Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started as a nice gesture. really, it needed to be done because the damage was his fault. He asked around for furniture builders and reupholstery experts in the city. Not a single person in Seoul knew someone who could do the job he was asking for. It was his mother’s bed bench that he scuffed and scratched, damaging the leather lining of the cushion of the antique furniture.

It was dumb how it happened. Keys on his belt loop, digging a line across it when he shifted to lie on it, his first visit back to his parents’ place. Doyoung felt so much guilt. Back from the military and here he was, unintentionally destroying things in his childhood home. He promised to find someone to fix it in between his University courses.

He asked around if anyone knew anybody who could fix antique furniture. A guy in his parapsychology minor courses said he knew a guy in Eunpyeong, where he grew up, a suburb north of Seoul. A local shop run by a widowed Japanese expat and his son. Doyoung looked more into it and saw nothing but rave reviews.

When he had some time to himself, he got to get away for a bit from school and responsibilities to be a good son and explore more of the city he lived in, seeing villages he’d never been to before. ‘It’s peaceful’ was the first thing he thought as the taxi driver helped him with the small bench from the trunk. More greenery and the mountains in the distance looked picturesque.

Doyoung carried the bench into the furniture store, and he felt like he stepped into an old catalog of some sort. Even the tall man with his back turned, looking into a huge fish tank, looked like he belonged in a Japanese magazine from the 90s.

Long, fluffy hair to his shoulders, as it looked like he mumbled something before reaching his hand into the top of the tank and scooping up a fat-looking goldfish. He took some tweezers from his pocket before pulling something from the fish’s mouth before dropping it gently back in the water. He could have sworn he heard the man’s shockingly deep voice calling the fish a moron.

Doyoung didn’t know why, but something seemed peculiar about the young man and where he would normally clear his throat or something or wave to grab the person’s attention, he stood there frozen, watching.

He still didn’t notice him standing there, just watching the fish still.

Doyoung finally boldly spoke up. “Excuse me.”

The man turned, looking at him like he had snapped back to reality. He froze up before saying, “Sorry, how can I help you?”

“I called this morning about an upholstery job? My mother’s bench right here,” he pointed to it.

The young man looked him up and down. Doyoung wasn’t sure if he was being judged or not. The angular eyebrows on the man made him feel like he was being judged for sure.

“Ah, okay… I see.” He walked over, not even bothering to dry his wet hand, as he leaned down.

“What exactly are we fixing? The scratch? This whole thing needs sanding from the knicks and scratches.. Plus, there is a water damage stain..” He pointed at it with his wet hand, ironically enough.

“I- well, the scratch on the leather part.. But I guess if you feel it needs more..” Doyoung sheepishly smiled.

There was a pause, then the man before him stood up fully with probably the most handsome smile he'd ever seen.

“Well, my father and I can take care of it for you. My name is Haruto, by the way. I just need to get the figures correct and have you sign.”

The way the man moved as he walked was also strangely beautiful, but not exactly elegant. Doyoung wasn't sure if he should follow behind or wait, but he was beckoned over with a wave.

As he stepped forward, he suddenly had a sense of vertigo before stumbling and catching himself. It was like Haruto completely ignored the stumble to punch the numbers into a dated-looking calculator while looking at a menu of laminated prices.

“The repairs will be exactly 6,500,000₩.” Haruto’s ‘M’ shaped lips curved into a pretty smile.

Doyoung gasped. “R-really?” There were way more numbers than he expected.

“Yeah.” The man’s smile never faltered. “But you don’t necessarily have to pay in full. I also take payments in increments. Either from a loan or credit.” He pulled another sheet of paper out. “Just.. to do so, I need you to sign on the dotted line here, and we can set up a payment plan.”

There was no way he could pay for such a repair in full. He wouldn’t be able to buy any groceries. He glanced at the bench, remembering his mother said that he needed to take up more responsibilities and that the bench was a family heirloom, and it did sound pretty expensive, but it was real leather and had to undergo multiple repairs.

Doyoung picked up the pen to sign and then put down his credit card. He wasn’t wearing his contacts or glasses when he should but his vision blurred when looking at the paper he was signing. It was strange. When he looked up, Haruto still remained smiling, averting his eyes since he was caught staring. The man was really strange.  He took the card without a word and ran it before handing the card back.
 
Doyoung softly thanked him. 

“Just leave a number to contact you so we can inform you when the job is done.” He leaned in closer.

“Ah- of course.” He looked up, expecting to send his contact with his mobile, only to see Haruto holding a small notepad waiting for him to read his numbers. Doyoung hesitated before reading them out loud. He was starting to believe the Japanese man came to the present day in a time machine.

“I’ll let you know soon…” Haruto’s pretty grin never left his face as he thanked him and left. Doyoung stood outside the shop for a moment, feeling as if he’d been trapped in a closet that smelled of processed wood for longer than a day. He didn’t know why he felt that way.

Like he’d been trapped away somewhere. A furniture store shouldn’t have made him feel that strange. 

He quickly tried to pull up a taxi app or a ride share, only to be met with a frozen home screen. He tapped at the screen and pushed at the buttons on the side, but nothing fixed it. Doyoung glanced back at the store, only for the facade to look slightly different.

Unease this time sat at the bottom of his stomach like a stone. He could have sworn the door looked different, and the sign in front had a different mixture of sales or clearance furniture.

He went back in to see if Haruto had a functioning phone or a laptop, or something to get a taxi.

When the student entered the store, everything changed. The furniture looked different, the walls were white, and no longer had wood paneling. Everything was different except for the fish tank. He walked up to it to see if the little chubby fish from before was hiding now. There wasn’t anything in it, even though the tank was plugged in and the motor from the filters ran loudly.

The vertigo was back, and he felt suddenly nauseous. Doyoung covered his mouth, feeling a gag stuck in his throat. The smell of wood and fabric from the furniture shifted to the smell of burning tar and something sour. He fell to his knees, suddenly sensing something heavy on his back. It reminded him of having sleep paralysis, but he was wide awake. He couldn’t move.

“Sir?! Sir! Are you okay?!” a voice called to him. It was in an instant the pain and dread he was feeling before suddenly zapping from him as he gasped in a breath. Doyoung was quickly helped up.

“I just came in here a-and…” He looked back at the tank. It didn’t make sense as to why his eyes were drawn to it. The chubby, bright orange spotted fish was staring directly at him. He could tell.

“I’m not buying anything. I dropped off my mother’s bench a while ago. I just wanted to use your phone or something..” Doyung fully sat up. The man looked confused.

“When..? I’ve been the only one here who did you drop a bench off with?”

Doyoung furrowed his eyebrows. “With Haruto, the tall guy.” 

“No one with that name works here. This is my grandpa’s store. I'm helping him out for the summer. I’m the only one here…” The young man looked extremely freaked out.

“You’re the second person this week who said they talked to a ‘Haruto’...”

Doyoung shook his head. “I just spoke to him.. My mother’s bench should be here..”

The young man shook his head, taking out his phone, typing something in, pulling up a Naver local questionnaire from a couple of years back.

‘I went to buy dining room chairs with my husband, who had his Polaroid camera with him. We did some sightseeing in the area, too, so he happened to capture the young man moving the sign inside, and this young man helped me find something. When we went back to see if he could possibly direct us to a nearby restaurant we were trying to find and the place changed when we went inside. The haraboji inside said that there is no man named Haruto, and if there were, he’s a trickster. He just laughed, but my husband and I are a little rattled from the experience. Does anyone know anything about the Eunpyeong Village Furniture store? Has anyone seen this handsome man before?’

“Did he look like this?”

It was the Haruto guy he saw earlier. The blowing wind made some of his fluffy hair obscured half of his smile. 
He nodded, swallowing down the sudden disquieting feeling.

“I.. yeah, that’s him.”

He looked over at the fish, still staring. The other man looked at the tank and then back at Doyoung, confused.

“Are you seeing something in there?”

Doyoung looked at the worried young man, glancing down at a name tag. ‘Junghwan’. All of this screamed something unknown, paranormal. They only briefly touched on it in his parapsychology elective at Yonsei. He didn’t believe any of it or even parapsychology, really, but…
“I gotta get out of here.” Doyoung stood. “Do you have a mobile I can get a taxi with?”

Junghwan nodded, handing the phone to him. He called a taxi service right away, thanking the young man. When he stepped back out of the furniture store to wait no longer felt safe to be even near the store. 

He only glanced back when getting into the back of the taxi. The facade changed again, and Haruto was busy marking price tags on a lamp. The driver took off back into the city.

Doyoung feared for his life. He feared what would happen when he got that phone call. Maybe he should call his eomma and tell her to forget the bench. It was an heirloom, but objects were just objects, and it wasn’t worth saving. Her son was in grave danger.

He’d been on edge for a week. Having a difficult time in classes and when it came to studying parapsychology, he dove deep into energy reading and if energies can manifest into handsome men. Nothing he could find said that it was possible.

His research started going into stranger territory. He looked up keywords like. ‘Tall man spirit with fish’ or ‘tall handsome man trapped ghost’. Vague searches like that had Doyoung rapidly scrolling for any discernible answer.

“Japanese man, tall, handsome ghost? What are you looking up?” His brother Junkyu leaned over his shoulder before putting three large grocery bags on the table he was using.

Doyoung sighed. “Hyung, you know eomma’s bench?”

“The one halmeoni gave her?”

“Yeah, I took it to get fixed, and I think I almost got spirited away or something.”

Junkyu frowned before putting the back of his hand to his cheek and forehead, checking his temperature.

“I’m fine.. What happened was so scary and weird.. And I’m not the only witness, so I know I didn’t hallucinate.. I just want answers.”

“So you’re looking up handsome Japanese men…” Junkyu quirked his lip up.

“It’s related to what I saw.. He’s inviting and his face, skin.. His smile.. It’s burned into my memory, and he’s so unassuming, and I felt at ease, but after.. When I went back, it was probably the worst feeling I ever felt.”

“Those are a lot of descriptors just to say a guy was hot, Dobby.” Junkyu began to unpack his groceries. Doyoung could only smile awkwardly when he realized that it was a bit strange with no context. Even with the context, it was completely bizarre. 

Link after link went from ‘yokai’ to ‘hanyo’ to describing ‘akuma’ in general to full descriptors of demons tied to objects and land. He searched for ‘Akuma goldfish’. He didn’t speak Japanese or know, but the first search fully redirected to a Japanese website full of lists of demons, ogres, spirits, and other yokai.

There was a secondary page with a world map showing shrines and locations. Three links around Seoul and he clicked on the top one that redirected him to a page with a sigil and an old photo of Haruto’s blurry figure squatting near a running stream, looking down, and dipping his hand in the water. He couldn’t right-click to translate the page.

“Hyung, I think I found what I am looking for.” He looked up at Junkyu, prepping to make cheesy corn.

“You're sexy Japanese ghost man? Just use a dating app, Doyoung.”

“I’m serious, hyung, I think I found-” When he looked back at the screen, the photo had changed. Haruto was in the same position but peaking up playfully with a smile.

“What? Why are you so quiet?”

When he blinked, it changed back.

Doyoung closed his laptop, removing himself from it. “I need to go for a walk.” He stood up and quickly left the apartment, hurrying to get on the elevator. His neighbor, a woman who lived at the end of the hall, got on too with a smile.

“Hey Dobby, I haven't seen you in a while.” She smiled.

“Yeah? It’s been a while, you’re right… I’ve been spending more time at school.”  He bowed respectfully to her, giving her space. She was a sweet woman, possibly ten years younger than his own mother, who would sometimes feed him and his brother when she spotted only Junkyu bringing only cup noodles to the house. She possibly took a liking to them since she was also a Kim, and she apparently had a son who went missing. That was the building rumor, but Doyoung barely ever believed gossip, especially resident gossip.

“Don’t overwork yourself too hard, Dobby.” She ruffled his hair. He just nodded politely. 

“Yeah, don’t overdo it, Dobby.” The voice was as clear as day. Deep and right against his ear. He quickly whipped his body around to see where the hell it came from, and nothing was on his left.

“Whoa! Are you okay?”  Ms. Kim asked him, shocked by his sudden jerking.

“Something was in my ear!”

“Oh.. A bee? It must have gotten on with us.” She looked around for a possible bee. The doors opened to the bottom floor, and she got off first, with him quickly following behind, shaken up.

Doyoung managed to survive exams and whatever scary thing that was going on with the Haruto creature. He hated being alone in the apartment. Strange things happened when he was alone in the apartment. Tapping on the walls. Doors opening and closing. He was always on edge.

Even when Junkyu was home, things would happen mostly at night. His chair rolling across the room at night with Junkyu in the room, talking to him, telling him something. Junkyu said he didn’t see it happen when it did. 

The phone rang at the beginning of the week.  He didn’t pick up the call. A bunch of numbers appeared on the caller identification. Doyoung refused to answer it even after the twelfth call. Instead, he went to find his friend in his minor, who joined his project team, Hamada Asahi, to get him to translate the page he found.

He was the only Japanese guy he knew, and Doyoung didn’t want to get him involved, but he was being tormented. Asahi took off his glasses in alarm as he looked from his book at him.

“Hey Doyoung… Why are you so sweaty?”

Doyoung touched his own forehead, feeling how clammy and wet his own skin felt.

“I don’t really know.. I just, I’m not unwell. Weird stuff’s been happening. That’s why I wanted to ask you to translate something for me.”

Asahi looked lost. He nodded. “Sure, um..”

Doyoung took a relieved breath before opening his laptop and found the saved tab in his search. “Here.” He showed him the page showing the sigil with butterfly motifs and strange symbols. 

“Haruto the Mazoku Datenshi.. It means ‘fallen angel’. The term is used in the Judeo-Christian sense, but no Christian rites of exorcism work on this Mazoku. Shinto rituals do not seem to work either. Has male humanoid characteristics. Assumed to be thousands of years old."

Asahi's eyes scanned the page with a pause. "It’s still unknown how this Japanese Yokai gained access to the peninsula of Korea. It’s rumored that possibly an old mountain shrine or portal. Is tethered with a seal and conduit.” Asahi looked up at him.

“What’s this about?”

“I’m researching something…” Asahi didn’t look like he believed Doyoung at all. His mouth always twitched into a smile when he lied.

“This has nothing to do with the next module we’re learning, though..”

“It’s just.. I went to the location this… thing is supposed to be Sahi.. I just wanna know.”

Asahi still looked weirded out and unsure. “Fooling around with seals.. spirits, yokai.. I don’t really believe in this sort of thing. Humans are scarier, but I wouldn’t go around digging into this sort of stuff.”

“I won’t. I just wanted to know. Thanks Asahi. This really helped.” He politely took back his laptop. Asahi looked dumbfounded. He gave him an unsure nod.

Once Doyoung left the student commons and went outside, a wave of vertigo hit him.

He fought through it, “H-Haruto.. Stop!” He grunted. It was like an instant release that caught him off guard.
 
It was surprising. Almost like he listened to him. Doyoung didn't know if something like that happening was a good sign or a bad sign.

“Why are you doing this…” He mumbled to himself, tired.

His phone went off with several text messages. His heart sank when he opened up his list of SNS. 

‘I own you now, I own you now, I own you now, I own y…’ 

Doyoung didn’t open it, he went to delete it. The screen froze, and the message screen suddenly changed.

‘I’ll eat you.’

His phone shorted out in his hand, shocking him. Doyoung dropped it to the floor, clutching his tingling fingers to his chest. He’d pissed off a supernatural being and he had no clue how to rectify it.

He picked his phone up off the floor and headed straight to the school’s entrance. He saw one of his hyungs in his psychology major sitting in his car parked by the curb, about to take off for the day.

“Hyung! Hyung! Hey!” Doyoung called out to him.

He looked up with a smile. “Dobby! Where have you been hiding? I haven’t seen you in days!”

He huffed before approaching the car.“Hyunsukkie hyung, can you drive me somewhere? Are you busy?”

The other man looked perturbed. “I’m not.. I was about to go grab dinner, but if you wanna come…”

“Can we stop somewhere on the way, I need to run an errand and I don’t want to go in a taxi..” He didn’t want to be stranded.. He needed some sort of getaway. He felt bad for involving his hyung, but he had no other choice at this point.

“Okay. Get in.” Hyunsuk removed some items from the passenger seat for himself as he sat down.

“So.. where exactly are we going?” The other man smiled at him, still with an unsure energy to him, but eager to help out.

“A furniture store in the suburbs. Eunpyeong.”

“I know where that is, sure!” Hyunsuk started the car and peeled out with ease into traffic.

“So why a furniture store?”

Doyoung rubbed at his own neck uneasily, “I’m checking up on something for my mother.. Hyung, are you religious in any way?”

“Mmm.. not devout or anything, but I was raised Catholic. Why?” 

Doyoung hesitated. “I was raised Catholic too.. I almost took a vow of priesthood, but I chose university last second.. I just wondered.... Maybe if you were devout that you might possibly keep a rosary in your car or something. It’s silly.”

“I have one. Open that compartment. But it’s not blessed or anything.. It’s mostly an accessory to an outfit I had.” Hyunsuk shrugged.

Doyoung took it out, examining the beads and wooden cross at the end. He needed something to feel safe.

“You can have it if you want, Dobby.. Just what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you when we arrive…”

Hyunsuk didn't press about the rosary, then he continued talking, but his words started to fade into white noise. His heartbeat was echoing through his whole body. Once he started seeing the densely covered hills and the familiar facade of the furniture store. Doyoung's hands wouldn't stop trembling.

Haruto was standing outside the store, leaning against the doors. He looked very solid, like any normal human, with his arms crossed. Exactly like the first time he met the being. He knew Doyoung was coming.

“Hyung.. The furniture store is haunted, I think… That guy, ..do you see him?”

Hyunsuk slammed on the brakes. “What?! See who?!" He tried to see what Doyoung was pointing at. By how his eyes searched the area, it was obvious that Hyunsuk didn't see Haruto at all. " No, no, no! I hate ghost stuff!”  He grabbed the gear shift, but Doyoung stopped him.

“Just.. Hyung, you don’t have to go in... Wait for me nearby.. Up the hill. Okay?”

The bleach blonde thought about it, wincing and not daring to look at the store, mortified by the sudden information his dongsaeng suddenly dropped on him. “I didn’t see him .. so …”

“Just wait hyung..” Doyoung quickly got out, slamming the car door closed, clutching the rosary, and bravely approaching Haruto. He heard the car take off up the hill.

“Look.. I know who you are...what you are. I’m not letting you-”

In the blink of an eye, Haruto was in front of him, snatching the rosary from his hand, crushing the beads in his palms. Doyoung should have known. His descriptor said that Catholic or Christian iconography didn't effect him.

His frown slowly turned into a grin. His thick, expressive eyebrows raised. “You made a huge mistake.” Haruto’s deep voice rattled through him.

The entity leaned in, and his searing lips covered his. Plush and molten lava. Trapping him in his spot like he was sinking into a pit of sticky molasses or a pit of quicksand. It took his breath away.

“I told you.. You should have answered. Now I’m going to eat you.”

Chapter Text

The rich smell of soil, but something metallic too. The ground was gritty and wet, and he could hear the sound of water running, like a stream, but when he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in any sort of forest or woodland area he’d ever seen before. Doyoung scrambled to his knees, wiping dirt from his cheek. His glasses sliding off his nose and to the ground because of how wet he was. Doyoung quickly picked them up, putting them back on, and looked up for any source of light. Nothing. Just dark branches woven together to choke off any light that could possibly come through. A chill ran up his back when he heard movement behind him, then humming.

He stood frozen in fear, not sure what he was looking at. The humming began to echo, and the shadow got larger and larger behind the fog. He took an uneasy step back. Whatever it was, it stopped, and that alone made him feel instantly like he was caught in some sort of invisible spider web. Something was watching him for sure.

Flecks of green or yellow flickering. He felt suddenly let go by whatever had him as he turned and quickly realized the thing he saw was there too, but this time leaning over a stream of dark water. This place was an elaborate trap.

He slowly began to back up as the large thing with big spiral horns, from what he could tell, was getting closer. He had to blink. His eyes were welling up, and he had to. When he did, the figure changed.

It was Haruto. The handsome devil himself, with long limbs and a pretty face soaked from head to toe.

“H-hey..” Doyoung didn’t know what else to say to a creature that seemed to know how to shift reality. He had to be careful.

“Hey, Kim Doyoung.” The voice was smooth. Radio smooth and he realized the flecks he saw earlier were Haruto’s eyes, now just dark orbs.

“Why.. are you wet? Did you fall into the stream?” Doyoung didn’t dare to try to move. Not even a twitch. Inky black water rolled down his skin that seemed to glow in an otherworldly way.

“I got punished for playing with my food.” Haruto began to approach again, and because of the dread settling in him, he took a step back, instantly regretting it.

“You’re funny.” He laughed. “You’re scared.. But don’t act like the others.”

Doyoung gave a meek smile, uncomfortable and confused. “What do you mean?”

“Most humans run around, panicking, screaming, and crying. They run around like headless chickens, making dinner time fun. You don’t act like other humans. Can’t you sense that you’re in a great deal of danger?”

How exactly was he supposed to answer a question like that? Doyoung wondered. “I can sense that I am, but… I wouldn’t know where to run.. Some people freeze, I guess.”

“This is more than just freezing in fear, Dobby..”
Hearing his childhood nickname said from the monster’s mouth made his stomach flip. Haruto slowly walked forward again before phasing in front of him. So close he could feel the heat he radiated before he gently took the glasses off his face and covered his eyes with his hand. Doyoung assumed that this was it. He was going to be eaten.

“I want to try something. And I got permission directly from home that said I could… Your soul belongs to me anyway.” The chuckle Haruto let out shouldn’t have been so warm-sounding to him. This wasn’t the correct situation to feel any ‘warmth’. When his hand was removed, he realized he was back at the furniture store.

Haruto stared down at him without a word. His lips pouty, the hand on his face moved down to his chin.

“Don’t do anything funny. You can’t leave.”

Doyoung’s eyebrows bunched up in confusion. There was a hollow thunk sound from the fish tank that made Haruto whip his head to see the chubby fish. It looked agitated despite it not having any discernible features.

“Don’t! I said I wouldn’t!” He practically growled at the fish. “I know who else is coming, so it can wait, okay?!”

The fish went to hide in the replica shipwreck in the center of the tank. Haruto sucked his teeth in annoyance.

He turned back to Doyoung. “You’re extremely lucky.. For now.” Haruto walked away from him, turning to go to the back without bothering to acknowledge that he left his ‘prey’ alone in the showroom.

The door was right there. The front door was in front of him. He walked through the sofa displays and tables. The door didn’t budge when he pulled on the handle. It didn’t even indicate it could be jangled like double doors with a center locking mechanism could. It was solid.

He hurried over to the fish tank, and to his surprise,e the fish had been watching him the whole time. “What are you?” He asked the fish as he pressed his hands against the glass. The fat fish floated down, picking up a colorful pebble in its mouth, trying to swallow it. “Ah..”

Haruto came rushing out, now dry. He gently shoved Doyoung out of the way and moved the tank’s top to reach down and scoop the fish up.

“Stop doing that!” Haruto grunted at the fish. He took it out and had a pair of tweezers to remove the pebble the animal was choking on.

“I told you, you don’t have to make threats! Someone will come…” He dropped the fish in annoyance back into the tank. The door opened and closed. An elderly man who looked older than time itself came in, looking at the furniture.

“See? Right on time and on his last day.” Haruto looked down at the expensive-looking watch on his wrist.

“Only ten minutes.” He mumbled. The creature approached the man, talking to him. Doyoung took a seat on one of the display recliners, not knowing what to do as he watched the old man light up with a smile. Haruto turned to the old man and showed him some of the lamps before he saw him lift a delicate hand to the man’s back. He exhaled slowly, turning into a blinding light before him. So blinding that Doyoung had to shield his eyes.

The goldfish hitting the glass walls was maddening. Getting louder and louder, then suddenly stopped when Doyoung opened his eyes. He saw Haruto approaching. A blue and golden butterfly was crawling along his fingers. He intently watched it, and before Doyoung could ask what happened to the old man, Haruto ate the butterfly. He licked the powdery golden dust from his lips.

Doyoung gaped at the demon in disbelief. He turned that old man into a butterfly and ate him. 

The memory of the motifs from the website quickly came back to him. The article said his purpose was unknown. 

“Sorry you had to see me do that, but that could have been you.. It should be you… He wants it to be you..” Haruto pointed to the fish. “But I don’t know.. Maybe not yet. That old man was past expiration date, so it was his time. His energy barely helped.”

Doyoung didn’t understand anything the demon said.

“I got permission directly from the Underworld.” Haruto caged Doyoung with his arms before smirking. “I have a time limit to turn you. If I can’t figure it out in time, then I’ll have to absorb your energy. “

He flopped down beside Doyoung. The recliner was big enough for the two of them as Haruto rested his head on his shoulder playfully with his eyes closed. “I hope I don’t get attached because …” He shrugged.

“You’re not going to eat me?” Doyoung didn’t dare to move a muscle.

“Afraid I might attack your throat like a vampire? I won’t eat you now, Priest .“ His tone, putting emphasis on the word ‘priest’, mocking him and his past possible choice of a lifestyle. Haruto must have known a lot about him already, and the thought alone was frightening. The demon lifted his head before leaning in with a smile, brushing his lips along the shell of his ears before covering his eyes again.
“I don’t need you right now, but when it’s time.. I’ll find you.”

Doyoung instantly was hit with sluggishness. Gravity was pulling him in all directions at once, and then a static prickly feeling on his skin. He didn’t know how long he had blacked out for, but when he awoke, he was lying in the hospital. The steady beeping of the heart monitor and the starchy sheets he laid on gave it right away.

He looked over to his brother Junkyu, whose chin rested in his palm. His body swaying sleepily, trying to stay up.

“Hyung?” He croaked, his voice sounding awful.

Junkyu shot up, pulling his chair closer and grabbing his hand. “Dobby? You’re awake? You're okay?”

“What happened, hyung?” His voice box sounded like it had been abused with sandpaper. He tried clearing his throat.

“You were out for six days.. None of the doctors could figure out what happened or what was wrong. Hyunsuk hyung brought you to a hospital when he saw you collapse in front of the furniture store..”

“That.. That didn’t happen though..”

Junkyu shook his head in confusion. “He went to park the car, and when he realized you were taking so long, he went back to see, and you were on the ground, out cold with your eyes wide open. You were transferred twice.. And no one knows why you collapsed like that. The only thing alarming was that your temperature was really low, but you felt like you were burning up.. It made no sense..” Jukyu went to touch his forehead, pushing back his hair.

“Even now you feel like you're burning up… are you cold?” He looked over to the monitors, where his last recorded temperature was 32°C. 

“I feel fine. Just tired.”

“...I’ll go get a nurse and call eomma…” Junkyu stood up and left the hospital room. Doyoung sighed. He felt disoriented. There was no way he just collapsed. Everything that happened was so vivid. Haruto’s burning lips on his, the forest, and the store again, along with Haruto’s overall presence. Doyoug wondered if he truly was ill or if he really was hallucinating.

The doctors questioning him about how he felt the couple of days before his collapse made him uneasy. He was a terrible liar, but he lied anyway, telling them he didn’t hallucinate.

The last thing Doyoung wanted was a lengthy psych evaluation. It’d hinder his school life too, and the possibility of any future licensing as a psychologist himself. He kept his lips zipped.

Several days passed and nothing of Haruto came up until his mother called him one afternoon.

“The bench was just dropped off this morning! It looks great!”

He froze with the phone to his ear. “...What?”

“All that fuss about not being able to get it back and claiming the store stole it was all for nothing, Doyoung. You made me and your father worried.” She heckled him in good nature.

After the phone call, he quickly began to search for what exactly Haruto was. He needed to know how to sever a tie or something. He really did exist. He knew it and didn’t want to get his brother, family, friends, or anyone involved anymore.

He wasn’t sure if he was being influenced or oppressed. He could possibly be possessed. He wasn’t sure. Everything he read was overly complicated.

Cord-cutting sounded new-wave and silly. There was no way that imagining a big pair of scissors would do anything at all. Doyoung saw the demon turn an old man into a butterfly and eat him. He remembered Haruto's words. That he needed permission to do things, that he seemed to be under the control and influence of something else. When he dug deeper, the more it sounded like Haruto was trapped working for some sort of grim reaper. 

The tapping at the walls started again.

Doyoung wasn’t exactly fearful this time around. He didn’t know how honest something like Haruto was but he claimed to not want to exactly hurt him… for now.

He looked around the room taking a guess that he was somehow spying on him.

“Haruto..? Am I on to something?” He softly asked.

The tapping on the walls increased. His door to his bedroom slowly swung open.

“So you work.. For someone else. I understand..” Doyoung looked further into the older shrines that were built on the land surrounding where the store sat. A Shinto shrine sat on the mountain close by, but almost a century ago, it was demolished after independence. The old shrine, on further research, had some sort of woodland deity involving rabbits. Not Haruto and his butterfly motifs. 

He learned so much about energies that he applied them to this situation. Maybe it wasn’t the shrine but the energy surrounding the area. Maybe it opened a portal. The tapping grew into banging on the wall.

“Okay.. alright I hear you, Haruto, I’ll.. stop.” He closed his laptop. He sat there feeling tilted. Off kilter. Maybe because he felt strange for respecting the boundaries of a demon, but he wasn’t going to press for more. Doyoung didn’t want to get on his bad side.

That night, he didn’t know how he could possibly fall asleep with everything that had happened earlier. He managed to, but the rest was short-lived. He normally slept curled on his side, but something turned him onto his back and woke him. He couldn’t move his arms or legs. He just lay blinking as the shadows danced around his room.

“..Help..” He tried to call out, but his voice sounded like it was underwater. He was instantly terrified when he saw the long silhouette of something crawling from the foot of his bed to lie down beside him, draping an arm across his middle.

“.... Instead of looking things up about me, you can come ask me in person.” The familiar voice of the demon’s tickled right in his ear. His heart began to speed up.

“Would… would you even tell me though?” Doyoung asked. He sounded a lot calmer than he actually felt. He was terrified since every once and a while the thing draped on him would disappear, and it would repeatedly happen. More and more, jostling his bed. The ground was vibrating.

“Heh, no… but at least I’d know your intention.” The mocking giggle caught him off guard, and he managed to close his eyes. The vibrations stopped.

Waking up the next morning felt like pulling himself out of a non-Newtonian fluid. He felt awful and heavy.

“Haruto.. I have a make-up assignment today.. That I missed because of the scary stuff you did. It put me in the hospital for six days… ” He sighed. Doyoung then realized how strange it was that he was even talking to his terrorizer like a roommate, but he knew he was watching.

His laptop slid across his desk, but this time he didn’t flinch or react at all. “Mmm.. I have to do it today or I’ll get marked down twenty percent…”

Haruto started opening all the doors in the apartment. Junkyu must have already left.

“You’re attention seeking.. I get it, but I have to get ready…” Doyoung sighed.

He paused before taking off his shirt. “Can I have a little privacy?” He quirked his lip up.

It was quiet, then his bedroom door quickly swung open and slammed closed again. 
Doyoung sighed, not sure if Haruto was just messing with him now or if he actually left. He didn’t have time to second-guess, so he took his shirt off and went to take a shower.

Doyoung quickly hurried to the university, making it on time, and completed his first make-up exam. He needed coffee, and the on-campus cart was closed temporarily. He decided to find a vending machine, not expecting to see a familiar face buying a bottle of water.

“..Junghwan?” 

The young man looked up in surprise. “Oh- Hey! It’s you! Wow, are you alright?” 

The young man asked in concern. Doyoung nodded.  “Yeah, I’m fine.. Well, sort of… Are you a first year?” He asked out of curiosity, getting the best of him.

“Uh, Yeah… Man, is that what you're wondering right now? After what happened?” Junghwan chuckled.

“… Sorry for collapsing in front of your haraboji's store.”

“Don't apologize for something like that.. You aren't the first person to collapse there.” Junghwan sighed.

“Wait.. Really? When they collapsed, did you ever see those people again? Do they disappear?”

“I-..no, they tend to never come back.. Sometimes I hear rumors, but..” Junghwan stared at him for a minute. 

“I'm sure you'll be fine. You're here now.” The other student smiled, making Doyoung feel some ease.

“You're right.. Some things happened, but… I'm fine, just..” Doyoung quickly took out his phone. 

“Let's exchange numbers. Because of what happened, and well …something I can't explain without sounding crazy, I may need to go back to the furniture store.”

Junghwan hesitated but then quickly nodded, taking his phone from his pocket and sending his contact.

“Yeah sure. The place gives me the creeps, and I don't know much about it since haraboji isn't exactly a serious man.. but if you come by, give me a heads up.”

Junghwan grabbed his drink from the machine and waved.

“I have to head to my lecture. Seeya.” He looked down at his phone. “Later, Doyoung,” he smiled.

Doyoung waved back when he checked the time on his own mobile when turning to leave, not bothering to get a coffee. Now that he only had a limited time before his next lecture and no time to drink it, he ran into someone.

“Ah! Sorry. I didn't-” His apology stayed stuck on his tongue when he had to look up at who he ran into. “Haruto..” He gasped. He looked angry. 

Before he even blinked, he was gone, but his shadow still remained. When he walked, the shadow followed. 

He ran for his next lecture, Haruto's shadow strolling behind. It looked like his hands were in his pockets.  The foreboding shadow eventually dissipated. Doyoung couldn’t even concentrate after being almost frightened out of his own skeleton.

After classes, he took a bus instead of a taxi. He wasn’t going straight to the furniture store this time. He checked his phone. The old temple was now an abandoned kindergarten. It wasn’t a dilapidated building by any means. It looked freshly abandoned as he walked the grounds before entering.

“Haruto… This place is the portal…” There was nothing. Only silence.

“Why are you so angry with me?” Doyoung felt his phone overheating in his hand, quickly putting it into sleep mode.

“Because you belong to me, and you’re playing around. Shaking your little fluffy tail. Do you want the athlete, priest?” Haruto opened the door to the staff lounge, approaching with his arms crossed. “Should I eat him too?” The demon came closer.

“I- Are you jealous? Why?” Doyoung felt queasy.

“I’m jealous of all humans. I wouldn’t have fallen if I weren’t.”

Doyoung paused before approaching him. He swallowed down his fear and touched his chest. Curious to feel anything. How did he function? Did he have a heart? He felt nothing.

“I’m not into a man I met only two times under strange circumstances. I’m picky when it comes to men.” Doyoung said honestly, also basically talking about him as well, only vaguely.

Haruto scoffed. “Is that why you dropped out of the monastery?”

“Can you see my past? How do you know I was trying to become a priest two years ago?”

“You reek of someone who's taken a wafer with a cross one too many times.. You are starting to smell more and more like me now, though. Which is good.” Haruto slowly wrapped his arms around him. Doyoung wanted to cry in confusion. He felt so warm, but he knew it was just another way to let his guard down.

He, in turn, matched Haruto by wrapping his arms around him, too.

The creature’s chuckle was muffled by him nuzzling his hair affectionately. “Dobby, you’re so interesting.”

“I’m interesting?” Doyoung mumbled. “How am I the interesting one? Just tell me what your purpose is? Your goal because I don’t understand your attachment to me. Explain. Is this possession? Oppression?”  He closed his eyes, trying not to be bothered by the shadows he saw in the corner over Haruto’s shoulder.

“I would tell, but no. I’ve had a good streak of eighty years with no exorcisms… I’m not giving too much away.” Haruto gently touched his face. “All you need to know is now that you’re in this mess, and are contracted to me, I’m protecting you from something scarier than me.” There was no smile or taunting. Just the demon’s dark eyes boring into his. He really couldn’t see much behind them.

His eyes were pretty and expressive, but there was no reflection, no shine.  That was the thing that was off.

“If you’re trying to protect me… I don’t understand. Just stop doing things to try to frighten me or disrupt my sleep. I had a steady, studious life before all of this…”

“You won’t have to worry about any human woes… once you’re by my side.” He gently placed his hand over his eyes.

“Are you spiriting me away again?” He whispered, and his heartbeat sped up. When he opened his eyes this time, he came face to face with a different place, a different version of Haruto. He could see him in probably his real form. Long, spiraling horns grew from his hairline. Dull and rough-looking. His eyes were shiny and black now, but void of most of his sclera. His skin now smoother and brighter. Haruto’s ears elongated at the shell like the elves in the video games he played, and his tall, lanky form was draped in a fitted montsuki and hakama.

“Where are we?” Doyoung whispered.

“...Think of it as me inviting you into my home.” Haruto took Doyoung’s hand, leading him uphill until the trees broke apart and he could see a hazy grey sky. A large building that looked like the old castles he’d seen in photos of Japan before. He’d never been to the country, so he assumed it was a castle.

“I use a lot of my energy on you, Dobby.. I’m glad you came straight to the portal instead of the store…”

He wondered why that was. 

“Once I turn you, the reapers will unbind me to the Earth. I can get a second chance. It’s all politics just like it is for humans… You asked for my purpose. I can't give you that since I don’t want to be exorcised.. I don’t want to disappear. I went behind a reaper’s back to extend the time on your life…”

Doyoung’s eyes widened. Was he meant to die that day he went to drop off the bench?

“Why would you do something like that? Aren’t you a demon?”

Haruto smiled and shrugged, “Sorta.” He let go of his hand once inside the palace.

“Not exactly a demon or an angel, neither a Tennin.. At least not anymore, or a yokai… This is Yomi. Neither the underworld nor a place of peace. A transitional place for the lost.”

The tatami had a distinct herbal scent. This wasn’t just a place of imagination. It was a real physical place that Haruto took him to.

“I’m not cruel… At least I don’t think I am.” He smiled.

It didn’t ease him at all. 

“No more digging around about who I am and what I am. Don’t tell the furniture boy about me. He doesn't need to know. Unless you want his time to tick away faster as well. You still are mine, remember.” The student was surprised by the demon’s jealousy.

Without thinking. Doyoung lifted his hand to caress Haruto’s cheek, gasping when the creature leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. His skin was flawless and warm. He felt Haruto sigh, exhaling deeply.

“It’s… I like this feeling. I’ve never felt it before.” He only opened his dark eyes slightly, just absorbing the touch. Doyoung blushed at how shamelessly he was indulging in the touch. If Doyoung didn’t know any better and forgot the fact that Haruto was practically a being of hell, he would call his expression cute.

“Would  you like to stay for a while?” Haruto stepped forward. He loosely looped his arm around Doyoung's waist, holding him close in an intimate fashion.

He knew this had to be dangerous, that he was inviting something he shouldn’t, but something in his gut told him what Haruto was telling him was somewhat truthful. Maybe something bigger and badder was in charge, and he needed his protection. He felt safe around Haruto.

He was surely making a mistake, surely.

The smile on Haruto’s lips spread, and before he could say more, familiar lips were on his, and this time Doyoung gripped the fabric of his montsuki as he moved his lips against the demon’s. Inviting him in, letting the dark wisps of curling smoke engulf him.

Chapter Text

Doyoung didn’t remember leaving the abandoned Kindergarten. He didn’t remember getting on the bus to go home, or Junkyu making them both dinner. He did remember the searing lips of the creature stuck in a version of purgatory. As he lay in bed at night, he touched his lips. The memory was stamped into his brain.

He’d only ever been kissed by Haruto. Doyoung didn’t know what to do. He figured for now, nothing until Haruto reappeared to him or summoned him again.

Day after day went by with nothing from the demon. Silence. No furniture moving. No spooky shadows or feelings of being watched. He continued to go to school, getting close to finishing the year with Haruto as a memory in his mind.

He got a text message from Junghwan asking if he wanted to hang out with some friends. He agreed to meet up with them at a cafe. They all gathered at a place near campus. A couple of new and familiar faces sat down and caught up.

“Hey Sahi hyung, have you been feeling well? I haven’t seen you much.” Doyoung asked him his pastry which he declined.

“I’ve been working part-time, so I’m too tired to go out most of the time. Besides, I don't really like clubbing anyway.” Almost on cue, the Japanese man yawned. Doyoung chuckled, happy that at least he was feeling fine.

“Take it easy and don’t overwork then.”

“He’s trying to save up for his own car.” The tall and broad, handsome guy in the friend group chimed in. Junghwan said something about them both being from the same hometown, Park Jeongwoo.

“Well, how close are you to getting a car?” Junghwan asked, his cheeks stuffed with a Danish.

“....No comment.”

“You’re no fun, Sahi-mon.” The soft-spoken computer science hyung, who was always around Asahi, nudged him.

“Jae hyung, don’t pick on him. Getting a car is hard nowadays. With only two years into school and no end of the tunnel in sight for old man Hamada…” Jeongwoo tsked. It earned a pinch in the arm from Asahi.

“Hyung’s trying his best.” Doyoung sympathetically patted Asahi’s hand as he lay his head in his folded arms on the table.

The door to the cafe jingled, and a tall guy came in with a stylish jean jacket and a Dior leather bag. Doyoung did a double-take. It was Haruto going to the counter to purchase something.. 

“How..” He mumbled. When he glanced at Junghwan, he looked like he’d seen a ghost, and Jeongwoo dropped his peppy demeanor, just staring at Haruto. It all made him confused and concerned.

He watches Haruto pay and approach with a handsome smirk on his lips and the iced coffee in his hand.

“I.. Haruto..”

“Hey, hanging out with your friends, Doyoungie hyung?” He leaned down, bracing his hand on the back of the chair.

“Yeah, how…?” He glanced around at his friends, deciding not to ask how he is able to be amongst the public and be seen by mortals.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” His cheery, deep voice teased as he wrapped his free arm around him, pressing his face in his hair. It felt really good and Haruto smelled really nice. He shouldn’t have been giving in so easily, but it was like his mind went numb every time Haruto was near.

“Huh? Dobby? When did you get a boyfriend?” Jaehyuk cheerfully pointed at him, glancing around the cafe to see if strangers were looking at the public display.

Doyoung had no clue how to explain that it wasn’t the case and that the situation he was in wasn’t a normal human relationship. He was contractually bound to Haruto, not dating him.

“A while ago. Hey everyone.” The demon answered for him. Haruto’s stare was trained on Jeongwoo. “Hey Woo.”

Jeongwoo squinted at the demon before smiling. “Hey Ruto.”

Doyoung’s eyes widened. “You two know each other, too?”

“Yeah, he’s my best buddy.. It’s been a while, though.” Haruto winked at the student across from him. Jeongwoo frowned before biting into his croissant.

“Weren’t we going to go bar hopping later?” Asahi groaned. His social battery was already depleted, but this was his way to demand that his friends cheer him up with alcohol.

“Well, we came here instead because being hungover before the last bit of exams tomorrow doesn’t sound like a smart idea.” Jaehyuk laughed at Asahi, wincing dramatically as he leaned back in the chair.

“We can find something else to do instead of drinking. I can’t even drink yet.. Remember?” Junghwan chimed in.

“Well, okay… basketball at the park?” Doyoung offered. Trying to ignore Haruto, who was now resting his chin on top of his head. He was curious about his expression since Jeongwoo was still staring, unblinking.

“Nah,” Asahi said. “I’m just gonna go home.” He yawned.

“Well, I guess we’ll go too, right, Dobby?” Haruto said with mock perkiness.

Doyoung nodded and got up. “See you guys tomorrow,” Doyoung said, waving as he was almost dragged out by Haruto.

He could hear Jeongwoo faintly whisper to Junghwan, “Let’s go too..” They stood up tailing behind. After walking for a while, Haruto spoke over his shoulder. “Woo don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“This is my way back to my place, Ruto.” When Doyoung glanced back, Jeongwoo was walking at a steady pace with a far enough distance. It was obvious he was following. Junghwan looked scared, and he whispered something to his friend, who in turn mumbled an ‘I know..’. He could tell he put two and two together since he saw the blurry photo of Haruto taken by those tourists.

“Here’s our stop. Night!” He made a mad dash, dragging the student along. He led Doyoung onto the elevator.  The whole time, Haruto stayed staring at him. Doyoung swallowed down the fear of the unearthliness that the demon exuded.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I thought you weren’t going to eat me?”

“No, I’m here to help you turn, not eat you. I figured it out. I gathered enough energy and got some help from a hyung to manifest.. Lucky you, I haven’t manifested in years. We can be together.” He touched his forehead to the student’s. He was pulled in, his heart thumping wildly. When he exhaled, he could see his own breath.

“What have you done to me?” A chill ran through him. Haruto’s smile never changed as he kissed his cheek before taking him by the wrist and guiding him back to his apartment. Haruto gestured to remain quiet. Junkyu must have been home, and he knew it already. Once in the bedroom, he pulled Doyoung by the nape of his neck, firmly kissing him. 

Every time he kissed him, it felt like something was flowing into him through his burning lips. Doyoung felt dizzy, his legs weakening. His tongue slipped in this time around, sweet and even hotter like an inferno as it twisted and dove against his tongue.  Every time they parted, puffs of his breath looked almost like smoke. He felt so hot, it made no sense.

“Do you remember Dobby? Any memories coming to you?”

He frowned. “Wha-?”

He pulled away, staring him down like a leopard stalking a wounded animal.

“That’s okay, I’ll do more so you’ll have something to help you…” In an instance, his horns began to sprout, and his ears elongated.

Haruto's burning lips brushed along his throat as his body fully yielded to the entity.

Dyoung's phone buzzed in his pocket, forgotten as he was pressed down into his bed, his body trembling with electrifying energy as he wrapped his arms around Haruto’s neck. The demon rutted into him, grinding and thrusting almost as if out of control. He murmured sweet words while he shifted, moving to bring him to an unexplainable state of arousal.

Doyoung closed his eyes just to feel.

“Do you remember your first warning? The sin that almost had you cast out? How you lured me with your gentle soul? Showed me something I had never experienced before, down in the underworld or even in the heavens? The realms of rebirth? ” Once again, Doyoung didn’t understand Haruto’s words as he undressed him. He muffled his own moans with his hand as the demon grasped him through his jeans, squeezing slightly.

“Obligations, duties, sacrifices in the name of God? Dig deeper into your memory, priest. Open up…” 

Haruto dug his canines into his collarbone once he was bare to him. 

Doyoung was a virgin, and everything that was happening was moving way too fast for him. He clung to him, panting. Keeping his eyes closed, not wanting to loudly exclaim for fear that Junkyu might hear him. The pace was dizzying, nauseating, with how his body was burning. Even Haruto’s anatomy felt like unnaturally hot flesh against him. He was truly a creature from hell as he tensed and squeezed his slender hips between his thighs with every thrust. He gasped a moan, hitched when the angle changed so their arousals aligned, sending him over into a blissful climax prematurely.

Haruto followed with his own climax. His seed created a bloom of smoke as it painted his skin with a magma-like heat. His body ached for more.

Afterward, just like before when he was in Yomi, Doyoung’s mind went blank, and he didn’t remember a thing that happened in the aftermath of his night with his supposed demon lover. A huge gap in his mind.

He didn’t even remember taking three exams the next day. He was only aware of the earth he walked on by late evening when he took his phone out for some reason. A message from Park Jeongwoo. He didn’t remember exchanging numbers.

‘Doyoung, seriously, wake up.’

‘You were so close to coming back, don’t let him influence you again.’

‘Wake up’

“There’s no need to talk to him, he’s silly.” Haruto came around where he was sitting, taking his phone from his hand and deleting the messages right away, and blocking the number.

“Hey! Wait, don't do that! He’s a friend!”

Haruto sat down beside him and rested his cheek on his palm, looking him up and down once again. It didn't feel like affection or anything innocent. Just fueled by pure hunger. He swallowed down his desire to take Haruto back to his place again while Junkyu was at work.

After a minute of silence, the demon spoke, his smile growing. “Woo’s not human.”

“Ah..”

At that point, Doyoung realized the world was larger and more mysterious than any one person could comprehend. Not all humans were humans. The supernatural was real. What did he mean by Jeongwoo not being human? Was he a demon also?

“He has a mission, too, but my want for you outweighs anything he will try to sway you.. He should have jumped on the opportunity of your virtue and soul before me when you first arrived. So much has happened in my favor.” Haruto crowded his space, wrapping his arm around his waist, resting his head on his shoulder.

“We’re almost at our end result, Dobby. I’m so excited already.” Haruto kissed Doyoung right by his ear sweetly. 

“I have to leave again, so visit me in two days' time at the portal. Let’s go back to Yomi.” Haruto stood gently holding him by the chin before leaning down and kissing his lips. Haruto then turned to leave the empty lecture hall.

“Later, bro!” His voice boomed happily as he exited.

After sitting there lonely, he realized he didn’t have his phone. Haruto took it. Strangely, he wasn't upset about it. He already missed the demon, and he didn’t get why.

 He was just there, but he felt an ache within. Doyoung never felt so strongly before. It wasn’t natural at all, it had to be the influence, but something deep within nagged at him like it wasn’t. He didn’t want to use the word love, but it was the only one that made sense. He hadn’t had enough time, or the circumstances didn’t make sense for love. All Haruto did was to be aggressively persistent in stalking him like the demon he is, and causing him to lose his mind in most moments. Tempting him to do things he wouldn’t normally do.

Doyoung knew he had free will, but he felt the power of his influence even if he was extremely attracted to the reaper's henchman.

When he got home, Junkyu looked panicked.

“Dobby! Did you bring anything here last night?!” His brother grabbed him by the shoulders.

“I-..”

“Don’t lie to me! Did you, or did you not, bring anything here last night?! Because look!” He dragged him by his arm to his room, and Junkyu’s room was covered from the ceiling to the floor with blue and yellow butterflies crawling everywhere. Doyoung stood there. What could he possibly say to his brother that he let his demon boyfriend hump him next door to his room last night and now they had an insect problem?

“Explain, Doyoung!”

At that moment, there was banging on the door. A soft-spoken voice on the other side made Junkyu whip his head.

“Kyukyu, let me in. Come on, I don't bite. I have a gift.” Doyoung couldn’t recognize the voice at all, but his brother seemed to know with how pale his face turned.

“Go away, Yoshinori!” He yelled. He quickly went inside the room, trying not to step on any of the butterflies as he went over to open the window. All the butterflies quickly became alert, flying out the window into the city sky. Junkyu quickly ran over to his closet.

The banging got louder on their front door, and Doyoung turned to go to the door, but Junkyu stopped him.

“Don’t you dare open that door.” He said firmly.

“Hey, stop giving me the cold shoulder, Junkyu. Just let me inside. Just this once. I bring good news!”

“Don’t make me call a shaman, Yoshi!”

So much was going on, and the room began to spin. Doyoung felt something wet trickle from his nose, his head throbbing as he collapsed to his knees.

“Shit..” Junkyu swore, grabbing something from a drawer in his closet and running to all the doors, sticking some sort of yellow paper to the doors.

There was chanting of a mantra, then the reciting of a biblical verse that Doyoung recognized from the other side of the door, then laughter. The voice sounded so lithe. Like a youthful man with a gentle demeanor. All of it was stranger than anything Haruto had done. Even the paralysis wasn’t as terrifying as the layered voices on the other side of the rattling front door.

Junkyu crouched down in front of Doyoung, holding a tissue to his nose for him.

“What’s he saying?” Doyoung’s speech was slurred.

“He’s being an ass.” Junkyu huffed.

“You let that kid Ruto in and not me? Why not? He’s not nice at all? He didn’t bring any offerings or gifts. I have so many gifts to share.”

“I swear Yoshi-”

“Aye Aye! Swear to whom?! Your boss?! That’s no good, Junkyu-ya!” The door rattled louder.

“Doyoung, he’s saying Haruto was here?! Is that true?! The other Tenin and Nephilim told me not to interfere, but why would you let that monster in?! This was supposed to be your second chance, Doyoung!” Junkyu's eyes welled up with tears.

“What? What are you talking about?!” Doyoung frowned, his head feeling like he had something sharp going through it.

“You have to remember! Come on!” Junkyu sounded desperate, and the paper he put on the front door peeled off. The thumping continued. The walls began to make dull thuds like something was walking on the ceiling, and Junkyu hurried to his own bedroom, where his window was still cracked open from the butterflies. He slammed the window shut just in time. Something jumped down onto the window’s ledge.

Doyoung stumbled back from the jumpscare of his life, seeing probably one of the most beautiful men he’d ever seen grinning wildly, pressing his hands against the glass, red eyes boring into Junkyu’s, licking his lips.

“Go! Now!” Junkyu pointed to the monster who tapped his short, black, oryx-like horns against the glass. If this all wasn’t so terrifying, the things he was witnessing would remind him of his brother shooing an alleycat from the window instead of the demon who now stuck his tongue out and licked the glass. He began to beat at the glass with a balled up fist. His smile never faltered.

“Junkyu, baby, my kitty, let me in! Don’t act like this.” His voice was warm. The creepiest thing about this ‘Yoshinori’ being was when he spoke. His mouth didn’t move. Just his voice being thrown.

Like a flashbang, Yoshi was there and then he wasn’t. Whatever hit him was so forceful that the whole apartment rattled. Junkyu hesitated, then he opened the window and helped Jeongwoo through it, shutting it again. A white feather clung to his lip, and some were even in his hair.

“Jeongwoo? What’s going on?! Why is everything ramping up? Were there just not any archangels keeping tabs on the Princes of hell and their spawns?” Junkyu rummaged around for something.

“I guess not, since Yoshi’s made it out of the gate again.” Jeongwoo sighed, slumping against the wall.

“Doyoungie hyung.. Why aren’t you answering your texts? Have you snapped out of it?” Jeongwoo gently asked with hope behind his words.

Junkyu hurried over to the other man to take care of what looked to be a burn on his arm.

“He can’t remember… Haruto has fully influenced.. He’s never going to be cast back into the underworld…” He looked over at Doyoung sadly. “Doyoung is on the verge of falling too..”

“I.. hyung, I don’t get anything you’re saying? What’s going on?! Please tell me? I forget gaps in my day, I forget I did or said things, and.. You say you know Haruto, well, that means you know what he is, right?! How do you know?!”

“Don’t tell him, hyung, it’ll get you in trouble. You’re on thin ice for trying to rescue him the first time when he decided to fraternize with the enemy, and when your virtue was tested. Remember?” Jeongwoo glared at Doyoung.

He got up frustrated and disoriented, panting now and wanting to scream.

“Nothing any of you are saying makes any sense to me?! What did I do?! Who am I? Who the hell are you?!” 

Junkyu just quickly wiped away his tears. Silent. Jeongwoo just continued to glare at him.

“Fine. You two won’t tell me. I’ll find out on my own.” He quickly left the apartment.

Doyoung quickly got on the last bus to the stop in front of the furniture store, running in without any hesitation. The sign said closed, but the door was still unlocked.

“I’m sorry we’re cl- hyung?” Junghwan frowned. “Wha- why are you here?”

“The fish..” Doyoung mumbled, running over to the bubbling tank. “I know you see everything. Come out now!” He yelled at the glass.

“Hyung! Hey hyung!” Junghwan hurried over.

“Tell me! What’s going on?!”

Junghwan pulled him away from the aquarium freaked out. “Hyung, what's wrong with you?!”

Doyoung kept his eyes on the tank. A couple of fancy goldfish and tetra swam around the shipwreck replica. No fat spotted goldfish.
 
Disappointed, he pulled from the taller man's hold and hurried out of the store. Doyoung ran uphill down the beaten path to the abandoned kindergarten. He stepped through the glassless door.

“Where’s the portal? Haruto!” He called, looking around. He could hear nothing unusual, just the chirping of the crickets and some frogs in the distance.

“Haruto.. I don’t know what’s going on. It hasn’t been two days time, but please…” He searched the entire building. Doyoung decided he should have listened. Maybe Haruto was resting his energy in Yomi. 

He turned and went down the long hallway to leave when he turned around the corner to the entrance, something was standing there. A person with their arms crossed. He couldn’t discern anything just a black silhouette. Doyoung could make out some color, icy silver hair. There were horns. Large downturned curved horns.

“Wow, I’m amazed. Even with your memory warped and those stupid angels giving you such an idiotic test, your bond with Ruto is probably something that I've never seen happen between a fallen and ascended.” The only thing that moved on the demonic presence was his head tilting slowly like a curious dog.

“Who are you? Where’s Haruto?”

“It makes me kinda sad that you don’t wanna hang out with me, Doyoung-ssi. I get it, you're trying to find the one that matters the most to you. I’d wipe a tear if I were moved, but sadly, that guy being a malevolent beast eloping with a nephilim under Azrael makes me want to throw up.”

Doyoung frowned, recognizing the terms being said vaguely, but he was still lost.

“You still don’t remember? Did Yoshi not pay you a visit?” The demon sighed.

Doyoung shook his head.

“Fine.” Before Doyoung even had time to think about running away, the demon flew down the long hallway, moving so fast, levitating and flying towards him, grinning wildly once he could see his face, charming and beautiful,  picking him up with his arms wrapped around his middle.

“We shall go together.” His raspy voice was giddy before they rose, diving through the floor as it gave like water, passing through the tiled ground like liquid.

The air was thicker, like standing in a portable heater. Right away, the scent of sulfur hit his nose when everything around him cleared. They landed in a dilapidated office building. With cubicles and everything. The wallpaper was peeling and rotting. The carpet was musty and looked to be stained with blood and some other unknown fluids. The metallic scent of iron blood wafted around.

The Demon grabbed him by the crook of his elbow, dragging him down the hallway. “Ignore the bullshit and come with me.”

At the end of the door, the placard said ‘Jihoon’ with a cute little imp engraved in its gold face. He opened the door, and the room was different from the disarray and horrid scents outside. It was like any normal executive office that could be seen in the heart of Seoul.

“Lucky Lucky Doyoungie! You get to sit in my big boy chair!” He shoved him into the comfortable seat at a thick, dark wood desk. Jihoon leaned over his shoulder and began to type something in. The language wasn’t discernible. Just a bunch of symbols. A video stream popped up.

“Watch this.. It’s quite the feature-length film, so get comfortable. I’ll go get you some snacks.” Jihoon ruffled his hair as if he were his cute little brother before hitting play. He felt a pull from all directions on his body.  The room blurred, and then he was no longer sitting in an office chair. What he had seen on the computer screen before, Doyoung was now there watching himself. 

A version of himself stood dressed nicely in a white suit that shimmered. Huge white feathered wings that flexed and relaxed as this version of himself leaned against a golden gate post encrusted in pale colored pearls.

Something with sheer fabrics floating around it floated down, catching Angel Doyoung’s attention. He watched him catch a ball of light.

“Hey! Wait!” Angel Doyoung followed the pretty fabrics floating when he realized it was some sort of angel, too.

“Hmm?” The deep voice was familiar.

“What are you doing?” Angel Doyoung asked.

“Taking this soul to Rinne Tensei.” The celestial smiled prettily.

“You have to bring the soul to me first to see their life. You can’t just send them through a wheel of reincarnation without knowing. Who gave you your assignment?”

The celestial hesitated. “Nobody but I got this note that told me what to do.”

Angel Doyoung shook his head. “Look, I’ll help you out since you clearly need it. Come with me.”  He winked and smiled at the celestial before turning to fly back up through the gates. As they approached closer, Doyoung could make out the celestial being as Haruto. No horns, no dull eyes. Sparkling brown eyes looking a little flustered by the sudden flirty nature of Angel Doyoung.

He’d known Haruto before. They had met in some other life. This must have been the previous life. He wasn’t sure, so he continued watching.

Angel Doyoung continued to help catch balls of light with Haruto. Even being playful, tugging on his Tenne to catch the lights first. They turned it into a game of who could do it first. Every time Doyoung looked into the light orb and saw that it was someone ready to pass through the wheel or join them in the ranks of angels, they celebrated and hurried to tell Azrael together.

In their downtime, Haruto looked down through the clouds while Angel Doyoung played his large harp and sang. The Hiten wiggled his foot to the tune as if he had the urge to dance, but was too busy musing at the earth down below.

“Hyung.. Do you ever wonder what it’s like down there? We look through so many human lives. Some good and some bad. Some really evil people who we move them down for the underworld to catch.. But to live as a human..”

“Don’t start thinking too much about the humans.” Angel Doyoung sighed. Haruto sat up staring at Doyoung.

“Why not? You never think about it?” Haruto slouched a little, folding his long legs under himself.

Angel Doyoung floated over, sitting beside Haruto and taking his hand. “It’s best if you don’t question it.. We just need to focus on our tasks and our divinity. Aren’t you happy here?” Angel Doyoung tried to pull Haruto out of his thoughts, trying to make him look at him by smiling and being ever so gentle.

Haruto stared at him, his lips forming into a pout. Angel Doyoung laughed. “What’s going on?”

“I - … I am happy here.. With you. I like what we do together. It feels like a game every time.”

“It does? Are you thinking about human life so much because you forgot yours?” 

Haruto nodded, looking down at his lap. Angel Doyoung made him look at him again by lifting his chin. “Hey.. I can help you. You should have told me. Let’s check the records.. Maybe it will help you move on from thinking about it so much.”

It was faint, but Haruto's ears and neck turned red, nodding, not able to escape the invisible bubble that was just the two together.

“Let’s go then!” Angel Doyoung guided him up and away.

Time passed, and Haruto learned his human life was rather lonely. He fell ill at a young age and passed suddenly. He didn’t truly get to experience a fulfilled human life since he was bedridden for most of his time on earth. The humans around him in the Watanabe clan had him in a small white house, where almost everyone stayed away. Superstitious that they may become ill as well. Haruto didn’t like what he saw. It’s probably why he didn’t take the memory with him.

Angel Doyoung reassured him that he was better off where they were and to forget human life altogether.

Doyoung watched intently, seeing the stuff he’d known he would probably have missed in that moment. The stares from Haruto after. The gentle, friendly touches at first turn into something more. The hugs in which it looked like Haruto never wanted to let go. Then one day, after sending a soul through Rinne Tensei, Haruto stopped him from returning to their station at the gate.

Angel Doyoung looked puzzled.

“That person’s life.. It was like mine and they get to have a second chance… do we ever…?”

Angel Doyoung turned around, floating closer, linking his arm with Haruto’s. “You can always ask.. It might take time, but.. Starting over.. It’s a lot. I thought you were happy with your divinity.”

Haruto didn’t say anything.

“Ruto-ya?” He placed a gentle hand on his cheek, worried for the Hiten. Haruto dipped down, closing his eyes and brushing his lips against Angel Doyoung’s, surprising the nephilim.

“I’m losing my mind, I think..” Haruto whispered before dipping back in for another kiss. When he pulled away, Angel Doyoung looked extremely confused, placing a hand on Haruto’s chest, pushing slightly to give them distance. The Hiten looked hurt.

“We can’t.. Kissing is lustful... Our desires and love are to the divine..” 

Tears welled up in Haruto’s eyes as he quickly left.

More of the passage of time blurred by. Haruto was nowhere to be seen while Angel Doyoung continued catching souls. One soul he caught needed to be sent through their Reincarnation.

Sometimes Shinigami and their henchmen passed through because they also sent souls who, after millions of years of punishment for their sins, got their chance at a human life after the torture. They used the same wheel.

What Doyoung didn’t expect to see was Haruto somber, with no celestial robes. His Long spiraled horns looked like an antelope's and a dull expression as he passed a spirit through the wheel. Angel Doyoung froze.

“...Haruto?” The shock from the now former Hiten was quickly removed from his face. He came up, looping his arm around Angel Doyoung’s waist.

“I get to see you again… I don’t regret what I feel…” He sighed. Angel Doyoung looked disoriented by it all as two Seraphims came down and grabbed Doyoung back from the Demon’s hold. Haruto watched them take Angel Doyoung away angrily, with billowing dark smoke around him. They took him back into the heavens.

“Hyung?!” Both Junkyu and Jeongwoo helped pull him away. “Guys! What?! That was Haruto! What happened to Haruto?!”

Junkyu frowned. “He sinned.. And doubled down on his sins.”

“...Huh?”

“I tried talking to him to stop... he began to have fantasies.. He confided in me.” Jeongwoo’s frown deepened on his handsome face. “I can’t exactly tell you hyung what he fantasized about, but.. He got a warning from Archangel Michael.. Then I was informed by the other hyungs that Haruto started sinning in other ways, talking about how he wanted what humans had.. Could love in a human way. He kept getting warnings, and then he tried to sneak through the reincarnation wheel by himself.. He got cast out.”

The angel version of himself was shocked. Haruto’s sins were lust and envy. He broke too many rules. He had to pay the price.

Angel Doyoung wanted to live in denial of it. Hope that one day Haruto would show up and they could continue where they left off, but it never happened.

Standing at the gates, watching the souls. Angel Doyoung didn’t seem to have it in him to even do his task. He saw something dark coming up to the gate one day. A billow of black smoke.

“Hyung.. I’ve been trying to get to you without the cherubs seeing.. I needed to see you .”

When angel Doyoung realized it was Haruto, he flew down quickly, embracing him. Not caring. He missed him so much. Haruto froze but then relaxed, embracing him back.

“I learned of your sins.. Why Haruto? We could have had pure love, but..”

“My love was pure! I love you so much it hurts… but my desires that came with the love weren’t. Now I’m being punished. I get to experience Earth, and when I’m down there, I think about what it would be like if you were there with me.”

Before angel Doyoung could say what was on his mind, Haruto’s lips were on his, familiar but hotter like his body contained boiling water. He kissed him back, his lips parting as he closed his eyes, kissing the demon. The cavern of his mouth tasted like sweet wine, his tongue soft against his feeling so foreign but good. His stomach began to twist in a pleasant way. Haruto parted from him to look at him with hooded, dull eyes.

“Come with me, Dobby, please.. I miss you..”  Before angel Doyoung could speak, a sudden flash of light and a clap of thunder followed. Haruto was gone, and his own wings were grabbed.

Azrael was five times the size he was used to seeing him, and held him by his wings. It hurt so much that tears formed in his eyes.

“I can not have one of my nephilims who guards the Eastern entrance of the gates to divinity being tempted by any of the Marquess of lies! You need to be put through a test. Your divinity and purity need to be re-evaluated for your salvation. Then you may rejoin the ranks of those who belong.” Angel Doyoung’s body went limp as the wings dissolved, and his body fell to the earth.

Doyoung felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and he was pulled out of everything. Feeling dizzy and scrambled. It was the office again with Jihoon crunching on what looked to be Butter Chips.

“Such a good movie, right?” He smiled at Doyoung, flashing his sharp canines at him.

“That’s why Haruto’s such a foolish demon. He’s cute and one of my favorites if we’re being honest, because he used to be an annoying angel with the brain of a pigeon! It’s cute. Watching him do his tasks here for the underworld is even cuter, but you’ve already witnessed some of that, right?!” Jihoon laughed, hopping onto the desk using his boot-covered foot to kick the computer noisily off its surface.

Doyoung flinched from the crashing otherworldly technology.

“You know you're really sucking at this test thing though. Azarael is an idiot for sending only two angels. Especially one that is Haruto’s former best friend, and that idiot brother of yours who went through the test before as well and almost failed! Ha!” Jihoon handed him the bag of chips before opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a remote. He pressed a button, and a projector came down in front of the window that showed the night skyline view of Seoul. He pressed another button, and the projector started showing a slideshow.

Junkyu candidly walked around Seoul hand and hand with the red-headed demon he had seen before. His brother kept calling Yoshinori. It went from them holding hands and getting along. In some shots, Yoshinori was making full eye contact and smiling at the camera. Like he knew.

“That guy snapped out of it, though, and lured our poor kitty Yoshi to Magoksa Temple and recited the correct rite to exorcise him…” Jihoon pouted, reaching into another drawer to pull out an orange and blue Nerf gun and shoot at the still of Junkyu on the screen.

Doyoung sat there, stupefied by the demon.

“He sent those two. He should have sent a whole army!” The last nerf he sent had a flame attached that engulfed the whole projection in flames.

“Azrael is no Michael.” He snorted.

“What’s your plan of action, Dobby? After seeing all that? Do you really want that boring life as an angel again?” Jihoon nuzzled the top of his head, playfully scratching his scalp.

“... Honestly, I don’t know.. After seeing all of that..” Doyoung turned to look at Jihoon, who was grinning ear to ear.

“That’s not a good enough answer.” Jihoon’s voice was smooth but layered with a deeper voice. That’s when the icy prickle of fear coursed through his body suddenly. He stood up, pulling from Jihoon’s grasp.

Doyoung backed into the door. Jihoon was quick, his expression excited and ready for a chase. Quickly, the angel yanked open the door and began to run. He didn’t know where to go, just running and running through a labyrinth of hallways and cubicles. When he looked back, he could only see dark orbs boring into him and an unfaltering grin flying towards him.

Doyoung dodged by running into a room with humanoid shapes coming out of the ground, looking as if they were screaming in agony. Frozen in time with ants crawling in and out of their facial orifices. They were ant mounds. His only escape was a window into the nightscape. Jihoon slammed open the door, knocking it off its hinges.

“There you are.”

The angel picked up a tattered rolling chair and knocked it through the window, shattering the glass as he jumped through too. Like a vacuum, as he fell through the air, he felt himself being pulled upward and then out, landing on his back. He clambered and rolled over, getting up. The portal.

He’d made it back to the kindergarten.

As he stepped out of the building, he looked up at the sky, seeing the sun halfway risen in the hazy sky. He had to talk to Haruto.

Chapter Text

The facade of the furniture store had changed again. Haruto had to be inside now. When Doyoung opened the door, he saw the demon crouched down holding the fish in his hands, studying it. It wiggled in the small pool of water in his palms.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Haruto didn’t say anything at first, but sighed before putting the fish into the tank again.

“His fin is injured..” He turned to Doyoung, who released a shaky breath.

“I just came back from the underworld.. Or hell, I guess.” It sounded way too nonchalant.

“Oh yeah? How was your trip?” Haruto said as if a trip to hell was completely normal.

“I got shown some things.. Some things about you and I. I feel guilty.”

“You shouldn’t…. Nothing that happened was your fault.. You never tempted me. I always loved you. Every smile and touch.. It was easy for me because you are an angelic soul. I was inexperienced and naive without the knowledge of a human life, so I didn’t care. I still don’t care.”

Doyoung reached his hand up to move the fringes of Haruto’s fluffy hair from his eyes.

“I can’t be with you in Yomi forever… You’ll have to find a way to redeem yourself, Ruto-ya…”

The demon’s face turned wide-eyed and shocked with anguish.

“Then why are you here?” His voice became darker, deeper. Pained.

“Because I wanted to see you. I still have these intense feelings of love for you. But, while you work for Jihoon.. While you're corrupting and taking souls.. I can’t be a part of that. I’m still a nephilim and have no desire to be under a demon’s thumb.”

Haruto shook his head in complete disbelief. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Dark like old red blood spilling down his cheeks. “You’re still contracted to me…”

“I still…” He looked at the tank, seeing the fish staring intently at both of them. He smiled at Haruto before wiping a tear away with his thumb.

“I’m still contracted.. You still have to turn me right?” The demon looked at Doyoung with disbelief and confusion.

“That means you need to come see me.. Convince me. I still have to exorcise you. Fight back.” Doyoung smiled sweetly at him.

He slowly backed away to the store’s door. Haruto watched him with his eyebrows knitted together, knowing that Doyoung’s vagueness was probably because he didn’t want to say too much while in a place attached to hell. He backed up slowly, opening it and leaving. He needed to catch the bus home.

Doyoung didn’t want to face the wrath of Junkyu by going back home, and the place was corrupted if the demon that tried to get in before was any indication. The angel hurried to an Aladdin bookstore to find something to tell him about the limits of the Rinne. He needed to know before trying to attempt what he needed to. He could possibly save himself and Haruto. He flipped through the pages of what could pass through and the percentage that gets reincarnated.

He looked over his shoulder since he felt like he was being watched. No one was there. He hurried to buy the book and quickly made it back home.

 When he entered, it was really quiet.

“Hyung? I’m back..” he saw the yellow seals, along with a few others, were still plastered on the walls and doors. Doyoung checked Junkyu’s bedroom only to find it empty with white feathers littering the ground. The seal that used to be on the window was struck across the middle, sitting on the windowsill.

He heard thumping again. Knocking from the inside of his closet.

It could be something terrible, or it could be Haruto using as much energy as he could. His gut told him to open the doors.

“I swear.. If it’s not you..” He took a deep breath before opening the door. He saw familiar shaggy hair and a scowl.

“Haruto..” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Why are you using up so much of your energy.. I said to wait while you can. This isn’t going to work if you keep turning souls into butterflies.”

“What do you mean?” He drawled out, pushing himself closer into Doyoung’s space.

“I’m trying to figure something out that can help us both, but I can’t if they know…the heavens and the underworld… If both know. I want to help you, too, Haruto.” He touched his face, wanting to get his point across that he wasn’t abandoning him at all. If it's required for him to help him trick both the angels and demons, he might have to exorcise him. He didn’t know yet.

“You’re thinking about destroying me to save me?” Haruto’s deep voice sent a chill through his bones.

“I’ve already failed the test by lying with you in this very room.. This will be my last chance. Prove not only that my love for you outweighs my fear, but also to give you a second chance. Not as a Hiten again.” He cupped his face, leaning in.

“I have the perfect escape, I just need you to want to be with me. Trust me like you always have.” Doyoung smiled gently. He pushed back his fluffy hair. As much as he melted into the touch. He could see how much the demon was considering it. Even with his dull eyes, that youthful trust he had when they used to work together was still there.

“Is that why you couldn’t say it earlier..”

Doyoung nodded. 

“....Hyung..” Just that alone made the angel pull him into an embrace.

“You said you need to gain more energy.. Tomorrow, right? I’ll meet you..”

The way Haruto didn’t want to let go made his heart hurt. He needed to find their solution and fast.

He heard the door to the apartment open, then close. 

…Just in that one second of the door closing, Haruto was gone again. He took the book out of his bag, flipping to the page he had saved that explained certain reincarnations and how they worked. There was a certain point on the wheel that determined the destination of whoever passed through. That or the soul could completely disappear without a trace. Some people's life lines end completely with no rebirth.

From the memory shown by Jihoon, his time as a nephilim was his fourth rebirth. Doyoung needed to figure out how to successfully pass through a fifth time, but in a way so Haruto makes it around the same time he did.

“Doyoung?” Junkyu came to his door, looking around as if he were suspicious of him. “When you ran off a day ago… where did you go, you're okay?”

Doyoung sighed. “As okay as someone who was lied to.”

“I couldn’t tell you..”

“I know hyung. I know this is a test. Everyone is doing everyone else's bidding.” He glared at his brother from over the edge of his book.

“...How do you know…? You’re supposed to have your virtue tested without you knowing..” The seraphim frowned.

“I did some soul searching.”

Junkyu’s eyes widened. “No.. you’re already fully corrupted, aren't you?”

Doyoung laughed nervously. “You’re being ridiculous, hyung.. Seriously, I'm fine. I’ll complete the test soon.”

Junkyu didn’t believe him. He could see it all over his face. He saw him run off to his room and come back. When he hurried back the other angel came back with a thurible pluming incense smoke throughout the space.

Doyoung raised an eyebrow at him.

“Does this not make you feel ill?” Junkyu continued swinging.

“I’m not corrupted, hyung.” He sighed.

“Then how do you know about the test? Did Yoshinori the hell spawn come to you?”

“No, didn't Jeongwoo like, explode him?”

Junkyu sighed, putting the thurible down, rubbing his temple. “I’m going to get in trouble, Dobby, seriously.”

“No, you won’t, hyung. Not even the angels can change fate. I know what I’m doing, so don’t interfere.”

Junkyu didn’t press further. He reluctantly stepped away. Keeping an eye on him as the day turned into night. There was no disturbance. Just faint tapping on the walls, but then they stopped.

The next morning, Doyoung ditched classes to go right to the abandoned kindergarten. He stopped at the fence, seeing a blue butterfly walking along it.

“Ruto.. hey, take me to Yomi.. Now.” The door with the missing glass that led to the entrance hallway appeared in front of him, pitch black.

“Is this it?” 

The butterfly flew and fluttered around him before going into the void. He bravely took a couple of breaths before stepping through.

The familiar smell of sulfur suddenly turned into the scent of funeral incense and resine.

Once he passed through, he and his vision came back, and he saw the castle. Doyoung climbed the steep hill the castle sat on, approaching it slowly. He could hear a shishi-odoshi hitting. It was the only sound he could hear as he pushed back the door, entering.

“Haruto?” He wandered the empty halls and rooms. In one particular room that was empty with newer-looking tatami, he saw him.

Ornate in his montsuki. His Hakama, bright red. His horns looked duller than the time he’d seen them before as he stretched out on the engawa that faced the foggy void outside.

Doyoung approached, taking a seat beside his sleeping form.

“I didn’t know you could even sleep..”

Doyoung brushed his knuckle against his cheekbone to stir him awake. He didn’t move.

Something swooped down, landing loudly in front of him. The grinning redhead demon.

“Oh, the angel’s here!” His mouth didn’t move at all. He still grinned, kneeling and squinting happily. “You’re looking after my naive little brother well? You’re plotting too. You stink like a plotting angel that deserves to fall and join the rest of us! I hope you know everyone around here knows what you are doing.”

Doyoung swallowed down the fear he knew he wanted to bubble up.

“You’re cute just like that other idiot angel, you know? You’re lucky Haruto asked me to spare you.”

“...If you’re sparing me, why are you here?” Doyoung bravely asked.

Yoshi tilted his head slowly, not answering, just examining him. Then he looked down at the hand that rested gently on Haruto’s cheek.

“It's funny. It’s disgusting.” Yoshi laughed.

“What is?” Doyoung moved closer to Haruto.

“An angel loving a demon. It's so disgusting but kind of cool. Like meat that grows furry mold. It’s nasty but cool that it can grow other organisms.”

“Are you seriously comparing love to mold?”

Yoshi laughed before picking up one of the decorative smooth stones at the engawa’s base, chucking it hard at Haruto, who growled while waking up. “Ow!”

“Wake up! Your hyung’s here!” Yoshi playfully flew back to stay out of arm's reach of Haruto who might retaliate.

Haruto sat up, glaring at Yoshi.

“I brought you something, and I’m risking a lot because Jihoon might fillet me if he finds out it’s me who helped you. I turned your stupid fish into this little guy!”  He dug around the pockets of the baggy jeans he wore. A Camembert cheese donut wrapper fell out of his pocket, and the demon ignored it, pulling out a pretty crystal ranchu goldfish.

“All your energy is stored in it. Jihoon’s been busy, so it’ll take him a while to notice.” Haruto floated up and quickly went over to snatch it from Yoshi.

“Thanks, hyung.. I appreciate it.. But..” Haruto picked up another rock, chucking it at the other demon, who dodged it in time. “Wake me up like normal.”

“Oh, Haruto, I’ll miss you when Jihoon puts you in chamber six for torture.” Yoshi dissipated. His laughter echoed around until he was fully gone.

“Why did he bring you the fish in that form?”

“You’re talking about trying to go through the Rinne Tensei. I need to take it with me if we do. It’s part of my soul.”

He remembered the shinigami saying that he separated Haruto’s soul as part of his punishment for falling.

“So you’re really going to trust my plan? Even though I can technically exorcise you? It could be a trick..” Doyound gasped when Haruto dove down and straddled him, knocking him back.

“I’ll trust anything you say because you belong to me, remember?” The demon smiled before he touched his lips against the corner of his mouth and kissed him directly. Dyoung’s eyes automatically slid closed, wrapping his arms around his neck, gasping when they broke apart, only to meet again in a frenzy of tongue and lips. Haruto eagerly and with his desires pushing to the forefront as his teeth nipped and grazed soft lips.

“Doyoungie.. Hyung…” His voice warbled, sounding so much like his old self. Before his fall from the heavens. Doyoung was overcome with sadness, finding it difficult to let go. 

“Before we go.. Hold me like you’ve wanted to.” He whispered with a smile on his face. Bright with sweetness and genuine warmth. The tone was teasing but heavy with the equal amount of want Haruto had for him. “Come on.. No one will know.. No one gets punished..” He slipped his hands up the arms of his kimono sleeves, kissing him again.

The demon pulled away quickly to get up and pull Doyoung by his wrist, taking him to the secondary room with decorations of green moons on the doors in the castle, with a single oil lantern. Where he was squeezed so tightly he felt his lungs constrict.

Doyoung tugged at the knot on the obi, along with tugging the cord holding the haori in the front. He pushed down the haori, feeling his body heat up from how intensely he wanted Haruto. He now understood the demon’s desire. What he must have felt before he fell. It was nothing impure with how much his heart pulsed and ached.

It was strong and raw, overwhelming. Not filthy or bad like the archangels, ophanims, and erelims would like the nephilim like him to think. They were so far removed from being human since they never experienced it that they didn’t understand.

Doyoung clung to Haruto as he completely undressed him. The expanse of his burning skin was exposed as the kimono draped over both of them opened like a shelter. Housing and casting protection over them as Haruto kissed along his jaw gently in all his ministrations.

When he pulled back, he saw Haruto staring down at him. The dullness in his eyes did not hide how wistful his heart was.

His touch, feathery. Nothing like the burning hot scorching touch from when he was trying his corruption on Earth. Like Haruto was savoring the intimacy. Mapping his body out.

He opened his legs by the knees to look, making Doyoung become hotter and his breathing heavier, the thin air of the castle already difficult as he took a deep breath.

“Haruto.. Touch..” It wasn’t a command. He was offering. The demon obliged. Color traveling to his face as he hooked a long arm around his body and grasped him with the other. Getting familiar with his pitched arousal, pulsing with life and vigor as his fist moved along the shaft, making him arch from the tatami with a gasp. A spark went through him.

“Haruto ..” Doyoung gasped. He clung to his lover’s thin frame, feeling the heat he radiated as he softly moaned, closing his eyes as he felt kisses and teeth on his ear. “Ah-!” He sucked in a breath through his teeth and Haruto pulled back staring at him. His eyes, so soft. He reached for the lantern, sticking his fingers in it past the flame as if it didn’t bother him gathering viscous oil.

“Hyung .. I want you..” Haruto’s sweet-sounding voice in that low register made him squeeze his shoulders. The demon’s long fingers reached between his legs, which he spread for the delicate prodding and touching. He was more sensitive than he thought, with just how the simple touch of his rectum would make a moan leave his lips. There was no resistance to his lover’s fingers.

Haruto groaned and shivered as he pressed his body closer to his side, pressing his stark erection against him as his fingers moved in and out. Each panting breath from the angel stirred him along. His tongue licked at the shell of his ear, biting the lobe.

“Are you changing your mind? Planning to eat me, Ruto..?” He breathily laughed before letting out a moan when his fingers curled deep within him.

“Not right now… If  I eat you, you’d disappear.. It’s tempting… so soft.” Haruto keened as he pushed deeper. 

“I can’t take it.. Haruto.. I can’t ..” He spread his legs as flexibly as he possibly could. The demon removed his fingers, positioning himself between them as he replaced them with himself, slowly entering with a deep mewl throbbing in his body, unnaturally hot.

“Ruto…. And this is your great sin?” Doyoung didn’t feel anything sinister or wrong about any of it. The angel tried to figure out in his own mind how something that felt so natural would cause the divine to punish him for simply sharing a moment like this one.

He gripped his montsuki draped around him. “Haruto, please..” Haruto never closed his eyes, just watching so intently while Doyoung unraveled and writhed below him as he steadily began to move.

“Hyung, you feel so…” he got closer so the angel could cling to him, kissing him with so much warm tenderness. His slow movement, dragging, and softly shunting made him softly sigh between each kiss.

“If I’m tortured… If this is ever found out…ha- “ He cupped Haruto’s face in his hands, his own eyes welling up with tears.

“I didn’t care back then, I don’t care now.. I’m supposed to be a heartless beast now, and even then my feelings haven’t changed at all...” Haruto smiled. “A completed connection, a link or union. Even once we pass through the wheel hyung.. I’ll never let you go.” He began to move again, making Doyoung cry out as the thrusts became faster and faster.

The panting in his ear, along with every movement, made him twitch, feeling the pressure build. He tangled his fingers in the soft strands of Haruto’s hair.  He felt him at his hardest as he plunged deeper. He molded around him perfectly. The euphoria and acute pleasure made the heaviness deep inside more pronounced. It made him whisper over and over how much he adored the other, and that felt perfect, was perfect.

Haruto’s burning tongue lapped along the top of his sternum, traveling up to his throat, softly sinking his teeth in the skin as the speed became frantic. They both got closer and closer to the climax.

Doyoung was overwhelmed by his completion, his eyes pleading as he shook his head, not wanting it to end. His muscles tensed as he struggled for air with a final gasp.

“Hyung- Doyoung hyung-!” He shivered as he gave three final deep thrusts with a groan he bit back.

His seed felt like volcanic igneous liquid, not unbearable but way too hot for a normal person to even produce. Strangely, the ooze and heat comforted him as he lay limp, catching his breath. Haruto nibbled his earlobe as he softened deep inside. He didn’t pull out. Just staying tangled in his montsuki and Doyoung’s burning body. After a while, he slipped out as he sat up. The angel made a noise of protest at the loss. Haruto cradled his head, his lips swollen and plush against the angel’s.

“We don’t have much time.. The deed is done, hyung.” he kissed his temple before he pulled away. Doyoung could see Haruto's saddened face, his eyes downcast even as he eventually sat up too and rested his head on his shoulder.

“Just hold me.. Don’t think about it yet. Don’t let me go yet, and we can figure out a way to sneak past the other nephilim.. You and I can’t be separated. As much as everyone would like that.”

He loved Haruto, and it was killing him seeing him so worried. His dull eyes and dull horns as he sat back on his knees, afraid. He clung back onto him, not wanting their time in Yomi to end, but he knew eventually they would be found and punished.

Doyoung’s back burned and itched where his wings once were, where Haruto held him during their act of love. He got dressed reluctantly, knowing it was time to find the blind spot near the eastern side of the gates to the heavenly plains. Without another word, they left the silence of the castle.

A dark miasma covered them as they passed through Yomi’s door, hiding amongst the clouds. They both could see in the distance various angels and hell reapers passing souls through the wheel at a distance up ahead. They lay low.

“I don’t know if we can go through right now..” Haruto whispered.

“Give it a minute, then.” He smiled at the demon, reassuring him, caressing his face lovingly.

“Hyung.. Cut it out. The Cherubs.. If they see and report back to those stupid archangels…”

“Let them, and if they attack me and punish me for their little test not going their way, then I will come back like you.. Even if I’m tortured and nothing's going to stop me from passing through the wheel with you, Haruto.” His smile slipped, his expression serious, before he leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Doyoung leaned in and embraced Haruto, feeling his radiating heat closing his eyes. He thought of light. His back itched and burned. The angel ignored the feeling, focusing on holding Haruto, imagining a ball of light. Divinity and love. Haruto gasped as wings sprouted from his back. Some of the loose feathers fluttered down and around them.

His eyes opened, looking at Haruto’s awed expression. 

“Come on….” He looked back at the wheel. “There are fewer reapers now.. No angels.” Doyoung took Haruto's hands as his wings began to flap, spreading wide as he quickly focused on getting to the wheel.

They were almost there until the sound of something large and glowing stopped him in his tracks like an iron fence with spoked tips at the top. Haruto quickly grabbed him out of the way of something blasting at him.

Chariots, flaming as the angels over the horizon of divinity, came charging toward them.

“Haruto! Move!” He frantically coasted over the block that slowed them down. The timing had to be right. A blast again, and Haruto let go of his hand to dodge it. He was partially hit, wincing in pain.

Doyoung quickly went back for him. He could see Azrael leading the charge. Haruto was losing consciousness.

“No!” The nephilim flew down, looping his arms around his thin waist, using every ounce of strength he had to fly, pulling him up. They were getting closer and closer.

“This deficiency will be your falling!” The booming voice of the archangel rang out as Haruto was hit again. He could see the demon falling. Burning. A crowd of Seraphim blocked the way as he felt. Doyoung saw his eyes closing.. Shutting smited by the burning light of divinity. Overkill even in the sense of exorcism. They wanted him to be horrified, and it worked. He still held the crystal fish in his shaking hands.

Doyoung choked up seeing the ashes float down into nothing. 

He flew up. He had to make it. Even if Azrael was there. Even if the blasts were setting his wings ablaze. The other angels were on his tail as he threw the fish through the wheel’s spokes and then pulled himself through, crossing over.

Then there was nothing. No longer pain. No sound. Emptiness.

..

“Congratulations, Dobby, on the best new actor award! Why are you even in the building? Shouldn’t you be on break?” Hyunsuk hiked his big Louis Vuitton bag stuffed with everything under the sun in it.

“Ah, thanks, hyung. I left something a week or so ago in one of the conference rooms.” He smiled.

“I see. Well, good luck with finding it! I gotta head back to my studio.” He waved before making a dash for the elevators.

Doyoung checked his watch, realizing he was going to be late if he didn’t hurry. He found conference room J, seeing a tall and fairly thin person at the coffee machine in the back of the room.

“Oh, hello.” He quickly remembered his manners, bowing when the person turned to see him enter.

“Hi, hello.” The guy was equally as polite as him. He spilled a bit of the coffee he was pouring on the bureau top. Doyoung rushed over to help the other man. He couldn’t stop glancing up at the face of the other guy…

Familiar.

He must have seen him around the building. New talent was always in and out, so Doyoung must have seen him in passing. His face was very unique and beautiful. Both feminine and masculine at the same time. Handsomely pretty.

“I’ve got it.. I should have been paying attention.” The other man averted his eyes back down to the spill, chuckling to himself at the awkwardness. His voice rumbled.

“It’s alright.. Um, I just.. Well, I lost something in here, but it’s probably gone now.”

The other man stopped wiping to look at him and raise an eyebrow, looking around where the disposable paper coffee cups. “Did you lose your ID or tag? I found one of the holders here the other day..”

“No. I lost a little clear goldfish keychain.. It’s not that big of a deal. It was on my bag and fell off.”

“Ah! It’s sitting up here!” The tall guy went over to the window facing the Han River and picked it up from the corner of the sill.

“Oh, thank you!” he politely held his hand as he took it.

“It’s pretty. Is it Swarovski crystal?” He asked, tilting his head. Doyoung realized he was serious and not joking. It was cute.

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that.. I don’t know. I bought it on my last trip to Japan. A souvenir shop near Himeji.. I was just drawn to it.”

The guy’s face lit up instantly. “Himeji?! I haven’t been back home to Japan in a while. I’m originally from Fukuoka, but I saw Himeji when I was a kid. Actually, I lived closer to Busan than Himeji, really.” He laughed.

The laugh, smile. Beautiful. It was strange how he felt like he knew this man, who was clearly a Japanese person. He had two other Japanese friends, and that was it. Did he know this guy through them at a function? Did he get drunk and forget? They all worked for the same entertainment agency, so possibly.

“May I ask your name? I’m Kim Doyoung.” He smiled warmly.

“Watanabe Haruto. Nice to meet you. I’m part of the KPLUS model program…I’ve seen your show before..’The Syncopated Symphony’..”

He knew who he was. “Wow!” It made sense that Haruto was a model. He was truly tall and stunning. He was staring again. “Sorry, just… I can fully understand now. I should have known you were a model. Such an expensively handsome face and proportions.” He said every ounce of blunt honesty.

The model turned red right away.

“I’ve heard that about you before..”

“Hmm? Heard what?” Doyoung hooked the keychain on the loop of his trousers calmly.

“That you’re good at catching people off guard.” Haruto chuckled.

“Did your heartbeat speed up?” He teased so naturally. The actor felt so comfortable. He liked how red the other man was turning.

“A little..” Haruto paused before quickly putting the lid on his coffee cup in haste.

“Wait, hey, before you run off! You found my prized possession-”

“I thought you said it was just a cheap souvenir..”

Doyoung shrugged, his smile never faltering. “Let me treat you to less watery coffee down the street at the cafe. Come on.”
Haruto looked like he was thinking it over. “Alright.. Sure hyung.. Oh- I can…”

“You can call me hyung.” He gently took the coffee from his hand, taking a sip of it, wincing at how watery it really was. “Let’s dump this and go.”

The comfortable conversation from the sink in the corner hallway to the doors at the back of the YG building. It felt ‘right’. Haruto felt ‘right’.

Normally, Doyoung wouldn’t believe in love at first sight, but he felt something right away when he saw the taller young man spilling coffee.

He didn’t know what it meant.

He wanted to know what it meant. So coffee turned into dinner until he kept going to the building even though he didn’t have to most of the time. Just to meet up with Haruto. To either loiter or go grab a bite after both their busy days.

Hanging out and dinner snowballed into one day after a birthday dinner amongst their other talented friends trapped under the overhang of the stairs of a basement bar during a heavy rain, he felt the buzz of happiness and alcohol in his system.

“Why are you laughing so much, hyung?” Haruto smiled, waving their friends who actually brought an umbrella goodbye as they staggered out to find a place to eat.

“Can’t a guy be happy on his happy birthday?”

“Besides your birthday, what’s the reasoning for the laughter, though?” He leaned in with his arms crossed, keeping out the chill from the rain and also teasing a bit.

“Because your face is going to look funny.” He teased back.

“How come?”

Doyoung looked around before placing his hand on Haruto’s cheek. He pulled him in slowly, softly pressing his cool lips against warm, pretty ones. Familiar. Soft. It’s where his lips belonged. Haruto must have felt the same way, too, as he came closer, kissing him as if pulling apart was the worst thing in the world.

When they inevitably parted, Doyoung smiled, holding back more laughter by biting his now kiss-swollen bottom lip. “See, I told you your face would be funny.”

“I can’t tell if you’re an angel or devil hyung.. How cruel.”

The smile that spread on Haruto was so cute, he didn’t care who would see on that street that night. Right away, he pulled him back in for more.

It was exactly how his mind and heart saw that it was supposed to be.

Like that had a pre-programmed connection. Tethered to one another. Not by a fated thread but a heavily linked chain.

He loved him.