me!” joohyun gasps loudly from the corridor as she makes herself known to the two on the couch. she searches for her own copy of seungwan’s business card and finds it tucked into the pockets of her pants. this time, without the heat, it just looks like a regular old business card.

“hey, all is fair in love and war. it was either this or a barrier defuse squad, and those guys…” seungwan whistles, “let’s just say they’re not as neat as i am.”

“barrier defuse squad?” sooyoung snorts, “is that your rendition of a bomb defuse squad?”

the devil grimaces, “some demons are more talented in the art of breaking barriers, alright?”

"and you're really talented at tricking me," joohyun retorts, "how do i put up another barrier?"

"it won't work again because you're not afraid of me anymore." seungwan grins, "besides, we're bound to each other now, wherever you go, i'm sure to follow."

her sister gags loudly as if to remind the two that she's still around. satisfied with their attention returning to her, sooyoung asks. "so what's for dinner?"

it's at this point that joohyun hears a distinct voice in her head — make a wish! make a wish! make a wish! it repeats over and over in her head like a ritualistic chant, and she tries to ignore it but it's so much louder than her own thoughts that it makes it hard to think.

"stop that."

"stop what?" a puzzled response slips from sooyoung as she eyes her sister curiously.

"i meant the demon."

seungwan hops off the couch and crosses the room to grab joohyun by the shoulders. "i'm begging you to make a fun wish for once! make it fancy, look we can even go to france for dinner, please!" she pleads.

joohyun doesn't even consider the devil's plea, she's been thinking about it for the majority of her time in class. with a small smirk tugging at her lips, she sees the soft collapse of seungwan's expression as her wish escapes . 

"i want some tteokbboki."

"noooooooooo!"

"yah!" sooyoung exclaims, "we could've gone to france for dinner and you chose tteokbboki? you're kidding right?"

the older girl raises her shoulders, "i entered a pact with the devil, learned a lot about the afterlife that i probably shouldn't know, been to hell and back on a flaming dog — cut me some slack, sooyoung! i want tteokbboki and a nice sleep!"

"sheesh, fine. can we get extra side dishes though?"

"what would you like?"

seungwan provides them with a feast since sooyoung couldn't make her mind up, she gets them a little bit of everything. dinner arrives piping hot and ready to be consumed with a snap of the devil's fingers. the sisters eat in relative silence until the seungwan decides to break it.

“so far, your wishes have been to go home, clean your house, and get dinner. i’m the devil, not a demon butler!” seungwan whines, “are you ever going to wish for something fun? i could make you the pope for half price.”

“can’t you go back to hell if you’re so miserable here?” joohyun arches a brow as she shovels a piece of rice cake into .

seungwan, who has taken to flying above the sisters while they eat, gasps dramatically. “it’s our first day together and you want me gone already!” she exclaims loudly, "you'll be hearing from my lawyers soon!"

“i never wanted you in the first place.”

clutching her chest, seungwan releases a choked cry before gliding down slowly to curl up into a ball.

“she’s dramatic.” sooyoung snickers while chewing, “come here, let’s chat.” she offers while patting the ground just beside her. seungwan takes her up on her offer, arriving at sooyoung’s side with a beaming smile.

“i’ll put in a good word with the fates, don’t worry about being sent to hell. if you do, you’re getting special treatment from me.” the devil prattles while slinging an arm around sooyoung, “can’t say the same about your sister though.”

joohyun throws her a side-eye and says nothing — she’s still trying to come to terms with what it actually means to be in a pact with the devil, and seungwan acting so casually as if she hasn’t just appeared out of nowhere isn’t exactly helping.

"so you're going to be here for a whole year?" sooyoung asks curiously.

seungwan bobs her head, "unless there's business in hell that i need to attend to."

"why don't you just stay there?" joohyun sighs, "i'm asking for both our sakes since you find me so boring."

"it's a hassle to travel back and forth, what if you need me and i'm in the ninth, whipping some scumbag?"

"i won't need you if i continue living my dreary mortal life like i always do."

"c'mon, you don't have to be a loser with me around."

"i'm not going to let you mess up my life."

"why not?"

sooyoung interjects by clearing loudly, "sorry, just checking if you guys still remember me."

"yes i do," joohyun sighs before looking at the demon, "look, i agreed to the pact to help you out, nothing more. and we can make things so much easier for the both of us — i won't make any more wishes and you can go back to hell with your mind at ease."

seungwan crosses her arms, "why are you so against wishes?"

joohyun sets her chopsticks down quietly and stares into the red eyes that freaked her out in the weeks prior. if she knew better, she would've noticed the slight fear in her eyes.

"i'm against the idea of relying on something so temporary." her voice is quiet and devoid of any emotion, "have you ever thought about how it feels for us? to have you appear from nowhere and say that you'll grant all our wishes for a year? have you thought about what'll happen when you're gone?"

a heavy tension washes over them, settling into the silence that grows thicker with every second. nobody dares to move, the only sound that fills the air is joohyun drawing in a deep breath. sooyoung slows her chewing as she eyes the pair cautiously, maybe she should step in — but interrupting a fight between her sister and the devil sounds like a one-way trip to the underworld.

"i'm not going to rely on you to do anything, alright? if you want fun, i'm sorry but i'm not the right person." joohyun declares before standing up to retreat to her room.

the remaining two watch her figure disappear down the corridor before they even dare to utter a word.

"you good?"

"yeah," seungwan nods, pulling her knees up to her chest, "but why does it feel like i've just had a lovers' spat?"

sooyoung shrugs, "i guess she made a good point."

"but all humans are greedy, they'll always want something."

"not her," sooyoung hums, "maybe you should stick around and see what she's actually like."

"you're nice, sooyoung-ah. if you want to enter a pact, i'll hook you up with my friends."

"i'll pass, for now. i'm pretty sure unnie would murder me if i summoned another demon into this apartment."

dawn breaks with the sunlight peeking through the curtains; no morning classes today meant that she could sleep in a little later. wiping the sleep from her eyes, joohyun half-expects to see the devil floating around her room, but she doesn't. a pleasant sense of relief floods her chest when she finds her room empty, maybe going to hell was just a nightmare.

shuffling out of the room with small steps, the delicious scent of pancakes wafting through the apartment is enough to get watering. but the realization hits her — there's no way sooyoung turned into a master chef overnight, so she hurries to see who might be responsible.

the scene she walks in on is bizarre — the devil is cooking in her kitchen, not with the portable stove, but with her wretched flaming dog that's currently the size of a pomeranian. she has an apron tied around her waist too, a plain black one with the words GOD embroidered across the middle in red.

"good morning!" seungwan greets as she expertly flips the pan before resting it on her hound's flaming back. her dog, or puppy now, is obediently lying on the kitchen counter.

"why are you cooking... on your dog..?"

"it's so much harder to control the heat on a stove," seungwan shrugs, "and burger knows the temperatures for all kinds of food."

"why is it small now..?"

"he's resizeable."

joohyun stiffens and decides that today is not the day where she can accept being bound to the devil.

"are you hungry?"

her stomach gurgles and she decides she'll accept breakfast at least.

end notes:

missed a day, woops. this was kinda a hard one to write, and i feel a lil iffy about it. i've been marinating in my anxiety all day long.
i dropped my desktop off on wednesday for some repairs and i haven't gotten an update so it's making me ing anxious, fomo hitting me real hard ngl.
anyway, i hope this kinda provides a little more insight on joohyun, haven't decided if i'll go through with the backstory i've planned out for her yet because it do be kinda angsty.