Chapter Text
After the fall of Gwi-Ma and the sealing of the honmoon, so began their new life as demons in a human world. The Saja Boys disbanded—none of them were really in it to be idols, and the moment the honmoon was sealed, there was no need for them to continue keeping up this farce. It also helped that people no longer seemed to remember them. Their songs, their performances. It was like whatever spell they cast on the fans was broken the moment the honmoon sealed.
However, it was still necessary for the Saja Boys to stick together. Jinu was worried that the other three demons would simply go out into the world and start wreaking havoc.
The Huntrix girls, bless their kind hearts, helped them get set up, securing all five demons housing in the same building as theirs. There wasn’t an apartment big enough for all of them, so it was Jinu and Abby to one, Baby, Romance and Mystery to the other. Speaking of, Abby thought that the other three really needed to consider a name change, but they didn’t seem capable of much thought, aside from demanding Huntrix to unseal the honmoon and allowing them to return to Gwi-Ma.
Regardless, the five demons spent the first few days after the sealing of the honmoon trying to adjust to human life. The girls brought them around the city. They’d been around before, during their short-lived time as the Saja Boys, but it was only for brief moments before returning to the underworld. Jinu seemed to really enjoy these outings. He was always full of questions about modern human life. Abby stuck to his side, a little more wary. Surely, anytime now, a human would look him in the eyes, find out he’s a demon, then start screaming and run away, right?
But the humans never seemed to notice. All they could notice was his body, as usual.
“Are you sure you boys aren’t idols either?” A particularly brazen waitress asked one day while they were eating at one of Huntrix’s favourite restaurants, a Korean barbecue place close to the apartments. “You’re all so pretty! Especially you, with the pink hair! What’s your name?”
If he were still playing the role of Abby the sex appeal of the Saja Boys, he would’ve smirked at her, flirted, said something that would’ve made her swoon. But now, he could only try his best to ignore the sudden twist in his stomach, averting his gaze to his food.
Was this really his life now? Living in such plain sight, being ogled by humans?
“Oh, they aren’t idols,” Zoey, one of the Huntrix girls, quickly said. “Just some of our friends!”
Because Abby was sitting right at the side, where the waitress stood, it put him in the perfect position for the waitress to lay her hand on his shoulder and say, “You should really consider it!”
Abby gripped his chopsticks hard and said nothing.
“Thank you for your kind words,” Jinu cut in with a brilliant smile that certainly made the waitress swoon. “Yes, Abby’s so pretty, isn’t he?” Swiftly, Jinu leaned over and planted a firm kiss against Abby’s cheek.
“Oh!” The waitress looked unsure now, and she sounded as embarrassed as Abby felt. He wouldn’t be surprised if their faces were equally red. “Well, yes. Sorry to be bothering you all. Enjoy your meal!”
Abby shot a side-glare at Jinu, but had to stop when he realised it was not amusement in Jinu’s eyes, but concern. Beneath the table, Jinu grabbed his hand and squeezed it once.
You okay? Jinu was asking him.
Abby squeezed his hand back. Thank you.
The rest of the dinner passed without a hitch. On the way back to the apartments, Rumi, the lead singer of Huntrix, apologised for the waitress’ behaviour. Abby waved her off, because why was she apologising? She probably didn’t even know the waitress before tonight. And it was fine. He was used to it, after all.
Huntrix had secured the apartment beside theirs for Jinu and Abby. While they were at the doors, all of them going into their respective apartments, Rumi stopped Jinu with a hand on his arm. Abby told himself it meant nothing, but he still lingered near the doorway as Rumi said, “Think about what I said, okay?”
“Okay,” Jinu answered. Then, he came into the house, locked the door behind him, and turned to find Abby still standing there, staring at him. “Abby?”
“Think about what?”
“Oh. Rumi offered me a job.”
“A job?” Abby echoed. Over the past few days, the Huntrix girls had mentioned that the five of them demons probably needed to get jobs or go to college if they wanted to live normally in the human world.
“Yeah.” Jinu rubbed the back of his neck. He was…nervous. “She wants me to join the producing team behind Huntrix. She said my songs for the Saja Boys were really good and she thinks I could work with Zoey to produce more songs for Huntrix and…is it stupid?”
It took Abby a beat too long to realise that Jinu was rambling, something he rarely ever did, and a beat longer to realise that Jinu had asked him a question. “What’s stupid?”
“Me becoming a producer for Huntrix. My songs aren’t even that good…right?”
“Your songs are great, Jinu.”
Jinu perked up at this. “Really?”
“You literally launched us into stardom overnight with Soda Pop,” Abby said with a shrug. “If that isn’t great, then I don’t know what it is.”
But Jinu still looked unsure, standing there without his usual shining confidence, and Abby couldn’t help but go to him. He took Jinu’s hands in his own, waited until Jinu met his eyes. “I think you should go for it. Let your songs be heard by the world. It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”
Jinu winced at that, and Abby realised those words might’ve not been the best ones. Jinu’s desperation for his music to be heard was, perhaps, the very reason he became a demon. But that desperation had been borne from the need to survive, and Abby knew that before it, Jinu had picked up the pipa because there was music in his soul, and he needed some way to let it out, to let it be heard. What had started as a genuine passion for songs had been turned, through poverty, starvation and despair, into a wretched path for survival.
“I meant,” Abby said carefully. “Your music in here.” He laid a hand on Jinu’s chest, over where his heart should’ve been. “You should let it out. I want to hear it. All of it.”
Jinu laid his own hand over Abby’s. “Okay,” he breathed, and he was leaning closer, pulling Abby in. “I’ll do it. Since my Abby wants me too.”
My Abby. The words settled onto Abby like a warm blanket as Jinu pulled him in fully, pressing their lips together.
“Shall we take this to the bed?” Jinu asked, golden eyes alight, demon marks gleaming in the low light of the apartment.
Abby took his hand and led the way.
===
While Jinu started at his new job as Huntrix’s producer, Abby was tasked with looking after the other three Saja Boys during the day. The first day, Mira and Zoey brought them around the city again, this time to look for jobs. Ideally, they would all be in the same job, where Abby could keep an eye on them while working, but most places were only hiring 2 people at most.
“Can’t be helped, then,” Mira sighed as they were turned away from yet another café. “We’re gonna have to split you boys up.”
Baby, Romance and Mystery didn’t seem very bothered. They were hardly even paying attention the whole morning. Abby alone asked, “Is that really a good idea?”
While he asked that, Mystery was already cornering a scared old woman. Abby quickly dragged him back while Zoey apologised furiously to the old woman.
“I mean, I guess you could all just stay as unemployed bums?” Zoey suggested.
“No way,” Mira said. “I’m not going to be paying for the existence of these demons for the rest of my life.”
“Jinu could pay for them!” Zoey rebutted. “He’s a producer now, he’s gonna earn the big bucks.”
And Abby couldn’t listen to the rest of the discussion, because Baby and Romance were now heckling a group of women, and he had to hustle over to drag them away. While Mira and Zoey continued going back and forth about them, Abby dragged all three demons over to a quieter side of the street.
“Listen up, you three,” Abby said, trying his best to channel his inner Jinu as he spoke. “Your days as demons are over. Gwi-Ma’s gone. You don’t need to harvest souls for him anymore.”
But as soon as he started speaking, their attentions had shifted, and Baby tried to lunge at a passing man, who yelped in fright. Romance joined in. Mystery tried to slip the other way, to chase after yet another passing man. A moment later, they were all gone, nothing but dust clouds in their wake. Abby would hunt them down. But for now, he took the chance to stand there for a moment and just…sigh. Deeply.
By then, Mira and Zoey were done with their discussion.
“Okay,” Zoey said brightly as they walked over to where Abby stood. “We’ve decided that even if you boys don’t really need the jobs, you should still take them so that you can experience more of human life…where did the rest go?”
A few streets down, someone screamed. A few streets down in the other direction, someone else screamed.
It was the girls’ turn to sigh. “Guess it’s time to hunt some demons,” Mira grumbled.
“I got dibs on Mystery!” Zoey shouted, before running off in the direction of one of the screams.
Mira and Abby exchanged a glance. In the distance, another scream.
“I’m telling Jinu what happened,” Mira said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Abby rolled his eyes. As if Jinu could stop these three uncontrollable demons. They’d listened to him well enough while they were in the Saja Boys, but once Gwi-Ma disappeared, it was as if whatever control Jinu had over them was gone too. “We better get hunting.”
===
Later that night, they were all gathered in the Huntrix’s apartment, where Mira and Zoey were giving them the greatest dressing down of their life. And that was saying something, because they’d all been subjected to Gwi-Ma’s wrath before.
Rumi and Jinu, both at the production studio the whole day, stood to the side, looking confused and concerned, watching the drama unfold.
The day had gone horribly. Despite Abby’s best attempts to keep the other three demons in check, they still managed to wreak havoc in several different parts of the city. They had each tried to harvest souls, all of which were safely returned to their owners, thanks to the efforts of Mira, Zoey and Abby. But there was one that came close, really close, and Mira and Zoey were currently screaming their heads off at the demons because of that.
“And you, Abby!”
He startled. “What did I do?”
“You should’ve been keeping a closer watch on them!” Zoey yelled, arms flailing about in anger. “They almost harvested a soul!”
“Well, I’m sorry if I couldn’t keep a hold of three grown ass soul-hungry demons every single second while we were out!”
“Yeah, you should be sorry! Try harder!”
“And what did you do? If I hadn’t been there, there would actually have been souls harvested today, and you know it.”
“Okay, okay!” Rumi quickly pushed between them. She held Zoey back as Zoey growled and threatened to throw punches. Jinu came to Abby’s side, placing a hand on Abby’s shoulder. “Stop fighting, both of you. You all tried very hard today, and it was none of your faults. The problem lies with them.” Rumi jerked her chin to where Baby, Romance and Mystery sat on the couch in a daze, clearly not listening to anything that was said.
“We need to find a way to get them to stop being so…demon-like,” Mira muttered. She cast a side glance at Jinu and Abby. “How do you two manage it?”
How did they manage it? Abby didn’t know. He only knew that Jinu had always been there, right from the start, and maybe because they had each other, they didn’t quite feel the same sharp ache that all the other demons did. The hunger for souls. The desperate need to please Gwi-Ma. Jinu clearly didn’t know either, with how he didn’t immediately have an answer for Mira.
“We just need to keep thinking,” Rumi said in the end. “About how to help them. Why don’t we all go back to our own apartments for tonight and maybe sleep on it?”
Just like that, they were dismissed. Abby and Jinu escorted the three demons back to their apartment, before heading back to their own.
“Tomorrow will be better,” Jinu assured him as they washed up.
Would it really?
===
The next day, they got handphones. So that they could contact each other ‘the human way’, as Mira said. The Huntrix girls made them save all their numbers into their phones. Then, as Abby was examining his phone in fascination, it buzzed with a text.
[Jinu]
hi abby :)
He looked up to where Jinu was watching him over the screen of his phone. Jinu smiled.
Cheeks flushing, Abby quickly typed a response.
[Abby]
hi jinu ;)
Jinu went to the production studio once again, with Rumi. It annoyed Abby a little, that Rumi got to spend the whole day with Jinu, while Abby was stuck with these three demons. But whatever. Jinu seemed happy about being a producer, and Abby wanted to be happy for him.
The rest of them went job-hunting again. Before they left the apartments, Zoey and Mira made it clear to the other three demons that they would not hesitate to kill them if they tried sucking anyone’s soul out. After the past few days of not listening to anything except the phantom voice of Gwi-Ma in their heads, the death threat seemed to get through to them. Throughout the day, they ended up actually listening as Zoey and Mira marched them from café to café and signed each of them up as part-time workers. In the end, they all got jobs at different cafes, starting tomorrow.
“Is this really a good idea?” Abby asked at the end of the day, as they were headed back to the apartments.
Baby, Romance and Mystery had been surprisingly docile all day, following wherever Mira and Zoey directed.
“Don’t worry, Abby,” Zoey said cheerfully. “Huntrix is on break now, so Mira and I will have time to keep an eye on them. We’ll step in if they try anything.”
That night, cuddled in Jinu’s arms, Abby said, “I hope this works out.”
Jinu’s hand was in his hair, massaging his scalp. It felt heavenly. Abby could feel his eyes closing. “It will,” Jinu said.
===
So began their part-time café jobs. And an endless few days of the other three Saja boys calling Abby constantly, even while they were all at work. Their first day at work, Baby called barely a few hours into the work day to inform Abby that he’d been fired. Over the phone, Abby heard the manager screaming at Baby. He’d quickly called one of the Huntrix girls to please help handle the situation. Then, it was Romance, complaining about having to work. Then, Mystery, asking when they could return to Gwi-Ma. Then, again and again, over the next few days, until Mira taught Abby how to put his phone to silent mode and ignore all the calls until the end of his work day. The moment he ended work and picked up his phone, though, he would be bombarded by messages and calls from the other three demons.
It was exhausting.
After three tiring days of dealing with this shit, he was collapsed on the bed when Jinu came back from work and immediately threw himself onto Abby.
“I would think that serving coffee and food wouldn’t be so hard,” Jinu joked as he wrapped himself around Abby from behind.
“It’s not the job,” Abby grumbled. The job was actually pretty easy. As a demon, they didn’t tire as easily as humans, and he was working consistently at twice the speed of his coworkers.
“Those three giving you a hard time?” Jinu asked. His breath tickled the back of Abby’s neck.
“Why’d they have to be on this side of the honmoon when it sealed?”
Jinu laughed a little. “Are they that bad?”
“They’re just…demons, I guess.”
It was strange, because they were demons too. Yet, Abby didn’t spend every waking moment wishing the honmoon would rupture, hoping Gwi-Ma would take him back. In fact, he was happy to be where he was, far away from the underworld. He knew Jinu was too.
“So are we,” Jinu said softly, echoing Abby’s thoughts.
Abby turned to face Jinu. He lifted a hand to trace the demon marks on Jinu’s face. Down to his neck, where they disappeared into his collar. Unlike Rumi, they could hide their demon marks for most of the day with a glamour that prevented normal humans from seeing anything demon-like. But here, with only each other to see, they let those glamours fall.
“Maybe,” Jinu said. “They just need to learn how to feel human again.”
“How do we help them do that?” Abby muttered. Surely, they could figure that out for themselves, right? Abby and Jinu didn’t need anyone to teach them how to feel human. But then again, Abby and Jinu always had each other. The other three demons…were probably alone for the past few centuries, with nothing but Gwi-Ma’s voice in their heads.
“Hm. We can think about it while we take a shower.” Jinu began to haul Abby out of bed. “C’mon. I can’t wait any longer.”
In the end, they didn’t think much about the other three demons while in the shower, with Abby spending most of it pressed up against the shower wall, clinging on to Jinu’s shoulders. Before going to bed, though, Jinu suggested bringing the three demons out on an excursion.
“We could bring them to the beach. Or the aquarium. Show them how to have fun. Maybe that’ll help.”
Abby had his head pillowed on Jinu’s arm, still feeling tingly from what they did in the shower. So, he merely hummed in response and continued tracing demon marks on Jinu’s skin.
“Maybe we could ask the Huntrix girls to come along too. Apparently, Zoey has eyes for Mystery.”
“Mm…”
“Or was it Baby? I can’t remember. What do you think?”
“Mm…”
“Abby? Are you even listening?”
“Hm?”
Instead of repeating whatever he said, though, Jinu just chuckled and gave Abby a squeeze. “You’re adorable.”
“Stop saying that!”
Jinu pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You know I would never.”
Abby grumbled, but didn’t push it further. They stayed that way for a while, cuddled together in silence, until Abby asked about Jinu’s new job, and Jinu launched into an excited spiel about what he was currently composing for Huntrix. Abby lay there and listened, content with just hearing Jinu’s voice, his excitement, over what he was working on.
“Sing it to me one day,” Abby murmured, when Jinu was done.
“Once I’ve finished, you’ll be the first one to hear it,” Jinu promised.
And even after almost four hundred years, Jinu was still capable of making Abby’s unbeating heart skip a beat.
===
A week after they first started their jobs, Abby was looking at his phone on his break when he got a message from Zoey. Both Mira and Zoey had to go in to the studio today, and hence could not keep an eye on the other demons. But they’d decided it was fine, since a week of part-time jobs had passed without much of a hitch.
Except, Zoey’s message read: sorry, could you maybe go look for the boys? their managers called us and apparently, none of them showed up to work.
But he was at work. How could he just leave?
His phone pinged with another message.
just tell the boss you’re not feeling well or something.
So, he did that. Surprisingly, the owner let him go without second-guessing him.
Once he was out on the street, it didn’t take long for him to follow the trail of frightened, pale-faced people to a dark alleyway, where the other three demons stood over a boy who looked no older than thirteen, the glimmer of the boy’s soul in the air. Abby didn’t even think. He just swung.
He managed to get the boy out of there, roughly picking him off the floor and throwing him back out into the street. Once the boy was safe, though, the other three demons turned on Abby.
They fought. Fists against flesh. Claws against skin. Abby got a good right hook on Baby. But Romance’s claws tore through his arm in retaliation. He pushed Romance away, landed a spinning kick on Mystery’s head, and kept fighting. But it was three against one, and Baby, Romance and Mystery were comparable to Abby in terms of strength. In the end, they got him pinned against the alley wall, claws poised to gouge out his eyes. His throat.
“Why do you keep getting in our way?” Romance snarled. “You’re a demon, like us. You should be serving Gwi-Ma!”
“Gwi-Ma is gone,” Abby spat back.
That earned him a hard slam against the alley wall. He struggled to blink away the stars in his eyes, the encroaching fog in his head.
“You’re a traitor,” Mystery accused. “You and Jinu both.”
“After we’re done with you,” Baby continued darkly. “Jinu’s next.”
Abby snarled and tried to lunge, but Romance and Mystery slammed him back against the wall. He saw stars again. Felt blood dripping down the side of his head. His vision blurred.
“What, nothing else to say?” Their figures were hazy now, but Abby could still make out Baby’s face as he leaned close. He gripped Abby’s jaw, claws digging in so hard that they broke skin. Blood dribbled down Abby’s neck. “Such a pretty face. If we broke it, do you think Jinu would still want you?”
Abby spat in his face. The mixture of blood and saliva hit Baby square in the eyes, and he cried out in anger. The next moment, Abby’s head was whipped to the side with a slice of Romance’s claws. Blood sprayed. Abby’s face burned.
“Know your place,” Romance snapped. “You’re nothing but a dog. Jinu’s dog. You look down on us for serving Gwi-Ma, and yet you live your life with Jinu as your master.”
It was such a gross twisting of his relationship with Jinu that he ached to bury his claws into each of the demon’s throats. But they still had him pinned, and his head was throbbing, and he didn’t think he could stay standing much longer.
“It’s not too late to join us again,” Mystery said, offering what he thought must be an olive branch, a chance for truce. “Help us harvest souls, rupture the honmoon, and allow Gwi-Ma to return.”
Abby struggled to speak through the blood in his mouth, the pounding in his head. “Why…why can’t you just…live…?”
“You really think we belong here?” Baby demanded. “In this world of humans? As demons? If you actually think so, you’re delusional.”
“Baby’s right,” Romance said, and through the haze of Abby’s mind, he could make out the gleam of darkness in Romance’s eyes. In that moment, he knew without a doubt that the three demons holding him down were beyond saving. “You’re a demon, Abby. You can pretend all you want, get this cute little job, live in a fancy apartment with Jinu, try your hardest to fit in. But at the end of the day, you are a demon. A pathetic, selfish bastard who used his body to get by while he was human, then stole human souls for centuries. That’s all you are. That’s all you’ll ever be.”
“And if you don’t want to join us,” Mystery finished, raising his claws for the killing blow. “We’ll gladly get rid of you.”
Abby closed his eyes before the final blow struck. Was this it, then? Was his time up? Is this how he was meant to go, after three hundred and fifty years as a demon? After surviving the sealing of the honmoon, after finally being free?
But suddenly, there was a scream, and he blinked woozy eyes open to see that Mystery had lost his hand. He was screaming over the bloody stump. And in the wall to their left, a shining blue dagger was embedded. Romance finally let Abby go, turning to face the new threat, and so did Baby. Without the force of them pinning him to the wall, Abby sunk, like a rock, to the ground.
And there, at the other end of the alley, were the three Huntrix girls. And Jinu.
Jinu, whose eyes caught on Abby’s damaged form, and held. Jinu, who stepped forward first.
“I’m going to give the three of you one chance,” Jinu said lowly, demon marks flaring, golden eyes burning, claws extended. “To surrender.”
The three demons just laughed.
“Maybe you can tell that to Gwi-Ma when we deliver you back to him,” Romance scoffed.
“Tell that to him yourself,” Jinu said. The next moment, he struck.
===
After, the alleyway was quiet.
After, Jinu came to where Abby lay, crumpled like a sack against the alley wall.
“Jinu…” Abby tried to speak, but his head pounded, and his mouth still tasted of blood.
Jinu’s eyes were still burning, the gold luminous in the darkness of the alley. His demon marks flared, simmering with his anger, but his hands were so very gentle as he cupped Abby’s face and tilted Abby’s head towards him.
I’m sorry, Abby wanted to say. He should’ve been stronger. Should’ve been able to hold his own against the other three.
But his vision was blurring, and Jinu’s palm against his skin was so warm, and he just needed to rest his aching body. Just for a little moment.
“Let’s get you home.” Jinu’s arms were around him then, lifting him up, and Abby gave in to the darkness.
===
The aftermath was brutal. Abby blamed himself for not being able to keep the three demons in check. Jinu blamed himself for letting Abby get hurt and for getting the three demons roped into the Saja Boys in the first place, consequently causing them to be trapped here. The three demons were gone now, their apartment empty, anything that existed about them simply erased from this world, returned to Gwi-Ma.
The harshness of it felt like a slap to Abby’s face. Yes, they were demons. Yes, they were trying to harvest souls. Yes, they were about to kill a little boy. But still. Abby was a demon too. What if one day, Huntrix decided they didn’t want him and Jinu around anymore, tainting humanity with their presence? He really was nothing but a pathetic, selfish demon after all, just like what those three said about him.
“Abby…” Then Jinu was here, chasing the dark thoughts from his mind. He was careful as he lay down beside Abby, keeping a small distance between them.
And it ached, that distance. “You can come closer,” Abby said. “I’m not going to break.”
Jinu did. But he was still too far away, and without a second thought, Abby rolled such that he could press himself fully against Jinu.
“You idiot,” Jinu scolded lightly, but his arms still came around Abby. “You could’ve ripped your wounds open again.”
It’d only been a day since the attack, and Abby was still slathered in bandages. But his wounds were already half-healed, perks of being a demon and all that.
“What happened, Abby?” Jinu asked after they’d been lying tangled together for a while. “Why did they hurt you?”
After the attack, Jinu had brought him home, and he’d been disoriented and in pain, his body struggling to heal itself. Jinu asked him questions while he cleaned him up and bandaged his wounds. But Abby was too out of it to respond, and he’d spent the rest of the time until now in silent recovery, with Jinu a quiet and comforting presence by his side.
Slowly, Abby told Jinu everything. The boy. The fight. The words they spat at each other.
Jinu was quiet after Abby finished speaking, his thumb rubbing comforting circles against Abby’s hip.
“That boy,” Abby said. “I hope he’s okay.”
“He is. Huntrix spoke to him after the fight.”
“That’s…that’s good.”
“He’s okay thanks to you. You did good, Abby.”
Abby couldn’t help but preen at the praise, despite the ache of his wounds, and Jinu laughed and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Jinu’s hand came up to trace the bandage on Abby’s cheek.
“And about what those demons said…I don’t love you just for your face or your body, Abby. I hope you know that.”
Abby nuzzled against Jinu’s palm. “I know.”
Jinu’s smile was fond. And Abby already knew what he was about to say before he said it.
“I am not adorable.”
This made Jinu laugh again and the sound of it settled over Abby’s hurting, achy body like a salve. “You are, though.”
He wasn’t. Seriously, Jinu must be the only person in the whole world who thought that. He knew what people said about him. ‘Hot’, ‘sexy’. Definitely not cute.
Jinu pulled him close. “Anyways, my adorable little Abby should rest more.”
“I—”
Jinu covered his mouth, not letting him speak, mirth twinkling in his eyes. Abby gave in—how could he not, when Jinu looked the way he did? He let himself be tucked comfortably against Jinu, giving in to the tiredness and the feel of Jinu’s fingers in his hair.
===
That night, Huntrix brought dinner to their apartment. The girls had cooked a ‘get better soon’ meal, as they called it, which was basically just samgyetang and gimbap. Zoey and Mira were all over Abby with apologies, saying that they should never have let the other three demons out of their sights. Abby made a joke that it was fine, they just wouldn’t be able to ogle his damaged face anymore. For some reason, this particular line of joke devolved into the two girls showering him with compliment after compliment. As part of the compliments, Mira placed a particularly big piece of chicken onto Abby’s plate.
“Eat all you want, Abby!” Zoey exclaimed. “It’s all for you!”
Before Abby could eat it, much to his confusion, Jinu took it away.
“What the hell,” Mira said. “Abby, does this man starve you?”
But Jinu only took the meat off the bone, then raised it to Abby’s lips. “Say ahh.” Cheeks aflame, Abby ate it. It was good. “I don’t starve him. Abby just enjoys food more when I give it to him.” He turned to Abby with a brilliant smile. “Right, Abby?”
Abby quickly averted his gaze to his plate, sure that his entire face was red by now. “Uh—um…yeah…”
Jinu beamed. Rumi gagged. Zoey went aww! Mira rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Real mature, Jinu.”
The rest of the night was filled with laughter.
===
Much later that night, after the Huntrix girls had left, Jinu and Abby were once again in bed. They talked a little bit more about the fight. About the three demons who were now just…gone. Abby could tell that Jinu still felt guilty about it. Really, in all the centuries they’d known each other, Abby had never seen a single selfish bone in Jinu’s body. Gwi-Ma was very wrong about that.
“I think it could work, though,” Abby said softly after they’d been silent for some time. “Us. Here.”
“Yeah? You think so?” Jinu turned to face him.
It would take some getting used to. Learning to be human again, after centuries of being demons. And they would never truly be human, no matter how long or hard they tried. Still, it didn’t matter to Abby. As long as he had Jinu by his side, for the rest of eternity.
“I do.”
Jinu smiled. Abby loved that smile of his. “I think so too.”