excelsi-or

[excelsi-or]

prompt — “i’m so undeniably screwed for this woman.”

pairing — woozi x reader

genre — fluffy fluff, opposites attract, tiny bit of woozi’s inner turmoil but in a cute way

warnings — light swearing, mutual pining, woozi being emotionally constipated but adorable about it

word count — 600(?) i literally planned longer but my brain farted

note: nonchalant woozi + sunshine reader <3 thank you for this request hehe.

masterlist

he’s watching you again.

not in a weird way. not in a creepy way. probably.

it’s just—you’re laughing. again. and it’s the kind of laugh that bursts out of you like soda fizz, bright and sparkling, and it fills the whole studio. and he’s just—well...

“hyung,” seungkwan says, walking past with his laptop and a raised brow, “you’re staring again.” he sing-songs, rolling his eyes.

woozi blinks, caught.

“i’m not,” he replies, flatly.

“sure,” seungkwan sings, disappearing down the hall.

woozi sighs and sinks further into his chair. you’re sitting cross-legged on the studio couch, scrolling through your phone, earbuds in and completely oblivious to the absolute chokehold you’ve put him in.

and that’s the problem. you always are.

you’re warm, expressive, a walking serotonin shot. you light up every room you walk into and talk with your hands and cry over dog videos and compliment strangers’ outfits just because. you're the type of person who remembers birthdays, texts people good luck before big meetings, and bakes cookies on random tuesdays "just because you felt like it."

and woozi?

woozi is the guy who pretends not to hear compliments because he doesn’t know how to take them, he expresses love through perfectly mixed vocal tracks and buying your favorite snacks and pretending he’s not checking his phone every two minutes waiting for your reply.

and yet you’re here all the time.

you come by the studio even when he doesn’t ask. you bring coffee and snacks and once a tiny plush keychain because "it looked like you and i couldn't not buy it." you ask about his day like you really want to know. you hug him goodbye even though he never hugs back (not properly, anyway).

and sometimes you sit quietly beside him for hours, just vibing, while he works on music. humming under your breath. asking questions about things he thought no one ever noticed. like the way he softens the instrumental under the bridge to highlight the vocals. or how he layers harmonies to make the chorus sound fuller.

you notice everything—and it’s driving him insane.

because he’s not supposed to feel this soft. not when he barely knows what to do with his feelings half the time, not when you smile at him like you know something he doesn’t, like you’re waiting for him to catch up.

“you okay?” you ask suddenly, pulling out your earbuds and tilting your head at him. he startles slightly, coughing. “yeah.”

“you were spacing out,” you grin. “thinking hard, genius?”

he huffs a laugh, turns back to his screen. “something like that.”

you shuffle over and peer at his monitor, chin on his shoulder like it’s the most natural thing in the world. he doesn’t move. doesn’t breathe. you’re close enough that he can smell your shampoo. something citrusy. fresh. “is this the new demo?” you whisper, like it’s a secret.

he nods.

“can i hear it?”

“it’s not done yet.”

“i don’t care.” you whisper, leaning in close to his ear.

and he sighs, already knowing that he’d lost to you with just one look. he hits play and pretends his heart isn’t doing backflips while you listen with that furrowed brow and soft smile. you always listen like this—like the song is a person you’re trying to understand.

when it ends, you turn to him, eyes wide. “woozi. that’s so good. it sounds like falling in love.”

he snorts, ducking his head. “that’s not what it’s about.”

“still feels like it,” you shrug.

he glances at you, a little helpless. you’re too close. too real. too much.

“you always say the dumbest stuff,” he mutters, but his voice is weirdly fond. you grin at this like you know you’ve won something. “you love it.”

and that’s the thing, isn’t it?

he does.

god help him, but he does. and his grumpy disposition falters as he rubs his palm into his eyes.

“i’m so undeniably screwed for this woman,” he mutters under his breath, almost too quiet to hear.

oh, but you hear it.

you blink, going still. lips part like you’re about to say something, but nothing comes out. instead, you stare at him with an amused look on your face.

his eyes widen slightly, and for the first time in a long time, he feels his composure crack.

“…shit,” he curses, throwing his head back. “did i say that out loud?”

you blink again. then smile, slow and warm and soft enough to melt him right there in the chair.

“yeah,” you say. “you did.”

a beat passes. he opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again.

“…okay.” he pathetically mumbles,

and then you’re laughing. again. that same fizzy, unstoppable laugh, and you bump your shoulder into his and say, “about time.”

he stares at you, and you stare back. then you reach over and take his hand—gently, casually, like you’ve done it a hundred times—and squeeze.

“don’t worry,” you whisper. “seems like we’re both in trouble, then. you make me feel like i got a few screws loose, lee jihoon.”

and woozi, ever the calm, composed, nonchalant musical genius that he is—completely short-circuits.

join here!

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[excelsi-or]

[excelsi-or]

summoned (epilogue: pt. 16)

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 1.8k (just a little fluff to end of this series)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16

EPILOGUE

The evening of the end of the world, the angels and demons drop the humans off at Hansol’s apartment.

As soon as Seungkwan sees them, he says, “That’s it. We’re having a dinner party.”

She doesn’t have the energy to argue. She even takes the beer that Hansol offers.

That sets Seungkwan off even more, and the storm turns into a whirlwind.

“Seokmin and Jihoon can’t come.”

“They can’t? Why not? You and Jihoon have been tied at the hip since we met him.”

“Uh…” She meets Hansol’s eye as he returns from his bedroom with a change of clothes. “How much do we share?”

Seungkwan cuts Hansol off before he can even open his mouth. “You smell like smoke, your dress is burnt, Hansol is ravenous and not eating leftovers. Something’s happened. Do I need to add that the sky was bright red? I was about to try to get home to my family because I thought that the world was ending. But now, all of a sudden, it’s fine.”

Hansol takes her by the shoulders and guides her towards the bathroom. “You go shower. I’ll deal with Seungkwan until everyone comes over. Gives you time to decide if you want to share.” 

“You’re honestly the best. The best best friend ever.”

Hansol clucks his tongue. “You’re welcome, Antichrist. Go shower.”

As she’s about to close the door, she tells him she isn’t the Antichrist anymore.

“How can you suddenly just not be it anymore?”

She shrugs. “My mom explained it, like, since the world didn’t end with me as it was supposed to, there’ll be another Antichrist.”

“So, now you’re just… you’re just human?”

She nods.

“And your parents?”

“Well, for foiling the Great Plan or whatever they call it, no go. Dad doesn’t get his soul back. Mom didn’t really have hope anyway.” There’s a quiver in her voice that Hansol hasn’t heard in a while.

“Oh.” Hansol pushes his way into the bathroom to wrap his arms around her. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” He pretends as if he can’t feel the tears against his neck. He isn’t quite sure what it means that they don’t get their souls back. He’s still baffled that his best friend was, but is no longer, the Antichrist.

When she pulls away, he can’t tell that she’d been crying. “They have human lives to live, and I get to keep my soul. Apparently, that’s worth it to them.”

“Have you told them about your demon boyfriend?”

“Jihoon said he’s going home,” she says. “Nothing here to entertain him anymore.”

“Hansol-ah! I need you to peel the vegetables!” Seungkwan calls.

A few days after the end of the world, with Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s wedding to now plan for (they heard it could’ve been the end of the world and decided they were getting married ASAP), she isn’t expecting to walk up to her apartment door and not have a door to open.

Annoyed, she pats the wall in the general area where her doorknob should be.

“If this demon also fucking locked my door, he’s being kicked out,” she mutters as her hand finds the knob.

Luckily for the demon, it’s unlocked.

From her doorway, she can see him stretched out on her couch in sweatpants and his favourite red hoodie, a book hovering over his head.

“You said you were going home.”

The book lowers slightly so he can see her, unfazed by her lack of greeting. “I did.”

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Hanging out.”

“Okay, but where’s the human who summoned you?”

“There isn’t one.” Jihoon sets the book down: The Alchemist. Definitely not hers. “I just came to see you.”

This causes her to pause. “Me.”

Jihoon shrugs. “Earth’s a little more interesting right now. Seokmin’s right. More fun when there’s less plague and more technology. The food’s a little weird, and art seems to have gone to shit, but—”

She chuckles as she drops her things by the door and sits on the couch next to him. “You can just say you missed me. How long are you staying?”

“Your whole life, actually.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” Jihoon stretches his legs out for the coffee table. “Seokmin and I may have played some tricks. And I may be the coolest demon in existence this millennium.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a holy water bath and didn’t die. Freaked the other demons out. Satan’s not punishing me for messing with the Antichrist. I’m yours for now.”

“You’re telling me that you’re going to stay with me for the rest of my life. How am I going to get married and have a family?”

“I thought me saying I was staying for the rest of your life was essentially me asking you to marry me.”

It feels as if those words smack her right in the face. The anxious person in her starts panicking at M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E. A few minutes of reeling her brain back from panic helps her see that Jihoon’s just offering what demons think is human commitment. 

“It sounds like you’re intending to be a nuisance,” she finally says.

“I also forgot to mention I’m not really a demon anymore.”

“I didn’t know that was something you could just give back.” The anxiety is fighting with excitement. Because Jihoon is saying all the right words. 

So, she gets up to make tea just to keep her hands busy. And so she doesn’t have to sit so close to Jihoon.

She’s been so used to knowing everything and being one step ahead. Now, that she really is just a human, she’s realizing that the unexpected is extremely uncomfortable.

Jihoon trails after her. “So, maybe I made some deals with the Devil to be here. But nothing that you need to be concerned about.”

She squints at him. “What exactly are you proposing?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “That I stay here. With you. Live your life with you.”

“I want children one day.”

Jihoon shrugs. “That can be arranged.”

“With a partner.”

He motions down his body. “I’ve arranged that already.”

“By assuming that I’d agree to this.”

Jihoon tips his head, his eyes flicking from cat-like and back again. “Do you not want this?”

She rests her hip against the counter, processing her feelings. “You’re telling me that you want to be my life partner. Are willing to have children. But have you considered that I’ll get old and age? You’re not going to leave me for naught?”

“If you gave me your soul in exchange for not getting old, that could be arranged.”

“Absolutely not. I’m human. And I intend to stay that way.”

This makes Jihoon smile. “And that’s why I’m staying. Because you’re human.”

“You hate humans.”

“I like you. And maybe Hansol. Your other friends are tolerable.”

She holds her hand up in the air between them.

“What?”

She nods her head at her hand.

Frowning, he lifts his hand to mirror her.

“Oh, you stupid—” She crosses the kitchen to press her palm against his, notices that he’s warm but not burning. “I can touch you.” Her fingers settle between the spaces between his. “Why can I touch you?”

“Are you not listening to me?” he chuckles. That would normally be annoying, but he now finds her incredibly endearing. It helps that she’s definitely not the Antichrist. “I told you I made deals with the devil.” Jihoon’s eyes don’t leave hers as he kisses the back of her hand. “So, what are you thinking, human?”

“That you still haven’t answered the question about what happens when I age.” She notices his confused expression. “Jihoon.” The use of his chosen human name causes him to warm even more; she can feel it in his hand. “As good-hearted as your intentions might be, and having grown up with a demon for a mother, I can’t grow attached to you knowing you’ll disappear when you realize I’m not what you want anymore.”

“I’ve been human before,” he whispers. Her eyes widen slightly at the admission. She doesn’t personally know any demons that were once human. Her mother says they exist, but most of the ones she’s met have been fallen angels.

Her mind is whirring at what that’s meant for the life he’s lived. And makes her want to analyze every decision he’s made in her presence.

But Jihoon doesn’t give her much time to process it. They have a lifetime together for her to learn that. “I know what the stakes are by offering you this.”

“And you still want to stay? I thought we were only in agreement that we please each other well.”

“And I enjoy your company. More than anyone else—human, demon, or angel—that I’ve met.”

“Even when I can’t please you physically anymore,” she states.

Jihoon studies her face, can picture the way it’ll age, has deliberated heavily about whether he can watch her die. “I have a feeling that you’ll find other ways to be entertaining.”

She scoffs in disbelief, charmed and also scared.

“I may also be aware of the fact that Seokmin is intending to stick around for your lifetime. Your friends’ as well. I won’t be lonely.”

“He knows you’re staying.”

“He knew I was considering it. He told me that I’m the only one who can make the decision. And that you’d have to accept me anyway for it to be real.”

“Couples fight.”

“We’ve butt heads quite a lot in the time we’ve known each other.”

“I’m pretty physically intimate.”

“Good. I like that.” 

She wonders what else she could say that would make Jihoon re-evaluate. “I’m really insecure.”

Jihoon’s eyes flicker. “I can deal with that.”

“You’ll be expected to come to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s wedding then.”

The corners of his mouth downturn slightly, but he agrees to that too.

Before leaning into him, as he seems to desperately want her to do, she says, “As soon as you even think about double crossing me, or mess with my mind even slightly, you’re gone, okay?” She elaborates further. “I need to trust that you’re with me, because you like me. Not because I can be manipulated because I’m human and touch you well.”

Jihoon chuckles and nods. “Got it, human.” He doesn’t tell her that as soon as she tells him to leave, his contract is over, and he’s gone. Maybe one day, but not right now.

“Now, will you please kiss me and stop worrying about a future that’s still so far away?”

“In your lifetime, it’s nothing,” she reminds him.

Jihoon shrugs. “Sure, but for you, it’s long.”

She rolls her eyes. He’s the one who closes the distance between them, one hand slipping under her shirt to rest on the skin of her hip. It’s a pleasant warmth.

“I’m happy for you to stay,” she says as his lips brush hers. “Even if I didn’t summon you this time.”

Jihoon laughs, pecking her lips again and again. “It would actually be a more difficult existence for both of us if you had.”

There’re fluttering nerves in her stomach that some of his words have calmed but not all. And he’s unlikely able to soothe every fear she has about this, but she asks anyway. “Is it okay if we go slow?”

“What do you mean?”

His thumb rubbing back and forth on her hip is distracting. She rests a hand over his to stop him. “Slow. To get used to this. I brought you here with different intentions. I fell for you by accident. Everything that’s happened afterwards is not something I’ve had time to process.” Her gaze glances at him and then away. “Is that okay?”

Jihoon hums, not used to her bashfulness. “Hey.”

She meets his gaze.

“I get to be human for a little while because of you. Whatever you want.”

“Really?”

Jihoon nods. “I’m a reasonable demon, as you know.”

“You were a pain in my ass when I summoned you.”

“I can be a reasonable pain in the ass.”

She sighs. “Okay.” She pulls him closer. “I’m in.”

hello!!! another story down.

this story is very conflicting for me. i was so excited about it when i was writing it and editing it. and then while i was posting it, something about it wasn't speaking to me anymore.

don't get me wrong. i love how this story turned out. but i wrote the first draft of this, i think, almost two years ago now. i'm a different person, a different writer, and a different reader too.

so, i think my unattachment to it is because it doesn't fully represent me as a writer anymore.

but for everyone who's read this/will read this, i hope you enjoyed it! i hope you're around when i return, because i will be going on a proper hiatus probably until the summer next year. need to write more stories (some original projects & some fanfic). i'll pop back in and out when i feel like it, but for now, this is farewell!!

if you wanna follow my creative journey (not just my woozi fanfics), i'm an-artthief on Tumblr too. posting some updates on a few original works i'm working on and reblogging some art and things that i enjoy. :)

happy holidays everyone! and if i don't post again before the end of the year, happy 2024 too! xx

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 15)

one more part after this, my friends! they're both going up simultaneously :) i'll have more to say at the end of the next one. love you all! hope the holidays are treating you well, and if they aren't, then i hope the day is okay today and you get to be cozy, and i hope tomorrow is better.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 1.7k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14

When they arrive at the right nuclear plant, the sky is now burning red. Halfway through the drive, Jihoon had started screaming, which had just put her nerves on end. Both her parents had messaged asking her where she was. She hadn’t responded to their questions, just told them she loved them and she’d be home soon.

It seems the alarms have not stopped blaring since they started. From the front gate, they can hear the piercing sound. A guard is lying on the ground outside the security box, rolled on his side with Hansol’s sweater over him.

“The angel must have put him to sleep,” Jihoon yells as they drive past.

They skid to a halt in front of the nuclear plant. Seokmin runs at them from the side of the building. Jihoon continues screaming, as he kneels next to the car. The fire won’t go out, and she can hear the metal groaning, about to break. She grabs Jihoon’s hand and yanks him away from the pending metal fireball.

“What’s wrong with him? What happened to you? Are you on fire?” Seokmin pats her shoulder to put out a small flame she’d caught when she got out of the car.

She glances at her shoulder where there is now a scorch mark in her dress sleeve. “That makes me look more like the Antichrist, no?”

At the mention of the Antichrist, the door to the nuclear plant bursts open.

A figure clad in black with a scythe slung along its back leads the way. Its hood is up, so no one can see its face. Three other figures follow close behind.

Famine and War saunter close behind Death. A smaller character, one she doesn’t recognize, glides behind them.

“Is that an oil slick?” she whispers.

“Say hello to ‘Pollution’,” Seokmin informs her.

She tips her head. “Fitting.”

“The Antichrist has arrived.” The way Death says it makes it sound as if she should be greeted with arms wide open. But from Death, she’s happy with the slow walk towards her.

Jihoon stands just behind her and watches her entire body seize at Death’s proclamation. Seokmin must notice it too, because he looks as if he’s going to move towards her.

But Death isn’t doing anything, and right now, she’s probably at her most powerful. The wind picks up around them as the Four Horsemen draw nearer.

Jihoon feels the air being sucked out from around him, and he inhales a deep breath.

And then the wind slows.

“What’s happening?” Seokmin asks.

The Antichrist answers his question with a question. “What do I do?”

“Is this you?” Jihoon peers closely at a fly moving slowly past his face. He nudges it up slightly.

“This really cannot be the only way, can it?”

“You’ve literally slowed time down at will,” Seokmin states. He swats at Jihoon to pay attention and stop poking all the bugs.

Jihoon obediently moves to her side and interlaces his fingers with hers. “This is the most powerful you’ve ever been. If you decide to go through with the end of the world, you can be even more so.”

“Jihoon,” Seokmin hisses.

“But you never seemed to want power.” Jihoon presses his lips to her knuckles. “So, just like you did with the car and the fire bridge, you should be able to do the same thing.”

“Not die?” she asks.

Jihoon chuckles. “But I likely won’t be able to touch you again.”

Seokmin rolls his eyes. “Meets one human he likes and suddenly can’t keep it in his pants even when the world’s ending.” Despite hissing under his breath, both the demon and Antichrist hear him.

“Shame,” she chuckles. She squeezes Jihoon’s hand, her eyes still on Death’s even slower approach. “You are good at it.”

“Well, there will be other humans.” 

She hums, glancing at him. “Maybe.”

Jihoon grins, his eyes flickering cat-like before reverting to normal. “You get to decide what happens today.”

“Just please don’t let us die,” Seokmin huffs. He steps up and reaches for her hand. He winces only slightly. “We can’t help you if you kill us. But we support whatever decision you make.”

This gets her to look away from Death, time returning to normal. The angel and demon step back again. The rumbling of the earth is now apparent in real time.

“Your father… is… coming,” Death drawls, turning slightly.

She catches sight of a face beneath the hood, but not enough to make out what exactly the face is.

“My father is coming?” the Antichrist repeats, suddenly hearing the words properly.

She hears a name being called. In a voice she doesn’t recognize.

It is not her name, and she tilts her head, noticing the gleeful expressions on the faces of the Horsemen she can see. The name speaks to her, but it is not hers.

And she wonders what Death meant when it said that her father was coming. Her mind flicks to her literal angel of a father, wondering why he would come here of all places. Her father’s such a homebody. It’s a struggle just to convince him to come to the beach.

And then it’s her name.

In a voice she does recognize.

Her father appears around the side of the building as if by magic, his wings disappearing into his clothes (because the angels decided taking away his soul was fair, but his wings he could keep), his feet barely touching the ground as he hurries towards her. He hardly glances at the Four Horsemen who, besides Death, look completely baffled.

“I told your mother you were doing something nefarious.”

She turns at the sound of wings flapping behind her. Her mother drops down next to her. “And I told you she’d be here.”

Her father tuts. “But you didn’t tell us you were going to be here.”

“She has her own angel and demon, Tin.” Xero glances over her shoulder at Jihoon. She even honours Seokmin with a split-second glance. “We’re the ones who birthed the Antichrist. It’s not as if we were going to be the ones to guide her.”

“Were you on fire?” Her father brushes the burn mark on the shoulder of her dress. “And you wore a dress to the final days of—”

A loud boom gets all the beings’ attention. If this situation were a cartoon, the roof of the nuclear building would have jumped up. 

Her eyes widen, and she turns to Seokmin.

Seokmin rushes towards the building, but before he can burst through the doors, Hansol stumbles outside. He winces at the red light of the sky, coughing at the dust, his face covered in soot.

“Has the world ended?” Hansol asks. Then he takes stock of the four Horsemen and her mother, who has yet to retract her wings. 

“This can’t be happening,” Pollution hisses.

“The world ending?” Hansol catches her gaze across the bodies between them.

She shrugs. She’s sort of unsure of what’s happening.

“It seems,” Death begins, turning towards her, “that this isn’t the Antichrist we were waiting for.”

“Her father’s an angel,” War growls. His eyes flame red, eyeing the angel in question. “I thought the Antichrist was brought to earth by Satan.”

Tin rounds on Xero, giving her a once over with narrowed eyes.

“Tin, she’s ours,” Xero insists.

“Then why was Satan here before me?”

“So, he did come,” the Antichrist muses. All the beings, including Hansol, can sense her presence easing back. “Don’t worry, Dad. You’re my dad regardless if Satan brought me here or not.”

“I wanted to play,” Famine whines. “This isn’t fun.”

Death holds up its scythe, stopping the three other Horsemen from attacking. If she could see Death’s eyes, she thinks Death would be sizing them all up. “I do not think we could win a battle today.”

Famine scowls, reaching for Hansol who is about to eat a Twix bar. She’d given everyone snacks before they’d left her place, because it was unlikely they would get to have a proper meal. Hansol holds out the bar towards Famine. “You can have it if you want. I don’t need this one. I still have snacks in the car.”

That makes her laugh, surprising the angels and demons. “Sol, that’s not—”

“Oh, sorry.” Hansol puts the Twix in Famine’s hand. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way or anything. Just have extra—Oop. Where did they go?”

Hansol bends over to pick up the Twix, now just a wrapper, from the ground. “And they littered too?” He shakes his head in dismay. When he straightens, Pollution had disappeared too. Only an oil puddle in her midst.

Hansol frowns. “You know,” he saunters through the crowd (of now just 2 Horsemen) to her side, “I really hate when you magical beings do that kinda stuff without warning me.”

Her insides are glowing at watching Hansol’s humanity ward off the Horsemen one by one, seemingly without knowing it. “Sorry, Sollie. I can at least promise I won’t do it anymore.”

Seokmin holds a hand out for a high five. “I can promise you that too.”

“Thank you.” Before Hansol’s even clapped Seokmin’s outstretched hand, War is gone too.

Not without a battle cry and a clatter of his sword.

Seokmin clasps Hansol’s hand and eases him behind them, as he and Jihoon step before the Antichrist, her parents just behind them.

Death looks over this spectacle, its gaze lingering on the human who willed his 3 companions out of existence (for now). "There will come a time for the Antichrist. Until then." With a small bow of its head, Death disappears in pillar of smoke.

Seokmin turns on his heel towards the group. “Now, that was not how I expected it to end.”

“What did you do inside, Sollie?” she asks, grabbing his hand and dragging him after her to the car.

“Unplugged one of the computers.”

“What was the boom?”

“I kicked over some other ones and a fire started inside.”

She blinks. “Nope.”

“I’m covered in soot.”

“No fire. Look.”

As the two friends bicker over the existence of the fire or not, Jihoon places a foot on the clattering sword of War before he picks it up and rests it on his shoulder.

“What do we do now?” Seokmin asks.

Jihoon catches her eye. “We go home. Our part of this is over.”

epilogue: part 16

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 14)

hello, friends! :D there are only two more parts after this, and the next time I post, I'll post them at the same time! i think this part is really fun. i enjoyed pulling parts from Good Omens. i hope you guys have had a good november :) BIPOC recommendation: I've been watching the R&B Money podcast with Tank and J Valentine. Their energy is great and they have some great guests on there. Also Tank's R&B Money album is a total vibe.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.7k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13

Jihoon speeds through the streets even faster than usual. This is more challenging with everyone slowing down to stare up at the sky. Some of the traffic lights are also out of power. Jihoon blows through all those intersections. 

Seokmin has to do damage control as they go. While he also tries not to vomit.

At Mrs. Han’s shop, as soon as she reaches for the doorknob, it unlocks. She leads the way to the back room, shutting off the alarm as they go.

“Well, it’s extremely convenient to have her here,” Seokmin mutters.

She turns the computer on. “Sollie, this is all you.”

Hansol shakes his head, sitting at the desk. “You know I don’t have the skills to—” His eyes widen when the computer unlocks and the application they want opens. He looks around at his three companions. 

The angel and demon turn to her. However, Hansol is her focus.

“Sollie?”

“Right.” Hansol turns to the computer and clicks around. He’s not computer illiterate, but he definitely has limitations.

One being that he’s never seen this program before and isn’t even sure what they’re looking for. He gets lucky and finds the history of what the computer has been used for. “Looks like we could be going here.” He highlights the name of the first reactor that Mrs. Han’s computer had hacked into. Over a year ago.

She researches it and winces.

“What’s wrong?” Seokmin asks.

“It’s pulling us coast to coast.” She turns her phone to show off the map. “It’ll be really hard to come to anyone’s rescue.

“Can’t you guys, I don’t know, teleport or something?” Hansol asks.

“But not with someone.” Seokmin lets out a long, tired sigh. “And we rarely teleport to the exact location. We can get general area at best.”

A loud howl of wind shakes the back door. The lights flicker overhead.

“Let’s go to the farther one,” she says to Jihoon. Seems the building will stay standing. “And we’ll… we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”

“And you’re worried because Seokmin hyung drives like a grandma,” Hansol says as they head back out.

She gives Hansol a hug. The wind tries to tear them apart. The skirt of her dress billows around them. “Be safe, okay?”

He nudges her head with his. “We need to live long enough to see Seungcheol hyung and Jeonghan hyung get married.”

She snorts as she pulls away. “I told them to video call us today if they really did listen to me and decide to get married today.”

Seokmin comes in for a hug. “You told them the world was going to end today?”

“And they believed you?” Jihoon asks.

She shrugs. “I’m not sure how today’s going to end. But I told them we’d be busy, so they had to call us.” She steps back and bows her head. “I’m sorry I never told you the whole truth.”

Seokmin cups her face with both hands and squeezes her cheeks, which always makes him smile. “That’s okay. I think I had more fun not knowing.” He quickly heals the burn on her chest despite her howl of pain. He chuckles when she swats him. “It’d hurt more if you were fully human.”

“Really?”

Seokmin shrugs. “Possibly.”

She lets Jihoon pull her away. “You’ll get to your reactor first. Let us know if there’s anything… off.”

As they climb into Jihoon’s car, he grumbles about how long those goodbyes were.

She buckles her seatbelt, her head down as she tries to swallow the lump in her throat. “This could be the last time I see them as a human.”

“You’re not really human now.” Jihoon peels out of his street parking spot, knocking into two different cars as he goes. She waves a hand in the direction of the cars while simultaneously punching in the address for the first reactor.

Jihoon glances over at her. “Those people are probably not going to need their car.”

“If I get any say, the world is not going to end today.” She settles back into the seat, adjusting her skirt so that she can comfortably sit criss-crossed without wrinkling the dress too much.

“Are you going to sleep?”

With her head still against the headrest, she turns to face him. “Unless you wanna talk.”

Jihoon shrugs, holding his hand up for her.

She lets out a breath that sounds like a laugh and drops her hand into his. “Wouldn’t have pinned you as the hand holding type, Demon.”

“Jihoon, if you will, human.”

She scoffs, adjusting her grip in his. “I guess that’s better than Antichrist.”

“And in response to your comment, you are pleasant to touch.”

She looks over at him in surprise, now properly laughing in disbelief. “You really are a romantic. How did you ever wind up a demon?”

Jihoon hesitates. She feels his grip shift in her hand.

“You didn’t sell your soul,” she states, studying him. “Did you…”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

She nods. “Well, then can we at least talk about this?” She lifts their interlocked hands. “We’re not committing, are we?”

“If this all goes to your plan, I’m assuming you won’t be the Antichrist anymore, so I won’t be able to touch you anyway.”

“Hmm.” She turns towards the window, watching the city zip by, quickly changing to highway. “Unfortunate. You’re good at it.”

“What?”

“Touching me.”

Jihoon turns to her with a raised eyebrow. “My offer still stands. Of staying in bed all day.”

She shakes her head, grinning at her reflection in the side mirror. “No, there’s no time, Jihoon. I probably don’t get too many chances to convince the Horsemen to hold off.”

“Okay. Well then. For what it’s worth, last night was really great.”

This causes her to look back his way. “Are you always this honest with the humans you sleep with? Or do you tell all of us that?”

Jihoon glances over at her, his eyes returning to the road as he slips around a Tesla. “I haven’t slept with any other humans in recent history.”

She blinks in surprise at this information. It clearly makes Jihoon uncomfortable to discuss it further. Her mind runs through different ways to respond to this statement. She knows that he’d manipulated her mind slightly the night before, as she had done his. All in the name of pleasure. To learn that he hasn’t done the same with recent humans before her…

“Have you… been with demons? Angels?”

Jihoon keeps his gaze on the road, his answer being drawn out.

Her mind whirls at the possibilities, but she doesn’t press.

And her patience rewards her.

“No.”

She takes a moment to process the weight of this one-worded answer. “Then, I guess I’m honoured.” She waits for him to look her way. When he does, she continues. “Since you enjoyed it.”

He chuckles, the tightness in his jaw relaxing. She hears something akin to cars scratching against each other. Over her shoulder, she flicks her fingers, quickly fixing the car Jihoon scraped.

“Do you know what you’re going to say to the Horsemen?”

“I’m think we’re also going to need to deal with… Him. Your ‘Him’, not Seokmin’s.”

Jihoon’s body stiffens. “You think so?”

“That’s sort of the point of the Antichrist.” She smirks. “Wish I took Seokmin instead of you?”

“No. I’m with you until the end of the line, human.”

She narrows her eyes at him, wondering if he’s making a movie reference. Although, it’s so unlike the demon she knows that she assumes not.

And she can’t fathom where and when he even watched the movie.

“I’m sort of just hoping the words come to me.”

Jihoon scoffs. “Great. I’m glad the future of the world is held in your capable hands.”

She pecks the back of his hand. “You definitely thought my hands were capable yesterday, so I’m hoping it all works out.

“The only way for us to get there is if we go at max speed.” Jihoon reverses and revs the engine.

“And also bust through cement?” she demands. She reaches for his arm to stop him. “Hold on.”

“How can we hold on anymore?” Jihoon motions to the bridge that they’d just passed under that is now on fire. They can hear the honking from all the traffic, which is now starting to pile up, which is only causing the fire to burn hotter and brighter.

“Your literal presence is causing things to burst into flame.”

“Okay, that’s not all me,” she argues. “Even if we’re not completely human right now, the car is still human made. And is still limited by some human limitations.”

Jihoon frowns. “So,” he draws this out, “how are we going to get through the fire?”

“Well, we’ll have to drive through that. But we shouldn’t ruin the car by driving through cement.”

“We don’t have time to argue this.” He turns the car again so that they’re moving away from the bridge.

“Where are you going now?”

“You didn’t want me to drive through the barrier!”

“Turn around and go back the way we came!”

“There are literal cars in the way?”

“If we come out of the fire in one piece, then I’m sure we’ll come up with an idea.”

“Do you even hear how illogical you are sounding right now?” He shakes one hand in the air for emphasis of the following statement: “We’ll be on fire.”

“And you’re going to what instead? Drive all the way to a U-turn point? When we’re short on time?”

Jihoon makes some inhumane, annoyed sounds. Still, he completely reverses the car so that they’re driving against the traffic. He lays on the horn as cars move out of the way for him.

“Are you going to do anything to protect us?” Jihoon asks.

“My… whatever the fuck, power or whatever, is limited.”

Jihoon doesn’t even have time to laugh at ‘whatever the fuck’. “You can alter reality though, can’t you?”

“You want me to what? Imagine that we’re not going to be on fire?” she asks. The fire is coming up quickly.

“Just think of something!” Jihoon takes a deep breath as he floors it, urging the car a bit faster.

She frowns, as she tries to rack her brain for how to make this work. She’d been hoping that they’d just drive fast enough through the fire that they wouldn’t need to worry too much about it. Her parents had briefly mentioned what would happen when the powers came in. 

Out of her father’s earshot, her mother had properly explained the purpose of the Antichrist.

Neither of them had explained how to use the powers.

Jihoon doesn’t confirm whether she’s come up with anything. It seems the demon just trusts her, as he ploughs straight into the fire. While inside, it seems the fire goes on forever, and she has to hold her breath at the flames’ intensity. Her skin prickles, and one bead of sweat begins to slip down the line of her back. 

Next to her, Jihoon mutters. She swears he’s giving his car an aggressive pep talk. The words are angry, almost as if he’s cursing the car. The car squeals angrily, apparently struggling to hold itself together. The engine groans at the intense pressure.

When they break through the other side, they both exhale loudly.

“We fucking survived,” Jihoon says in disbelief.

There’s no time to celebrate, as he has to swerve a hard left to avoid ramming straight into the cars on the other side. He moves to the shoulder of the road, his hand on the horn to drown out the other incessant honking of other drivers.

The emergency vehicles speed towards them.

“Jihoon,” she warns.

“Yes, I can see it.” His eyes dart towards the right, gauging the space between cars. She notices the way his eyes flick cat-like.

The firetruck barreling towards them blares its horn in response to Jihoon.

“Jihoon.”

The demon’s voice comes out strained. “Yes, I can see it. Thank you.” The steering wheel begins smoking as Jihoon’s hands burn through the leather. “You couldn’t have saved my fucking car.”

“Be glad we’re not on goddamn fire,” she snaps back. Her hands go for the dashboard to steady herself, but she jumps back at how hot it is. It’s hotter than Jihoon’s skin, definitely hotter than fire. 

She closes her eyes and begins to pray.

“Really?” Jihoon demands, glancing over at her. “Now?”

“Sorry, but I don’t really want to die before we get there.” Her lips mouth some sort of prayer.

“And you think God’s going to listen to you? Of all people?”

The firetruck is now also just laying on the horn.

“I can’t save us from that.”

“I am well aware.”

“Then fucking do something about it!”

Jihoon swerves a hard right. She winces at the loud screeching noise as Jihoon scratches the two cars they drive between. He ignores the cursing from the drivers. Which is probably a good thing, because Jihoon could actually curse them back.

“You fucking rushed me,” Jihoon huffs.

“How is that relevant right—” she grunts as Jihoon weaves through the standstill traffic, ignoring every side mirror he hits and the two doors he yanks off their hinges.

Finally, there’s a break in the cement barrier and Jihoon guns towards it. She groans, leaning her head back against the seat.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Apparently being the Antichrist doesn’t protect against car sickness. She says as much.

“We’re trying to save the—”

The phone starts ringing in the car.

“When the car is on fire, it connects to Bluetooth?” She quickly taps the screen.

“Where are you guys?” Seokmin hisses.

“In traffic trying not to get fucking lit on fire,” Jihoon snaps.

Hansol’s voice comes through in a whisper. With the cacophony on all sides, they nearly miss what he says, “Well, you guys should hurry.”

“Uhm.” She glances at the map on her phone. It’s still 4 hours away even with the good time they’ve made. She lifts the phone into Jihoon’s eyeline so that he can see the projected ETA.

Jihoon grimaces. 

She lurches backwards as Jihoon somehow makes the car go faster. That shaves off almost an hour. “What’s happening? Why are you guys whispering?”

“Well, obviously we’re here—” Seokmin stops mid-sentence. Suddenly, alarms start blaring. It takes she and Jihoon a second to realize it’s not from their end. Hansol and Seokmin’s voices lower even further as they whisper back and forth.

She has to strain to hear more, eventually turning the volume up a bit more, but she hears a door close.

“What’s going on?” she asks when it seems like nothing changes.

“They could sense Seokmin.” It sounds as if Hansol has the phone pressed right against his lips. “So, he had to—” He inhales deeply.

“Your scent will likely mix with the other humans on site,” Jihoon tells him. “Relax. You should be okay. Especially with Seokmin running around there.”

“Okay, well.” Hansol is now just breathing words into the phone. She turns the dial a bit more, unsure if it’s even doing anything. “Those horsemen people are here and they’re… I’m not really sure what they’re doing. They’re kinda just…”

She can imagine Hansol gesturing, but she can’t imagine what the gesture is.

“They’re just touching everything, and stuff breaks.”

“Hence the alarms.” She dreads saying her next words. “You know you’re going to have to be the one to try to fix things.”

“I thought that’s why you were…” Again, Hansol’s voice shifts.

“Are you curled up in a ball right now?”

“They keep walking back and forth. I’m scared they’ll hear me.”

“You’re going to need to fix whatever they broke. In case I can’t do anything.”

“Then will it even matter?” Hansol hisses.

“See you soon.”

“You’re doing that thing where you’re ignoring me because you don’t like what I’m saying.”

“Good luck.”

pt. 15

[excelsi-or]

just wanna say i check your tumblr every night for updates!! i love your work 🤍

this makes my heart sing! thank yoooou 💕

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 13)

i love this part.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 3.7k (mature content warning; clearly i'm just poor at pacing and putting breaks where they should be LOL)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12

"Are you going to talk to her?" Seokmin whispers.

Jihoon dropped off Hansol and Seokmin at their respective homes. His human has slept the whole way. He glances over at her now. "Well, don't we think it was weird the way she was acting?"

Seokmin nods. "Of course I think it was weird. But what are you going to say? You've already exorcised her once. I doubt she'd let you do it again."

Jihoon mulls this over. "I just need to be close enough to do it. Consent is... not exactly necessary here."

This statement darkens Seokmin's expression. He adds, "You also need to be able to make physical contact. Any demon would know that. If she's possessed, her soul will be tainted already if it's not gone."

"We don't even know if she had one."

Seokmin sighs. "Call me if you need me."

Jihoon grabs Seokmin's arm. "Do you think it was Death who visited Mrs. Han?"

"It doesn't sound like Death. The strategy is too roundabout. One of the Horsemen visited her. It sounds like the other three have been roaming around already. There's been too much chaos for the humans to have conjured it all up on their own." Seokmin's eyes go to the sky. Night had fallen quickly, especially for the summer. It's put both unearthly beings on edge.

"Well, both the angels and demons were helping them along."

Seokmin chuckles, though his face is creased with worry lines. "I guess we're all to blame."

He pats the window of the car. "Good night, Jihoon." The angel looks across Jihoon at his passenger. "Stay safe."

At her apartment building, she rouses, turning her head to look at him. She's still drowsy. "We are back?"

"Yep, come on, human." He gets out of the car. "We need to talk."

Once inside, Jihoon doesn't waste any time. "What's going on with you?"

"With me?" she asks. She slips her dress off over her head as she walks to her bedroom. "What do you mean?"

Jihoon changes into something comfier as he sits on the couch. When she returns, she's slipping into one of the button-up shirts she wears painting. Except she hasn't closed it yet. And she's not wearing a bra.

He frowns. "What are you doing?"

"What now?" She buttons her shirt as she kicks her desk chair out to slip into it.

"You've been acting weird since we got to Mrs. Han's. It's worrying that angel friend of yours too. Has a demon possessed you without me knowing?"

"Seokmin was not able to heal all the burns you inflicted today." She gets to her feet and lifts her shirt, careful to keep her chest covered. She slowly turns for him. Darkened marks and red handprints cover her tanned skin. "So, maybe it has made me grouchy." Her hands let go of her shirt and she flops back into her seat.

"Are you... trying to seduce me, human?"

She chuckles, pulling her sketchbook towards her. "If I wanted to seduce you, Demon, you would already be in my bed."

Jihoon pauses to think through his next move. "And if I wanted you to seduce me?"

"Then I would be confused." She gets up to fill her water cup. When she turns, she finds herself face-to-face with Jihoon.

She tilts her head, watching his eyes flicker from the green of his cat eyes to brown. "I think," a ghost of a smile appears on her lips, "you are trying to seduce me."

Jihoon's eyes dart to her lips before reaching her eyes again. "Maybe."

A few different responses filter through her head. "Why?"

“We've spent every day for the last little while together." He shrugs. "And the world could be ending very soon.”

She’s stalling for time. Not quite understanding what has brought on Jihoon’s sudden shift in personality. Jihoon’s been tolerating her until this point. “And you think I want my last sexual encounter to be with a demon?”

Jihoon takes a step closer, unsurprised when she doesn’t back down. He can feel her breath fan across his skin. “Maybe you should try something new, human.”

“You’ll burn me.” 

As if that’s the only problem with this situation.

“I haven’t heard a ‘no’ yet.” He lowers his head, his lips brushing hers. “I will stop if you say no.”

“Doesn’t sound like a demon to me,” she murmurs. Her mind is still rifling through different scenarios. Only one makes any real sense, but she lets her body take over from her mind. She lifts onto her toes to meet his lips.

To avoid touching her with his hands, Jihoon traps her between his body and the kitchen counter, his hands landing on either side of her. She manages to put her water cup down on the counter, one hand going to his chest to push him away slightly.

“Is that your no?” he asks breathlessly.

She chuckles, her pupils now blown wide with lust. “Absolutely not. That was a ‘slow down’. I don’t know what your stamina is like in this human-like body of yours, but if we go 100 from the get,” her eyes roam over him, “well, I may not get what I want.”

Jihoon snorts, pushing his body flush with hers again. “Don’t worry, human. You’ll get exactly what you want.” He dives right back in.

Jihoon understands the fun of sex, the pleasure it brings. But he hasn’t been with a human in centuries. It seems this human body that he’s prone to inhabiting is easily aroused and incredibly sensitive to touch.

So, when her hands slip under his shirt, tentative to touch him to see if she burns, Jihoon finds himself groaning against her mouth.

“So, I don’t burn you,” she mutters.

Jihoon makes an affirmative noise, swiping his tongue along her bottom lip. 

“But you definitely burn me.”

Jihoon pulls away to catch his breath and holds a hand up to her. She rests her palm against his and winces. He lifts his other hand, lets it burn red hot, and then nods for her to touch him. She presses her other palm against his, her eyebrows lifting, as she comfortably laces their fingers together.

“We can work with this,” she mutters, a glint in her eye.

They find a rhythm pretty quickly. They eventually make it to her bedroom, but first make pitstops at the kitchen table, the floor, and her couch. She’s not a loud lover, but she does make little noises of pleasure, which Jihoon finds might almost be better.

And he gets immense satisfaction coaxing the noises out of her.

He found she was especially vocal with his tongue between her legs.

The following morning, she wakes with a little stretch. He’s got one of her books open in his lap. Some sort of fantasy number. Mildly interesting.

When they did wind up in her bed, she’d fallen asleep to his fingers tracing patterns over her skin. She either must have gotten used to the heat of his palms, or at some point, he’d stopped burning. Either way, he was able to touch her quite freely.

She sits up and grabs her sketchbook off the side table.

They sit together in contented silence for a while.

“You know, I just realized something.” Jihoon puts the book down to look at her.

“Hmm?” She seems to have his full attention. 

Another new revelation from last night. 

As long as he was good at pleasing her, she seemed to think of nothing else but him.

And it worked both ways. As soon as his mind strayed even a little, she’d move against him a different way and his focus would heighten tenfold.

Now with her awake next to him, it seems she’s already on his mind. “Your parents would have taught you about incantations and summoning spells even if you were shit at pronouncing them. They would have taught you not to use them.” He narrows his eyes. “You summoned me, a demon, on purpose.”

She chuckles, her gaze dropping back to her sketchbook. “Hm.”

Jihoon reaches over and eases the pencil out of her hand. He returns it to the side table and then the sketchbook. Though he does catch sight of the sketches she’s doing. They’ll have to discuss those later.

“So, what did you summon me for?” Jihoon asks, his lips dangerously close to hers.

Her eyes are fixed on him. “I didn’t have any reason to summon you, Demon.”

“I think you called me Jihoon all of last night.” He adjusts his body over hers. “We’re back to Demon now?”

“For now.” A finger under his chin guides him closer towards her. “But maybe I’ll remember your name again.”

Jihoon texts Seokmin later that morning.

The human is mine today. Stay away.

He’s resting comfortably with his head in her lap, watching her sketch above him.

“What’s our plan, Jihoon?”

Seems she’s remembered. “I’m thinking we stay in bed until the world ends.”

She lowers her sketchbook to get a look at his face. Her smile is cheeky, which he finds he quite likes. “While that does sound satisfying, I think I’d like to live a little longer.”

“Huh. Shame. I think a day in bed would’ve been fun. So, what’s your plan then, human?”

“There are two possible locations the Horsemen could be going to.” That’s what she’d been drawing that morning, trying to work through all the thoughts in her head. “One could be the very first reactor in the country, which closed down a couple years ago for its 40th birthday. Or it could be the first reactor that Mrs. Han… fiddled with.”

“And do we know which reactor that is?”

“No, but I was thinking we would return to the shop and check the computer.” She shakes her head. “I wish I had thought of it when we were there, so we did not have to waste time returning.”

“You want to break into the shop?”

“You sound shocked.”

Jihoon studies her. His eyes flick green a few times, but he senses nothing off. “Okay, well, if you think that will help us.”

“We are going to have to send Seokmin and Hansol to one while we check out the other.” She glances out the window as something slams into it. “And I think we are running out of time.”

Jihoon cranes his neck back to look out the window. There seems to be a tornado blowing outside, the sky darker than usual, and an odd purple.

“I think there’s a bit of time left.” Jihoon rolls onto his side, lightly kissing the exposed skin of her belly. He doesn’t know why she bothered to throw on a shirt today; she hasn’t even bothered to button it properly.

She chuckles as she indulges him, setting her sketchbook down again. “There’s a tornado outside and you want to do this.”

Jihoon hums, his kisses trailing up her body.

Jihoon timed it badly.

Granted, he’d told Seokmin to stay away. So, it’s technically Seokmin’s fault it went badly.

She had called Seokmin and Hansol after hunger surpassed her lust. She told them her reasoning about what the ‘first one’ could be, and then told them to come in an hour.

Well, that meant Jihoon had an hour to execute his plan.

They were in the process of lovemaking on her apartment floor when Jihoon pressed a hand against her chest and…

Her yelp of pain immediately causes him to jerk back. She struggles to push herself up into sitting. Staring down at the black circle on her chest where he’d tried to exorcise her, Jihoon hears her trying to even her breathing.

Jihoon stares at the black on her chest. “Sorry.”

She snorts with a shake of her head. The lust, hunger, and softness that had been in her eyes over the last 24 hours are replaced by daggers. The darkness of her eyes would worry him if he hadn’t just tried to exorcise her. “No. You are not.”

“No.” Jihoon gives her a once over. “I’m not.” He gets up from straddling her and holds a hand out to her. “You’ve given me reasons to doubt over the last day. I needed to double check.”

“You could have just bloody asked.” She smacks his hand away and stands. Then her ears register Seokmin pounding on the door. “And you angel-proofed my door.” She goes to let the angel in, buttoning up her shirt as she goes.

“JIHOON, YOU DEMON BASTARD, LET ME—”

She swings the door open and ducks before he can knock into her face. “Come in.” She winces as she turns back into her apartment.

Seokmin hurries after her. He circles an arm around her waist and helps her to the couch. He seems to take in the remnants of her and Jihoon’s argument. As well as the rest of the what they’d been doing. 

Seokmin decides to ignore what they’d clearly been doing prior to the attempted exorcism. “I knew he was going to try it,” Seokmin grumbles as he checks over her wound. He holds a hand over it, but she winces and pulls away.

“It burns.”

“Lemme get some ice.” Seokmin scowls as Jihoon as he goes to the kitchen. “Hansol is on his way over. You should be…” He gives Jihoon a once over, unsurprised when the demon is fully dressed. “Well, you should both be decent.”

She stares down at the mark on her chest to gauge the burn. Seokmin healed very little of it, but it feels extremely painful compared to any other time he’s healed her.

“Healing it will hurt,” Seokmin says as he returns with an ice pack.

“Then I’m going to hop in the shower and stand under cold water for a while.” She avoids Jihoon’s gaze as she disappears into the bedroom.

“Shout if you need me,” Seokmin calls after her. Then he rounds on Jihoon. “So, what the hell did you do?”

“Exactly what it looked like,” Jihoon states. While there are no remnants of their lovemaking on him, it was all over her in hickeys, disheveled hair, and her near nakedness.

Seokmin sets the bag of ice and salt down on the table. They turn when they hear Hansol walk into the apartment. He pauses to take in the chaos. “What… happened?” He notes Jihoon and Seokmin’s aggressive stances. “Where…?”

“She’s in the shower running cold water over her burn.” Seokmin’s gaze zeroes in on Jihoon.

Hansol absorbs that. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t hurt your crush,” Jihoon huffs. “I was worried that she’d been possessed by another demon. And if we’re really trying to do what we’re trying to do, then we need to make sure that we’re all clean. I was hoping I’d have a bit more time.” He glares at Seokmin. “I told you she was mine today.”

Before Seokmin can respond, Hansol’s crossing the room. 

Seokmin rushes forward and rests a gentle hand on Hansol’s shoulder. “Hansollie, calm down.”

Hansol’s gaze never wavers as he says, “I don’t give a damn if you hate me being here, but if you want any of us to be of use to you, we should be able to trust you.”

“I’m a demon.” Jihoon gives Hansol a once over. While he’s unintimidated, he’s thoroughly impressed that Hansol doesn’t seem to be either. “I don’t know where you got it wrapped in your head that I would ever be a good ally.”

“Jihoon,” Seokmin hums, “you should be careful what you say.” He eases Hansol away, putting himself between Hansol and Jihoon. 

“Sollie, can you help me make some tea?” Her voice is soft, but clear, getting all the beings’ attention in the room.

She looks up from adjusting her sports bra, her eyes focused on Hansol. When he doesn’t move away, she reaches for his hand and gently pulls him to the kitchen.

As she fills the kettle, Hansol seems to snap back to reality. He grabs a few different tea bags. She tells him to grab an extra mint tea for Jihoon. He plops the tea bags into separate mugs, slamming Jihoon’s mug down a bit louder than the others. 

“That looks bad.”

“It is a little painful.” She smiles at Hansol. “I’m fine though, Sollie. Thank you.” She rests her hip against the counter, listening carefully for sounds from the living room. “Can you steep the tea? I gotta deal with the extraterrestrials.”

Hansol nods. “You somehow always find the most ridiculous partners.”

The statement catches her off guard for a second before she smiles. A little sheepishly. “Obvious, huh?”

Hansol’s eyes dart to her neck, but then he says, “You have that glow in your eyes.” His voice is cheeky, and it broadens her smile, unknotting a bit of the frustration she’d built in the last twenty minutes.

Back in the living room, the angel and demon are whispering furiously back and forth. She picks up the ice bag and rests it against the skin on the side of her burn.

“Seokminnie, can you help Hansol?” she asks. Seokmin is reluctant to leave her, but with a nod of her head, he goes.

“Alright, you.” She huffs. “What are we going to do?”

“Do?” Jihoon shakes his head. “I did what I needed to do.”

“If you haven’t realized, I am pretty good at reading angels’ and demons’ emotions.”

“We don’t have emotions.”

“Not all of you do,” she agrees. “But you do.”

Jihoon straightens his spine, crossing his arms over his chest.

“So, what exactly did you think was wrong with me that you didn’t think you could just ask?”

Jihoon studies her. She stands before him in a sports bra and sweatpants. Her hair has been tamed, but the hickies on her neck stick out. As well as the black circle on her chest. 

It’s annoying how beautiful she is right now. 

Because there’s another truth he’s figured out. “You’re the Antichrist.” 

There’s a long pause. For a second, he’s worried she didn’t know.

Then she holds both arms out. “Yes. And?”

“So, you do know.”

She nods and returns the ice to her chest. “I do.” She shrugs. “When Linnaeus told me the truth about my parents, they sat me down and told me the truth about me. Something that they’d heard rumoured in both Heaven and Hell. A child of an angel and demon would come to earth and bring about the apocalypse.”

“Linnaeus knows?” Jihoon’s a little annoyed he’s never heard this rumour before.

“Linnaeus always insists that I must be able to do something, given who and what my parents are.” She shakes her head. “I don’t think he’s ever known what exactly that something was.”

“So, you’re going to lead the Four Horsemen.”

Another pause. 

Jihoon wonders whether the Antichrist is just part of her personality or if it’s something she’s fighting internally. She seems unaffected, even if the way she speaks flips back and forth.

“This morning, you said I summoned you on purpose,” she says.

“Did you?”

“I didn’t summon you specifically, but I was lucky that it was you. This plan would only work with an angel and demon helping me out.”

“So, you had a plan all along.”

“I was preparing, but no, I did not have a solid plan until yesterday. When…” She stops talking, but suddenly, she’s in his head. ‘My powers came in.’

Jihoon mulls this new information over. “So, you were manipulating me last night.”

“About as much as you were manipulating me.” Her voice goes velvety and he can feel his body melting again. “But we both had fun, did we not?”

The demon hums. He can’t deny that fact.

Luckily, she doesn’t push her manipulation too far.

“So… are you human?”

“Depends on how this turns out.” She reaches out for him.

Squinting, he laces his fingers through hers. She doesn’t pull away burned.

“That’s why I can touch you,” he realizes.

She shrugs, a smile on her face. But the smile quickly disappears when she draws his attention back to the burn. “Well, you could until you did this.”

There’s a flicker of disappointment that Jihoon waves away. “Would you have told me you were the Antichrist if I asked?”

“We’ll never know.” She tugs his hand for him to follow her to the kitchen.

Seokmin’s eyes widen at seeing the two enter hand-in-hand.

“Did we all kiss and make up?” Hansol asks. There are four mugs of tea on the table, one in front of Seokmin and Hansol. 

She nudges Jihoon into the last empty seat and sets his mint tea in front of him. “We’ve made up.”

“And kissed.” Jihoon looks up at her, challenging her to contradict him.

A smirk graces her features, and it makes his body warm. “Okay, and we’ve kissed. But that’s not what we’re focused on.” She turns the demon’s head back to face the others. “We know the plan.” She looks to Hansol. “Feelings on the demon?”

“A little annoyed, a little pissed off.”

She rests her hands on Jihoon’s shoulders. “Accept that?”

Jihoon’s gaze is steady as he looks at Hansol. “Yes.”

She turns to the angel. “Seokminnie?”

“More than annoyed, more than pissed.”

She tips her head at that. She’s surprised that Seokmin’s honestly voiced his feelings rather than being surprised at Seokmin’s emotions. She squeezes Jihoon’s shoulders. “Accept that?”

Jihoon narrows his eyes at Seokmin, who is already glaring back. “…Yes.”

“Great. Then can we work together today?”

Seokmin’s narrowed eyes shift to her before returning to Jihoon. “Is she who I think she is then?”

Jihoon nods, leaning back into his chair and into her hands. It doesn’t get past Seokmin. “Yeah, angel. She is.”

Hansol looks between the three of them. Exasperated, he asks, “Do I want to know?”

She ruffles Hansol’s hair as she reaches for her mug of tea. “If I tell you, you might not believe me.” Her eyes dart up to the pendant light in her kitchen when it flickers. “Let’s finish up our tea. The end of the world is coming.”

part 14

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 12)

In reality, this section is a continuation of the last part, but I didn't want part 11 to be like 4k+, so I split them. Posting the next part alongside this, so not long to wait. :)

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 1.8k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11

Hansol gets out of the car, holding his stomach as he stretches. "Mr. Demon, your car is dope and your driving skills are mental."

"Were those good things?" Jihoon asks as the two humans lead the way across the street.

"The highest praise from Hansol, really," Seokmin states. But the angel's focus in on the other human, who is now walking across the street without stopping for traffic. Hansol walks alongside her, unbothered.

"I already exorcised her," Jihoon says.

"That was a few days ago. You then brought her around more demons than she's probably ever exposed herself to." Seokmin shakes his head. He's about to say more, but the wilting flowers in the flower shop next door catch his attention. "I'm going to suggest to the florist that she close shop for the day. Just in case you..."

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Jihoon demands, his hand on the door to the convenience store.

"I don't know, but the less human casualties the better." Seokmin disappears into the flower shop, no doubt wearing his most charming smile. 

"What have you been doing back here, Mrs. Han?" Jihoon can hear her voice from the backroom. Hansol is standing in the doorway. Mrs. Han is nowhere to be seen, though Jihoon can guess where the angel is.

Hansol glances over his shoulder and motions with his head for Jihoon to join him.

Mrs. Han is sat in the desk chair. But Jihoon can't even fully process the scene, because his human is talking. Everything she's saying sounds a little bit more convincing. It's starting to sound like someone—or something—else entirely. Jihoon studies her figure closely, looking for any signs that his human isn't in there.

But as with most things about her, he's terribly unsure. Without knowing for sure if she had a soul in the first place, he isn't sure what's got her acting so different now.

"According to you, someone came to you a few months ago asking about nuclear war? Why you in particular, Mrs. Han?"

"Oh, dear, if I knew that, I would have outed them to Him already! But they were threatening Ara!"

Hansol stiffens next to Jihoon. The demon glances his way but says nothing.

"And I didn't want anything to happen to her!"

She squats down next to Mrs. Han, gazing up at the older woman. Even Jihoon would be near swayed by anything his human asked of him if she looked at him like that. "How were they asking you to do it?"

"I..."

Her hand reaches out for Mrs. Han's, holding them between hers. "We can't keep Ara safe if we don't know what they've asked you to do."

"You're going to try to stop it?" Mrs. Han asks. "Dear, I think it may be too late for that now!"

Jihoon and Hansol both don't know how she's not blown away by Mrs. Han's volume.

"So you do know what they are doing."

"I only know my part in it! And even that I don't understand! But can't you feel it in the air?"

They're practically standing in the black smoke at this point. Hansol keeps clearing his throat.

"Show me and maybe we can figure it out."

Seokmin appears then as the two women fiddle around on the computer.

"Ara's okay?" Jihoon asks.

Seokmin nods, surprised that Jihoon bothered to remember the name. "Yes, she is. I told her to go home. Maybe visit her parents in the countryside." He peers into the room. "What's going on here?"

"Unsure. The human is being weird again," Jihoon states, his voice low. 

Hansol glances between them when Seokmin doesn't defend her immediately. The angel looks concerned.

But whatever she's doing seems to get them results. She waves them over. "Mrs. Han, can you explain what is going on?"

Mrs. Han hesitates, her gaze shifting between the four young-looking beings in her presence. The silence in the room is broken when Hansol coughs. The older woman gives Hansol a once over and seems to feel some sort of pity, because she explains what's happening on the screen. 

Apparently, someone had come to her, threatening Ara if Mrs. Han didn't agree to do this 'simple' thing for them. "They said that it wouldn't be too hard! They said that I would have no direct role in what happened! I was just..." Mrs. Han tries to find the words, "making it easier!"

"Why did you agree to do a demon's bidding, Mrs. Han?" she asks.

"They were definitely not a demon!"

"Not a demon." She looks to the others from her squat on the floor. "Not an angel either, probably."

The older woman huffs. "If it were an angel, I would have gone straight to Him and told Him what sort of ridiculous plans are being conjured up!"

"So, whoever or whatever this entity is asked you to do what exactly?" Jihoon asks. He takes a step into the room to view the screen over Mrs. Han's shoulder. "What is this?"

The older woman shakes her head. "I don't really know! They installed this program on my computer, told me to go on it, and press certain buttons! According to them, the program would do its work!"

"The program would do work all by itself?" She studies the screen. Whatever it's doing is beyond her science degree. She recognizes a few things, but not enough to really parse through what she's reading.

"All they told me was that this would go on my computer, that I shouldn't feel too guilty because I wasn't doing anything, and that He would understand since Ara was being threatened! And not just by some sick human!"

"How did you know that? If they were not a demon or an angel, why would you think they could actually do anything to Ara?"

The angel pauses to think over her answer. "It was something about their... aura! I just knew!"

She nods. While the other three don't like that answer, she understands what it means. Sometimes, you just know in your gut. "Okay, well, what exactly did they ask you to do?"

"Once every few weeks, I had to click a little button on the screen!"

They all wait for more, but nothing comes.

Seokmin asks, "That's it?"

Mrs. Han nods.

They all watch the screen. There are different sections to look at, clearly monitoring different things. She has to search up most of the words on the screen.

"Based on these words, they all connect to nuclear power."

Seokmin hums. He points to the bars in the corner. "Then these bars must be temperature and radiation levels."

"Temperature is rising," Jihoon comments.

Hansol looks to Mrs. Han. "Do you know what the person... being... thing looked like? You kept saying "they", but I'm assuming one being."

Mrs. Han describes one being in a human form dressed all in white with white hair to match. They had green eyes. "Not just their irises, but what are normally the whites of people's eyes!"

"Like this?" Jihoon's eyes flick to their cat-eye form.

Mrs. Han tips her head. "I told you they weren't a demon, but it was similar! Eerie!" She shivers. "And permanent!"

"The temperature rising stopped," Hansol says. There is a red zone and the temperature has not quite reached that point yet.

"Mrs. Han," Seokmin draws out her name, "how many times have you done this?"

"I would say... 20 times! Potentially more!"

Seokmin had been doing his own searches. He shows the phone to Jihoon. There are 25 nuclear reactors in the country.

"Would you say closer to 25, Mrs. Han?" Hanosl asks when Seokmin shows him the phone.

"That seems right." Mrs. Han's voice softens, which catches everyone off guard. They'd all been braced for another shout. 

Jihoon's eyes widen. "Did, uh, this entity happen to tell you anything more? Did you ask about their plans?"

The angel doesn't notice how the others are staring at Jihoon in concern. She snaps at him instead. "I was a little too worried about what they would do to Ara!"

"Okay, Mrs. Han." She pats the older angel's hand. "It is alright. We are not accusing you of anything." Her voice is velvety smooth, wrapping around Mrs. Han's human-like emotions and soothing any burns.

Seokmin and Jihoon's eyes widen at the effect her voice has.

"But... did you happen to get any more information from this being?"

Mrs. Han tips her head, leans into her touch, and nods. "Yes, actually! They left the room, as if to answer a phone call! Not that I heard a phone ring! But they said something about it taking time! That they would then meet somewhere when everything was ready!"

"Do you have any idea where that somewhere could be?"

"'The first one' is what I heard!"

Silence falls on the group as they process this information. Seokmin moves to extract Mrs. Han from the human's grasp. "I sent Ara home." He helps the older angel to her feet. "Maybe you should watch over her. Make sure she doesn't come back to the shop. It's not..." He looks around the black billowing smoke around them. He's surprised he's been able to keep from coughing. "Not exactly safe."

"The smoke is really horrid, isn't it?" Mrs. Han sighs, following Seokmin's gaze. They watch Seokmin guide her out of the shop. He soothes any hurt feelings. The last thing they need is Him reigning down the angels if Mrs. Han decides to go to Him with her deeds.

She slips into Mrs. Han's seat and turns to Hansol and Jihoon. "Right, so, what do we do?"

Hansol looks to Jihoon.

"What do nuclear reactors do?" Jihoon asks.

"Create energy."

The demon waves his hand dismissively. "Not what I meant. I meant what can they do for the demons' cause?"

They sit in silence until Seokmin returns.

"What if," she starts, "if it is about bringing about the apocalypse...." She sits back in the seat and tips her head back to look up at the ceiling. Her voice changes, something the others are more familiar with. "They're just trying to pollute the world as much as possible." She'd noticed the temperature tipping up into the red. "A nuclear reactor meltdown would be devastating. Twenty-five of them? I don't know if we'd be able to recover."

"There's war in other countries. Political corruption, pollution, divisiveness," Seokmin agrees. "Whatever they've started, it won't take much more to tip it over. The Horsemen are probably already here."

"They're here?" Hansol demands. "I thought we were talking metaphorically."

"No, they're real," Jihoon hums. "What did Mrs. Han mean when she said 'the first one'?" He studies his human.

And what did Linnaeus mean when he said she may have a bigger role to play?

Seokmin shakes his head when the humans don't answer. "Mrs. Han isn't sure what it means either."

"I don't think we're going to learn much else here." She stands, her hand running over the keyboard. She makes a point of closing the program on the computer and then leads the way out.

part 13

[excelsi-or]

Not to be an actual submissive whore on the main but:

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 11)

hi everyone!! i've been writing a ton for other things the last month (original work???? scary and shocking), but now i need to let those stories stew for a bit. SOOOOO a promise to you all and myself that i will finish posting this story before the year is done! @darum-darimda i've seen your tags on the last few posts and they've made me really happy! 💕

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.8k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10

With a gasp, she jolts upright. Her heart is racing; she can feel it pulsing hard in her neck. She puts her hands flat on the bed and takes stock of the gasping breaths, the slight pain in her chest. When the door opens, she isn't surprised to see Jihoon standing there.

"I thought you were getting possessed," he says softly.

She hangs her head. Her breaths are shaky, the incoming air to her body cool and sharp. "Nightmare, I think."

"Hm."

When her heart rate comes down, she straightens her spine and lets out one long exhale. Then she notices Jihoon still standing in the doorway watching her.

"I'm fine."

"I know."

"Yet you look concerned," she chuckles. 

He shrugs one shoulder in response. She doesn't know why that's so charming. 

"Are you going to go out tonight?" she asks.

Jihoon shakes his head. "No. I wanted to finish a book."

"Ah."

When she doesn't move to lie back down, he demands, "Why are you not going back to sleep?"

"You're kinda staring. How am I supposed to sleep?"

Jihoon frowns. "Since when has my presence disturbed your sleep?"

She lies down, using her pillows to prop herself up a bit more. "It's different when you're staring."

"I'm not staring."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Waiting until you fall back asleep."

"Why?"

He shrugs again.

She smiles a little, but she closes her eyes. 

It's not Jihoon's presence that is preventing her from sleeping. Actually, if anything, it's comforting. But her brain is circling around and around the conversations she had today. She and Jihoon had gone over them on the drive back, but her brain seems to be trying to make connections.

"Is this going to take a long time?" Jihoon asks after a while.

She snorts and sits up. "Yes. Apparently, I want to think about the Grand Plan." She stretches towards her bedside table for the notebook she'd used during her impromptu interviews. 

Jihoon takes a seat on the edge of her bed and leans towards her to get a look at the notebook. He hasn't seen the notebook, but he's surprised she's actually taken notes.

"I wanted to be accurate," she says when she notices him scanning the pages.

"It's great work."

She hums. "But what does it mean?"

"Well, you forgot to mention that Eliza said this," Jihoon points to the middle of the page of her second interview. "She's describing espionage."

"Well, she did turn the conversation to Russia and US relations."

"You guys seemed to have been talking about American recipes, though."

She shakes her head. "Demons don't always seem to think in straight lines. But what's catching your attention?"

"She said something about international seeds?"

"In the context of them being planted."

"Planted specifically for plants? Or could it have been metaphorical?"

"You're thinking that she turned the conversation to espionage, because she was talking about demons going international to spy on angels?"

"And further the Grand Plan."

She shrugs. "Anything is possible now. Would the demons have thought of something so cunning?"

"We're not all stupid."

"I guess that's true."

She flips through the pages, and Jihoon reaches for her wrist. He doesn't touch her, but the heat of his hand stops her.

"These four," he says, and flips to four different interviews, "say that the Final Day is coming."

"They all also mentioned the Antichrist."

Jihoon frowns. "The Antichrist?"

She looks up at him. "Maybe they think the Antichrist is coming."

"Very specific events have to happen for that," he mutters.

"Well, what else could the Antichrist mean?"

Jihoon shakes his head. "I need to think on that." 

The interviews don't yield much more, other than to tell them that the demons don't care whether humanity survives or not. If anything, they are pretty anti-humanity.

She sighs and leans back into her pillows. The notebook falls closed in her lap. She looks over at him. "How long have you and Seokmin known each other?"

Jihoon blinks at the random question. But they do seem done talking about the Grand Plan. "We met in the 60s."

"The 1960s?"

"Sorry, the 1360s."

"Oh."

Jihoon snorts at her surprised expression. "I've lived a long time."

She hums and studies his face. There seems to be a question she wants to ask, but Jihoon senses she holds back. "Where did you guys meet?"

"He bumped into me in front of a church."

"You were in front of a church?"

Jihoon shrugs. "Just scaring some God-fearing people."

"Did Seokmin lecture you?"

"Incessantly, but he seemed to like me. I don't know why. He invited me to his shop for tea."

"Shop?"

"He had a tea shop at the time. Sold all sorts of varieties of tea, dried leaves, the tea bag was starting to become an idea. Didn't really have the plastic thing down yet, so the paper would melt in the hot water."

"Doesn't sound delicious."

"Or popular. He had to wait a while for tea bags." Jihoon describes a fragrant tea store, the walls covered in shelves that stocked all sorts of tea varieties. Many of them are extinct now. The floors and counters are so well greased that they're reflective. And Seokmin was very particular that his tea be accessible to everyone. So, he had another selection of easier to get teas that the less wealthy people could afford.

"We talked until nightfall."

"Wow."

Jihoon nods, casting his mind back to that first meeting centuries ago. "He was so sure I was an angel then."

"Really?"

"The eyes eventually gave it away." He looks over at her, his eyes flicking black and green. "I hadn't quite learned the trick to keep them... normal looking. Wore a lot of hats and sunglasses at the time."

"Ominous."

"Well, you know. People could get killed looking like me."

They let that sit for a while before she asks, "Did you?"

"Get killed?" Jihoon snorts. "They tried. Seokmin got upset, though, the second time he realized that I was possessing humans and—"  He remembers he's talking to a human and stops himself. "Anyway, I learned to play different tricks."

She tips her head, but Jihoon doesn't seem to want to elaborate.

Or rather, he does want to elaborate, but seems worried that she'll judge him.

And she probably would. Human and demon scales of acceptable are definitely different.

"How did you meet Seokmin?" he asks her. He slips the notebook out of her lap and places it on the bedside table.

"High school. He was in my literature class."

"Did you know he was an angel?"

She pauses to consider this. "When I first met him, I wouldn't say I knew exactly. I was 15, maybe? Linnaeus didn't tell me the truth about my parents until I was 16. But when he did, I was certain about Seokmin."

"And you never told him?"

She shrugs. "Never really came up in conversation. And then he was busy becoming a lawyer. Not that he ever really studied."

"Of all professions, I would never have expected him to become a lawyer."

"He has businesses on the side. He's his own lawyer. I don't know how ethical it is, but no one's stopping him." She wiggles further under the covers.

Jihoon gets to his feet once she's asleep. It's nearly imperceptible the way she falls asleep. It was as if he'd blinked and she was unconscious. 

He catches one last glimpse of her as he shuts the lights off and closes the door.

At the picnic the next afternoon, she learns a few things very quickly about having a demon.

One, this one hates the sun. Jihoon insists on staying in the shade for as long as possible. When the boys drag him to play foot volleyball, he plays, but he also slathers on as much sunscreen as demonly possible.

Two, they can't get too far away from each other. They've tested it enough times to know 2 metres is about the limit before she feels a tug at her waist and suddenly Jihoon's at her side. The invisible tether's pull is so uncomfortable that she's just been lounging near him in the shade of a tree.

Three, it's evident he has a moral compass. And it's confusing.

"Stop," Jihoon says.

Lying on her stomach on their picnic blanket, she has her sketchbook open in front of her. Jihoon leans back on his palms, watching her sketch, the two of them trying to come up with some sort of coherent plan.

"You can't keep assuming that I'm going to take your soul."

She rolls her eyes. "How many times has Seokmin needed to heal me today?"

"How was I to know that demons liked sunbathing?"

While there isn't any reason why Jihoon can't be around them, the demon has suddenly gotten very cautious whenever other demons are around. He's reached out for her to take on her human scent, forgetting that his skin is the temperature of the sun. More than once, Seokmin has had to discreetly heal various parts of her body.

Her lower back is still sore.

"All your friends think we're dating. It's getting very bothersome trying to divert their minds."

She waves him off, as she taps the back of her pen against the paper, thinking. "Leave it. They think I'm dating every man they don't know."

"You're okay with them assuming that?" Less strain on him.

"We've been together all afternoon, can't leave each other's sides, and you keep touching me. So, yeah, Demon, it kinda looks like we like each other." She stabs the sketchbook. "I have no idea what we do. We don't know what they want, we don't know what was on that computer. You said all the bad stuff, the war, the uprisings in different countries, the pandemic, could be demons edging it all along. But all of that has historically happened before. They mentioned the Antichrist a few times." She stares down at her notebook, which just has doodles of Pup and the boys throughout. "What are they trying to do?"

It clicks for Jihoon then. He straightens, his eyes widening, turning cat-like to the deep human brown.

"You look like you're going to possess someone? Or is that your idea face?" She looks out to the grass where the boys are playing. "Is Pup okay?"

Pup is happily playing with the humans.

"Your mother doesn't know because what's coming doesn't directly have anything to do with us. It's why the demons have all been giving vague answers." Jihoon gets to his feet and pulls her to standing.

Before the burn on her hand can turn third degree, she pulls away. "What's going on?"

He picks up her bag and guides it over her shoulder before dragging her by the bag strap towards the car. "You said it right there, and it all just came together in my head. A new war, uprisings, pandemic. There's death everywhere. It's so obvious, but most demons wouldn't think specifically of it. But clearly it's been on some of their minds. What does all of that sound like to you?"

She frowns.

"Did your parents not bring you up on theology?"

"It shouldn't surprise you that we typically avoided that sort of stuff in my household."

"How's that even possible knowing who your parents are, I'll never understand." He goes to the driver's side of his car. "The Four Horsemen."

Her jaw drops at that realization. "That... is surprisingly obvious." She tosses her bag into the car. "Let me just ask Wonwoo to take care of Pup. I'll be right back." 

Jihoon watches her hurry back to the picnic. 

And then he hears someone call out to him. With a name he doesn't like to use.

The demon turns and comes face-to-face with Linnaeus.

"I thought that was you." Linnaeus looks past Jihoon to his human walking over to her friends. She joins the game for a bit before stopping it completely to say something. "Thought I recognized you in the elevator." He turns back to Jihoon with a smirk. "Xero's daughter, I see."

Jihoon's eyes narrow, but he says nothing. Linnaeus always liked a fight.

"Whatever you and that human are up to, I suggest that you stop what you're doing. You do not wish to fall out of favour with Him."

When Jihoon still doesn't respond, Linnaeus tries a different angle.

"That human of yours may have a larger role to play than you think. What do you think was going to happen when Xero and that angel she 'fell in love with' mated?" Linnaeus shivers before a grin grows on his face. "A catastrophe."

Jihoon wants to say something in her defence, but her voice echoes in his head. He's just trying to scare you. Whatever lead you're following is getting a result the demons don't want.

"Do you really want to continue to live in this, in this, this purgatory? Are you not sick of needing to deal with the angels constantly? The Grand Plan is near completion, and you are doing nothing to help it along."

Linnaeus continues trying to convince Jihoon to stop, but then the human, Seokmin, and Hansol start walking over.

"I would reconsider where your alliances lie."

"Who was that?" Seokmin asks, his eyes following Linnaeus's figure as it saunters off. 

She doesn't say anything, just watches him walk away. When she meets Jihoon's eye over the car roof; he's sure that the human knows exactly who he'd been talking to. 

They all climb into the car.

"Wow, sweet ride, Mr. Demon," Hansol says as he puts his seatbelt on.

"He's moving up on my human list," Jihoon says to her, as he turns the key in the ignition. "I won't even demand that he get out of the vehicle."

She snorts, her smile playful. "Get off your high horse. Where's—?"

Seokmin sits back in his seat, his palm hitting his forehead with a loud thud. "Horse. The apocalypse! How could I have missed that?"

Jihoon glances at the angel in his rearview mirror as he pulls out of the parking spot. "The human helped me with that one."

"But where exactly are we going?" she asks.

"We're going to Mrs. Han's store." He swerves into the left turn lane, ignoring the barrage of honking. "It's the only time we've sensed something evil without a body being attached to it." He speeds off as soon as the light turns green.

And then the lights don't stop being green.

Hansol, who is gripping both his seat belt and the handle of the door with his eyes shut tight, asks, "Why though?"

Jihoon's so focused on driving that he doesn't remember to scowl when answering Hansol's question. "The hospital and patients I could tie back to demons. The abandoned building that we visited is a demon body dumping ground. Demons are stirring up shit here, but it's not the only side of the story." He pauses to whip around a corner, nearly missing the turn.

Seokmin and Hansol both gasp and hold their breath. Meanwhile, she's dozed off in the passenger seat again.

Jihoon catches the side of her head on another turn and nudges her back into her seat.

"What concerned me is that Seokmin said angels are manipulating humans too."

Hansol gasps. With his eyes still closed, he turns to where he thinks Seokmin is. "What? You never told me that."

"Humanity is like putting the world in limbo. While you all still exist, we don't live in eternity," is Seokmin's vague answer.

Hansol doesn't like it. "I don't want to know more." He turns away, wincing at the next sharp turn. "Does your plan involve us all surviving today, Mr. Demon?"

"The plan is to get in there and demand to know what's going on."

"Oh, we're not even going to be subtle?" Seokmin inhales sharply on a tight turn. "God, Jihoon, can you slow down?"

"The world could be ending soon and you want me to slow down?"

"What is the likelihood that the world is going to be ending—?" Before Seokmin can finish his question, Mrs. Han's shop comes into view. The black smoke is now billowing out of the front door and seeping out through the front window.

As Jihoon comes to a stop, his human rouses. She has to blink a few times to readjust to the sunlight, and then fiddle with her hair. "Hmm," she leans forward to peer out the windshield, "seems we are right on time." She grins at Jihoon and hops out the car.

Jihoon and Seokmin exchange looks.

"Something's weird now," Seokmin agrees to Jihoon's unasked question.

The demon slams his car door closed. "You think?"

part 12

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 10)

hi everyone! thoughts on God of Music??? I finally listened to it over the weekend (still have to listen to the mini album). Maybe it's just me or maybe i'm just into different music these days, but it was not my cup of tea. it felt too cookie cutter for me? the meaning was sweet and the visuals were vibrant. loved the saturation of the video. naturally they all looked great. and i loved getting to see coups' parts. but overall? i was underwhelmed by the song. shall listen to the whole mini album before i post again. then we'll see. BIPOC rec (been a while since i've done one of these): Portrait of a Thief - Grace D. Li. A book about art, art heists, colonialism of Western museums, experience as children of immigrants. For a debut novel, I was pleasantly impressed. Was a bit disappointed, but overall, a good read.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 3.7k (a bit longer than the past parts, just because I didn't really wanna break these sections up)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9

"You're going to have to talk to them alone," Jihoon says when they pull up to the first house. "Because if it's a demon—"

"Okay, but we need a real game plan now," she says. "Because what are we trying to do?"

Jihoon taps his fingers on the steering wheel. "We obviously know what they're trying to do, but how are they trying to do it? What's the purpose of going through humans and dumping their bodies?"

"My guess was create as much havoc as possible without drawing attention from the angels."

"Confirm it."

She frowns but decides this isn't the hill to die on. She climbs out of the car, but Jihoon quickly leans across the gear shift so he can meet her eye.

"Scream if they try to possess you or kill you."

"And you'll come running?" She slams the door closed. She looks both ways before crossing the street, because dying from a car accident on her way to ask a potential demon what the fuck he's doing is not how she wants to go out.

She glances down at her outfit, realizes who she can pretend to be, and pulls her phone out. Luckily, this is also the bag with her tiny sketchbook in it, so she takes that out too. When she knocks at the door, she has a cover story ready.

The person who opens the door is the person they're looking for: Rhett Palmater, gang member.

Well, ex-gang member. She'd had time to do a brief social media search, scrolling and reading posts prior to his hospital stay. They show an ex-gang member trying to turn his life around. Until he got shot. And wound up in his mother's care.

"Hi, are you Rhett Palmater?"

The man gives her a once over. When his gaze meets hers, she knows. There's a demon in there. His pupils have either dilated so much that they've completely overtaken his irises, or possession changes eye colour. His eyes almost feel hollow.

"I am."

Voice sounds normal enough.

She makes up a name and tells him she's a journalist. "I'm doing a story on gang members who are interested in leaving the gang life. I was just wondering if you would be willing to chat about your story." When he doesn't respond immediately, she adds, "I wouldn't name you, of course. I know you were in the hospital recently."

Rhett gives her a slow once over. This would have been unsettling in and of itself. However, knowing there's a demon possessing this man's soul, she feels even more discomforted. Her mother's words ring in her head. 

Stand straight, be powerful. There aren't any other humans with angel-demon blood running through them. She can feel her mother straightening her spine. Don't let them in.

At that last statement from her mother, she thinks of Jihoon. Who she had definitely let into her head, even if it was just to ease her suffering.

"You came alone?" Rhett asks. His eyes go out to the street over her head.

She nods.

The way his lip curls sends a shiver down her spine. "Come in."

Jihoon watches the human disappear into the home. When the door shuts, Jihoon frowns. He is suddenly feeling very antsy about her going in alone. He hesitates, worried about getting caught. Resigned, he gets out and walks across the street. Sneaking around the side of the house, he tries to find a window he can see into.

The first few windows look into a relatively empty living room. They don't seem to be there.

However, he notices a faint smoke trail on the floor, floating out from another doorway. But he can't get too far, because he's met with a gate.

Experience tells him that this gate will be noisy. Experience also tells him that there will likely be a dog on the other side that he'll need to placate. Jihoon soundlessly scales the gate and peers over the edge. Sure enough, there's a dog staring up at him. It's a black dog, medium-sized. Jihoon's bad at differentiating between dog breeds, but black dog and unlikely to maul or attack him are the only things he really needs to know.

The dog is quiet, ears back. Jihoon swears is shaking.

This dog is not going to attack, but it may definitely start barking. Jihoon slides down the other side and squats in front of the dog, one hand out to it.

Jihoon tries to keep his voice gentle and non-threatening. He lets the dog decide whether it wants to come to him or not.

It sniffs him out but recoils so quickly, Jihoon realizes what the dog is smelling.

You know I'm a demon.

"Are you scared of your owner in there?" Jihoon whispers. "He's probably really different from what you remember, hmm?"

Jihoon takes the time to talk to the dog for a while, reassuring it that it will be okay. "I need to check on the person your owner let in. Is that okay?"

The dog doesn't know what he's saying, that's obvious, but Jihoon still thinks he should ask for its consent. When the dog simply watches him as he checks a few more windows, Jihoon has made a decision.

The dog trails after him as he moves along the side of the house. Jihoon peers through every window until he finally finds one he can look through that won't get him caught. The human has her back against the wall, which is probably a smart move; the demon across from her.

They each have a glass of water before them, the human also has a notebook in front of her. He wonders what she's asking, because it seems the demon is doing most of the talking.

Is this demon just laying out the Grand Plan? That would make his life a lot easier if that was the case.

Jihoon feels the dog curl around his feet. It seems to be sleeping; most of the shaking seems to have stopped. He gives the dog a quick pat before straightening up again.

He happens to catch the human's eye. Her gaze darts back to the demon across from her. She nods and jots something down.

Jihoon makes sure the rest of the interaction goes well, and when they start to stand, Jihoon acts on the decision he'd made earlier. He scoops the dog up and hurries to the gate. He launches the dog over the fence, making sure to quickly follow after it. He manages to catch the dog before it hits the ground, and it stares up at him with fearful eyes.

"Sorry, can't scale a gate, race some humans, and carry you. Come on." He sprints across the street, shutting the car door, dog tossed in the back seat, just as the human exits Rhett Palmater's home.

He placates the dog with head pats until she climbs into the car next to him. Her cheeks are red, and her hands are shaking.

"Good?" Jihoon asks. He scans over her, making sure she hasn't been possessed.

"Fine. That was terrifying." She takes a few deep breaths before realizing they aren't alone in the car. "Where did you get a dog?"

"I didn't get a dog. You got a dog."

"Where did you get me a dog?" She twists in her seat and the dog rests its head on the center console between them. When she holds a hand out to it, it nudges its nose against her fingers. She gives it a scratch behind the ears.

"I stole the dog for you."

Her jaw drops. "You stole a dog of an ex-gang member?"

"I stole the dog of an ex-gang member who is now being possessed by a demon for you."

She shakes her head. "This is a lot to process."

"What did you learn? What were you writing in there?"

She relays what had happened from the second she stepped foot into the house. As she does so, she punches in the next patient's address into the GPS.

"How did you even get him to talk about the demon stuff?" Jihoon asks, pulling out of the parking spot. Their new furry acquirement moves to the window and watches the house disappear.

She reaches back a hand to pet the dog. "Why don't you sit and watch the traffic?" she asks the dog. It moves to her side of the car, and she asks Jihoon to crack the window open.

Reluctantly, because he feels stupid for indulging this dog's whims even more, he opens the window a crack.

"Once I got him talking, it was actually pretty easy to ask him anything. What's he going to assume? That I know he's a demon? We started talking about Heaven and Hell. Started talking about the reasons why he wanted to leave the gang. I asked him if it was because he found God."

Jihoon snorts. "What did he say?"

"Started bad-mouthing God, obviously. Asked him if he believed in that kinda stuff. God and the devil and whatnot. He asked me if I really believe the world is so good. I said no, and he went on this passion speech about how the world is tipping to chaos."

"Tipping to chaos," Jihoon echoes.

She nods. "He mentioned that there are servants 'all over the globe'."

"So, it's not isolated here." Jihoon flicks his left turn signal and listens to its rhythmic click as he thinks.

"No, and he also alluded to something big coming. I asked how he knew and if he knew what it was, but he wouldn't speak more on it. Thought I should get out of there before I could show my hand. My questions were getting pretty specific."

Jihoon hums. It was a good call to get out of there. "Something big is coming."

"Yes."

"Nothing in his house to show what that is?"

She shakes her head. "No. He was clearly in the middle of working when I got there."

"Working? On what?"

"No idea." She turns when the dog starts whimpering. "Do you want to come sit here?"

"No, human. He stays back there."

"You can't be allergic to dogs."

"Why can't I be?"

"You're a demon. Does your body even work like a human's?"

"It might."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine." Unbuckling her seatbelt, she grumbles about useless demons. This time, he definitely hears her. Then she's climbing over the gearshift.

"What are you doing?" Jihoon demands. He nudges her butt to help her into the back seat.

"You've kidnapped a terrified dog, and it doesn't even know where we're going or who we are." The dog rests its head in her lap and the whimpering stops. She scratches behind its ears and takes a few deep breaths. "You're going to need a bath when we get home, pup."

"So, the possessed human said that something big is coming, we don't know what."

"Well, let's see if the others will be more forthcoming."

Two of the patients weren't home. Neighbours had told her that one had gotten evicted; the other had moved abroad. Another patient hadn't been seen or heard from in months.

"I called the police, because I was getting worried," The elderly neighbour had said when she'd knocked on their door. "She doesn't have any family members, but I know she was putting herself through school."

She doesn't ask what exactly the elderly woman meant. But she hopes the girl knew that someone was looking out for her.

"We'd made a sort of code. She'd knock on my door in a specific pattern to let me know she was back and safe. I haven't heard the knock in a while, and then she just stopped coming home."

She can guess where the young woman had gone.

She collapses onto her couch. Yawning, she lays onto her side. Both angel and demon are now standing in her living room. Hansol's on his way with a very late dinner. Her new dog, Pup, is curled on the floor next to the couch.

She and Jihoon go back and forth on what it could mean that two of the patients aren't home. They've been at it all day.

"Well, Rhett did say there were servants all over the globe," Jihoon starts.

"You think they've moved to join some sort of cause?"

Seokmin has been watching their conversation volley, impressed at the way they finish each other's thoughts. "Seems you two are getting on well."

She and Jihoon share a look before he begins pacing in front of the TV. She turns to Seokmin. "What did you and Sollie find at Mrs. Han's?"

Before Seokmin can respond, the door opens.

"I've brought food for the supernaturals!" Hansol calls. He joins them in the living room and kneels next to the coffee table. The man has been obsessed with tacos lately for some reason. Despite Jihoon's annoying protests at tacos, she'd told Hansol to buy whatever he was craving.

When he notices Pup on the floor by her feet, Hansol stares a few seconds before saying, "I didn't get any tacos for our new friend."

She scratches Pup behind the ears. Both feel much better now that he's had a bath. "That's okay. We stopped by to grab food for him on the way home."

Hansol doles out the food to his friends, already knowing what they wanted. He looks up at Jihoon. "Figured you'd want something spicy. Being a demon and all." He sets a box on the table with four large Xs on it.

"Does that mean you took all the toppings off?" Jihoon asks as he picks up the box.

She chuckles as she tilts her head to take a bite. "No. It means it's going to literally burn a human mouth."

"Yeah, they triple checked that that is what I asked for on the phone," Hansol says. He falls back on his butt. "I hope it's okay, hyung."

The honorific makes her choke on her taco. "You're going to start being casual with the demon?"

Hansol shrugs. He pulls a tiny piece of meat from his taco and holds it out to Pup. It seems Pup has gotten used to the demon and angel aura, but he clearly prefers the humans. "I need to be nice to the demon, don't I? He can take my soul."

She glances at Jihoon, who is munching quite happily through his first spicy taco. "I don't think this demon wants your soul."

Once everyone's settled and she's brought refreshments to the table, Jihoon asks again what the angel and Hansol found at Mrs. Han's.

"Well, as I was about to say, Hansol said all she had back there was a computer."

"Seokmin hyung got me in through the back alleyway door."

"We were debating just going in there without my distracting her," Seokmin continues. "But I was worried she'd be sat right at the computer."

"Which she was. I caught her leaving just as I pushed the door open. But anyway, while hyung was distracting Mrs. Han, I poked around in the back. There isn't anything back there. It's just a storage room, and she has a computer."

With his mouth full, Jihoon asks what was on the computer.

She waves him off for bad manners, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Jihoon rolls his eyes.

"Well, she was watching a drama."

"Did you click around on the computer?" she asks.

"I snooped, but there didn't seem to be anything of interest on it. But I can't say for sure."

She sighs and turns to Seokmin. "Theories?"

"For the black smoke literally spilling out of her back room? Sollie took photos." He juts his chin in Hansol's direction. "Show them."

"She didn't hear the shutter sound?" she asks, stepping over Pup to sit by Hansol on the floor. Pup scoots forward to rest his head on her leg.

"I downloaded another photo app."

Jihoon moves to stand behind them, careful not to drop any food on the floor in case Pup tries to eat it. "Why?"

"Turning off the shutter sound on the phone's camera is illegal," she explains.

Jihoon's expression can only be described as one of disdain.

"It's made me very aware of people taking creepy pictures of me."

"Then can't everyone do what Hansol did?"

"Sure, but for some reason, they don't."

"Oh-kay," Seokmin butts in. "Hansol, photos."

Hansol holds his phone up so that everyone can see. Then he flicks through very slowly.

"Well, it's obviously coming from the computer," Jihoon states. "Now, I really wish you'd looked at the computer properly."

She swats Jihoon's leg behind her, as she leans against Hansol's arm to get a closer look. "Sol can't see it."

"See what?" Hansol asks.

She gets up, despite Pup's protests, and eases around Jihoon to get to her desk. When she returns, she has a scrap piece of paper and a pencil in hand. She does a very arbitrary sketch of the desk, computer, and the black smoke coming off the computer. "To us, the photo looks like this."

"That's... what all your building drawings look like."

"And that's what we're concerned about," Seokmin explains.

"But those were associated with bodies when we went." Jihoon finishes the last of his taco. He straightens up to look at Seokmin, arms crossed over his chest. "It's not just bodies."

"You guys said that all the people that you spoke to said something big was coming."

"Which we assumed was the Grand Plan."

"It ends in the Final Day. But it's hard to stop it if we don't know how they're doing it."

"Which is the problem."

"So, we've gotten nowhere."

The humans watch them talk before Hansol says, "Well, we're somewhere. You guys thought it was just bodies. We can assume now that it's anything 'bad', and can be attributable to the Grand Plan."

"Attributable," she murmurs, nudging Hansol. "Good word."

Hansol smirks.

"Hansol's right," she says so that the supernaturals can hear. "We know that they're thinking that something else is happening."

Jihoon hums. "Do we know that?"

"Yes." She tips her head back to meet his eye. "Demons have been pretty direct in my knowledge. 'Something big happening' is really vague by demon standards. That suggests that they also don't know what's going on."

Seokmin nods, picking up another taco. "That's a good point. It must be something that the demons can't even fathom."

Jihoon doesn't know why, but he feels offended.

"Could it be possible that Mrs. Han is possessed too? And whatever I took pictures of are just remnants from her having been in the room?" Hansol asks. He looks between Jihoon and Seokmin. "Can demons even possess angels?"

The two supernaturals size each other up.

"Unknown." Jihoon's gaze drops down to Pup, who is looking up at him with begging eyes. "You can't eat this. Steal from Hansol."

Pup wiggles his way between her and Hansol.

She leans back on her hands to look up at Jihoon. "What do you need to possess someone? A vulnerable host, right?"

"Sometimes people just let us possess them." He scowls at her. He actually hates this parasite description.

She either doesn't notice or doesn't care about Jihoon's irritation. She leans against Hansol, deep in thought. 

"We can't just ask her, can we?" Hansol asks.

"Who? Mrs. Han?" She shakes her head.

Jihoon looks to Seokmin. He hadn't been paying much attention to whether the older angel did or did not have a soul. "Did you notice Mrs. Han having a soul?"

Seokmin nods, running his hand over his face. "She had one."

"Then it's most likely the computer." She turns to Hansol, making sure not to squish Pup in the process. "Can I see the picture again?"

Hansol hands the phone over to her. She zooms in on the computer screen.

"What are you trying to see?" Seokmin squats down next to her to look over her shoulder.

"Whatever's on her dang screen."

Despite zooming in as much as she can, the icons are still quite blurry. She, Hansol, and Seokmin are able to pick out some of the obvious applications. They go back and forth on a few of them, Seokmin going so far as to looking them up. They're left with 3 that they can't identify.

"Why does this old woman have so many apps?" Jihoon laid down on the couch, Pup snuggling against his side. He gives the dog languid pets and can feel Pup fall asleep again.

Angrily, Hansol ruffles his hair. "I'm just so frustrated that I didn't think to take a picture of the actual computer up close."

"You were panicking." She yawns. "It's fine. But unfortunately, this actually tells us very little."

Jihoon studies his human, notices the way she leans into Seokmin. "Maybe we call it a day." He nods at Seokmin. "For the humans."

Seokmin glances at the time. It's early for either human to be going to bed, but then he notices her eyes closed, now muttering to Hansol about what she needs for a dog.

"We still don't have a plan," Seokmin says to Jihoon as the demon leads them out of the apartment.

The humans trail behind, discussing picnic plans with the others.

"Yeah, I'm down," she yawns. "Just..." She rubs her eyes, yawning so much she feels her jaw crack. "Just set it up. The demon has to come too."

Hansol nods with a smile at Jihoon. "Of course."

Jihoon nudges her towards her room once Hansol and Seokmin leave. "Go sleep. You're tired."

With one eye open, seemingly half her body already asleep, she says, "You're being nice. And taking care of me. It's weird." Pup waits for her by her bedroom door.

"You're no use to me tired. Go. Sleep. Now."

part 11

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 9)

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.6k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8

After some maneuvering, they make it back to the car. The hand that had been enveloped in his goes straight for one of the cool cans in the bag. She sighs in relief.

"Have you told Seokmin?"

"Not yet. Surprisingly, I need free hands to text or call." She goes to Jihoon's car screen and taps around. "Doesn't this thing do calling?"

"What?"

"You have a GPS and a touch screen in your car. There must be a way to call people."

Jihoon scoffs. "I don't know. The fancy gadgets don't interest me."

"Demons are surprisingly useless." She says it with a laugh, so it soothes some of Jihoon's annoyance. Giving up on figuring out his car, she pulls her phone out of her pocket and calls Seokmin, putting him on speaker.

"Isn't he at work?"

"You expected me to tell him when my hands were full, and now, you're concerned that he's busy?" It's the first time Jihoon's heard actual irritation in the human's voice. "Seokmin owns the company anyway."

"We dropped him off at a law firm."

She shrugs. "Perks of being the oldest, I guess." She holds the phone up between them as it rings.

"Not in human years, he's not."

"He bought the company a few years after we graduated high school." She waves him to be quiet when the phone connects. "Seokminnie."

"You need something. What is it?"

She chuckles. "The demon needs you to come on an escapade with us later this evening."

Jihoon shakes his head. "Tomorrow. We're not going to be back in time for it to all seem normal."

An idea pops into her head. "You know who we can send? Hansol. One sec, Seokminnie." She adds Hansol to the call. The boy's voice sounds distracted when he answers. "Hey, Sollie. Just five minutes."

Hansol takes a deep breath, as if he's just come up for air. "You're on a timer. What do you need?"

"I need you to go to Mrs. Han's convenience store with Seokmin today."

Hansol hesitates. "Why...?"

"I'm not trying to set you up with Ara, relax. Jihoon and I need you to get into Mrs. Han's back room."

"What?"

She catches him up. And luckily, her best friend takes all the confusing news in stride. He'll pepper her with questions later, but for now, Hansol manages to contain all of his curiosity.

"So, we need you to get into her back office and see what exactly is going on in there. I know you can't see what I can see or what Jihoon and Seokmin can see, but we know that Mrs. Han will only step away to talk with an angel. That angel is going to have to be Seokmin."

"It's most likely bodies back there, Hansol," Jihoon says. "But if you can also figure out why this angel would have those bodies, hey, that'd be great."

Hansol clears his throat, and they all hear the alarm go off on his end. Seokmin jumps in here. "We'll deal with it. Sol, I'll pick you up after I'm done at work and we'll head over there. We can even stop into the flower shop for a bit."

She smiles at Hansol's awkward sputtering. "Stay safe, you two."

That sobers Hansol up. "You too, noona."

Jihoon waits for the phone to be put away before he starts to speak. "That's only the first location."

"I know. But why did the demons choose these specific spots?" She leans back in her seat, watching the city go by. "Why the convenience store? The abandoned building makes sense, because it's unlikely that humans will stumble upon it. But people walk into Mrs. Han's convenience store all day. Why there?"

"Say your mother's hospital isn't the only place they're collecting bodies."

"Don't you need to have a susceptible host to possess?"

"We're not parasites," Jihoon argues. "I could possess you right now if I wanted."

She shakes her head. "No, because I have a strong will. You guys choose humans who are weak-willed or vulnerable."

Jihoon's eyes narrow, taking his gaze off the road for a moment.

She uses the bottom of the cola can to turn his face back to the road. "Mom made sure that I knew that none of the demons who entered our home would hurt me. And that if any of them tried anything on me, that a strong will to live was a sufficient deterrent for a demon." She motions towards Jihoon. "Clearly didn't work on you, but it's worked on every other demon I've met."

Jihoon scowls. Even if he wanted this human's soul, there is no reasonable way to get it. However, it's really difficult to tell if she even has a soul. Which has been the most unsettling part about this human among all the things that unsettle him. He's wondered a few times since meeting her parents whether the ambiguity comes from the angel and demon blood in her veins. 

"What I don't understand," Jihoon says, bringing them back to the task at hand, "is why an angel would be involved. In the off-chance event that that woman befriended a demon, why would she get involved? Your parents keep their angel and demon jobs separate."

"You and Seokmin don't." She gauges his expression and changes the subject. "We're just coming up with more questions and no solutions."

They settle into their thoughts. He can tell she's falling asleep next to him again. He digs around the center console for any CDs to pass the time (while also manipulating time and space a bit to ease the car a bit faster). 

"Here," she mumbles. Drowsily, she sits up again and plays around with the touch screen.

Jihoon watches out of the corner of his eye. "What are you doing?"

"Connecting my phone to your car." A ding sounds through the car. Now, that they don't need to call anyone, the car is completely compliant. "It's paired. So," she settles back and closes her eyes again, "just ask Siri to play music."

"Who's Siri?"

"The woman in my phone."

"The who?"

"Mom trapped a woman in my phone to do things for me."

Jihoon gapes at her, but the human has her face turned away from him and is curled up ready to sleep. "And she does them willingly?"

She hums. "She's never disobeyed me before. Only issue is if she's been sleeping a while, so the connection is bad or she just doesn't understand what I'm saying."

Jihoon's brow furrows.

"Try it. Ask her to play something." When he doesn't, she looks over at him. The expression on Jihoon's face elicits a chuckle. "When was the last time you were on Earth?"

"Just before the millennium."

She smirks before curling back onto her side. "Hey, Siri, play 90s music."

They arrive at the hospital in record time. When she wakes and sees the time, she pats her body to make sure she's still in one piece. Jihoon's grumbling under his breath to her overreaction is just a cherry on top.

"What floor does your mom work on?" Jihoon asks as they head towards the main entrance.

"Don't know the floor, but I know she works in the ICU."

Putting the ex-right hand in the ICU to source bodies for whatever the cause is, is almost too genius. Jihoon trails after the human, taking in all the people hanging around the lobby. It's teeming with people, wheelchairs, students, volunteers, nurses, and doctors. Many of them are headed to the coffee shop; others are sat in the lobby chairs.

She bypasses the volunteers at the reception desk and heads straight for the elevators.

"Do you know where you're going?" Jihoon asks.

She points to the sign that tells them the floor of the ICU before pressing the call button for the elevator. "We're going to have to look through the hospital records."

"Okay. You have a plan?"

"You're the plan."

"I'm the what?"

Luckily, the elevator is empty. "Mom sent me a list of the names of the patients that she can remember. For us to find them, alive or not, I need to find these records. And if you don't mind, I'd like if you distracted every person of authority that might ask me what the hell I'm doing." She leads him off the elevator. "And we might have to meet some of your demon friends today."

"We what?" Jihoon groans.

"She warned me that the demons are asking for more bodies. She says they didn't have anyone until today. So, your friends may be here."

"Not my friends." His hand goes red before slipping into hers. He lets out one long yawn.

"Oh, we're just done asking for permission." She adjusts her grip in his. "You've now also 1) put a timer on us, and 2) made it so we have to be seen together."

"Then you're going to have to work fast."

Jihoon swears he hears her grumbling about the uselessness of demons. She smiles at the nurses at the front desk and slips around the side. Jihoon catches the women watching them, but he easily diverts their attention back to their work.

Suddenly, she bends over as if to tie her shoe.

"You can't let go of my hand. I've already counted two demons and we've been here all of four seconds," Jihoon hisses.

She straightens up with a key card in her hand. Jihoon frowns before he realizes that it's her mother's. They continue down the hallway, her eyes darting to the doors to find the right one while trying to look casual.

Jihoon suddenly stops. "It has to be this one."

She glances around. It doesn't look that different from the others they passed. "Why?"

"Reinforced steel, key card access required, and it isn't labeled like the other doors." Jihoon tugs her closer. "Humans are so worried about personal information theft."

This time, he thinks he hears her praising him, but he isn't quite sure because the beep of the key card granting them access overpowers her voice. They duck inside and are met with not only filing cabinets, but also a computer at the desk. She leads him to the desk and shakes the mouse.

"What?" Jihoon asks. Her expression looks annoyed. Unusual for this human, which in and of itself seemed unusual for humans. The general look of annoyance seemed universal.

"We need a password, which I don't have." She turns to the filing cabinets. "Which means we need to go through these by hand." Her fingers release his hand. "Which means I need this back."

Jihoon stands by the door, his eyes closed. "I'm giving you five minutes."

Human, human, human.

He hears the frantic flipping through the files.

Human, human, de—

Jihoon jerks back towards her and grabs her hand.

She hisses in pain, the burn causing her to drop to her knees. Jihoon gies her a gentle tug to her feet. He doesn't apologize, but he does burn his other hand and takes hers until the demon passes. Grumbling and taking steadying breaths, she flips through more files with her uninjured hand. There are no letters on the front of the drawers to denote what could be contained within the files. So, she has to check. Once she learns the filing system, she's able to systematically go through her mother's short list of names.

The burning in her hand is only mildly distracting, even when he lets go to stand by the door again. She swears Jihoon's manipulating her mind.

But even though she's distracted from the pain, her body is still reacting. Her eyes well up with tears, and she catches sight of the skin blistering as she flips through file after file. Then she has to rifle through papers, taking pictures of each one.

She manages to find all nine people, though she doesn't have the wherewithal to read anything fully.

"Get me out of here," she says. She debates holding out her good hand to redistribute the pain but decides against it. Even with whatever Jihoon's doing to her head, she feels discomfort when his skin makes contact with hers.

"Okay?"

The human's eyes keep going in and out of focus.

"Well, no." She blinks a few times. "But until I look properly, I won't know how bad it is."

Just as he's about to turn the door knob, he notices her hands are empty. "Where are the files?"

"Photos are on my phone. Get me out of here, please."

Jihoon guides her out of the room, past the nurses' station, and into the elevator. Where they wind up right next to a...

Demon.

Jihoon shifts closer to her, using her to block the demon's view of him. But he can see the demon eyeing them.

"Per chance... do I...?" The demon moves closer, but she doesn't turn her head.

"Dude, give me space." She takes a step towards Jihoon, brushing against him. "You're giving me the creeps."

The change in her tone is surprising. Jihoon tries not to react.

"I did not mean to—"

"Seriously." She looks him dead in the eye. "Back. Off."

"Ah." The demon huffs, and his voice deadpans. "I do know you." He returns to his side of the elevator. "You're Xero's 'daughter'."

"Which is why I told you to back off, demon."

"That is Linnaeus to you." Linnaeus glances over at Jihoon. "Who's this? You've got a boyfriend now, hmm?"

"Yes. And you're also giving him the creeps." Luckily, the elevator doors open before Linnaeus can scrutinize them further. She squeezes Jihoon's hand to encourage him to get off first.

"A nice human boyfriend I see? Your mother surely would have preferred a demon."

"She also probably would have preferred to keep her soul and status. But needs must when the devil farts in your direction." She ignores Jihoon's snort of laughter as he drags her into the sunlight. "Have a good day, demon."

"Who says that?" Jihoon hisses, struggling to hide his smile. While he hates when humans take that sarcastic, cutting tone with him; with other demons, it's much more fun.

And from her, particularly charming.

Once out of Linnaeus's watchful eye, she slips her hand out of his. "I heard it in a Youtube video." As she walks around to her side of his car, she takes a breath before checking her hand. Her palm is warm, but surprisingly void of blisters. It also doesn't hurt as much as it had earlier. "Did you heal me?"

"I don't do that." He adjusts his hat, running his fingers through his hair before putting it back on. "Why?"

She shrugs. "Never mind. Thanks for fucking with my head in there."

Jihoon blinks in surprise. "Didn't know you noticed."

"The pain was initially excruciating." Her eyes move to her palm again. Baffled at how normal it feels. "I shouldn't have been able to focus in there."

As she begins scrolling through the pictures of the files she'd taken, Jihoon studies her profile.

"What?" She punches in the first address, triple checking that it's correct before hitting 'Go'. "You're staring."

"Does Linnaeus always talk to you like that?"

"Yeah." She opens and closes her hand. "I always tell him he doesn't blend in well because he talks quite archaic. Do you not think?" She makes a silly point of bowing, which makes Jihoon smile. Rolling her eyes, she continues, "So yeah, he's never really liked me much because of it."

"It'd help him blend in." Jihoon glances at the GPS before turning onto the route.

"And when have demons ever liked help from humans?" She snuggles back into the seat, already preparing to doze. "The other demons were more appreciative because it made it easier for them to do their demon deeds. Linnaeus just hates the constructive feedback."

"He's always been a pretentious jerk. Thought it was just to me, though." He glances at her out of the corner of his eye. "Never heard you speak like that before."

"Linnaeus is always an exception."

part 10

[excelsi-or]

hi lovely friends! i haven't been writing much Jihoon fanfiction lately. I edited summoned in the summer and I have The Lonely Prince still waiting to be edited. but after getting back from all my travels, i've been writing a lot of original fiction.

it's not everyone's cup of tea here. especially because i know you're all here for woozi fics. but if you wanted to keep up to date with the other writing i like to do, i'd appreciate if you guys had a peek. i'm still in the writing process of The Cloak Maker and am editing a YA romance story currently. but i hope to finish the first draft of The Cloak Maker soon.

daily dispatch #5: inspiration

I saw this painting when Heikala posted it in 2020 and loved it. For some reason, I saw it again earlier this year and something about the image inspired a whole world to build in my head. So, below is a short excerpt from the current story I'm working on (because I finished that other story yesterday!). Apparently, I'm just on a roll.

She turns when she hears the bell trill over the door. Her fingers don’t stop weaving the golden thread through the weighty navy fabric. Her usual clientele knows she’s in when the smoke plumes from the chimney of her home. 

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Emphasis on usual.

Lucky for this customer, she’s at the end of the design. The needle snaps to the magnet on her wrist. Before she’s even pushed through the heavy curtain between her studio and the front end, she can tell the room is full.

The apron around her waist tightens, squeezing a gasp out of her at the amount of people in the room. The uniforms are recognizable; the guards are regulars in the town. But the man in deep blues and yellows, with a weighty material draping off him to show off his status, is unfamiliar. 

She inclines her head, her eyes focused on the man in front of her.

When she straightens, a guard she hadn’t noticed speaks. “Are you the famous cloak maker?”

Her eyes skim over him, and she notices the way his spine straightens. She turns her gaze back towards the man in the middle. “What exactly are you looking for, Your Majesty?”

“So, you do recognize me.”

She nods once.

With a simple nod of his head towards the door, most of his guards leave. Only the one had spoken remains, standing near the door. A heaviness fills the shop with the exit of the guards.

“I may have heard that your cloaks are magical.”

“Magic is everywhere in your kingdom, Your Majesty.” The guard shifts. “What about my shop has caught your attention?”

“Apparently, your cloaks can be weaponized.”

This statement takes a moment for her to process. Either the king is here to arrest her or he’s going to commission her to make cloaks for his entire army. Neither of those options are particularly appealing. 

“My cloaks are not magical, Your Majesty. They’re just of outstanding quality.”

“You’re working on one now.” It's a statement posed as a question, with an added I’m going to ask to see it implied.

Her eyes flick to the guard. “You may see it, but your guard must stay out here.”

“Your Majesty—”

The king lifts his hand to silence his guard. “I’ll be alright.”

Maybe it’s because the king has his back turned, maybe it’s because the guard doesn’t think she’ll notice or say anything, or maybe the relationship between the king and this man is better than she’s assessed. But the guard does the biggest, most annoyed eye roll she’s ever seen. 

It almost makes her laugh.

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 8)

hi guys! i hope you're all doing well! i'm back from months of travelling and just in such a good headspace right now, it's kinda crazy. i'm writing and reading so much. drawing, more than i have in ages. sending you all my good energy, because this shit needs to be shared. and if your day is currently shitty, i hope that it gets better soon. i've been there; i feel you; this too shall pass.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7

A couple hours later, Jihoon closes the book he's reading. It sounds as if the human's finally slowing down. Her angel-demon blood seems to give her ample amounts of energy if need be. When he tips his head back to look at her, she's stretching her arms over her head.

"Come here."

Jihoon gets up and stands beside her. There are at least three loose-leaf pages of faces and buildings. She spreads them out on her desk so that he can see all of them. 

"Talking about my mom's lack of a soul makes me agitated." She's rubbing the side of her hand. Initially, he thought it was because it was sore, but then he notices the pencil marks she's trying to buff out. "But these are for you. Angels and demons who have walked through my house and buildings that I've visited in the last few months." She pulls one sheet closer. "These buildings are the most prominent. We can visit them first." She points at him, finally meeting his eye for the first time in hours. "And you looked up where my mom's hospital is?"

"Yes."

She studies him as she gets to her feet. "Something more to say?"

"Your mom doesn't have a soul. You kinda blew over that."

Her expression is impossible to read. "I don't ask too many questions about either political hierarchy. They both seem just as corrupt as here." She ducks into her bedroom and reappears with her backpack over her shoulder, her hair tied in a bun, and a dark hoodie she hadn't been wearing moments ago.

"When my parents had me," she goes to refill her water bottle and Jihoon trails after her, "they both lost whatever souls they possessed. Can you grab some snacks?"

Jihoon grabs a handful from her pantry without question.

"My parents are now limited to a human lifespan. Essentially hollow shells with a short time limit. But Gabriel seems to think that they can negotiate Dad's soul back."

"So, he'd get to be an angel again when his human life is over," Jihoon states.

"That's what I understood." She pauses as she stuffs the bag with the snacks he'd collected. "All hypothetical." They go back to the desk. She pulls one of the pieces of paper towards them. They're sketches of her parents. 

Armed with new knowledge, Jihoon can see that she's captured the life that exists in her parents. But she's also caught the slight hollowness in them.

"Mom's obviously not going to get the same chance."

"Hell is not exactly a merit system."

She shakes her head, conversation over, and picks up the paper that has the industrial complex they'd visited sketched on it. "I think the best places to start are here."

"Good, I thought so as well."

"And then?" Considering how good the sketches are, Jihoon thinks she should be gentler with the paper as she shoves it into her bag. "What's your plan to save mankind?"

"That's not what we're doing."

"Isn't it?" She slips into her shoes. "My parents said that if the Final Day ever came then either angels or demons would win and that's how eternity would play out. So, having humans here means we're in a sort of limbo stage until the final battle happens and whatever whatever."

"I'm sure your parents are hoping it happens after you pass on." He opens the door for her.

She motions him through first so that she can close her door herself. "Yeah. They do."

"You have a soul?"

"Supposedly." They make their way to the elevator. "I never asked." She looks over at him as they wait. "You can't tell?"

Jihoon shakes his head. It's been a little unsettling.

She shrugs and gets on the elevator.

"That doesn't scare you?"

"I've met angels and demons. There's a demon following me around. Nothing to scare me anymore. If anything, maybe having no soul is a blessing considering the currency it holds."

Jihoon's car is waiting for them. It's so clean that the black paint is reflecting the sunshine.

She pushes out into the warmth, clearly giddy at the good weather. "For all I know, my consciousness disappears when I die. What if my soul is a completely separate entity?"

Jihoon doesn't answer as he climbs into the driver's side. "You're weird, human."

Despite the warmth outside, the inside of the car is cool. "I have a demon and angel for parents." She plugs the destinations into the navigation system. "No way I was going to come out normal."

"Have you memorized all the addresses?" Jihoon asks.

She waits for the car to process the new information. "Yes, actually."

"How often have you visited all these places?"

"A lot."

"Why?"

In her prolonged silence, Jihoon can tell she's crafting a deliberate response. "I could tell something was going on. And I would sometimes go back, wondering if I would ever get to know the story." She hits 'Go' and then puts her seatbelt on. "Figured if it was a problem, Seokmin or my parents would bring it up. Or... I don't know, the energies balancing Heaven and Hell would give me a helping hand."

"You knew I was a demon when you summoned me." Jihoon's question comes out more as a statement of fact.

"I can't say I was expecting for you to show up when I was ordering my coffee. I can't say I was expecting a demon with a moral compass either."

"So, you brought me here by a genuine accident, acted like you'd never met a demon in your life when you hang out with an angel constantly, and you weren't going to tell me."

"I thought you were going to get bored before I'd have to tell you." She kicks her shoes off and pulls her legs onto the seat, crossing them. "Enough about me. Why do you have a moral compass? I haven't met too many demons that have one."

Jihoon doesn't respond.

"Fall in love with a human? Enjoy the sins of humanity? Think the angels are going to win?" she guesses. She leans back in the seat, turning towards the window. "Hate change?"

Jihoon doesn't play into her game, and she seems content with that. She falls asleep in the silence. Not for the first time, he wonders what about him is so trustworthy to her that she lets herself fall asleep around him. Other demons could take advantage; in a human body, it would be very easy. Some would steal her soul in her sleep.

Either she's met enough demons to tell the difference, or she knows more about him than Jihoon thought he was letting on.

By the time they reach the first address, she's nearly slumped entirely over into the door. 

Jihoon's about to nudge her awake, but she snaps to alertness. It causes Jihoon to jump back in surprise.

One quick pass of both her hands through her hair and a deep breath, she looks as if she didn't just sleep for thirty minutes.

A parking spot opens up right across the street from the convenience store. The convenience store that currently has plumes of black smoke coming off it.

"You see it?" Jihoon asks.

She hums, fiddling with her seatbelt. "Yep. Now that I know what it means," she huffs, "you're on your own."

"Nope. I need your human scent to mask mine."

"What?"

As patiently as he can muster, he says, "I can easily pick out angels and demons, but humans have a stronger scent. I'm assuming there are going to be demons here with all of that," he waves towards the convenience store, "happening." Jihoon gets out of the car and holds his hand out to her when she joins him on his side.

She frowns. "I'm not stupid."

"I can only take on your peculiar scent if I'm holding onto you."

"What kind of absolute—"

Jihoon rolls his eyes and holds his hand up between them. She watches it burn red and then stares at him in confusion.

"Other than trying to scare me, what was that supposed to accomplish?"

Jihoon yawns. "Think of it like a refractory period before my hand heats up again."

Without further protest, she grabs onto his hand. Due to the burning of his skin, he can't feel hers. But the rest of his arm feels the strength of her tug as she pulls him across the street towards the convenience store.

She pushes the door open and calls, "Mrs. Han! Are you in?"

An older woman walks out and breaks out into a wide smile. "I haven't seen you in ages, darling! How have you been?"

Jihoon senses the angel and stands slightly behind to keep his scent away. She leads the way forward, chattering on. She motions towards Jihoon. "This is my... my boyfriend." The title comes out through grit teeth.

The older woman's eyes widen. "Boyfriend? Now, I thought that other boy was your boyfriend!"

Jihoon wonders why this angel needs to shout every sentence.

"Hansol's just a friend," she laughs. "You know he's interested in Ara."

The angel nods thoughtfully. "Ah, yes! Ara's been asking if you two have been around! She says she hasn't seen you guys drawing the flower shop!"

Laughing, she pulls Jihoon to her other side so he can see more of the store. "We're working on this big mural downtown. Not much time to come and explore this area."

"How's your father?"

She tips her head both ways, watching Jihoon out of the corner of her eye. She can see the smoke coming from the back office. "He's fine. Gabe was around recently."

"Ah, discussing his soul situation, hmm?"

She nods. "Yeah. Anyway, we're just in to grab a few snacks. Going to do a little road trip today."

"Is that so?"

Mrs. Han ducks down behind the counter for a box. She places it on the counter. "Here, take your pick! I'm testing some new products! I want to know what the young people are into these days!"

Jihoon refuses to get any closer, but also refuses to let go of her hand. His hand is starting to warm, which means they're running out of time. But she leans over the box and picks out a couple. "I'll come back with Hansol and let you know what I think of them."

"And tell your father that if he can find Shakespeare's first folio to let me know!"

"Yes, ma'am." She stifles her laugh at Jihoon looking away to wince at Mrs. Han's loud volume. 

"You can call me when you're ready to pay, darling!" The angel returns to her office, passing through the black smoke. Apparently unfazed.

Jihoon drags her to the opposite end of the store near the coolers with drinks in them. She pulls open one of the fridges and peers at her options. "She's an angel."

"Yeah. The guardian angel of the florist next door," she says.

"The one that Hansol has a crush on?"

"Yeah."

"The smoke is coming from her office," Jihoon states, peering over the shelves at the open doorway. "Or what I assume is the office."

"What kind of drinks do you like, Ji?" she asks.

The look on Jihoon's face can only be described as disgust. His stomach flips in a way he doesn't like, his heart getting uncomfortable, and his body uncomfortably warm.

A small smile quirks her lips, which only causes Jihoon's frown to deepen. Her voice drops as she whispers, "Her hearing is very selective, gotta act somewhat normal. And I told her you were my boyfriend."

"Yeah, why did you say that?"

"Drink?"

Jihoon stares into the fridge. "The red one."

"Because we're holding hands. I have a lot of guy friends. I don't hold their hands." She passes him two drinks, which he manages to hold in his one free hand. "Also, you're starting to burn, so we don't have much time in here."

"I need to know what's back there."

She stares at him in disbelief and then holds up their intertwined between them. "I can't exactly keep her distracted and go back there."

Jihoon huffs, and then he frowns again. For a different reason. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but we probably need that angel of yours."

They make their way back to the counter. He grabs two random packs of chips on the way down the aisle.

"Mrs. Han! We're ready to go!"

part 9

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 7)

Hi everyone :D I'm determined to finish posting this story by the end of October. I'm in a transitionary period right now, so I have time to do this. Love yous. Hope you're all staying well xx Also, just in case some of you read your fics on AO3 more often (like I do), I'm also posting this one on AO3 (All my other stories are there as well.)

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 1.8k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6

"When you told me this morning your mother was a demon, you failed to mention she was the right-hand demon," Jihoon accuses.

She packs her book into her bag, as she gets up from the tree swing her father had put up after the first time she'd walked out of a conversation. She used it infrequently for the purposes of storming out on her parents, instead using it as a place to think.

Now, she shrugs. "If you haven't realized, there are a lot of things about my parents that I don't want to know about."

"I think we should speak with your father," Seokmin says. He can feel a fight brewing, and his brain is still struggling to catch up.

"I know." She glances at Jihoon, as they walk towards the car. "You might have to stay outside. Mom doesn't like angels, but Dad hates demons."

"How in the world did they even have the ability to fall in love with all these preconceived biases?" Seokmin wonders.

They climb back into the car, and she types her father's bookstore address into the GPS. The way Jihoon drives, it'll take a minute or two to get there. They could have walked, but Jihoon would have huffed the whole way and Seokmin tends to struggle keeping both feet on the ground.

Once they arrive at her father's corner bookstore, she tells Jihoon to stay put.

"I—"

"Do you really want to come in with me?" She's already halfway out of his car. "My dad will automatically assume we're dating."

Jihoon's brow furrows at this seemingly non-sequitur. "What?"

"No way I'm dating an angel." With a hand from Seokmin, she gets to her feet. "My parents are just as apprehensive about who I bring home as Hansol. So, please," she meets his eye to let her know she's serious, "stay here."

Seokmin trails after her and is surprised at how many books are crammed inside the corner store. Every perimeter wall is covered in books. More standalone bookshelves taper in towards the center of the room, where a skylight clearly highlights a man dressed in white linen. A man who must be her father. And is clearly in the middle of doing something.

"Dad?"

The man looks up and grins. "Your mother called me. She said you were bringing friends to see me." The smile on his face brightens further as he recognizes Seokmin. "An angel." He peers over their shoulder, looking for the reason why his partner pluralized the word 'friend'.

"The other friend is in the car," she says as way of explanation. "This is my dad, Tin. He'll forget to introduce himself." With a lazy wave of her hand, already walking off to wander her father's stacks, she says, "Seokmin wanted to talk to you."

The angels immediately hit the ground running, bypassing pleasantries and exchanging notes on human and angel interaction. Seokmin peppers Tin with questions about his meetings with Gabriel. 

She wanders the aisles, looking through the additions her father's acquired since the last time she'd visited. Regardless of where she is in the store, she can hear the conversation. So, she can hear Seokmin setting up a platform for his ultimate question. 

"Have you heard any chatter about a demon revolt?" Seokmin finally asks.

Her father goes silent. She peers around one of the bookshelves. Her father stares down at the top of the counter. It's a recognizable move for those that knew the angel: his thinking pose. His 'I'm considering making up excuses' pose.

"You've met Xero, so you know that she's a demon."

'Yes." Seokmin doesn't bother to add that simply calling Xero a demon brushes over the fact that she was a high-ranking demon before she and Tin had a child. And he has plenty of questions as to how Tin had managed that.

"For the sake of peace, we tend to leave the house or go to different floors when we have particular guests over."

"Like if Gabe came to visit you," Seokmin guesses.

Tin's daughter is actually surprised he's not omitting more.

Maybe her father knows she can hear them and is probably listening. Or maybe he doesn't lie to angels. She's never actually seen him interact with other angels, usually taking his business out of the house unlike her mother.

"Exactly. I tend to bring angels here," her father agrees. "But... I may have heard my wife mention something about bodies and possession. I didn't say anything, because I wasn't entirely sure. I know she's made her deals to be with me; we both have."

Seokmin nods his head. Both he and his friend are wondering if either angel or demon regretted the deals they'd made.

"I haven't mentioned it to Gabe, because frankly..." Her father looks around the store, and she ducks back behind the shelves out of view. "My daughter isn't going to live for millennia."

"You want to see her live to the end. Before the Final Day," Seokmin reasons.

"Exactly. If I were to tell any angel, other than you, that I had heard something?"

"Heaven would rain down."

"So, I didn't say anything."

"Well, we're working at trying to stop whatever it is the demons are doing."

Her father's voice quiets further. "It's not just the demons."

Her brow furrows at this. That's the first time she's heard anything of the like. But her father seems to think Seokmin doesn't know about it either.

"Haven't you noticed the increase in natural disasters? That coincide with the increase in human rights activism?" Tin prompts.

"Yes." Seokmin's already very full brain is trying to process this new piece of information. Luckily, it doesn't take more prompting or a hundred years for it to dawn on him. "Human rights activism cleanses peoples' souls, and the increase in natural disasters will wipe them out eventually when they can't shelter themselves enough."

"It's something that Gabe, Luke, and Michael mentioned to me a while back and we had discussed it. I said that maybe if we started slow, it'd be enough to keep the demons from noticing. And the humans from stirring up too much trouble to alert them."

She presses her forehead against the nearest shelf, trying her hardest not to just knock herself unconscious so she doesn't need to deal anymore.

"Obviously, natural disasters are natural because they're a reaction from climate change now. We've only just helped it along, but if humans are able to get a hold of climate change in time," Tin shrugs, "who knows?"

She knows her father's views on climate change. His usual song is: "Humans are idiots. Why aren't they doing anything about it it? Don't they have any self-preservation skills?"

Seokmin hums. "That's a fair, but currently unlikely, hope."

"As long as my daughter is alive, I'd rather that the Final Day was held off."

"Right."

Tin, seemingly satisfied with what he'd shared, calls out. "You can come out now, anghel."

She joins them and looks between Seokmin and her father. Then she kisses her father's cheek. "I'll come for dinner soon."

Her father hugs her to his side to kiss the top of her head. "Please. And bring your friends along. I miss Hansol and Seungkwan. I'll make them more puto."

She chuckles. Hansol's the only human she's ever brought home that her mom tolerates. But her father adored Seungkwan ever since he devoured all the puto last time with gusto and praise. "Yes, I'll let them know. Love you. Remind Mom for me."

Jihoon has his eyes closed when they return to the car. "So?"

"We have more problems than I thought," Seokmin announces once he's slammed the door behind him.

Jihoon looks over his shoulder, a disapproving look on his face.

Seokmin rolls his eyes. "The car? Seriously? This world could be ending and that's what you care about?"

"What do you mean?"

Seokmin explains the conversation with Tin. And Jihoon sighs loudly in response.

When he looks over at the human, she's staring out the window, no comments. Jihoon's brow furrows, and he exchanges looks with Seokmin. The angel only shrugs in response.

"I gotta get to work," Seokmin says. "You can drop me off there."

Once they're alone in the car after dropping Seokmin off, Jihoon states, "You're being quiet."

"Hmm?" She hadn't said anything the entire way to Seokmin's work. "Uh, yeah."

"For someone with demon blood, you're not a good liar."

This gets a small smile, and then she turns back out the window. "Mm."

"Nothing? Something must be wrong." With that, he lets the conversation go.

Instead, Jihoon starts coming up with a list of things he needs to do to move this sudden project forward. But the actual methodology of how to stop what's happening is not coming to him. He does know the first step on his list is to go to the hospital and see what's going on. Jihoon didn't get the name of the hospital from Xero, but he did see a list of phone numbers of places located on the human's fridge. 

It must be there. 

The human seems responsible enough for that.

They walk through her apartment door in continuous silence. Immediately, she sits at her drawing desk. Jihoon recognizes the sound of pencil on paper and figures the human won't talk until she's ready.

So, he checks the fridge. Sure enough, the hospital name is listed as the last contact. 

Jihoon picks her phone up off her desk and tries to open it. When it doesn't, Jihoon hands the phone to her. "Open."

She does so without thinking.

Jihoon doesn't bother searching for a map, as he knows this little device has one. He wills the app to the forefront of the screen and opens it. It takes him a little while to type in the name of the hospital, but he gets there in the end.

The demon is about to ask her address but accidentally zooms out. It takes him another few attempts to figure out how he did it, but once he does, he zooms out to see a little blue blip.

Your location.

According to the app, it takes about an hour to get to the hospital.

The human is hunched over the desk. The sound of her pencil scratching along paper is furious. He's surprised she's not tearing through the paper. 

Curious, Jihoon peeks over her shoulder. He lifts an eyebrow. There are sketches of faces and buildings, mixes between angels and demons. He recognizes Linnaeus. He even recognizes Gabriel, the one angel that comes to visit Hell every so often.

Jihoon backs away, deciding to leave her to it. He can't really leave without her anyway. So, the demon plucks a young adult romance shelf that he hasn't read yet and stretches himself out on the couch to wait.

part 8

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 6)

BIPOC recs: A couple songs I've been obsessed with lately: Love Me In Chapters - Chrissi MAPA - SB19 Heaven - Nola Adé

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.3k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

Seokmin glances at the time when Jihoon drops him off. "I'll be back around 9. We'll deal with this in the morning."

"She doesn't wake until 11," Jihoon snorts as Seokmin gets out. "Come at 11."

Seokmin cocks an eyebrow but nods. "11 it is."

Jihoon speeds off and then winds up back at her apartment. He considers flopping on the couch, because sunrise is starting and he can't go anywhere. But something about the air in the apartment tips him off. "I know you're awake, human. You coming out to talk to me or what?"

A beat passes before he gets a response. "You come here."

Jihoon gets to his feet and changes into something casual before entering her room. She's under a blanket, a sketchbook in her lap with a book open next to her. Jihoon leans against the door jam.

"What do you want to know?" she asks him. Her eyes don't lift from whatever she's drawing.

Jihoon hates this. He says as much now.

She shrugs. "We could just not talk about, if you prefer." She looks over at him. "I'm honestly just as clueless as you are, so it really doesn't matter."

"First, what's your 'feeling' about?"

She closes both the books in front of her and sits up straighter. Jihoon takes another step into the room.

"You breathe a word about any of this and I'll find a way to make your life hard, Demon."

Jihoon lifts an eyebrow at her threat. He knows he doesn't have anything to fear; humans can't really hurt him. But coming from her, it does actually sound like a credible threat. "Let's hear it."

She gives him a once over before saying, "My mom's a demon, dad's an angel. They met, fell in love, had a baby, and went into hiding."

Jihoon's brow furrows. "Why are they hiding?"

"Well, they're not hiding anymore. They're human now."

"They're human?" He didn't know that was possible.

She shakes her head. "I never asked and they never shared."

"Well, how do you know?" He doesn't question her intelligence, but he does wonder if a demon and angel would tell their child the truth. If that ever happened. Which she is telling him has happened.

"Demons come to the house to meet with my mom and talk to her about... 'stuff'."

"Demons?"

"You guys have this creepy..." Her fingers wiggle in the air as she tries to come up with the best descriptor. "Smoke that follows you around. Easy to pick you out. And a lot of your guys' mannerisms are off. If you're going to come to the surface, at least keep up with the times." She waves her hand dismissively. "Anyway, yes, my parents an angel and demon turned human."

Jihoon turns this revelation over in his mind before deciding he needs to think on it more before pursuing it. "So, do you have any insights into what's currently going on?" 

She shakes her head.

He pulls her sketchbook out of the pocket of the sweatpants he'd changed into. After hanging around the other guys, he's got some new outfit ideas. Flipping through the sketchbook, he crosses the room. Then he presents one of the spreads near the end to her. "You're drawing possessed buildings."

"Those buildings are just interesting to look at."

Jihoon holds her gaze. She doesn't crack right away, just blinks a few more times when his eyes change. "Seriously."

"I've only been following them a while," she finally says.

"Define 'a while', human. You know that's why I'm here."

She frowns.

It dawns on Jihoon now that her mother, if what this human is saying is true, likely told her all the threats that a demon can and will act upon. He wonders where along that scale she thinks he falls.

Rather than threaten her, he decides to take the silent approach.

"A while, as in a few months."

"Months."

"I only started noticing them a few months ago." She disentangles her body from the blanket and crawls to the edge of the bed, picking up something from the bedside table. 

Jihoon takes this as an invitation to come closer.

She flips open another sketchbook (how many does this woman keep in her home?), flipping through pages and pages of buildings that would make Jihoon's stomach churn if it worked properly. Each one gives off the same aura with varying levels of intensity.

"I need you to take me to them."

"And what are we going to do about it?" she asks. "The energy isn't as strong in these as they are in those ones." She nods her head towards the sketchbook in his pocket. "And you don't even know what the demons are trying to do."

Jihoon opens his mouth to argue, but she cuts him off. "If you did, you wouldn't ask me to take you to see them. You'd have a plan already."

Rarely does Jihoon need to control his temper. Very few things annoy him; and the things that do, he's able to blast away, kill, or dispose of. This human is an amazing mélange of annoying but untouchable. "Well, what are you proposing we do then? Sounds like you have a plan already."

"Talk to my mother," she states. She closes her sketchbook and hands that over to him too. "I haven't told her I know about this."

"But she knows?"

"If anyone is going to know about it, my mother would."

"You have brought a demon home," her mother states when they arrive at her parents' home later that morning. Her mother's eyes go over Seokmin and her voice goes steely. "And an angel."

She ignores her mother's tone. "They have questions I can't answer." As she enters her childhood home, she pecks her mother's cheek. "Is Dad at the bookstore?"

Her mother nods, closing the door behind them. "He had a meeting with Gabriel. His check-in was today."

"Gabriel's in the area?" Seokmin asks.

Her mother ignores him.

Jihoon chances a question. "How long have you been human?"

"Since I gave birth 27 years ago."

So, the demon only responds to demons.

Her mother makes tea as they take a seat in the kitchen. "But certainly that cannot be why you are—you're," she glances at her daughter, who nods with a smile, "here. You came unannounced, imp."

"I know." The two women bring tea, mugs, and biscuits to the table. "But I figured you wouldn't talk to them if I forewarned you that Seokmin was coming." Speaking to Seokmin, she says, "Mom's only okay with one angel, so bear with her."

Seokmin looks to Jihoon. The angel has learned very quickly why only Hansol and Seungkwan have visited.

"Call me Xero," her mother says to Jihoon as she sits. "I'm assuming you're the one," her eyes slide to Seokmin briefly, "here with questions."

Something akin to awe dawns on Jihoon's face. "That's your real name?"

"I agreed that I would be able to be located should the need arise."

"You don't have a soul," the angel states, accepting the tea offered. 

She's never heard Seokmin's voice so devoid of emotion before. So, she adds an extra biscuit to his plate.

"I gave up my soul when I fell in love and had a human child." Xero's tone matches Seokmin's. When she looks to Jihoon, she can only smirk. "We do not get full control over our soul, do we?"

"Mom, can we not discuss that right now?"

Xero reaches for her daughter's hand and gives it a squeeze. "You have me for a few years yet, imp. We can worry about that later."

With a shake of her head, not interested in this topic of conversation, she looks to Jihoon.

He gets the look, though he doesn't quite understand it. Producing the two sketchbooks from his pocket, he opens the more recent one to the two-page spread of buildings she'd scouted with Myungho. The older sketchbook is opened to the first page.

Xero stares at them as if in a trance. Her hands splay across the table as she leans closer to inspect them.

"Imp, these are stunning."

She chuckles despite herself. "Thanks, but," she studies her mother, "you know why we're showing them to you, yes?"

Xero nods. She pulls the more recent sketchbook towards her, tracing a few of the lines with her finger. "You have captured the energy well." Her eyes don't lift from the pages as she asks what exactly they want to know.

Jihoon doesn't beat around the bush. "Do you know what the plan is?"

"You know exactly what they are trying to do." Xero reaches for the other sketchbook to flip through the pages. She hums in pride at her daughter's skill. "What they are always trying to do. They were just trying not to get the angels' attention this time. It appears to be working." However, the mention of angels pulls Xero's attention away from the sketchbooks to glower at the angel at her dining table. "At least it was."

"We were waiting for something else," Seokmin agrees. "This isn't how we were anticipating your lot to do this."

Before the demons can jump across the table at Seokmin's phrasing, she steps in. "Have you been helping them?" It isn't lost on her that more demons have been slipping in and out of the house. She can feel it in the air.

"Does it matter?"

She takes the sketchbooks out from under her mother's nose. Whatever pull is in them works on her mother and not on Jihoon. She passes them to Seokmin to hold, who tucks them carefully into his bag.

Now that they're out of sight, her mother's gaze returns.

"Better?"

"Sorry. The power still gets me." Xero takes a steadying breath.

"You asked if it matters that you helped," she says carefully, watching her mother's expression. "It matters because I'm still human."

Xero gets to her feet, but not before pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head. "Yes, I have been helping them." She brings another box of biscuits, even though no one other than the two that had been on Seokmin's plate had been eaten. "I agreed to a few ground rules," she says as she sits again. "I can live my life with Tin, but my loyalties still lie with Him. That is not something that you can just walk away from. I live in a human body without a soul after all."

Jihoon doesn't have to look at the human to know she's frowning. Clearly, the topic of souls, specifically her parents' souls, is a touchy subject.

"So, yes. They have asked for my help. They have asked me to source bodies."

At that admission, the only human in the room walks out. Xero watches her daughter go, and the three listen to the front door shut. It's not slammed like Jihoon had been anticipating; but regardless, she's still gone.

Xero shakes her head and addresses Jihoon. "Human emotions have always been difficult for me to understand. Every year was a new set of emotions that I did not know how to gauge."

Jihoon nods. This, he understands. "She does seem oddly calm though." The one human emotion he seems able to identify and understand completely is anger. Nearly anything triggers it. He supposes that that could be said of any human emotion, but it's one of the only ones he can gauge because of the yelling that tends to accompany it. 

And he thinks this situation would have warranted some yelling.

"She learned the truth about her father and me when a demon had come to visit." Xero looks to Jihoon, rolling her eyes. "Linnaeus is chatty, you know."

Jihoon pretends as if he's kept track of all the demons' names.

"Linnaeus told her all about who she was and where she had come from and Tin and me. Granted, neither her father or I wanted to tell her the truth, so maybe it was for the best that a stranger did it for us. Anyway, when she came to us asking questions, furious that we had omitted such information, we agreed that if anything were to happen that she did not agree with that she could deal with it any way she liked." Her dark eyes glance towards the door. "My daughter has decided walking out is the best way to deal with it. We do not stop her."

Irrelevant to why they're here, but more out of curiosity, Jihoon asks, "How many times has she walked out?"

"Three including today." Pride appears on Xero's face. "Not much fazes my daughter."

Something to ponder later. "You've been helping them source bodies. Where?"

"The hospital I work in."

"You, a demon, work in a hospital," Jihoon states.

"So many human bodies in varying states of life make it difficult to pick out a demon." She levels Seokmin with a stare. "Angels would pick me out too quickly in other liens of work. And I have a human daughter, so I care for human life." Xero's gaze shifts back to Jihoon. "As you seem to as well."

Jihoon doesn't confirm or deny.

"There are specific rules to how I pick these humans. Humans who are dying are to whom I always direct them."

Seokmin is about to demand to know what these rules are, but Jihoon stamps on the angel's foot as he asks his next question. "Do you know what happens to the bodies afterwards?"

Xero shakes her head. "I do not. I just send the names to Pil, and I refuse to know more. I do not ask for details."

"Do you have any idea how much traction they've gained doing it this way?" Jihoon asks.

Xero tips her head in a way that tells the angel and demon that she's never considered this question. "The air does seem heavier. Nothing like how it was 27 years ago."

part 7

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 5)

I saw this quote recently that said, "Stop thinking too much, you're breaking your own heart." Feel like I've been doing it a lot the last little while and this made me feel a bit better. Feel like the productivity wheel is always trying to make me feel like I need to fix my whole life. Working on not doing that lol.

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.5k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

“What did you see exactly?” Jihoon asks, squatting on the other side of the coffee table.

She, Hansol, Seokmin, and Jihoon are back at her apartment. 

Despite being well past midnight, Hansol insisted on coming along. Luckily, Seungkwan was asleep by then and couldn’t ask questions.

“What did you see?” Hansol prompts. “All I got was the smell.”

“Bodies. There are bodies in that building,” she states.

As soon as they got into her apartment, she’d collapsed on the couch. Seokmin quickly began rectifying the situation, wrapping her in a blanket, bringing her tea, even going so far as to heal the burn on her hand. Not that she seemed to notice any of it.

He’d propped her upright on the couch, but even so, she tilted her head back with closed eyes. Jihoon thought she’d died.

“You just said bodies,” Hansol repeats.

“Yeah. That’s what I said.”

Jihoon’s brow furrows and Seokmin is starting to look angry.

“Why are there bodies in there?” Seokmin demands. The two humans glance up at Seokmin, whose eyes are on Jihoon. It’s a tone they’ve never heard from him in the years they’ve known him. “You said that it was about possession.”

“I am also not in on this new plan they’re concocting,” Jihoon argues. “Angels always get so worked up before they know the full picture.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Hansol asks, hand raised. He meets Seokmin’s eye. “You’re a what now?”

Seokmin motions towards himself and Jihoon. “Angel, demon. Other side of the same coin.”

“We are on two completely different coins,” Jihoon grumbles. He straightens and begins pacing. “I haven’t figured out why I’ve been left out of this one.”

“Yeah, don’t they love you down there?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “You’re right, I do the bare minimum.”

Seokmin smirks. “You do love humans, that’s true.” The angel adjusts the blanket around her shoulders. “So, what do you propose we do?”

“We need to go back. I need to see it properly.” Jihoon looks to the human, whose eyes are slowly falling closed. “There was no one else there, right?”

“Not anyone alive that I noticed.”

The demon glances at the clock. Just after 3 AM. “We should be able to go now.”

Seokmin hums as he stands, ruffling her hair a bit. It always makes her smile; this time is no exception. “Your car then?”

Hansol frowns. “You have a car? So, why’d hyung have to drive?”

She rests a tired, affectionate hand over Hansol’s whole face. “I’ll explain everything I know.”

Jihoon heads towards the door. His eyes dart to the hallway table. “Am I required to take the key?” 

“I already told you.” The human’s voice is exasperated but gentle. “I don’t like when you put magic over my door. I don’t need my soul taken. So, please, take the key. It’s on the table.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes and plucks the key from the tray. “Got it.”

“He’ll be home by sunrise,” Seokmin calls.

The two unearthly beings hear Hansol’s last question as the door shuts behind them. “Who is this vampire boyfriend you’ve summoned?”

Seokmin chuckles. “Sollie’s not wrong. You sound like her boyfriend.”

Jihoon frowns, shaking his head. “I’m a demon, not a boyfriend.”

“You follow her around. You meet her friends. You take the key when she tells you to.” Seokmin shrugs his shoulders, his gaze upwards towards the spot where the wall and ceiling meet. “Sounds like a whipped boyfriend to me.”

Jihoon glances at the angel as he presses the call button for the elevator, not understanding ‘whipped’. 

When Seokmin explains it, Jihoon likes the angel and Hansol even less. “Two of those things you mentioned were out of my control.”

“You didn’t have to take the key,” Seokmin snorts. When he blinks again, the demon's back into his usual black suit.

“It is much easier to get the human to do my bidding if she’s willing, do you not think?”

“And you like her.” Seokmin pushes the door open, holding it for Jihoon. They both take in the cool night air. “You like her more than any other human you’ve met.”

Jihoon chooses to ignore this last statement. When they’d stepped out of the elevator, his baby had been waiting patiently in front of the apartment. Practically skipping down the steps, Jihoon can’t help but smile at how shiny his baby is.

Seokmin waits for the demon to finish admiring the car before climbing into the passenger seat.

“I don’t like that you’re using her to get what you need by the way.” Seokmin pulls the seatbelt on. “You could have gone in there yourself. I also don’t like that you branded both her and Hansol.”

“I didn’t ‘brand’ anyone. I should have exorcised everyone in that room tonight, but I didn’t.” Jihoon shifts the car into drive and immediately speeds out of the parking space.

Seokmin frowns, gripping the door handle. “You think some of them could be possessed?”

“Being inside a human rather than having your own human body to step into are two different things.” Jihoon looks over at him, but Seokmin pushes his cheek back to face the road. He may not be able to die from a car accident, but it will still be painful. “You can sense me, right?”

“The wonderful black clouds that follow you around are easy to see.”

“Demons in human bodies that they’ve possessed don’t give off the same energy. If I struggle to tell them apart, you’re less likely to be able to. But they can sense us.”

Seokmin processes that information. All it does is send an uncomfortable chill down his spine. “So, how long are we thinking they’ve been doing this?” he asks, trying to get comfortable even though his wings keep trying to sprout and get him to safety. “Should I be rallying the troops?”

“Rallying your troops means calling the angels down, having the Final Day.” Jihoon waves his hand dismissively. “We’re not doing that.”

Seokmin nods. “As crazy as they are, I would like to see this set of humans out to their end.”

Jihoon glances over at him. “You like them that much?”

“They’re hilarious.” The rest of the drive to the abandoned building is filled with Seokmin’s stories from high school and university. Even with Jihoon pushing double the speed limit, it’s too long.

Luckily, the stories don’t require Jihoon to respond.

“You should go first,” Jihoon says once they arrive. They park where Myungho had earlier.

Seokmin lifts his eyebrow.

“They’ll sense you before they sense me.”

When Jihoon joins him around the front of the car, Seokmin says, “So you’d rather I die so you don’t get outted as a traitor?”

“I haven’t done anything traitorous,” Jihoon eyes the buildings, “yet.”

“Fine.” Seokmin stalks ahead. “But only because I like you most days.”

At the later hour, the black smoke clouds are prominent. The angel and demon can see that the smoke isn’t coming from all the buildings now. It’s trailing from the one Jihoon had sent the humans into.

“What’s the point of us going to see them again?” The air is making Seokmin want to hurl. Or have a coughing fit. Likely both.

“Approximation of how long they’ve been doing this.” Jihoon adds, “And then we’ll know if your friends are possessed.”

“What are we?” Seokmin scoffs. “Cops?”

Jihoon chooses to ignore the sarcasm. “Cops are pretty evil. We could be.”

“They are not evil,” Seokmin argues. “Some of them get a little power hungry, and it gets to their heads. Easy to rectify the—”

“No, as in some of them have traded their souls.” Jihoon names three officers currently in the local police force who called on him a few years ago. “The souls are older, so He doesn’t like them as much, but what could I do?” He shrugs. “Those are the people summoning me these days.”

“What else have you been up to since I saw you… Where were we? New York? Y2K, yes?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “That one would’ve been fun if you’d let me do it.”

“You were going to cause World War III.”

“That’s a bit dramatic. It wouldn’t have been that bad.”

“It wouldn’t have been all that fun either. They would have destroyed each other.”

“Well, I’m sure thanks to you, humanity is alive and well.” Jihoon grabs Seokmin’s arm, stopping him in front of the building he recognizes from Myungho’s photos.

Seokmin passes a hand over the handprint Jihoon leaves on his cardigan. “Alive and well except for the ones in this building.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“We do know. She said they’re in here. And they’re dead.”

Jihoon leads the way. He already knows to go down the hallway. One, because of the trail of black smoke; two, because of the footprints. “Why do you trust her? Why do you think she understands anything that’s going on?”

“I don’t think she knew about this.” Seokmin looks around when he hears a bump from the second floor, but Jihoon is unbothered. “And she’s never given me a reason not to trust her. I’ve never known her to be a liar. An omitter of facts, maybe.”

“Trust and honesty are not interchangeable.”

“But they create the same—oh my… What in the Heavens?”

Jihoon leaves the angel standing flabbergasted in the doorway, so that he can check out the body lying in the center of the room. He squats down beside it. It’s hard to make out any features, because of the heaviness of the smoke. Eventually, the angel seems able to stomach the smell and wanders over. 

Seokmin waves a hand over the body, white light emanating off his skin. It disperses some of the smoke.

The demon recognizes Seokmin’s murmurs as prayers.

“His soul is gone, Seokmin.” He peers at the body through the smoke, the angel’s words gibberish to his ears. The body has decomposed quite a bit; it’s nearly bone. The energy here would have kept any scavengers away.

He gets up and heads towards the stairs.

“Humans should be allowed to keep their souls,” Seokmin grumbles as he follows Jihoon. “We shouldn’t get a say in what happens to them. It should be up to God.”

“They get reincarnated if they aren’t possessed or sell their soul or anything like that.”

“And then we take them.”

“Yeah, supposedly once they’ve been good,” Jihoon points out. The staircase is narrow so Jihoon can’t see Seokmin’s face. “I assumed you would know that and believe it was a good thing.”

When Seokmin doesn’t respond, even when they crest the stairs, Jihoon gives him a good look. He was about to ask what the humans did to him, but Seokmin’s gone pale.

It takes Jihoon a second to realize that the air is heavy. As if he’s back in Hell. The concentration of energy must be overwhelming to the angel, but it makes sense why evidence can be seen near the edge of the complex. The unfinished building hasn’t kept the energy contained like the body down below.

Seokmin trails after him, coughing into the collar of his shirt. He holds a hand out to create a little air pocket for himself. Still, he needs to squint to see Jihoon, who is squatting down next to what Seokmin realizes is a pile of bodies. “What are you thinking?”

When Jihoon nudges a few bodies off the pile, Seokmin’s reaction is so visceral, Jihoon shoots him a look. The bodies at the bottom are bones.

“They’ve been at this a while.”

“What’s a while?”

“Long enough that these bodies have decomposed without much environmental help. More than a year. Probably closer to two. The bottom is bone.”

Seokmin’s eyes are on the moon in the sky, praying for clean air. “Great. So, what’s our plan now?”

“What’s the end goal? What’s the point? The earth is just as fucked up as it was the last time I was here. Maybe slightly more so, but not enough to bring about the End Days.”

“I mean, there are currently talks of nuclear war. A few wars,” Seokmin sighs sadly, “in the last few years. Nearly every major city has had a protest for climate change, female rights, and racial equality.”

“It all sounds standard,” Jihoon muses. He stares at the pile of bones. Humans possessed by demons whose souls became so corrupt that the possession began to show through. It’s the only reason why a demon would give up a body.

They head back to the car. 

“We can’t even go back and ask about this.”

“No, we can’t. But I have a feeling that your little human friend knows.”

Seokmin rolls his eyes. “There are other humans like her.” He can feel his body relaxing as they get farther away from the site. “Ones that are just a little more intuitive.”

“I’ve met humans like that. She is not one of them.” Jihoon pulls her sketchbook from inside his suit jacket pocket. It shouldn’t fit in there based on Earth rules. He flips through the last few sketches. “You see what I see, don’t you?”

Seokmin sighs. He can see.

“Does she pick those places out herself? Draws them because she can feel the energy there? Has she shown you any of these?”

“Her sketches are typically off limits to us.” Seokmin glances over his shoulder. Now, he just feels on edge. “We get to see the final product. She’s usually protective of her sketchbook. Did you steal it?”

Jihoon flips to the end where he had been jotting down ideas. “She let me write in it.”

“You must have been extremely annoying if she gave that over to you."

Jihoon scoffs, as they climb back into the car.

"Well, all we can do is ask her."

"Her boyfriend's not going to get offended that we're accusing her of being a demon?" Jihoon asks.

"Are we accusing her of being a demon? That's what you're doing. And are you talking about Hansol? They've just known each other a really long time, wound up in the same business."

"Really? You too?" Jihoon tucks the sketchbook back into his pocket before slipping into the driver's seat. "The man look as if he's going to try to kill me in my sleep. If I slept, that is."

"He's protective of her, that's all. Worried that she's going to get her heart broken by some Casanova."

"She did say she had notoriously bad taste in partners."

Seokmin snorts, his grip tight on the door handle. "I've only met a handful of them. No demons, no angels, all humans."

"We're not allowed to date." It's a pretty general rule for angels and demons.

"Some do," Seokmin chuckles. "You don't stay on the surface too long, but angels will date around." He shrugs. "Demons seem to just love the 'fun'."

Jihoon doesn't respond to this.

part 6