There were only three hours left before they had to complete the ritual, and they hadn’t even started drawing the circle yet.

It wasn’t like this was surprising—put two witches as powerful and different from each other as Namjoon and Seokjin in the same coven and there’s bound to be disputes. Currently it was over the amount of soul-dust needed for the chalk to draw the summoning circle. Not like Jungkook had an opinion. He was so new to the coven that the scabbing on his initiate tattoo hadn’t healed completely yet.

“—talk about blantant tokenism, I thought you wanted to summon a Quality demon?? With this kind of sloppy recipe you’ll be lucky to get a common imp or a shade.“ Seokjin huffs as Namjoon glowers from the other side of the cauldron,

“—Just because you can’t take a shit without checking the cardinal meridian three times—“

“—since when is it a virtue to not be careful about magick—“

“—literally summoning hellspawn here the fuck you mean virtue—“

Jungkook lay sprawled across Hoseok’s teal futon—at odds with all the black curtains and red runes etched all over the walls. Taehyung passes a beer back and forth between them from his spot on the opposite end as they watch the hysterics escalate. As usual, Hoseok and Yoongi’s familiars—both cats—were curled up on Jungkook’s chest. For some reason all the companion animals really liked Jungkook. Namjoon’s raven was eyeing his burgundy hair from across the room, clearly contemplating collecting some of it to nest with. If Seokjin’s owl hadn’t been off hunting it would’ve probably taken up residence on the arm of the futon. Taehyung’s wolf was curled up on the floor, trying to not take up a lot of space but that pretty difficult when you’re roughly the size of most of the furniture.

The others would gripe a little bit about how their own companions preferred Jungkook, but he didn’t mind. Especially because his familiar had yet to appear. It made him feel more like a real witch in the meantime.

“As entertaining as this is, don’t you think we should stop them?” Hoseok clucks as he sets another six pack in front of the boys and perches on the arm of the futon. He reaches over and scratches his fluffy orange cat’s ear, who’s purring kicks up a notch to acknowledge his witch’s presence. Yoongi’s little gray fluffball blinks sleepily at Hoseok before curling more securely into Jungkook’s armpit.

“Why,” Taehyung lazes. “Better they yell at each other than us. Last time I tried to get in the middle I ended up with no eyebrows. Seokjin scorched them right the fuck off. Took me months to look normal again.”

“Yeah but...” Hoseok looks meaningfully at his watch. “If we want to fulfill our covenly duties and honor the dark forces before trick or treaters start showing up at the door we have like 2 hours, tops.”

“Ooh did you get Milky Ways?” Yoongi hums from the ugly black armchair in the corner.

Hoseok looks mildly offended, “Of course I did. What do you take me for? Some second-rate housewife who gives out popcorn balls?”

“Gimme some.”

“Put on a costume, asshole.” Hoseok hands him a beer.

“I’m dressed up as someone who will hex his coven member if he doesn’t bring him chocolate and caramel, stat.”

“That’s not a costume, Yoongi. That’s you 24/7, 365.”

“Hey so why can’t we just do a little rite of Lucifer and call it a night? What’s the reason for actually summoning a demon this year?” Jungkook pipes up. As the youngest and newest coven member he usually doesn’t get to be privy to the decision-making conversations that proceed a night like tonight. He usually just shows up and tries to pretend like everything the senior witches are doing isn’t blowing his mind.

His question actually captures Namjoon’s attention. Mostly because he will never miss an opportunity to lecture (or in his words, educate) anyone about anything, ever, at any time.

“Damn Jungkook, did we not tell you? Tonight is the 6th anniversary of me and that caramel-loving lump in the chair’s decision to form a coven.”

Yoongi waves a heavily beringed hand vaguely at Jungkook and returns his attention to his beer. His cat stirs briefly and kneads Jungkook’s pec with her tiny claws. He just lets her, soon enough she’ll be back to sleep.

Namjoon rests his wand on the edge of the cauldron and pushes his bangs out of his face. “It’s customary, on auspicious anniversaries, to do something exciting and new as a bonding exercise. It’s the sixth anniversary, with you joining us a month ago we’re up to six members, and some other sign with the number six Jin divined—“

“—the number of Jupiter’s moons with elliptical orbit this year—“ Seokjin mutters as he eases Namjoon’s wand out of the way and starts fiddling with the contents of the cauldron.

“—that made us be like 666? Woah. Time to bind and summon a demon for team building.” Namjoon grins down at the futon where Jungkook is nodding, absentmindedly peeling the label of his beer off.

“Yeah okay. Whatever.” Jungkook affirms, affecting a nonchalant tone like this isn’t wildly out of his comfort zone.

Seokjin snorts, “Whatever? Listen just because you dress like a goth bisexual with a chain fetish doesn’t mean you always have to act like one.”

Jungkook tucks his combat boots with the many nonfunctional buckles and zippers under the blanket and sneers around his lip ring, “Yeah well you dress like Stevie Nicks’ meth-ed up cousin but you don’t see me staging an intervention for you and your scarves.”

Seokjin haughtily yanks his fringed shawl a little tighter and goes back to muttering at the cauldron, cheeks tinged a little pink.

Taehyung giggles from the other end of the couch, “Go easy on him, Seokjin. Jungkookie just manifested some witchy goodness like 5 months ago, he’s just trying to find his personal style. I went through a phase like that when my powers started showing.”

Hoseok eyes Taehyung’s garish pinstriped pajamas and loafers paired with a long tan duster and a trilby critically, “Are you sure you ever got out of that phase?”

The room chuckled indulgently at the annoyed look on Taehyung’s face.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand fashion.” Taehyung sniffs. His wolf sniffles in solidarity from the floor.

Since they were going to roast him for it anyway Jungkook dropped the affected calmness.

“But seriously though, isn’t this like...really dangerous? All the spellbooks I’ve read put big fat caution warnings on actually messing with demons. They all advocate learning the spells yourself instead of using demons to shortcut—“

“—Yeah well they would, wouldn’t they. They need to sell spellbooks. Capitalist pigs.” Yoongi grunts from across the room.

Namjoon frowns thoughtfully and doesn’t notice Seokjin edging the cauldron farther and farther away from him.

“Well demons don’t subscribe to any kind of human morality so in that sense, yes. They are very dangerous. But they do play by very specific rules and as long as you know the rules and keep the balance of power in check they’re excellent to have contracts and bindings with to expedite magicks. There’s so much we can learn from them too! They use an entirely different type of magick.” Namjoon has started to get that look in his eye that makes Jungkook think of the college kids in town, always so animated about particle physics or art history or whatever the fuck they’re spending so much money to be obsessed with.

“I guess that makes sense...” he trails off as he fiddles with the studs in his left ear. Twisting the earrings whenever he gets nervous has become a bit of a habit. Taehyung swats his hand,

“It’s going to be fine, stop freaking.”

“Tae’s right! We’re keeping it simple. And for extra protection we’ll be leveraging the power of the weakest witch here so that limits the power of the demons we can bind.”

“Weakest?” Jungkook scrunches his nose, “How do you even determine that?”

Namjoon has the decency to look a little embarrassed, “Well typically it IS difficult since the type of magick someone prefers isn’t always an accurate measure of their prowess but having you around makes it easy because you’re so new.”

Jungkook twitches upright on the futon. The cats are dislodged with annoyed mewls but he’s a little distracted to comfort them, “Wait it’s me?? I’M the collateral magick??”

Hoseok claps his hands, “Yay! Jungkookie’s first ritual!”

Seokjin notes the panicked look on Jungkook’s face, “I told you we should have discussed this with him...” he keeps his focus on the cauldron, frowning slightly.

Yoongi smiles, flinty, from his chair, “Happy initiation day, newbie.”

Hoseok gathers up the empty beer bottles, “Ooh, and on Samhain too.” He waggles his eyebrows at Jungkook, “Sounds like an auspicious year coming up for our youngest member.”

“Wait...I-I don’t think I’m ready for this. YOU guys haven’t done this before.”

Taehyung rubs his shoulders, “That’s why we need you. You and your just emerging magickal gifts are going to keep us from accidentally summoning a succubus or possession demon.” He shivers, “Or...something even worse.”

Jungkook shivers along with him. He thinks back to the magick he had done this afternoon; enchanting his groceries to unpack themselves when he got home from the store.

As Seokjin clears the floor to start drawing the circle Jungkook can’t help but think back to his crackers floating out of the bag and settling on a shelf in his pantry. A mundane and easy magick, but one it had taken him weeks to pull off without issue.

By contrast now his coven were all busy writing protection spells and etching runes and burning purification herbs so that he could stand toe-to-toe with a demon and make it...what exactly? Do the grocery shopping for him?? He almost giggled as his mind conjured up a red-eyed beast with horns standing in line at Kroger or walking through Wal-Mart with a shopping cart. Ugh, I thought I told you to get low-fat cream cheese, he would tell the demon.

It’s possible he was panicking a little.

Despite Hoseok’s worries about the time constraints the circle came together pretty efficiently with all of them working together—Namjoon and Seokjin on opposite sides of the room for optimal effectiveness. Right on time Taehyung gently gripped Jungkook’s arm and steered him to the ritual cornerstone. Seokjin shooed all of the familiars out of the room and bolted the door so they wouldn’t disturb the ritual. Hoseok’s basement had a reinforced steel door ever since Tae’s wolf panicked while he was astral projecting and tore the old one to shreds. Jungkook watched them go with a little wistfulness. It would’ve been nice to have Tae’s wolf or Yoongi’s cat to snuggle while he tries not to freak about about what they’re doing.

He repressed the urge to itch at the runes painted on his arms and hands and settled for fidgeting quietly while the other five took their places. He almost flinched out of position when Seokjin used his fire magick to light all the candles in order of the ritual meridian. Taehyung and Yoongi started fiddling with their pendants, and Hoseok piled the summoning ingredients in the center of the circle.

Namjoon stepped forward and lit his ritual candle. The crackle of the flame coming to life felt as though it resonated through all of them, connecting all the witches who stood around the circle. Jungkook could feel the others’ magicks like a vibration running under his skin. The runes on the back of his hands flickered briefly and he felt a surge of dark magick vibrations. Dimly he wondered if that was normal.

Namjoon began reciting Latin. His voice curled around the circle; his words manifesting as a creeping fog. An icy chill swept across the room and Jungkook felt goosebumps spring up along his arms. As Namjoon recited, the words got louder and louder—or at least they seemed to. The other witches joined in and at their voices joining the ritual Jungkook gasped and felt a bead of sweat drop down his back. Being exposed to this huge wave of magickal energy was making his brain fuzzy. His focus was restored when the runes all flickered to life one by one, glowing faintly at first and then brightening until Jungkook couldn’t directly look at his arms anymore. Instead he focused on the center of the circle where all the ingredients were vibrating and twisting on themselves.

Namjoon paused briefly before finishing the incantation, “Send us, your humble servants, a denizen of your dark power equal to the magick we offer you here.” His eyes find Jungkook’s across the circle and Jungkook swallows, his throat dry and scratchy.

“M-may my magick be seen as a scale from which, in your judgement, the forces of your will may be balanced from our binding here tonight.” Jungkook gets out, fairly impressed with himself for remembering his lines.

With the incantation complete, Namjoon nods to Hoseok who flicks a match and drops it onto the summoning ingredients.

A lot happens very quickly.

The ingredients absorb the flame, turning it a garish purple and blue and exploding outwards. Jungkook just has time to see the same colors travel up his runes and feel his heartbeat in his ears before a shockwave emanates across the circle.

The other five witches are blown away from the center, pushed out to the outer edge of the room. Jungkook starts shaking, not sure what, if anything, he is supposed to do. It turns out the answer is “not much” when he goes to shuffle his feet and finds them rooted to the spot. When Namjoon clambers out from where he got tangled in a curtain, the panic on his face tells Jungkook things are not going according to plan.

Seokjin struggles to his feet, “Fuck!! What did we—“

“It’s not right the flame doesn’t look right—“ that’s Yoongis voice but Jungkook can’t see him.

“Jungkook, get Jungkook—“ Taehyung pants, lunging for the circle, but his feet tangle under him and he doesn’t quite make it.

All the light is snuffed out.

“Too late.” A raspy, velvety voice he doesn’t recognize intones.

Jungkook can feel a tingling chill creep up his arms. He swears he feels a hand on his shoulder and his knees nearly buckle as something exhales cool breath on his neck.

The candles flicker back on one at a time.

“Seokjin?” Namjoon queries.

“It isn’t me.” Seokjin whispers, terrified. The other five have cautiously moved closer to the circle, eyes fixed on Jungkook.

“W-what the fuck is happening?” Jungkook squeaks.

The summoning ingredients are gone. A lazy black wisp of smoke curls around itself in their place. As they stare at it, it billows outward, becoming more dense and larger until it’s a thick black barrier in the middle of the room.

A muffled hissing, yowling sound can be heard as well as scratching from the familiars trying to get through the door to their witches. The danger must be extreme if they’re freaking out like this.

Jungkook hisses at a scratchy, burning pain blooming on his chest. Yanking his T-shirt down rewards him with the absolutely horrifying sight of a sigil being carved into his flesh with no tools or creatures in sight. Namjoon’s eyes flick to him briefly before all attention in the room is drawn back to the black smoke solidifying in the circle. After another long moment, a boot, followed by a muscular leg in black slacks, emerges from the smoke.

Jungkook openly panics, “Namjoon what the fuck did you do??? What the FUCK did you bind to me—“

He cuts off as a man basically tumbles the rest of the way out of the smoke, cursing. He’s clad in black from his boots to his perfectly fitted shirt and blazer. Inky dark hair dangles in his eyes but when he straightens up and sweeps it back off his forehead the whole room collectively inhales. Because, Jungkook at least knows he wasn’t expecting a demon to be so...hot. Thick pillowly lips, hooded bedroom eyes, sharp as glass jawline and cheekbones. Full cheeks and long slender neck. His suit leaves very little to the imagination in terms of the rest of his body, curling around a lithe, strong waist and thick corded thighs. He doesn’t have to turn around for Jungkook to suspect his ass is equally perfect, and momentarily he finds himself replacing fear with awe at the apparition.

The man? Demon? Looks at each of them before his brow furrows and he twists to peer around the room.

“What the shit.” He says with a little edge to that meliodous voice from earlier. “You’re a bunch of fucking kids.” He irritably fiddles with the cuffs on his jacket and revolves in the circle, examining every corner of the room. Jungkook is mesmerized. The demon has a dangly silver earring on his left side, and the ass is even more perfect than he had figured.

“Who summoned me?” The demon searches all the witches faces.

Namjoon steps forward hesitantly. “I did, who—“

“No, you didn’t.” The demon cuts in flatly. “You couldn’t have.”

He seems to sense something and turns quickly to lock eyes with Jungkook. It occurs to Jungkook why they call it eye CONTACT as the demon stares at him—into him, it feels like—with eyes like deep bloody garnets.

“Oh.” His annoyed expression morphs into one of interest. Very intense interest. “A sourcerer.” All the attention in the room snaps to Jungkook. “Makes sense then...”

“A WHAT?” Jungkook blurts out right as Namjoon whispers, “No fucking way.”

The demon’s eyes widen, and then narrow slyly, a smirk stealing across those lips. “Oh, you didn’t know? Even better, I think.” He strolls casually towards Jungkook, who stumbles backwards and almost falls on his ass if not for Taehyung’s arm coming out of nowhere to stabilize him.

“Don’t be afraid, Kookie.” Taehyung gestures to the circle, “He can’t get out of there, you’re safe. He can’t touch you.”

The demon blinks at them, at the circle, and back at them. He sighs. “Honey, I’m a crossroads demon.” Taehyung stiffens, his fingers digging into Jungkook’s bicep. The demon grins,

“You’re not safe from me anywhere.”

He tilts his head and the foundation splits, cracking the cement floor, and the carefully drawn line of the circle. As soon as it’s broken, a wave of magickal energy like nothing he’s ever felt before hits Jungkook square in the chest. He doubles up, vaguely aware of shouting and the absence of Taehyung’s hand on his arm, before sinking to his knees. The demon steps nonchalantly over the edge of the broken circle; entirely ignoring the five witches whose defensive magicks have lit up like beacons in the darkened room.

“Sensitive too, what a find. Must be just chock-full if magick. Thank you, idiots.” He curls his fingers into a fist and all the other witches are flung backwards to pin against the walls. Jungkook hears a sickening crack or two as his coven makes contact with the drywall.

The demon stops in front of where he’s slumped to he ground and bounces into a squat. He picks up Jungkook’s chin and turns his face side to side. One cool finger traces across his jaw, down his neck and tugs at the collar of his shirt.

The sigil starts burning and Jungkook moans weakly, trying to pull away but finding that those fingers possess quite a bit more strength than they look like they do.

The demon studies the sigil critically.

“Mm. Pretty. Makes things more complicated.” The demon mutters. Jungkook has no idea what he means and no room left for focus in a brain being battered with this immense magickal aura. The demon presses his hand against the sigil and Jungkook jerks away and vomits, before flopping to the ground.

“Gross.” The demon says mildly as Jungkook’s consciousness slips away.

\~\~\~

When he comes to, Jungkook twitches and groans. His head hurts like he’s recovering from a killer hangover, and his eyes blur slowly in and out of focus as he blinks.

“Fucking finally.” That voice is back, and the body that accompanies it swims into Jungkook’s vision. The demon is lounging in Yoongi’s armchair. He seems pretty interested in fiddling with his rings and regards Jungkook apathetically.

From this angle Jungkook gathers he’s still on the floor. His elbows are shaky but he manages to prop himself up enough to sit up.

The demon is leaning forward on his elbows, “You’re kinda delicate, huh princess?”

Jungkook shakes his head to orient himself, “Where are the others?” His voice cracks, “What did you do with them?”

The demon waves his hand dismissively, “They’re fine. Probably. I haven’t killed them yet if that’s what you’re asking. You and I just needed a minute to talk.”

“Bring them back.” Jungkook spits.

“No.” The demon rolls his eyes. “If I bring them back right now I’m going to kill them one by one and devour their magicks and essence and I somehow doubt you want that.”

Jungkook shudders and involuntarily starts looking for an exit, some way to escape. It’s then he notices that the windows and doors are conspicuously missing.

“Listen, it’s cute what you’re thinking of, honestly, but you’re not going anywhere unless I want you to.”

“Why wouldn’t you just kill us then? Why talk to me?”

The demon spreads his hands, “Because I’m a crossroads demon, baby. Seemed like a good opportunity to try and make a deal.”

Jungkook furrows his brow and shifts to sitting cross legged. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Ah so you’re like, NEW new. What, get your powers like 6 or 7 moons ago?”

“If by moons you mean months then, yeah. Five, actually.”

The demon leans an elbow on the armchair, similar to how Yoongi has done dozens of times and Jungkook’s heart clenches painfully. Where are his coven members? This creature seems to have utter control over reality.

“A crossroads demon is a demon that makes deals with most any kind of creature in exchange for something both sides want. We have virtually unlimited power, a blank check from the boss to do whatever we want, and a different set of rules from “normal” demons.”

“Why would you come to our circle? We were just trying to summon one of those “normal” demons.”

The demon inclines his head, “I’m pretty positive your friends didn’t intend to summon a demon like me. All of them put together don’t have enough power to leverage in order to bind me.” He huffs, “So you can imagine my confusion when I’m plucked out of a deal that was chugging along nicely in order to travel through space and dimensions in order to hang out with a bunch of kids in their what? Parent’s basement?” He looks around distastefully, settling most of his disdain on the teal futon.

Jungkook feels immediately defensive of the futon.

“We’re not kids.” Jungkook grumbles, “This is Hoseok’s basement. We’re all in our 20’s.”

“Even if I knew or cared who that was, I’m older than time as you conceptualize it. You’re kids; trust me.”

He unfolds from the chair with inhuman fluidity to come and loom over Jungkook on the ground.

“So I figure there must be some pretty fucking powerful magick hiding here somewhere, and lo and behold. I find you. A sourcerer hiding in a basement with five little witchlings.”

“Sourcerer?” Jungkook struggles to follow the demon’s explanations. He feels hopelessly stupid and slow.

“A source of magick. You’ve been feeding every witch and wizard in the surrounding area an endless supply of fresh magick ever since you came online. No wonder these kids felt big enough to try some demon summoning. You probably blew their arsenal of spells open like a talisman when you showed up. And none of you even knew. Adorable.” He smiles. “What’s your name, little sourcerer?”

“Jungkook. What’s your name?”

“Ah, I have so many. I don’t know what they call me anymore.”

Jungkook shrugs, “Pick one you like and I’ll use it. It’s not like I know the difference.”

“You can call me Jimin.”

It’s a pretty ordinary name. Jungkook quirks an eyebrow but Jimin the Demon doesn’t look like he’s kidding.

Jungkook fidgets on the floor and Jimin strides over to him. He flinches, but Jimin merely holds out his hand. After staring at each other for a long second, Jungkook tentatively takes it.

Jimin hauls him up and dusts off his shoulders. “Is it easier to be near me now? I tried to do something about my aura for you.” His voice is surprisingly gentle.

“Uh. Yeah.” Jungkook mutters. “Why are you being kind of...nice to me?”

“You have something I want.” Jimin says bluntly.

“Why don’t you just take it if you’re as powerful as you say?”

Jimin shakes his head. “That’s not how it works. What I want is the endless wellspring of magick planted deep inside you. In order to get something that pure and intrinsic—you have to surrender it to me willingly.”

Jungkook takes a step back, “Why would I do that?”

Jimin smiles, “Well that’s what we need to figure out. What do you want? What kind of deal do you want to make?”

“I don’t want to sell you my soul.”

Jimin scoffs, “It’s not your soul. You don’t have a soul.”

Jungkook blinks furiously.

Jimin sighs again like this is a major inconvenience, “Witches don’t have souls. They spend their energy from the universe in the form of magick, not souls. That’s why you assholes have to bind demons to get what you want. You can’t bargain your soul or be corrupted like humans so why would we bother?”

“I didn’t know we didn’t have souls.” Jungkook muses. “What happens when we die?”

Jimin shrugs, “Depends what you want to do. If you’re willing to go corrupt some humans you can become a demon. We’re equal opportunity employers.” He smiles at his own joke, “If you don’t you can always get absorbed into places with high magickal concentration—like certain forests and caves and rivers.”

“What like, become a tree?”

“A magick tree. Feel special.”

“We don’t get to go to heaven?” Jungkook says without even really thinking.

Jimin crosses his arms, “You just summoned a demon to your friend’s basement on Halloween and you still thought that was an option?”

Jungkook bristles at his preemptive tone. Standing up next to the demon, it’s easy to forget how powerful he is. Jimin’s magickal aura isn’t making him nauseous anymore. He’s actually a little taller than the demon.

“How do I know any of this is true?? You’re a demon; you could be lying.”

Jimin doesn’t even blink at his outburst, “Actually I can’t. That’s one of the rules unique to me. No lying.”

“I thought all demons could lie. I thought that was kind of a...hallmark of being a demon.”

“I’m special.” Jimin chuckles, “Besides, I don’t need to lie. I have quite a bit of leverage without having to be dishonest.”

He taps Jungkook’s chest, right over the sigil and it gives a little tingle, “This binding sigil keeps me here in this dimension with you until the festival of Samhain is over. Now that’s plenty of time for me to murder all your little witchling friends, your normal friends, your family, your girlfriends, boyfriends—whatever— maybe even wipe out this whole town, unless you make a deal with me.”

The inflection in his voice doesn’t change at all, still lilts, sounds like honey over a harp, as he cooly tells Jungkook he’ll kill everyone he knows and cares about, and many more innocent people besides.

Jungkook smacks his hand away. “That’s horrible.”

Jimin shrugs, “I’m a demon, Jungkook. Human concepts like morality mean very little to me. You have something I want. I have several things you want to keep safe. This is a simple transaction. I even have a rewards program. Ready to listen to my proposal yet?”

Jungkook stares at the demon. Jimin meets his gaze levelly.

The silence extends between them long enough that Jimin rolls his eyes and blows his bangs out of his face.

“Sweetheart as much as I appreciate the dramatic Sophie’s Choice you’re going through here, can we move this along?” He snaps his fingers and Taehyung materializes next to them, looking absolutely terrified.

“Tae!” Jungkook startles, reaching out for him. His hand swipes right through his arm.

“Ah Ah...no touching.” Jimin coos. “He’s your favorite, right? What do the kids say...your...best friend?”

“Kookie?” Taehyung’s voice is pitched higher from fear, he reaches out trying to grasp Jungkook’s hand but neither of them can get solid purchase on the other. Jimin takes his left index finger and draws it up his own right arm. Taehyung screams as an incision appears up his arm in the same place, pouring blood down his wrist until it drips and stains the floor around them.

Jungkook breaks, “Okay okay OKAY JUST STOP! Please!”

“You’ll deal with me?” Jimin confirms, expression neutral as Taehyung screams intensify.

“Yes yes fuck just—just—leave him alone!”

Jimin waves his hand, Taehyung’s arm stops bleeding, he snaps his fingers and Taehyung disappears again.

“Okay leaving Taehyung alone, that’s one condition. What else?”

Jungkook tries to breathe normally, tries to calm himself down. Jimin twirls his fingers and a chair pushes up against the back of Jungkook’s knees. He drops down on it. Another chair manifests and Jimin sinks down onto it like a dancer.

“Conditions?”

“Yeah!” Jimin smiles enthusiastically like he hadn’t almost made a man bleed to death two minutes ago. “This is the fun part! You tell me what you want before you’ll give me your magick.”

“I get to ask for stuff?” Jungkook thinks about the threats to his family and friends.

“Well yeah, that’s a lot of goddamn magick.”

“Okay.” Jungkook wracks his brain. He wonders if there’s a limit to what he can ask for, “I want you to keep me and my coven safe from harm. As well as my friends and family.”

Jimin nods and a scroll and quill appear in the air. The quill starts taking notes.

Jungkook suddenly thinks about genie wishes and the demons he’s seen on tv. Loopholes, close the loopholes.

“And harm means MY definition of harm. MY morality regarding harm.”

Jimin’s lip curls slightly but he doesn’t say anything.

Jungkook feels a weird thrill of power. He might be woefully outclassed when it comes to using his magick, but he can at least get some good balance in negotiation.

“What is the nature of you taking my magick?”

Jimin clicks his tongue, like he was hoping Jungkook wouldn’t ask.

“It would be sort of like slavery in that you would have to follow my orders and I would be able to use your magick however I want until it is exhausted. Then you cease to exist.”

Jungkook shivers, “How long would that take?”

Jimin looks up, the quill pauses in midair, “Depends really. Could be a few millennia. Could be much longer. Could be shorter.”

Jungkook bites his lip. This sounds horrific. He can’t...cant give all of this up. It’s too high stakes. His brain doesn’t know how to properly process the scope of what he’s bargaining. Then again, he thinks, as he watches Jimin look over his notes, that’s probably the advantage crossroads demons like to exploit.

Unbidden, he thinks about watching everyone he knows and loves die. Watching Tae, his mom, Yoongi, his friends...he closes his eyes and shakes his head. He can’t do it. He can’t sentence them all to death just to avoid the deal. He looks over at the demon again, who is patiently waiting for him to get a grip. Inspiration strikes Jungkook. He can’t avoid the deal, but he can sweeten it for himself.

“Then i want you bonded to me in similar servitude as long as I live.” Jungkook crosses his arms to try and look slightly more intimidating. Maybe it would work if the other party wasn’t a literal incarnation of evil.

Jimin blinks at him. “What.” His tone is not encouraging. But Jungkook presses his point anyway.

“You can’t harm me, in fact, you have to protect me from harm. So as long as I live in this dimension—unaffected by your presence in it—you have to be my bonded servant just the way I will be to you.”

“You’re forgetting I don’t have to do this. I can just kill you all.”

“Yeah.” Jungkook says a little smugly, “But you won’t. How often do you get to deal with a sourcerer? From what you said it sounds like a lot to pass up on.”

Jimin bares his teeth at Jungkook. “Feisty, huh?” He measures Jungkook for a moment, considering. “Fine. Now if that’s all your conditions—“

“Not quite. You also have to obey my coven members.” Jungkook smirks.

Jimin grimaces. “Who’s orders are more important?”

“Mine, of course. But as long as I don’t directly contradict them you’re bound to their wishes too. And I want you to teach me how to use my magick.” Jungkook finishes wildly.

“Teach you? Why would I waste my time teaching a SLAVE to do his own spells?” Jimin is seething now, picking at his points pettily because Jungkook’s made him give up a concession or two.

It stings, but Jungkook shrugs, “I want to know. Plus with you giving me everything I want—“

“—only until you die—“ Jimin says ominously.

Jungkook only pauses for a second, “—until I die...I’ll need something interesting to do.”

“Fine.” Jimin says sharply. “That closes our negotiations.” He gestures to the quill and the scroll and they poof out of existence. “We just have to seal it.”

Jungkook’s mind is racing with what he used as wording, whether he was too ambiguous or not ambiguous enough, but now he has to live with it, whatever the outcome.

“With a handshake?” Jungkook automatically stands up and holds out his hand. Jimin giggles, low and throaty, and takes Jungkook’s hand to sharply pull the taller man flush against him. Jungkook yelps a little at being manhandled, and Jimin’s eyes glint briefly at the sound. This proximity is making Jungkook flush slowly, starting high in his cheeks.

“Not exactly cupcake. You have to kiss me.” Jimin parts his lips invitingly. This close, he smells incredible. Intoxicating. Sweet, and musky, and some other property Jungkook’s nose can’t name.

He blushes immediately. “Oh. O-oh. Okay. A kiss, right.”

“I’d tell you not to be afraid but I cant tell lies.” Jimin says, husky, as he wraps his arms around Jungkook. Jungkook is a little horrified to find that he WANTS to kiss Jimin. Whether that’s because of the magick of the deal, or the demon himself is a problem Jungkook doesn’t want to dwell on too long.

Jimin waits on him to stop having a crisis, running his fingers possessively over his back. Jungkook briefly thinks about how that’s not just a descriptor after he makes this deal. He and the demon will belong to each other. Possessions. But at least the coven will be safe...

Thinking about protecting his friends gives him resolve. He tilts his head and gently touches his lips to Jimin’s maddeningly soft ones. He means for it to be quick, barely anything. But something snaps when their lips touch.

Instantly they both cling to each other, passion rising sharp and unbidden between the two. Their tongues twine together; they wrap around each other. Jungkook’s teeth sink into Jimin’s lips, Jimin sucks on his tongue, they moan and pant into each other’s mouths, completely gone. Jungkook can feel a strange energy swirling out of them, around them, it feels a lot like standing in the middle of a tornado, like staring down a tsunami. When they break apart and shove away from each other—breathing hard—Jimin looks just as thrown as Jungkook.

“Well that was...” Jimin trails off.

Jungkook grapples with the impossibility of descibing what just occurred before settling on knowing what became of the deal.

“It’s done?” Jungkook pants.

Jimin shakes his head, seemingly trying to center himself, and checks his arm. A black band has wrapped around his elbow and he reaches up to brush against his neck where Jungkook can see a similar band. “Yes. The deal is in effect.”

Jungkook glances at his own arm and finds a matching band. He nods at the manifestation of their bond before returning his attention to the demon

“Good. Now bring my friends back and heal their injuries.”

Jimin already looks like he’s regretting this decision as he snaps his fingers to bring the five other witches back from wherever he was keeping them. They drop onto the floor, groaning at the contact with the hard cement, but otherwise to Jungkook’s eyes they seem like they’re okay. Looks like the demon was telling the truth about that much.

“Jungkookie...?” Taehyung is as white as a sheet, “What...what happened? I thought I was dying.”

Jungkook rubs the back of his neck. Jimin stands off to the side, quietly radiating annoyance and frustration.

“Ah. Well. I kind of...made a deal.”

Namjoon looks horrified. The others don’t look much better. “You made a deal with a crossroads demon?? Jungkook that’s idiotically stupid.”

“He was going to kill you.” Jungkook says, but his certainty is evaporating as reality intrudes on the decisions he made. He looks over at the demon leaning on the wall, brooding.

What if all he managed to do was trap himself with a demon who now resents him? A demon that has nothing but time to figure out what openings he left in conditions in order to torture him? He swallows uneasily.

Taehyung touches his sleeve. “Kookie, did he hurt you? What did he do to make you deal with him?”

Jungkook fiddles with the hem of his shirt. “I...um...” he can feel Jimin’s eyes boring into his back as well as all of the attention from his coven.

“Or did you not even think and just plunge right into some one-sided, torturous contract?” Namjoon looks almost disgusted as he eyes the demon. Jungkook starts to feel so small, and so, so stupid. The weight of their disapproval feels like it’s choking him. How can he tell them he did this for them—for their families—

A hand clamps down on his shoulder. Jimin’s voice crackles through the air, practically laced with magickal energy,“We made a deal because you assholes were too selfish and stupid to not think a summoning like this through, or properly educate your initiate about what he was going to do—“

“Hey—“ Namjoon starts angrily but Seokjin yanks on his arm to shut him up.

“—so your negligence and sheer fucking ignorance led to your initiate having to make a play to save all of your sorry lives. Which he did. And now I have to protect him for a while; that includes protecting him from your moronic ideas. It appears that your judgement on his methods for saving your lives from your own willful stupidity is bothering him. So fuck off, kindly, or I have to come up with a punishment that doesn’t, quote, “harm you under Jungkook’s definition of the word”

Jimin finishes with a flourish of air quotes, and the witches look properly chagrined. The only one still blazing with anger is Namjoon but mercifully he holds his tongue.

“It’s going to be helpful for the coven, Joon. Jimin—“ Jungkook gestures to the demon at his shoulder, “—here is going to teach us how to use my sourcerer magick and it’ll make us a highly powerful coven. Apparently I have enough magick just floating around in here,” He gestures to his body, “to bind a demon like Jimin.”

“A crossroads demon.” Namjoon says quietly. “Now, anyway. What were you before?”

Jimin withdraws his hand from Jungkook’s shoulder and stares the other witch down.

“Do I have to answer him, Jungkook?”

“All crossroads demons are appointed from somewhere, Jungkook. He has to have been another kind of demon at first.” Namjoon points out, and that sends a little warning bell rolling in Jungkook’s head. What exactly did he make a deal with?

Jungkook turns to the suddenly uncomfortable demon, “Yes. Answer him.”

Jimin looks at the floor and hesitates, like he’s trying to choose his wording carefully, “I was an...incubus.”

Namjoon snorts, “A sex demon.” Jimin’s head snaps up and tendrils of magick start sweeping past whatever barrier he put up to not make Jungkook nauseous.

Namjoon comes over and grips Jungkook’s arm, “Lucifer wouldn’t make a sex demon a crossroads demon unless he proved himself in an incredibly vile way. There’s only six or seven crossroads demons in all of mythology.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen.

“Actually there’s four of us. Typically Crowley gets mistaken for two others when they’re all really just him.” Jimin pipes up.

“What does that mean?” He whispers to Namjoon.

“It means,”. Namjoon says in a normal tone of voice. “That either he stole his power by backstabbing and underhanding hundreds of thousands of stronger demons, or Lucifer took a liking to him and split part of his own angelic power off to bestow on him.” He sneers at Jimin over Jungkook’s shoulder, “How likely do you think it is that Lucifer likes him? Maybe he’s such a good lay the devil himself is whipped.”

“Fuck off. Seriously.” Jimin mutters. He’s not exactly mad, but Jungkook can feel the irritation of being judged by a creature he considers to be wholly beneath him. It’s almost like Jimin’s magick is tied to his emotions, letting Jungkook get a sense of what he demon is feeling. His emotions are strangely normal; even human. The thought makes his stomach churn uncomfortably.

“I think it’s more likely he’s a murderous, evil, traitorous trash that betrays every soul he’s ever come across and now YOU have made a DEAL with him, CHAINING him to you until the terms are completed. Treachery is in his nature. He won’t keep the terms of your deal.” Namjoon finishes.

Everyone else is uncomfortably quiet.

Sinister intentions filter through this bond they share and Jungkook knows Jimin is finally angry.

Jungkook turns to his bonded demon, “Well, how was it done? Which version?”

Jimin has a muscle working in his jaw. “I don’t want to say right here right now.”

“Tough shit. I need to know if I need to order you to drown yourself in the ocean for the rest of my life or if you were telling the truth and actually cannot lie. Tell us how you became a crossroads demon. All of it.”

Jimin looks at him almost pleadingly. He catches a flicker of maybe, despair, through the bond.

“Neither version.”

Namjoon scoffs immediately, making some kind of noise between a snort and a huff.

“Crossroads demons can lie.” Jimin starts. Namjoon hisses from behind him. Jungkook’s pulse pounds in his ears...the terms of their deal...all of their safety...he gained nothing with the deal...

“But I can’t.” Jimin studiously looks down at his rings. “I’ve never been able to, since before I became a demon.”

“You can remember not being a demon?” Yoongi finally speaks up, looking flabbergasted, “Impossible.”

“No. Just very rare. And very old.” He looks directly at Namjoon. “I was one of the first.”

“The first was Lilith.” Namjoon says quietly. “ Everyone knows that.”

Jungkook resists pointing out that HE didn’t know that, and that’s part of the reason they’re even in this whole mess.

“The first HUMAN soul twisted was Lilith.” Jimin’s brow furrows, “Didn’t you hear me when I said I couldn’t lie?”

“Why is that significant?” Taehyung squeaks, “Everyone keeps repeating it like it’s supposed to mean something.”

“Lying is a uniquely human characteristic. If I had been a human before I turned I would be able to lie my ass off to you idiots and you’d be none the wiser. I definitely wouldn’t be having this conversation.” He sighs.

“What were you?” Jungkook says, trying to keep the panic under wraps. Jimin looks like a person. A creepy, hot, red-eyed person who leaks dark powerful magick into the air, but still a person.

“If you would stop interrupting me I could get to that.” Jimin snaps.

“This is ridiculous. In order for a sex demon to be that old and remember being turned you would have to be...” Namjoon trails off.

They look at each other for a moment.

“It was quite a long fall.” Jimin says softly. Namjoon looks like he might topple over. “He told us it would be long; it would hurt. But it was still such an eternity. He couldn’t lie to us, couldn’t lie to anyone. Still can’t, actually. But he didn’t have to tell us the whole truth. We were so used to following the order, to doing what we were told that it seemed second nature to believe his sincerity. That’s where I learned to dance around it, to meander to the point when possible. He is always so good at that.”

Yoongi looks paler than normal, if that’s possible.

Jimin uncrosses and recrosses his arms. He’s the most uncomfortable Jungkook has seen him since he stepped out of the smoke.

“Lucifer didn’t have to share his angelic power with me, and I DIDNT have to STEAL it.” He says distastefully, practically spitting the words at Namjoon. “Me and the other six had our own.”

Jungkook doesn’t bother looking at the overwhelmed reactions of his coven. He knows something has been revealed that’s important but dammned if he can keep up.

“Jungkook...you had enough magick to leverage for one of the fallen?” Seokjin whispers, “What the fuck are you, kid?”

“Fallen, like, a fallen angel? Like Lucifer?” Jungkook ignores the looks being trained on him like he’s a freak to focus on the ludicrous notion Seokjin presented.

“Angels can’t lie,” Taehyung says faintly, “They always say Lucifer can’t lie.”

“Holy fuck.” Namjoon says, backing away from the pair of them, “Jungkook...did you...make a deal...”

Jungkook has had enough of being the last to know today.“Can everyone just spit it out already? Jesus you’re so fucking dramatic.”

“Jungkook,” Jimin addresses him directly and he turns back to him. His eerie red eyes flicker in the dim room, “I am one of the seven angels who followed Lucifer out of paradise. Through losing our wings and the philosophy of our brother, I was transformed into one of the original deadly sins.” He somewhat grimly smiles at the room, “Typically, you call me “Lust.”

As the silence lengthens and the implications settle, Jimin realizes he’s silenced the uppity witches.

He grins, enjoying the consternation of the room at this revelation, “So yes, Namjoon. A pretty good lay, all in all.”

\~\~\~

“You’re fucked.” Namjoon grits out.

“I am aware of that. I know the terms of the deal.” Jungkook sighs back at him. Tae’s wolf is currently attempting to smother him with cuddles, and Hoseok’s cat is licking his ear. The familiars wasted no time in stress-snuggling all the witches when they left the basement. Yoongi’s cat hisses disapprovingly at his black armband before forgiving him and nibbling on his fingers.

The six coven members are locked in an upper bedroom, Jimin having been left in the basement with orders not to follow them. Hoseok and Taehyung are visibly distressed, Seokjin and Yoongi seem pretty grimly resigned to the situation, and Namjoon is still Namjoon, passionately expounding upon the problem.

“No, beyond that. If that THING in the basement,” Namjoon shudders, “Is really a fallen angel—“

“—and the literal embodiment of the sin of Lust—“ Yoongi adds,

“—there’s no way out of the contract. He means it when he says he can’t lie so there’s nothing for us to exploit to get you out of this.”

Jungkook blinks at him, “I never knew that getting out of it was a possibility in the first place—thanks to SOMEBODY who never saw the need to tell me any of this before I started summoning demons.”

“We didn’t know you were a FUCKING SOURCERER—“Namjoon yells,

“I DONT THINK THAT MAKES IT BETTER. All it tells me is that you were so hyped to do your little magick trick that you went ahead and did it without thinking about anyone else involved.” Jungkook’s pretty close to crying now, “And I also don’t think it’s right that YOU'RE so angry when this was YOUR IDEA and you are NOT the one facing down an eternity of torment.”

“Not to cut in here or anything—“ Jimins voice suddenly sounded like he was sitting in the room with them and they all jumped. “—but it won’t be eternity. Just until your magick gets depleted enough for your self to cease to exist.”

“I ordered you to stay in the basement!”

“I’m in the basement!” Jimin shoots back, “You never said I couldn’t listen in and correct you when you start waxing all sad and victimized about “eternities of suffering”

“Alright alright well at least a REALLY LONG TIME of suffering followed by sad pointless death.” Jungkook snaps.

“I guess.” Jimin answers. Jungkook can almost hear the eye roll in his tone.

“Now stop listening in or in any way interfering with our meeting.”

Jimin grumbles but his presence leeches out of the room.

Taehyung starts crying. Yoongi gets up and starts pacing.

A crying Taehyung is making Jungkook wildly uncomfortable “Tae...”

“I’m so sorry Kookie. I never should’ve brought you to the coven. This is not a burden you should’ve ever taken on.”

Jungkook pats his arm a little awkwardly, “Tae, it’s not all bad. He’s my bonded servant, and all of yours. He has to do whatever we say. I’m telling you, this will be good for the coven.”

Seokjin narrows his eyes, “He has to listen to us too?”

“Yeah, and he’s not allowed to hurt you.” Jungkook sighs, “I did TRY to get some good things out of the deal other than just avoiding your gruesome murders.”

Namjoon is finally looking less angry. It’s a little confronting for Jungkook to realize how much he cares what the elder thinks of him.

“I suppose I never did thank you for protecting the coven when I couldn’t.” He mumbles. “Thank you, Kookie.”

The tension slowly seeps out of the room. Yoongi stops pacing,

“So what happens now?”

Jungkook hitches a shoulder, “I think...maybe? I just...take him home? Try to get some sleep? Hoseok can hand out candy to kids in costumes?”

“It feels weird to be doing it in light of being under the threat of inhumanly evil power.” Hoseok hums, but otherwise seems to have bounced back since the ritual.

“I don’t like leaving you alone with that thing.” Yoongi says. “One of the fallen, an original sin, a crossroads demon—oh and don’t forget a demon designed specifically for corruption and seduction.” He looks pained, “Don’t fuck him, Jungkook.”

Jungkook splutters, “I-I wasn’t g-going—god Yoongi really...”

Yoongi shakes his head, “You might not be able to resist, Kook. Before today you didn’t know what an incubus was.”

“It’s a bad idea.” Seokjin agrees, “But it sounds like the demon isn’t allowed to hurt Jungkook. I think they can be alone as long as you don’t...you know. Fall for him. Just...don’t listen to what he says.”

“Or look at him too much.” Taehyung murmurs.

Jungkook groans. “It’s fine, guys. I have no interest in having sex with Jimin.”

\~\~\~

Jungkook has an unhealthy amount of interest in having sex with Jimin.

“This is where you live?” The demon asks, judgement dropping from every syllable, hips swaying unfairly as he brushes past Jungkook into his trailer.

“Yeah. It’s not much—“

“—obviously—“

“—but it’s home.”

Jimin peers at him, shrewd, catching the nostalgia and pain associated with the word home. He studies the small trailer, “I think we can do better.”

He captures his thick bottom lip between his teeth and Jungkook is instantly flashing back to the kiss that sealed their deal. All heat and pleasure and delirious NEED. Jimin’s lip glistens in the cheap overhead lighting.

Jungkook tears his gaze away to shut the door. “When I want you to fix my housing situation I’ll ask for it.”

“What about *my* housing situation?” Jimin grumbles, “Or do I have to take orders from you about that too?” He flops dramatically on Jungkook’s pullout sofa.

“You’re awfully salty for someone who basically enslaved me for eternity today.”

“But before I get to enjoy it I have to tag along with a brat and his five twat friends until his frail meat-shell gives out of entirely natural causes in who knows how long that will take.” The demon whines and toes off his boots.

“Still not as long as eternity.” Jungkook points out, determinedly not looking at the way Jimin’s thighs flex under his skin tight pants.

“Give me a break, I have enough power in my pinky to make you and this whole town spontaneously combust. You’d be annoyed too if you had any perspective at all outside of your meaningless human existence.”

Jungkook hangs his coat up by the door and abandons his own boots on the mat, using every bit of balance and suaveness he possesses to not end up on his ass while pulling them off,

“You know, you’re not making me all that inclined to treat you well as my servant.”

Jimin’s lip curls up, “You humans are all pretty pointlessly cruel and petty when given the opportunity so I wasn’t expecting anything else.”

Jungkook pauses momentarily where he was on his way to the kitchen.

“You hate us that much, huh?”

Jimin just glares at him, “Are you unfamiliar with WHY angels would abandon paradise and give up their wings? It has EVERYTHING to do with you disgusting little worms wriggling around. So full of your own importance and reinforced by a father that makes you the center of the universe—even his other children bound to serve you.” Jimin twists the ring around his index finger. There’s something oddly...familiar about the gesture.

“And then after I fell I’ve seen the craven, depraved depths the human soul is capable of over and over and over again. What exactly is supposed to be impressing me here, Jungkook? What is there to respect about a creature who’s claim to fame is mostly the ability to CHOOSE whether to be an evil, energy-draining waste of life or not, and still manages to choose wrong?”

Jungkook feels like the words are almost taking shape to hit him, leaving him a little winded.

“I’m not sure...movies and books and stuff say love is pretty great.”

Jimin rolls his neck around so he can fix Jungkook with a dubious expression. “Love. You’re really going to use love as an argument against the physical manifestation of Lust?” He chuckles and Jungkook blushes again. It’s so easy to forget that he’s supposed to be the one in charge right now. That black band so conspicuous around Jimin’s neck, but missing from his own, tells him he should be.

“Well then fine. Since you can’t stand my sofa, sleep wherever you want. I’ll be sure to think up some pointlessly cruel things for tomorrow, so you don’t get disappointed.”

He turns toward his fridge and and yanks it open to retrieve leftover takeout to microwave. When he slams the door shut Jimin is standing on the other side.

He jumps about a foot in the air, “Fuck! Don’t scare me like that!”

Jimin ignores him and sheds his blazer to the floor. His nimble fingers start picking open his shirt. As button after button springs open and more and more flawless skin is exposed in his kitchen Jungkook panics,

“W-what the fuck are you doing??”

“You said I could sleep wherever I want...” Jimin purrs, leaning closer. His earlier animosity has been wiped away and he seems to be radiating desire. Jungkook’s throat feels dry.

“...so what if I want to sleep on top of you?”

Jungkook flinches away, running his hip into the counter and spilling rice out of the flimsy takeout carton, “Ow—fuck! No! Keep your clothes on!”

Jimin immediately stops unbuttoning his shirt but since there were only a couple left the fabric gapes open to all the chiseled, smooth muscles on his chest and stomach. Jungkook wonders if he’s maybe already in hell.

“But you said wherever I want?” Jimin pouts and continues to crowd Jungkook back into the counter.

“Anywhere EXCEPT with or ON ME!” Jungkook squeaks.

Jimin scowls. But his expression rebounds.

“Fine. We don’t have to sleep. You’ve been thinking dirty thoughts about me all day, cupcake, so why don’t we pick one of those and get started?”

Jungkook drops the takeout container.

“I-I—“

Jimin leans in close, “You don’t have to pretend with me. We’re stuck together now—doesn’t it seem like something we’re going to get to eventually? And don’t forget, I know how badly you want it.” Jimin waves his hand and a little translucent scene appears above his shoulder. There’s legs and arms and sweaty bodies all tangled together, and with a mortified pang Jungkook realizes it’s EXACTLY one of the things he had been imagining when he and Jimin kissed to seal the deal.

He closes his eyes and feels Jimins fingers inch up the front of his shirt. Yoongi’s face pops into his mind, “Don’t fuck him, Jungkook.”

“N-no. No.” Jungkook catches the demon’s hands and pulls them from his shirt. You’re in charge. You’re in charge, he chants to himself. Jimin’s got an eyebrow cocked in mild interest, “Don’t touch me like that. Don’t touch me at all, actually.”

Jimin pulls away immediately, pouting. “Ah, you’re really going to be no fun, aren’t you?”

And just like that he’s back across the room on the sofa.

Jungkook feels like he’s been dunked in cold water with all of Jimin’s magick removed from his immediate area. He takes a few shaky breaths and readjusts his rumpled shirt. The spilled food catches his eye. He sighs.

“You made me drop my dinner.”

“First of all, you don’t have to be eating leftovers anyway, and second of all what do you expect me to do, apologize?”

Jungkook eyes the demon, curled up on the sofa, shirt and blazer miraculously restored to their pressed, buttoned perfection. Like it never happened.

“Can you fix it?”

Jimin flicks his fingers and the takeout rewinds up off the floor, back into the container, and into Jungkook’s hands. And it’s steaming hot and smells distinctly un-two-days-later-microwaved-rice. It smells like fresh off the grill, mouthwatering goodness.

“Satisfied, Master?” He says sarcastically.

“Careful, I might start to like that.” Jungkook mutters to himself.

“The only thing standing between you and me using that title naked and handcuffed in your bedroom is whatever weird internal morality crisis made you tell me to stop touching you.” Jimin says primly from the sofa.

Jungkook actually shivers. He nearly trips over his own feet escaping to his bedroom. Once the door is closed between him and the demon he slumps back against it.

The takeout still smells really good. So he munches on that.

“Sleep well,” Jimin’s voice tickles his ear like he was whispering right next to him. Jungkook nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Fuck that’s going to be the worst thing about this, isn’t it?” He asks his empty room.

All he gets in response is the ghost of a demonic chuckle.

Jungkook is awakened by a solid thump on the floor next to his bed. Like someone dropped a textbook on the floor. When he orients himself, he realizes Jimin is standing in front of his bookshelf doing almost exactly that. He’s flipping through what looks like Jungkook’s yearbooks and loudly flinging them on the floor when he’s done.

“Hey,” Jungkook croaks, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, “What the hell are you doing in here?”

Jimin is still perfect in his black suit. He doesn’t even look like any fuzz from the sofa stuck to him, his blazer isn’t even creased. He looks over his shoulder at Jungkook stretching groggily in the sheets, “You never said I couldn’t come in your room.”

He tosses the book in his hand on the ground and reaches for another.

“Can you not throw my shit on the ground? What are you doing with my yearbooks?”

“Just some research on you. Trying to get a sense of who I’m stuck with.” Jimin begins paging through the next one, turning past pages covered in classmate scribbles and well-wishes for the summer.

“That’s creepy. Why would you need to? Cant you read my mind anyway?” Jungkook struggles to untangle his feet from the sheets and stretches. The floor is cold and his toes flinch away from it instinctually, but he perches on the edge of his bed to get accustomed to it and help him wake up.

Jimin shrugs, “Only the sexy thoughts. Nice dreams, by the way.”

Jungkook fights the urge to dive back under the covers. He can’t remember any of his dreams per se...but considering the subject matter his subconscious has to work with now...

Well he wouldn’t be surprised if Jimin had all sorts of embarrassing ammunition.

He lurches to his feet and starts gathering up the fallen yearbooks. “Don’t you have anything better to do than stay up watching my dreams?”

Jimin pointedly drops the last yearbook on the ground in front of him, “Well I don’t sleep, what do YOU propose I do to entertain myself?” He grins slyly, “At least I get to see a lot of myself in your dreams. It’s not often I don’t have any competition in the form of crushes or significant others.”

Jungkook decides to ignore the jab at his lack of romantic life, “You don’t sleep?”

“Why would I?”

Jungkook scoops the last yearbook up and tucks them all back onto the shelf.

“Dunno. It just never occurred to me that you didn’t. Plus last night you said something about wanting to sleep on me...” He bravely tries not to recall the way Jimin had smiled so beguilingly and the expanse of his abs dipping down into his pants—

Jimin waves his hand, “Oh that was just a line. I was trying to see how easy it would be to work you over.”

“Thanks a lot.” Jungkook snarls.

“Hey don’t be bitter, you did pretty well!” Jimin grins at him. Jungkook glares back. They lapse into silence and stare at each other for a moment. Jungkook realizes he’s still holding onto a yearbook and finishes leaning it against the others on the shelf.

Jimin jerks his chin in the direction of the books, “Why didn’t you order me to clean those up? I made the mess.”

Jungkook blinks and looks back over at the books, and then back to Jimin, “I...I guess it didn’t occur to me.”

Jimin’s eyebrow lifts ever so slightly, “Interesting.” He sweeps out of the room in cryptic silence.

Jungkook is uncomfortably reminded of final exams. It feels like he’s standing at the whiteboard waiting for the teachers to ask him questions. It’s too early in the morning for mind games, he thinks, as he snatches a towel from his clean laundry heap and heads to the shower.

“Don’t break any of my stuff!” Jungkook yells towards the kitchen and living space. The silence he receives in return is not reassuring.

He’s rinsing his hair when he gets the next dose of Jimin’s presence. It comes in the form of his bathroom door blowing open hard enough to bang against the wall and nearly make Jungkook eat shit in his slippery tub. Soap gets in his eye.

“Ow—fucking why—“

“Jungkook!” Jimin rips the shower curtain out of the way.

“What could you POSSIBLY want right now?”

“There’s a person at your door leaving stuff on your porch. He rang the doorbell and walked away. Do you have any enemies?”

Jungkook dips his head under the stream to get the soap residue out of his eye. “Did he leave, like, a brown box and some envelopes?”

“Yes. Is this something that qualifies as harm?”

“I think you’re talking about the mailman. So no. I can’t believe you know what “Sophie’s Choice” is but you don’t know what a mailman is.” He grips the shower curtain and closes it between them.

“Well how am I supposed to know? After seeing your living space I figured you were some sort of hermit. Why would people send letters to a hermit?”

Jungkook ignores him and resumes soaping his loofah when something occurs to him. “He...didn’t see you, right? Looking...like that?”

“Calm down princess he didn’t see me. Wait. What’s wrong with the way I look?” Jimin sounds aggravated.

“You’re in a trailer wearing that suit—poor guy would probably think you were a goddamn mafia boss or drug kingpin.” He groans, “You can’t follow me to work looking like that—I’ll have to do too much explaining.”

“Couple things. One, you’re going to work? Like to a job? ...why?”

“I work for Taehyung’s mom—she owns a flower shop..”

“...you’re a florist?” Jimin sounds like he’s barely keeping from laughing.

“More like a delivery boy—hey give me my face wash.” Jimin’s hand snakes around the curtain with the bottle. His face follows after it,“Okay, whatever. Two, what do I need to look like?”

Jungkook grabs the bottle and shoos the demon back to the other side of the curtain, “I don’t know—just normal. Non threatening. Not like you’re about to shake down several small business owners.” He steps back under the water—already turning cold because of this extremely unecessary conversation. “Now get out of the bathroom please. Don’t scare any of my neighbors and let me finish this shower in peace.”

The trailer is still and silent when Jungkook emerges from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. He wants to go get dressed but the silence is making him think about a puppy he’d had growing up—if it was too quiet that probably meant trouble. Instead he drips gently on the floor and peers out into the living area. It appears as though Jimin has actually followed the spirit of the orders as well as the letter, since he’s just quietly sitting on the sofa. As Jungkook tiptoes closer Jimin starts raking his hands back through his hair. Where his fingers make tracks the immaculate, sleek black hair starts to lose color, like someone is pulling the black off the ends of the hair. A honey-colored gold slowly takes over the demon’s head, poofing up as he finger combs it. When he’s done the sharp raven-black hair has been replaced by fluffy blonde layers, and oh no. This might be even worse. He turns to look at Jungkook and he’s dressed in a blue hoodie and black jeans.

If Jungkook thought it was hard to resist him before...

“Normal enough for you?” His smile seems warmer, less flint in his gaze, cheekbones look rounder and fuller. Jungkook’s stomach does little flips.

He realizes he’s essentially naked, dripping on the vinyl floors, and staring. Jimin giggles—totally different from his laughs earlier—high and airy. Jungkook’s eyes bug out.

“Uh...um. Yeah that’s—hm. Normal, good.”

Jimin flicks his eyes up and down Jungkook.

“Are you...going to work like that?”

Jungkook clamps his mouth shut—when had it fallen open??—and backs out of the room. He’s zipping up his jeans when a loud, insistent pounding can be heard from the front door.

“Fuck, can I just get like five minutes? Just five?” Jungkook mutters as he slips his work polo over his head and makes a beeline for the door. Jimin is sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging his legs and reading from Jungkook’s cookbooks with the hoodie pulled up over his head. “Cute” is the adjective that floats to the front of Jungkook’s brain and he feels like hurling. Traitorous brain.

“What the hell is going on out here?”

Jimin looks over his shoulder at the racket going on by the door, “Someone wants in, I think.”

“Like 15 minutes ago you were ready to murder the mailman and now there’s someone trying actually break down my door and...? Nothing?”

The pounding resumes, “LET ME IN ASSHOLE—ARE YOU ALIVE?? HAS THE DEMON KILLED YOU YET?? ANSWER MEEEEEE—“

“Oh, that’s Taehyung.”

Jimin resumes the interest in the recipe book, “Yeah. I figured that was a “You” conversation. It probably wouldn’t make him believe I didn’t kill you if I answered the door without you.”

Jungkook fluffs his still-damp bangs and wrenches the door open. Taehyung tumbles into the trailer in a heap of gangly limbs. He peers up from the floor, “Oh good. You’re alive.” He narrows his eyes, “Unless you’re that demon wearing him like a meat suit.” Jungkook wordlessly steps to the side so Jimin’s back can be seen. “Oh okay, cool.”

“I mean honestly that doesn’t mean anything.” Jimin chirps. “I could still be using him like a puppet and sitting right over here.”

Taehyung blanches, studying Jungkook critically.

Jungkook feels like he’s aged 30 years in ten minutes, “Jimin, stop messing with him.”

“You are aggressively no fun.” Jimin hunches deeper in his hoodie.

“What are you doing here, Tae?” Jungkook tries to divert his friend’s attention back to the matter at hand, “Why were you assaulting my trailer?”

“You’re not answering your goddamn phone, asshole! Why in the absolute FUCK is it off?” Taehyung stalks over and dramatically flings himself on the sofa. “Jeon Jungkook, you are the only person I know who would let their phone die the morning after they take home an incomparably evil, centuries-old monster—no offense—“ he directs at Jimin.

“—none taken—“

“—seriously where the fuck is your phone?”

Jungkook starts patting his pockets before he realizes he just put these pants on, “I actually...don’t know.”

Jimin holds up his hand and there’s suddenly a phone in his palm. Jungkook’s phone. Jungkook lunges forward and snatches it, “You had it? Why did you take my phone? Did you steal it?”

Jimin turns to face Jungkook with a bewildered expression, “What? No, what use would that thing be to me?” He closes the cookbook, “You said it was missing; I changed reality so that I had it. Otherwise you would be late to work looking for it.” He pushes the hoodie back off his head, “It was behind your end table.”

Jungkook fidgets a little guiltily, “Oh. Uh...thanks.”

Jimin hops off the counter, “It’s still like you’re not grasping the concept of Unlimited. Magic. Why did you bind me if not to utilize that exact thing?” He shakes his head, “I swear sourcerers might be dumber than humans.”

“I’m pacing myself.” Jungkook huffs. He turns back to Taehyung, but his friend has become fixated on Jimin’s head.

“Hey wow. Did you notice your hair? It’s different.”

Jimin stretches up on his tiptoes to put the cookbook back on the shelf, “Jungkook wanted me to look more normal.” A sliver of hip shows where the hoodie rides up, “Blend in more.”

“Blend in...right.” Taehyung says absentmindedly. He’s staring exactly where Jungkook thought he would be. He’s seen that look on his best friend’s face before. That look is Bad News.

Jimin turns back to the boys. “Aren’t you going to work, Jungkook?”

He jumps, hunting around for his keys and wallet for a moment before a weary sigh from Jimin makes him stop.

“Um. Jimin. My keys...wallet...”

Jimin flicks his fingers and the weight of his items drop into his pockets. Jungkook squirms,

“Ugh. That’s weird. It’s like you put them in my pockets for me...”

“Well...I did.”

Jungkook waves his hands vaguely as he fishes his keys out, “But like...with your hands.”

“You told me not to touch you last night, remember?” Jimin pushes his bottom lip out like he’s pouting but his eyes sparkle.

Jungkook stands there clutching his keys and actively avoids Taehyung’s eyes when they flick over to him. He clears his throat, “Hm. Yes. I remember.”

“What was the context of THAT?” Taehyung’s voice is laced with enough humor Jungkook is tempted to punch him.

Jimin sighs theatrically, “I was going to suck his dick in the kitchen and then ride him on that ugly sofa like he’d been imagining, but he told me no—“

“Jimin!” Jungkook snaps, cheeks flaming.

“Wow Jungkookie, you said no?” Taehyung is talking to him, but his eyes never leave Jimin.

Jungkook’s mouth drops open, “Of course I did! YOU guys told me not to fuck him!”

Jimin hums in understanding.

Taehyung scratches his head, “Well yeah—it seemed like Yoongi had the right idea about that, but we didn’t actually think you wouldn’t.”

“Thanks a lot, asshole.”

Taehyung taps his index finger against his bottom lip, “I guess Namjoon and Seokjin will be pretty upset. They both bet you wouldn’t make it though the night.” Jungkook feels an ugly little pang at Namjoon thinking he couldn’t resist Jimin for even one night.

“I can’t believe you guys bet on whether or not I would have sex with a DEMON!” He shakes his head, “Actually...that sounds about right for you guys.”

“I mean, I don’t know if I would have. Made it through the night, I mean.”

“Tae, aren’t you straight?”

“Am I? Shit, I think I forgot.” Taehyung’s ears turn pink.

Jimin laughs, full and energetic, “You’re cute. And your sexy thoughts are so LOUD.” Before Jungkook can really process the interaction, Jimin sashays over and straddles Taehyung on the couch. His thighs strain the black denim and completely eclipse Taehyung’s lap. “I like that thought...hmm that one too. That one’s creative...but Jungkook’s sofa won’t survive and he’s weirdly attached to it.” Jimin slips a hand into Taehyung’s hair, grabs a handful, and tugs his head to the side. Taehyung groans, actually groans out loud and that brings Jungkook back to life.

“Hey. HEY. What the fuck is this?” His voice is much higher than he would hope, under the circumstances.

“What does it look like? You don’t want me to touch you, but HE does. Maybe we can explore that little box of kinks I saw in your head. Want to confirm whether or not you like to watch?” Jimin leans back, showing off the geometry of he and Taehyung’s bodies pressed against each other. Jungkook’s breath hitches as Jimin draws his fingers down Taehyung’s cheap work polo and flips the hem up just enough to see Taehyung’s belly button.

His friend looks blissed out, pupils large and dark and his mouth open slightly as he watches Jimin on top of him. The demon leans in and noses up his neck, causing Taehyung’s voice to modulate lower, practically rumbling in his chest as he moans. Jungkook feels antsy, standing there, twisting his keychains between his fingers. When Jimin works his way up and presses his lips against the corner of Taehyung’s mouth, he snaps,

“Work! Work. I’m—we’re going to be late. Get off him, Jimin.”

The demon immediately backs off Taehyung to sit on the arm of the sofa. Taehyung is a sight; clothes rumpled, shirt hitched up, hair mussed and cheeks red like he’s been running uphill for an hour. In contrast, Jimin looks as fluffy and serene as ever, a deceptively innocent figure in his casual clothes. Jimin has a very knowing smile stretched across those lips. He shakes his head at Taehyung, “Too jealous for some of those, Taehyung. Might have to work up to that.”

Taehyung finally seems to be getting a grip. “Woah. WOAH. That was...man.” He frowns up at Jungkook, “What the hell dude, if you didn’t want to watch you could’ve just left. Why’d you stop it?”

Jungkook doesn’t actually have an answer for that. He just knows he’s suddenly irritated and needs to get out of there. “C’mon. Let’s. Let’s go. Work. Your mom. Let’s go.”

Taehyung yanks his polo back down, “Wow thanks for bringing up my mom when I’m about to get laid.” He finger combs his hair back into place and heaves himself off the couch. “We’re going to be late anyway, might as well be hella late.”

Jimin follows them out the door with his hands deep in his pockets, looking immensely pleased with himself. They pile into Jungkook’s car, since Taehyung biked here this morning. Jimin sprawls in the backseat, boots up against one window and his head flat on the seat. Jungkook almost tells him to get his feet off the window but that seems like an opportunity for Jimin to mock his car and he doesn’t have the energy.

Apparently he can’t avoid being mocked because his car churns and tries super hard to turn over three times before gurgling helplessly and refusing to start. His head hits the steering wheel. “Of course. Of course you do this today.”

“I can’t decide if it’s endearing or sad that you have so little ambition when it comes to using my powers.” Jimin remarks from right by Jungkook’s ear. Apparently car trouble is enough to make him sit up. The demon grabs Taehyung’s shoulder. “Order me to touch you long enough to take you to work, Jungkook.”

“You could just fix the car—“

“You’ll still be late. Just. Come on. Do it.”

“Take us to work, Jimin.” The demon grabs his shoulder.

Jungkook feels a rush of air like he’s falling forward and he and Taehyung stumble into the flower shop’s parking lot. Jimin just strolls forward, graceful as ever.

“Ugh. That’s a little...off putting.” Taehyung grouses.

“Only the first few times.” Jimin assures him.

Jungkook frowns as he looks around, “If you can’t read minds how did you know where this was?”

Jimin jerks his head towards Taehyung, “That one has quite a few fantasies and memories about fucking in and around this building.” Taehyung conspicuously drops to tie his shoe and not look at anyone.

“Ugh, Tae. I’m not leaving the two of you alone today.” Jimin waggles his eyebrows at Jungkook, “Or...ever. No being alone for you two.”

“Hey, What? I can control myself.” Taehyung whines.

“No. No you definitely cannot. I think we have proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Plus that one—“ Jungkook points to Jimin, “—sees it as some kind of game now. We won’t be able to get any work done.”

Jimin nods, “You’re not wrong. I’m especially intrigued by that rush of jealousy Jungkook gets. Wonder who that’s for?”

Jimin’s face says he knows exactly who that’s for but trust him to be needlessly provocative. It hasn’t even been one full day and Jungkook feels like the demon knows too much about him. There’s also a weird twist in his stomach when he contemplates experiencing jealousy in regards to a literal embodiment of sex and evil. He turns on his heel and stalks to the building.

“Dude, you have a crush on me? Wild.” Taehyung teases him and Jimin cackles and Jungkook slams the door to leave them outside. He wonders whether it would be worth it to lock them out of the shop.

“Well good morning! Having a rough day?” Taehyung’s mom appears from behind the counter, straightening up amidst several colorful floral arrangements.

Jungkook leans on the counter and sweeps up some stray leaves with his hands, “You have no idea.”

“Is my wayward son with you?”

“I don’t claim him today...but yes. He’s out in the parking lot.”

She frowns a little, “What did he do?”

Jungkook shakes his head a little, “It’s not really...him...” he trails off when he looks up and sees her fixated on the door. It doesn’t take a genius to suspect what caught her attention as the door swings shut.

“Oh. Hi.” Taehyung’s mom breathes, “I don’t think I know you. Are you Jungkook’s friend?”

Jimin delicately leans on the counter next to Jungkook, extremely close but very pointedly not touching the taller man. “Hmm, not sure. I came here with him today if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t think he likes me very much.” Jimin giggles and Jungkook nearly melts into a puddle right there, so he can only imagine how Taehyung’s mom feels. It’s the first time he’s seeing how non-magical people react to the demon, and it’s fairly predictable now that he stops to think about it. Jimin has her utterly entranced. She giggles like a schoolgirl when he makes a joke about flowers and smoothly introduces himself and tells her his name. Taehyung trails into the shop and takes one look at Jimin flirting with his mom before making a kind of strangled gurgle in his throat and disappearing to the back room.

“Well I’m not sure how Jungkook could dislike you, how do you know the boys?”

Jungkook panics briefly as he remembers Jimin can’t lie. Now would be a bad time for Taehyung’s mom to find out they’re witches...especially since she doesn’t know witches or magick exist.

“Well, I—“

“He’s my new roommate.” Jungkook interjects. Jimin closes his mouth, apparently getting the memo that this is a magick-free zone. “He uh, moved into town yesterday and I’m showing him around.” Jungkook realizes the more he speaks that he doesn’t really have a plausible reason why Jimin is trailing after him everywhere instead of in their supposedly shared trailer or, you know, his own job.

“Roommate?” Taehyung’s mother frowns, “Are you having trouble with bills, Kookie? You’re probably due for a raise...”

Taehyung comes out of the backroom to see Jungkook floundering, “I mean, yes mom, we can always pay him more, but he’s just trying to save a little—Jungkookie wants to move out of that trailer eventually you know.”

Jungkook decides to forgive him for trying to hook up with the sex demon he’s bound to. He silently thanks Taehyung over his mother’s head when she turns her attention back to Jimin,

“Do you like flowers?”

Jimin nods, “They’re pretty, but I’m afraid I have sort of the opposite of a green thumb.”

Taehyung’s mom smiles brightly and turns to walk deeper into the shop, beckoning him to follow her, “Nonsense! Let me show you how to do some arranging while the boys load the van.”

Jimin hangs back before walking after her, “Jungkook, do I have to go? I meant what I said...I will literally kill any flower that touches my hands. It’s kind of a...thing. A thing she will definitely notice. Also...” he hesitates a little, “If I go back there and the two of you leave to load flowers...there might be...things that happen...

Jungkook chokes a little on a mistimed breath as Jimin delivers that information. Too many scarring mental images. He stutters, “Um, actually—“

Taehyung’s mom turns around, “Yes?”

“Jimin’s just trying to be nice, he’s actually very allergic to...um...touching flowers.” He cringes before he even finishes the sentence.

“Allergic to...touching flowers?” She repeats incredulously.

Jungkook doubles down, “Yeah. Deathly allergic. So maybe it’s best if he just goes and waits by the van.” As an aside he hisses to Jimin, “Go. Wait by the van.” Jimin dutifully turns back towards the door, but not before,

“It was so lovely to meet you...hopefully I’ll see more of you as I get settled here in town.” The demon winks, actually winks at Taehyung’s mother as he slips back out the door.

“Oh yes! Lovely to meet you too!” She says a little too brightly, color staining her cheekbones and twisting her fingers together.

Jungkook feels a little faint. This was a horrible idea. Taehyung comes to stand by him as his mother turns back towards an unfinished arrangement. They look at each other in silent camaraderie amidst the many bouquets and vases needing to be loaded. They grab the first things they can see and head out for the van.

“I’m going to have to quit my job.” Jungkook says weakly once they’re outside, “Or Jimin is going to seduce your mom.” Taehyung whines, actually whines.

“Please. Please don’t ever say that again.” After a couple steps he adds, “But I think you’re right. Please order him to leave my mother alone. My heart and my boner can’t take it.”

“Only if you never mention your boner to me ever again.” They walk around the corner and the van comes into view. Jimin is standing there and two university students are leaned up against the van, giggling at something he says.

“For fucks sake. You’re going to have to lock him in the trailer.” Taehyung says as they watch Jimim step into one of the girls’ personal space and tuck a curl behind her ear. She turns almost crimson and clutches her books tighter. “Going out bar hopping with him must be the most depressing thing. It’s like watching Master Chef while you’re on your couch eating Easy Mac.”

Jungkook sighs, “Come on, let’s save the nubile college students from the clutches of ultimate evil.” He quickens his pace to get closer to the van. Jimin smiles over at him when he’s a few feet away,

“Ladies this is my...roommate? Jungkook. I’m afraid he’s going to be upset with me for bothering you.” He sighs and looks theatrically sheepish, “I was just supposed to be waiting by the van but now I’m wasting you lovely ladies’ time and keeping you from your destination.” The girls practically fall over themselves to assure him that that isn’t even approaching the same realm as how they feel and there’s no way he could EVER waste their time and Jungkook feels this wave of annoyance while Taehyung stares at Jimin like he’s just unraveled all the secrets of the universe.

Jungkook slams open the van door and starts piling flowers inside. The girls look over at him briefly before returning to rapturously listening to Jimin. Jungkook has to whack Taehyung on the arm to get him to stop doing the same thing.

“Can we have your number? Maybe we can hang out later?” One of the girls works up the courage after three more trips to bring flowers out, Jungkook’s jaw grinding every time he has to pass close by their conversation.

“I don’t have a phone.” Jimin says proudly.

They gasp, “Wow, it’s such a statement to not be connected nowadays. How do you keep in touch with people?”

“I go see them.”

They start droning on about how he must be such a good friend and so sensitive and Jungkook really can’t take this anymore.

“Dude,” Taehyung whispers as they stand next to each other at the back of the van shuffling arrangements around so they’ll fit, “You look crazy. If it bothers you that much just order him to stop talking to them.”

“Doesn’t that seem like...wrong?” Jungkook hisses back. It’s not like ithe idea hasn’t occurred to him. Several times. When Taehyung just looks at him blankly he elaborates, “He’s not hurting them. They’re just talking. With your mom it’s different because...it’s your mom. But to order him to not talk to anyone? Doesn’t that seem just pointlessly picky and cruel?”

Taehyung looks at him like he’s grown a second head, “Do you not recall what he’s planning to do to YOU in the afterlife?”

Jungkook closes the back door of the van firmly, “That doesn’t mean I want to do things that make me similar to him.” He doesn’t wait for Taehyung’s reaction, just walks back around to the side of the van. He clears his throat and Jimin immediately looks over.

“We’re going. That is—deliveries. It’s time to...do those.”

Jimin pulls open the sliding door immediately, “Gotta go, ladies. See you later!”

They pout and look a little annoyed with Jungkook interrupting them, “How, you don’t have a phone.”

He laughs, and sounds a little sinister even to Jungkook’s ears. The girls’ smiles freeze for just a second. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you if I want to.” And he slings the van door closed. The girls stand there for a beat or two before looking at Jungkook a little nervously and scuttling away. He climbs into the driver’s seat while Taehyung settles into the passenger seat. The doors close. They both turn around to look at Jimin perched in the middle seat looking for all the world like a fluffy blonde puppy.

“Please don’t fuck my mom.” Taehyung starts.

Jimin pouts a little, “Aw, why? She’s—“

“Let me rephrase,” Jungkook cuts him off quickly, “DON’T fuck Taehyung’s mother.”

Jimin crosses his arms, a little put out.

“In fact, don’t do anything remotely sexual or non-platonic with Taehyung’s mother.” Jungkook turns back to start the van, “Christ, it’s like you’d be having sex with MY mom.”

“But she’s not. She’s just Taehyung’s mom.”

“Hey!” Taehyung barks, “What does THAT mean—just Taehyung?”

Jungkook ignores him to make eye contact with the demon in the backseat, “Yeah, but she and Tae have been looking out for me since I lost my family, so she’s essentially my mom now. Anyway. Hands, lips—whatever—off.”

“Fine, fine. It’s not like I can do it now anyway.” Jimin settles back into the seat. “So why are we driving around with flowers in a van?”

“We’re delivering them to people who ordered them from Taehyung’s mom.”

“Ah okay.” Jimin pauses for a second. “So this is what you do? All day? Every day?”

Jungkook pulls out of the parking lot, “Well not all day. And not every day. But yeah.”

Jimin is quiet for a minute.

“And this...fulfills you? This is what gives your life value?”

Jungkook finds the demon’s eyes in the mirror and quickly looks away. Taehyung has also gone oddly silent next to him.

“I mean, I like helping Tae’s mom and everything but no. This is just a job. Pay the bills, eat, you know. This was never—isn’t. What my life is about.”

“So why are you doing it?”

Jungkook flushes, dark and angry. A hollow chuckle forces it’s way out of his throat, “Sometimes life doesn’t exactly work out how you want. We can’t all just alter reality to make it however we decide.”

“But YOU CAN, now. So why don’t you?”

Jungkook turns on his turn signal with a little more force than necessary, “I said I was pacing myself.”

“You’re angry. Why did that make you angry?” Jimin leans forward until he’s level with the side of Jungkook’s face. He’s studying Jungkook closely, too closely.

“Sit back, Jimin. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

The demon sits back robotically as the order compels him to. The van is uncomfortably silent all the way to the affluent neighborhood that is the location of their first delivery. Taehyung rolls down the window and starts smoking.

“Your mom is going to kill me if she finds out you’ve started that again.” Jungkook glances over at him.

“Why?” Taehyung blows a thin stream of smoke out the window, “You didn’t make me smoke. Although right now is technically your fault because riding in silence gives me anxiety.”

“No one said it had to be silent,” Jungkook grumbles, reaching for the radio.

“Your face sure did.” Taehyung turns to Jimin. “Do you smoke?”

“Is smoking still considered a vice?”

Taehyung nods, “Now more than ever.”

“Then yes. I do.” Taehyung offers him the cigarettes and digs the lighter out of his pocket. Jimin lights up and takes a long drag.

“Hey, don’t let him smoke back there, the flowers, man.” Jungkook complains. “Those windows don’t open.”

Taehyung watches Jimin for a long minute. The smoke never reappears. “I...don’t think we have to worry about it.” He says quietly. Jimin takes another long drag. Taehyung quickly turns back to the window to flick his ash. Jungkook clicks on the radio to the classic rock station and Taehyung relaxes more into his seat.

Jimin is studying Jungkook again. He can feel the weight of the demon’s attention in the mirror.

“You don’t smoke, Jungkook?” Jimin asks after his next drag. The cigarette is almost halfway burned down but no ash has fallen and still the smoke he’s inhaled never reappears. Jungkook opens the center console and fishes out some nicotine gum. He plops it in a cup holder for emphasis,

“Not anymore.”

“Jungkookie doesn’t do ANYTHING, anymore.” Taehyung smiles fondly across the car at him. “Except drink.” He amends.

“Messes with my magick.” He mutters. “When I was on all the stuff I would randomly lose control. I broke a lot of shit in my trailer and knocked over a lot of light poles before Tae indroduced me to Joon and he figured it was because of all the drugs.” He shrugs carelessly, “He was right.”

Taehyung twirls his cigarette between his fingers and narrows his eyes at Jungkook, “I mean, we all thought you were some kind of magickal pansy but now that you’re a sourcerer I suppose that makes a little more sense. Your magick is more sensitive.”

“So this “Joon” helped you battle a drug addiction?” Jimin asks suddenly.

Jungkook takes his left hand off the wheel to reach over and scratch his other arm, “Uh, Yeah. He kind of...saved my life honestly. The whole coven did.”

“Ah, no wonder you put up with his patronizing behavior and rudeness.”

“Hey fuck off, don’t talk about our Supreme like that.” Taehyung shoots back.

“Case in point.” Jimin says. “Interesting.”

“Why are you asking all these personal questions?” Jungkook finally says as he pulls up to the curb of their first house.

“Just curious.” Jimin retorts.

“Well we’re pretty curious about you, too.” Taehyung twists around in his seat to look at the demon.

Jimin blinks, “Well nothing is stopping you from asking. We’ve already established I can’t lie.”

“Because you were an angel.” Jungkook shoots back.

Jimin lolls his head back against the seat, “Yes.”

“And you hated humans.”

Jimin closes his eyes, “Yes.”

“So you followed Lucifer out of heaven and became a demon?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you a crossroads demon if you were already...you know...Lust?” Taehyung asks.

Jimin looks at his fingers for a moment, “I asked to be.”

“Why?” Jungkook also turns around to look at him.

Jimin curls his hands closed, “I didn’t want to stay in Hell anymore. I wanted to be able to come to earth.”

“Wait so like, demons don’t like hell?” Taehyung opens the door to stub out his cigarette.

“Does Hell strike you as a particularly likeable place?” Jimin quirks an eyebrow at Taehyung.

“And Lucifer just let you? Just, made you a crossroads demon?” Jungkook asks.

Jimin nods, “He owed me.”

Jungkook pauses and looks at Taehyung a little wildly, “The devil...owed you? A favor?”

Jimin nods again. Jungkook is about to ask “for what” when Jimin sighs and pushes his bangs out of his face,

“Aren’t you supposed to be delivering flowers?”

Jungkook checks the clock in the dash of the van, “Aw damn, we’re already behind.” He jumps out of the driver’s side and Taehyung meets him at the back to unload the bouquet and arrangement they’re leaving here. Jimin pokes his head out of the van, hair blowing gently in the breeze. He looks like an oil painting.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jungkook shakes his head, “Stay in the van.”

Jimin rolls his eyes and disappears back inside.

Taehyung shudders when they’re walking up to the house. “Why is it whenever he talks about himself I get the heebie jeebies real bad?” Jungkook keeps his eyes on the flowers,

“Because he’s a horror-movie monster in an incredibly attractive mid-20-something body that the devil apparently OWES FAVORS TO.” They quietly pose the flowers on the porch and turn back to the van.

“I think we might be a bit out of our depth here.” Taehyung murmurs as Jimin’s head appears at the passenger window and stares at them as they return down the walkway.

“No shit, Tae. Fuck.”

They climb back into their seats and rumble down the road. A witch, a sourcerer, and a demon in a van emblazoned with cartoon roses, ready to deliver daisies to stay at home moms and pregnant secretaries.

They had delivered two full van loads of flowers when Taehyung declared that he had to go home and let Yeontan out, so they detoured. Taehyung’s wolf—disguised as a little brown and cream fluff of a dog—comes bounding out the door when Taehyung unlocks it. The disguise is a necessary one in order for Taehyung’s neighbors to not get terrified and call animal control about a wolf roaming the streets. Yeontan shoots out onto the lawn like a furry bullet and almost faceplants when he skids to a stop at the sight of Jimim emerging from the van. The little familiar loops back to the porch and posts up at the top of the steps, growling viciously. He only comes off the porch when Jungkook climbs out of the van and comes to stand beside Jimin, and even then only deigns to slink into the grass far enough to lift his leg against a bush. His growling never lets up the entire time he pees. Taehyung frowns at the little familiar,

“I don’t think Tannie likes you very much.”

Jimin doesn’t seem all that perturbed by it, “Animals usually don’t. They’re smart that way.” He slides open the van door and perches on the ledge to give as much space to the little dog as possible. It occurs to Jungkook that being concerned about the comfort of a dog isn’t a particularly demonic thing to do. He doesn’t bring it up, though, he imagines Jimin will react badly to having that pointed out. Taehyung brings out a case of beer and he and Jimin resume smoking—or in Jimin’s case, ingesting. Jungkook sips lazily at a beer.

It’s a beautiful fall afternoon. It’s much too normal of a day to be a sequel to last night. The day after he bound himself to a demon who used to be an angel; he woke up, went to work with his friend, and drove across town to let out a dog (wolf). Jungkook leans back against the van. His threshold of normalcy clearly needs to be recalibrated again. And he thought it was bad when he found out he was a witch. Sourcerer, he corrects mentally. But that makes him irritated all over agin because he’s supposedly this crazy powerful being and he can barely do enough magic to not be considered human. No one else seems to be having an internal crisis, although admittedly he doesn’t know what it would take to make a creature like Jimin have a crisis. He tries to clue back into his surroundings and not dwell on it.

“How do you get to Hell?” Taehyung asks suddenly. He has dragged over one of his lounge chairs from the porch to sit in the uneven grass. It rocks a little every time he shifts his weight.

Jimin pauses his drinking, “How do *I* get to Hell?”

“Well yeah. Or really—anybody. Like is there a door? Or a—you know—entrance anyone can use? Or do you just like *poof*—“ He accompanies the word with the head exploding gesture, sloshing his beer into the grass, “and you’re there.”

Jimin sets his empty beer bottle into the grass on the side of the van. It clinks against the other empties. “I think there is a “door” like you’re thinking of, but I’ve never had to use it. The magic I have now allows me to…poof…there anytime I want.”

Taehyung nods, “That’s cool. So you could like, go back whenever? Just whip back to hell and come right back? Just like that?”

“What’s the point of this, Tae?” Jungkook chimes in.

“I think it’s interesting! What, are you going to pretend like you’re not curious?”

Jungkook doesn’t like admitting how ravenously curious he is for information about Jimin. He feels like it’s something the demon will lord over him.

Jimin fiddles with his rings, “I can go back whenever I want, but I don’t want to. Please don’t ask me to.” He shakes his head, “I honestly prefer to never go back.”

Jungkook and Taehyung exchange confused glances. Jimin has said he didn’t like Hell but never wanting to go back? He’s torn between wanting to know why not but also knowing that he shouldn’t ask about it. Jungkook goes to get another beer to have something to do but his hand comes up empty. The case is empty, and he realizes Jimin knocked back all of the beer while he and Taehyung were working on their first. He looks over at the demon, who’s fixed him with a challenging look, eyebrow cocked. He knows what Jungkook wants but is clearly pushing the imperative. Jungkook gestures to the case,

“Um…Jimin? More beer….could you?”

Jimin huffs, “If you ask it isn’t an order.” But he twirls his fingers and another case of beer replaces the empty one. Jungkook almost staggers at the weight change.

“Yeah but Kookie doesn’t like ordering.” Taehyung quips but quickly snaps his mouth shut when Jungkook glares at him.

“Thanks a lot, Tae.”

“Oh please, like I hadn’t already noticed that myself.” Jimin rolls his eyes, “I just don’t know WHY. This arrangement was your idea in the first place.”

Jungkook studiously opens two beers and hands one over to Taehyung to avoid the demon’s gaze.

“I mean, one would think a human would relish the opportunity to control something much more powerful. Give them a taste of the domination they so dearly crave.”

Jimin reaches for another beer but Jungkook pulls the case out of his reach. Jungkook doesn’t like asking for favors from the demon and Jimin drinks so fast the case won’t last them ten minutes.

“Can you even get drunk?” He snaps at the demon. Jimin’s brow furrows and he beckons a bottle with a finger. It soars out of the case past Jungkook and over into his hands.

“No. Was that the point of what we were doing? I thought we were doing social human things.”

Taehyung snorts, “Social human things. I like that.”

Jungkook lets the case drop to the ground. Clearly nothing will stop Jimin from drinking if he wants to. Unless you order him not to, his brain reminds him. He frowns and steers the conversation away from him.

“Why is Hell so terrible for you? I mean, don’t you rule Hell? You’re part of the...royal family kind of.”

Jimin scoffs, “Hell has exactly one ruler and he rest of us just do as he says. Lucifer likes to think he’s different from our Father but he has the same penchant for ordering around beings he considers lesser. Most of the time when I’m down there it reminds of before I fell.” He shakes his head, “I didn’t go through all that just to be someone ELSE’S servant.”

Jungkook leans forward, “Do all of the fallen feel this way?”

Jimin runs a hand back through his hair, “I’m sure some of them do. There have been incidents. But it’s typically easier for the others because Lucifer leaves them alone more. He’s less…interested.”

Jungkook lets his words sink in, sincerely hoping Jimin doesn’t mean what he thinks he means.

“Interested…?” Taehyung ventures tentatively. Jimin doesn’t answer right away, opening yet another beer, and before Taehyung can clarify his question Jimin bounces a little and turns his attention to Jungkook.

“Do you want a magic lesson?”

Jungkook stutters. Jimin switches gears so quickly, it’s hard to keep up. “What, right now?”

“Yes right now. I gather from our copious alcohol imbibing that we’re done with flowers for the day?”

“Well that was mostly you…” Jungkook mumbles as Taehyung checks his phone.

“Yeah. Mom will be closing up for the night now and there’s nothing that can’t wait overnight.”

Jungkook sets down his beer, “Well then yeah! Yes. Definitely. Magic lesson.”

Jimin studies him, “Well, what do you want to be able to do?”

“Um…well, there’s a lot—I want to…hmm” Jungkook fumbles a little.

“What can you already do?” Jimin cuts in and saves him from flailing. Jungkook thinks for a long moment.

“Not much.” He admits.

Jimin regards him patiently and Taehyung offers, “He knows some household-y magick, how to draw some spells, that kind of thing.”

“Ah. Well most of that is useless to you now. Your magick works differently from that so spells aren’t really necessary. You probably found them tricky and difficult to use.”

Jungkook’s face burns as he thinks back to the many many hours studying soellbooks and practicing drawing spells with frustratingly slow progress. He always thought it was because he was naturally not very good at magick. “Yeah…a bit.”

“Okay, then we’ll start at the beginning, with the basics. Feeling out your magick, shielding, defensive magick, that kind of thing.” The demon flicks his bangs out of his face, “You have me to protect you but I’m gathering that independence is something…important to you?”

Jimin says the word “independence” with such derision that Jungkook momentarily feels dumb for clinging so hard to the idea of being able to do things on his own. But then he thinks about being able to use magick like Jimin does… “Yes that sounds like a good place to start.”

Jimin acknowledges Taehyung, “Are you okay with this? He might set fire to your lawn.”

Taehyung tilts his beer bottle towards them, “Honestly that might be an improvement for my lawn.” He shrugs, “I’m okay with it. I’d actually like to watch if it’s okay with Jungkookie.”

Taehyung has already seen him in a variety of compromising positions, “Yeah I’m good with it.”

Jimin scoots over and pats the spot next to him in the van. Jungkook takes it warily, already feeling those little tendrils of desire that come to him whenever he’s in close proximity with the demon. That magnetic draw pulls him in, tempting him to close the distance completely and touch. Jimin notices his discomfort.

“I can only tone that down so much, I’m afraid. You might be stuck with those dirty thoughts.”

Jungkook closes his eyes to banish a fantasy of laying Jimin out on the seats of the van and stripping him out of those jeans. The demon chuckles.

“Focus, Jungkook. The first thing we’re going to do is access your magic. I need you to reach inside yourself and search for the core of your magick.” Jungkook closes his eyes to start following the demon’s instructions.

“It should feel like dipping your metaphorical hands into the lake of your magick.”

Jungkook finds it but his lake feels more like a puddle. “I’ve got it.”

“Okay the first thing you want to do is push the magick outward to wrap around your body. It’s an excellent shielding technique. Lift the magick and press it all around the surface of your skin. Kind of like rubbing on lotion or sunscreen.”

Jungkook starts targeting the magick to his arms and legs. He starts sweating as he stretches the magick to accommodate his torso, and has developed the shakes by the time he finishes his head. He grits his teeth and focuses on holding it. “I’ve got it.” His eyes flutter open to see the demon leaning towards him, brow furrowed in concern. Jimin’s pink, plush lips and intoxicating scent are less than a foot away from him. He starts a little and loses his grip on the magick, feeling the shield retreat back into the core of his metaphorical puddle.

He makes a little annoyed noise and Jimin hurriedly back out of his space, “Sorry, sorry.” He smirks, “You’re very susceptible to distraction, you know.”

“Well, you’re excessively distracting.” Jungkook grouses. Taehyung, that traitor, chuckles from his lawn chair.

Jimin’s smile widens, “I know I am. Just think—when you master your magick in front of me there won’t be anything that can rattle you.” He cocks his head a little, “Still though…was that…difficult for you, Jungkook? It looked like a lot of effort for something so simple.”

Jungkook can feel his cheeks burning, tries to resist the urge to hang his head. He’s STILL terrible at this, no matter what kind of magick he’s trying to do. Figures. “Yeah. It felt like it was really difficult to make the magick stretch to cover my whole body.”

Jimin’s brow scrunches even more, “Stretch? You should have more than enough magick to comfortably do that.” His hands lift from his lap, hovering in the air between them uneasily. “May I have a look? At your magick, I mean. To see why you would be having that much trouble?”

Jungkook blinks, “You don’t think it’s my fault? That I’m just…that bad at it?”

Jimin frowns, “What? No. Something must be interfering based off of how much magical energy I felt when you summoned me the other night.” He gestures back and forth between them, “To check I need to touch you…will you let me?”

Jungkook turns toward Taehyung on the lawn, who shrugs, “It should be okay, Kookie. He can’t hurt you, right? Maybe this will help figure out whatever it is that’s limiting your magick.”

He eyes Jimin’s hands. “Okay. You can touch me for—that. Checking my magick, it’s—Yeah. That’s fine.” He begs his brain to shut up before he can sound even more stupid. Jimin reaches over and grabs both of his wrists. He almost gasps as warmth floods up his arms and the wall between he and Jimin breaks down so he can feel all of Jimin’s magick. He catches a little bit of that wildness from when they sealed their deal. The demon is so close, Jungkook could reach over and kiss his jaw. Could suck hickeys into that perfect skin, could bite down on those shapely collarbones….

“You need to get a grip.” Jimin says without opening his eyes, “It’s like you’re shouting at me.” He cracks one eye open, “Unless you want to postpone this magick lesson and…”

Jungkook shakes his head furiously, “No! No. I’ll—I’ll focus and not. Think about it.” The corners of Jimin’s mouth turn up just the slightest and he goes back to pushing magick into Jungkook. The sensation of Jimin prodding at the center of his magick is uncomfortable enough that he can keep a lid on his fantasies. He resists the urge to squirm at the tendrils of Jimin’s magick poking at him.

“It feels like a lot of goddamn magick but where…it’s being…channeled somewhere.” Jimin murmurs more to himself than Jungkook. “Where…is it going…” Jimin pushes another wave of heat into Jungkook that starts traveling all over his body. As it loops through his frame, it starts to congregate in his left arm, shifting from a pleasant warmth into burning. Intense burning, that only ratchets up the longer he sits.

“Ow—fuck, Jimin! Stop—get off!” The demon has stopped touching him before the order is out of his mouth but the burning in his arm doesn’t stop. Jimin rolls up his sleeve to reveal the black band from their binding and his initiate tattoo wrapped around his bicep. Jungkook looks over at him,

“Is it because of you? Because of our bond?”

Jimin clicks his tongue, “That wouldn’t explain why you were having trouble with your magick before I came along.” He points at the initiate tattoo, “What’s that?”

“It’s our coven’s initiate tattoo.” Taehyung chimes in. “All the members have slightly different ones.”

Jimin sucks his lower lip into his mouth briefly, “And who gave it to you?”

“Namjoon,” Jungkook intones, “He tattoos all the new initiates.”

Jimin reaches for his arm, “May I?”

Jungkook shifts and lets Jimin caress his bicep. The demon taps a fingernail on the runes inked on his skin. “I wonder…” but the demon trails off without finishing his thought. He makes a slashing motion without warning, and the skin splits right through the tattoo, blood oozing out of the gash immediately. Jungkook yanks his arm away, “What the fuck, Jimin? You’re not supposed to hurt me—“ he cuts off as a massive wave of magick dumps into his brain, “Woah. WOAH.”

His vision blurs momentarily with the force of the power. When it normalizes, he sees little sparks dancing around the cut on his arm. The blood starts to retreat, absorbed by the stray magick until all that remains of the cut is a clean scar straight through his tattoo.

“That’s better, huh?” Jimin studies him. Jungkook takes a few deep breaths to get used to the buzzing in his head. A feeling of euphoria washes over him. He grins, “Fuck yeah. Wow, that feels—wow.”

Jimin nods, “Try shielding again.”

Jungkook closes his eyes and searches for his magick. It springs forward when he calls it, easily flows around his limbs and frame—taking only a fraction of his focus to maintain. He realizes he can actually push the magick away from his body. An incandescent bubble surrounds him and pushes outward. When it reaches Jimin the demon is pushed out of the van and skips away a few paces, looking serious and a little frustrated. Jungkook feels almost giddy. HE made Jimin move. He PUSHED him. “This is awesome! Look Tae—I’m Bubble Boy.”

Taehyung walks over and pokes the bubble. The surface ripples from his finger. “You’re like an overgrown hamster! Pretty cool, Kookie.”

Jungkook starts pulling and pushing the bubble, making it grow and shrink. Taehyung smooshes his face into the side like a cartoon before retreating to his lawn chair. Yeontan hops up into his lap, eyeing the whole bubble affair cautiously. Jungkook is soaring. The magick goes wherever he wants with almost childish simplicity. He just has to think and the power flows intuitively for him. He can’t wipe the grin off his face.

“Not to ruin the mood here, or anything.” Jimin cuts in, “But aren’t you curious about where your magick was being drained to? And why?”

The bubble pops as that occurs to Jungkook. “But the tattoo…you don’t think—Namjoon wouldn’t…he didn’t even know I was a sourcerer.”

Jimin just eyes him impassively, “He gave you the tattoo, right?” The demon steps back closer to the van. Before he can say anything else, Yeontan interrupts.

The little dog starts growling ferociously. He jumps off Taehyung’s lap and starts shaking and drooling, the wolf springing out of the little dog disguise. Taehyung reaches for his familiar, “Tannie, it’s fine. Jimin isn’t hurting us—“

“I don’t think that’s for me, Taehyung.” Jimin says, voice strained.

Something big slams into the other side of the van. Jungkook startles out of his spot, joining Jimin and Taehyung on the lawn. “What the—“

Several more somethings slam into the van, sending it rocking crazily on its axles. A creature pokes its head over the top of the van. It’s vaguely human shaped, but it’s arms and legs are absurdly long and thin, like it had been stretched out. It’s shadowy, almost like it’s made out of darkness. As Jungkook gets a good look at it a chill goes down his spine when he realizes the creature has no face. Unconsciously Jungkook scoots closer to Jimin, “What the FUCK is that??”

“Fingers.” The demon says, expression grim, “That means Crowley is coming.” The three of them back away from the van as more spidery limbs appear over the top and around the sides. The first creature clambers over—its motions jerky and unsettling. It lands next to Jimin’s empty beer bottles and straightens up. It’s tall—almost as tall as the van. A beat of silence extends as the creature seems to regard them.

It’s broken when Yeontan launches himself at the creature, tangling with it and rolling away from the three boys. Taehyung screams, “Tannie!” And dives after his dog. His pendants light up like beacons; he starts drawing spells in the air to use on the creatures. Jungkook starts to go after his friend but Jimin steps full into his path, “You’re not ready to fight these things yet.”

The creatures are pouring out from behind the van like a river around a stone. Taehyung is about to be caught in the center of a mass of them. Jimin claps his hands, once, and all the creatures dissolve into black goo, sinking into nothing around the lawn. Immediately more Fingers start manifesting around the lawn, by the trees, by the road.. He turns back to Jungkook, “We have to go. There’s going to be many more of those. Crowley won’t stop until he has what he wants..” He starts striding towards Taehyung’s house. Jungkook glances over at Taehyung, red-faced and hurtling spells at a group of the creatures.

He stumbles after Jimin and catches the demon by the sleeve, “We have to get Taehyung and Yeontan.” Jimin rolls his eyes and claps again, sending another wave of the Fingers to gooey oblivion. “I need to get you inside where I can ward it up and send you somewhere Crowley can’t follow.” He jerks his chin Taehyung’s direction, “He’s handling himself just fine.” Jimin gestures towards the house and Jungkook follows unwillingly.

“These things—Crowley—they’re here for you right? What have you brought down on us?”

Jimin huffs, “Crowley is a crossroads demon. Remember how Namjoon thought I became one? Backstabbing, murder, lying? That’s how Crowley became one. The Fingers are his army, souls he’s tortured past the point that they lose their autonomy. They’re basically dark magic he can point wherever he wants to cause havoc.. He’s a fucked up demon Jungkook and I assure you, if he was coming for me he wouldn’t wait until now.” Jimin claps to kill another wave of Fingers, “He’s coming for you.”

Jungkook stumbles to a stop, “Me??” He squeaks. Jimin rolls his eyes, “Yes, you. Now let’s get in the house before—“

A huge group of Fingers flood onto the lawn. Taehyung screams and starts wildly firing spells. Jungkook takes two steps towards the house just to see Fingers overrun the porch. Jimin swears under his breath and sweeps an arm back to keep Jungkook behind him. He wipes out another wave of them but they’re manifesting so densely and quickly that the lawn is soon overrun. Jimin jerks his head towards a gap in the creatures and they start off towards it. They make it about three steps before a huge wave of magick smacks Jungkook in the chest. He sinks to his knees. It’s a lot like being exposed to Jimin’s magick for the first time—but this burns his nostrils like he’s smelling something rotten. The nausea comes on so quickly he nearly passes out. Jimin checks where he had been striding off and comes back to Jungkook’s side. “Remember the bubble, Jungkook? You need to call it up and keep it up as long as Crowley is here.” His face twists up, “Its too late to run.”

Jungkook goes into his head to call up the shield. As it closes around him the nausea fades and he struggles to his feet.

“What do I do?” He asks the demon, trying to keep his voice steady. Jimin side-eyes him, “Don’t do anything. Crowley’s not more powerful than me but he is tricky.”

Vaguely Jungkook hears Taehyung tell Yeontan,”Tannie, get the others—we need help!” Before the wolf disappears and Jimin dissolves another bunch of Fingers. Jungkook can see his friend across the lawn, catching his breath before hurtling himself back into a rapidly condensing group of Fingers.

He prays the other coven members get here soon. Jimin is searching the lawn, tense. “He’s here somewhere…”

Jungkook glances over to the van. And blinks.

There’s another man wearing a black suit perched on the roof.

Jimin sees him at the same time and his back stiffens. The man languidly hops off the vehicle and strolls towards them, ignoring and ignored by the Fingers scuttling around the lawn. This man is imposing, taller than he or Jimin. He’s carelessly handsome, hair tousled and long. But unlike Jimin, who has this magnetic draw about him, even through the bubble Jungkook can tell this man…does not. The other demon has his eyes on Jungkook, but as he gets closer his attention shifts to Jimin, looking a little surprised.

“Minnie?” His voice is rough, laced with humor but more sinister by far than Jimin’s melodious voice.

“Crowley.” Jimin acknowledges levelly.

Crowley’s expression turns a little sly and searching, eyes skimming up and down Jimin’s form appraisingly. Jungkook has a wild thought that he wants to protect Jimin from this creature. Which is crazy, because this is Jimin. A fallen angel and a powerful demon; he needs Jungkook’s protection about as much as a fish needs a bicycle.

But there’s something in this Crowley’s eyes…Jungkook’s magick reacts without his conscious decision, the bubble envelops part of Jimin’s arm. The demon looks down at it in surprise for a moment before shaking it off and clearly shooting Jungkook a look that says “Worry about yourself, dummy.” Jimin steps slightly forward to be between Crowley and Jungkook.

“I was wondering who could have broken the seal and lo and behold here I find you. I should have known.” Crowley stands just a little too close to Jimin, looming over him, “It’s been a while, huh Minnie. You haven’t been home. Daddy told us to keep an eye out for you.”

“You know how it is.” Jimin says breezily, “Just needed a break. Out making deals, seeing the world, I’ve been busy.”

Crowley snorts, “It’s been 600 years; how long is this break going to take? Daddy misses you.” He suddenly reaches forward and grabs Jimin’s wrist, “I missed you too.” His voice has pitched down, almost oily as he steps into Jimin’s space. “We used to have so much fun together.”

“I remember,” Jimin says quietly. He leans back ever so slightly but doesn’t make any effort to pull away from the other demon. Jungkook feels revulsion bubbling up in his gut at the insinuation behind Crowley’s words.

“Still as gorgeous as ever. I like the blonde.” Crowley reaches up and flicks Jimin’s bangs. Jungkook feels a wave of anger so strong the bubble ripples. Jimin can probably feel it too—he inclines his head towards Jungkook ever so slightly. Crowley’s eyes follow the motion, eyes narrowing and grip tightening on Jimin’s wrist.

“What are you doing here, Crowley?” Jimin pulls his focus back by leaning closer to the other demon, very gently brushing his hip against Crowley’s. It works, Crowley looks enthralled to have Jimin reacting even this little bit to him. .

“I could ask you the same thing. I’m here for the kid but it looks like you got to him before me.” Crowley pouts theatrically, “How did you find him?” The question is loaded.

Jimin hesitates for a brief moment, “It’s…a long story.”

With a sudden pang, Jungkook realizes Jimin doesn’t want Crowley to know about the deal. It’s clear in his hesitance in picking words that aren’t a lie, but don’t give away the truth. The whole lawn seems to have narrowed down to just these two carefully dancing around each other in conversation. Jungkook doesn’t even spare a glance for the arrival of his coven members, relegating that information to his subconscious as his heart thuds while Jimin attempts to deceive without lying. Crowley seems to have not noticed anything amiss in his answer, luckily, ,

“That’s a lot of magick, baby. What do you need all of that for?”

Jimin chuckles dryly, “Thought you of all people would understand—just want something that’s mine.”

“Why bother? You know Daddy would give you the whole world if you asked for it.” Crowley has started to follow Jimin when he moves away from him. His grip on Jimin’s wrist never lessens.

Jimin shakes his head, face carefully blank, “Don’t want the world, I’m afraid. Lucifer will have to give it to someone else.”

“Only you could be tired of being Daddy’s favorite.” Crowley shakes his head.

“It’s not nearly as much fun as you’re thinking. You’re welcome to take my place at any time.” Jimin’s voice has a trace of bitterness that Jungkook knows he wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the emotions slipping out from behind Jimin’s wall.

Crowley smirks, “Oh, I already have. With you gone I’m getting entrusted will all kinds of tasks.”

“I’m sure you’re loving that.” Jimin is leaning away from the other demon again.

“It has its perks. But you know he won’t be happy until you’re back where you belong.” Jimin looks like he’s about to respond but Crowley talks over him,

“Are you willing to share your pet?” Crowley’s tone is airy but Jungkook can tell his intention is anything but.

Jimin’s mouth twists wryly and he tugs his wrist back a little, “Not exactly, Crowley.”

The tension ratchets up another notch between the two demons.

“Well then how about you? Can I steal you away from getting fucked by your pet sourcerer? My magick is always stronger after a night or two with you.” Jungkook knows he must be glaring at Crowley but his fear is getting pushed to the side by disgust at the idea of these two together. At least he assumes they’re just lovers. Jimin must be worried about what Crowley will do if he learns they’re bound to each other because he doesn’t correct the assumption that they’re sleeping together.

“There’s nothing in that arrangement for me.” Jimin points out to Crowley’s proposition, taking a half step back.

Crowley moves with him, “I wasn’t proposing a deal. Maybe if I drag you back home Daddy will reward me with your body again. You know how much I hate it when you say no.” His voice has lost all trace of civility, dropping into a growl by the end of the sentence. Jungkook wants to throttle the other demon, but Jimin beats him to it.

Jimin does something to Crowley’s arm that makes him scream, his hand and arm start blackening and blistering where he still holds onto Jimin’s wrist.

“That’s not very nice.” Crowley grits out. The burned flesh keeps creeping and consuming his arm up to his shoulder.

“I don’t have to be nice to you anymore.” Jimin says coldly. Jungkook feels a momentary thrill at Jimin’s strength. And then it all goes wrong.

Crowley’s face twists in a mocking smile, “Aw, not even if I give you a present?” His other hand moves quickly and pulls something out of his pocket. Jungkook vaguely registers the flash of a golden chain and Jimin’s eyes widening in panic, “No he didn’t—he wouldn’t give YOU that—“

Crowley loops the chain over Jimin’s head. Jimin’s hands fly up to claw at it but his fingers just pass through the golden chain. It starts tightening and shrinking. Crowley backs off and clutches his burned arm with an ugly smirk, “Lucifer says hello, baby.”

A red pendent dangles from the chain and as it tightens the red stone presses to Jimin’s throat. When it touches his skin it glows bright red and Jimin is yanked to his knees, and then face down in the grass. He writhes and twists, but doesn’t seem to be able to move. Jungkook looks down at Jimin’s inert form in horror—he thought Jimin was the scariest thing in the universe. “Jimin!!!” He lunges towards Jimin but a wave of Fingers closes in on his bubble, pressing on every side and holding him in place. He’s safe from them—they can’t touch him. But he can’t move, can’t get to Jimin.

Through gaps in the Finger’s spidery limbs he can see the rest of his coven fighting desperately. They’re losing. Their spells seem weak, ineffective. Namjoon sends four of five spells at a group of Fingers that just seem to sink into them and disappear. Seokjin and Yoongi are back to back, keeping Fingers at bay with big swathes of fire and water. Taehyung and Hoseok are blasting Fingers apart but for every one they destroy five more take their place. Jungkook looks on, pulse racing. Are they all about to die on Taehyung’s front lawn? Jimin…Jimin was supposed to protect them…

Crowley pops up in one of the gaps and Jungkook flinches back, bubble rippling. “Hello little sourcerer.” He grins at Jungkook, “What do you say we go on a trip together? I need to take Jimin on a little side adventure, but I’m sure you’ll miss him. Why don’t you come with? You and I can…talk.”

Jungkook looks over at Jimin sprawled on the ground, “What did you do to him?” His voice is hoarse.

Crowley shrugs, “He’s okay, I just thought it was kind of rude that he would be so mean to me after all these years.” He gestures to his slow-healing arm, “We have a bit of history, so Lucifer thought maybe I’d be able to find him and convince him to come home…but he’s an unpredictable little bitch—and so touchy these days. I brought some insurance.” He smirks a little at Jimin before poking at Jungkook’s bubble, “Actually, he’s just a pleasant surprise. I’ve been watching you for a while now, Jeon Jungkook. Figures sexy little Minnie would come along and sneak you right out from under my nose.”

Jungkook’s neck prickles when Crowley says his full name. Reflexively, he pushes he bubble further away, creating another step or two of distance between him and Crowley, “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere with you.” He takes a deep breath and flicks the bubble, sending a wave across the outside and dislodging all the Fingers clinging to the surface.

Crowley’s face darkens, “Why is everyone being so unreasonable today?” He complains. His magick starts prodding and pushing at Jungkook’s bubble. He focuses hard on keeping it intact and looks over to Jimin. They need Jimin’s power to get rid of Crowley. They need him to destroy the Fingers. Jungkook tells himself firmly that’s the reason he’s running over to the demon, and not that he just hates seeing Jimin clearly in pain, prostrate on the ground. He envelops Jimin’s legs and torso with his bubble and Crowley starts actively yelling and sending spells ricocheting off of the bubble. Jungkook can feel them impact the surface before being deflected into the scores of Fingers attempting to close in on them. He closes Jimin inside the bubble completely and kneels down next to him, “Jimin! Jimin how do I help? What do I do?”

Jimin twists towards him with what looks like a huge amount of effort. “Chain…off…”

Jungkook reaches for the delicate-looking gold chain immediately. As soon as his fingers come into contact with it, his hands start burning. He yelps but tugs at the links, trying to get it to loosen up. It does, but slowly, so slowly and his hands just keep burning. It’s making him lose his focus on the shield. And Crowley never lets up, sending wave after wave of powerful dark magick careening into the bubble until…

A small crack appears in the bubble’s surface. Jungkook looks down at Jimin desperately. The chain is loose enough to start moving up Jimin’s neck—the demon looks like he can breathe a little easier. But it’s all too slow, taking too long. At seeing the crack in Jungkook’s shield Crowley gives a little whoop and starts concentrating his fire on that same place.

“J-jimin—fuck. He’s breaking the shield, I can’t—“ Jungkook shudders at the pain in his hands and the relentless pressure of Crowley’s magick, “—I don’t know how much longer I can hold it.”

Jimin takes a huge, shuddering breath as the chain slips over his ear, “Wrap…shield…around—“ he jerks his chin weakly in Crowley’s direction.

It’s not really a direction but Jungkook understands all the same. He closes his eyes and with a little huff of effort he flips the shield inside-out to surround Crowley. The other demon looks like he’s caught in an electrical storm as his magick ricochets around the inside of the bubble. Jungkook gives one last heave and the chain slips over Jimin’s head, making the demon gasp like he’s emerging from underwater. Jungkook reflexively flings the metal away from him and the pendant goes thudding into the grass. His hands are branded with the metal links, skin blistering and scorched from the contact—the pain is so great he can barely focus. Sparks travel lazily along his palms, trying to heal the burns but the amount of effort it’s taking to contain Crowley in the bubble is making it a slow process. Even still, Jungkook feels a wave of relief. Jimin is free. Jimin will fix it. He has to protect Jungkook and the coven, after all.

Jimin is struggling to his knees, still looking alarmingly weak and out of it. Jungkook scoots over to him and offers his shoulder for the demon to plant a hand on and lurch to his feet. He’s up, but swaying and Jungkook starts to feel the relief at Jimin being free ebbing away. The bubble now has a spiderweb network of cracks fanning along its surface. When Crowley inevitably breaks through they’ll be left defenseless unless Jimin has a plan. Evidently the demon does, as he taps Jungkook’s shoulder to make him listen.

“When I tell you to, Jungkook, let go of the bubble.”

“Can you…handle him?” Jungkook asks nervously, eyes darting between Crowley’s murderous expression and Jimin’s fatigued, almost nauseous face.

Jimin smiles wryly, “I’ve got a few tricks of my own.” He starts drawing complicated patterns and shapes on his own chest, magick leaving a white-hot residue as the patterns remain in the air. Evidently, Crowley recognizes them because his desperation to escape notches up and he screams,

“Fuck no—Jimin don’t you fucking—“ Crowley roars and the bubble fills up with fire. Jungkook has to double over and press his forehead hard into the grass in order to not lose control. Pain and relentless effort start to overwhelm him…

“Now, Jungkook!”

Dimly, Jungkook hears Jimin’s voice and relinquishes control of his shield. The bubble pops and Jungkook collapses on the ground—energy so depleted at first he thinks what he’s seeing is the result of losing consciousness. He twists his head to look at Crowley, not sure what, if anything, he can do to help but unwilling to just let him attack Jimin. It’s turns out he doesn’t need to worry. Bright white light is emanating from Jimin’s sigils. It pours across the lawn, swallowing up Fingers and clearing the dark energy wherever it touches. It flows towards Crowley and he recoils from it. His eye dart back and forth desperately and he focuses on the discarded chain where Jungkoon threw it after getting it off of Jimin. While Jungkook watches, the demon dives forward to scoop up the chain and pendant. He thinks maybe he should stop the demon, but his arms and legs won’t obey him. The time it took Crowley to grab the innocuous-looking jewelry costs him dearly. He’s hit with a wave of white light on his left side and immediately screams. Jungkook can see the demon blistering, deforming…and then Crowley disappears. His magick ebbs away as Jimin’s light spreads across the whole lawn, blotting everything else out.

When it reaches him Jungkook braces for pain, but there is none. Just a gentle tickling sensation, like jacuzzi jets hitting his skin. He looks up at Jimin, and is sure he must be hallucinating. Jimin is glowing, radiant. This light is leeching from his pores, and for the first time Jungkook really believes that Jimin was once an angel—this scene fits him so perfectly. The light becomes too bright, too all over the place and Jungkook shuts his eyes. His consciousness leaves him slowly as his brain registers that the danger is over, as the adrenaline flushes out of his system. The last thing he hears before he passes out is Jimin. The demon groans,

“Oh fuck…” and retches violently onto the ground.

“Gross…” Jungkook murmurs and swears he hears Jimin chuckle as he slips into unconsciousness.